Home Depot accused of violating Buy American Act

AP via finance.yahoo.com ^ | Sun June 26, 2011 | Paul Elias

[ansel12]

I avoid Home Depot.

[MeganC]

I’ve avoided Home Depot since they were found to be routinely infringing on American patents in order to secure look-alike products from China.

[Scotsman will be Free]

They are big time supporters of queers and queer marriages.

[Persevero]

I’ve made the decision to avoid their stores also.

[WKUHilltopper]

Maybe the Sodomites will rush to Home Despot’s aid and support...

[Scotsman will be Free]

Ditto.

[chrisser]

At issue in the Home Depot case are GSA "schedule" contracts. Those contracts authorize any government agency to purchase tens of thousands of products from the company's website

Maybe I misunderstand, but why is it Home Depot's responsibility to prevent government employees from violating the law?

Shouldn't the government employees doing the purchasing be responsible for determining that the products they order comply with regulations?

[TheStickman]

this sucks!

[ansel12]

A couple of things about Home Depot are, they forced lower quality products onto America, and as a contractor I have often asked the employees questions, and every single time the employee confidently gives me thorough detailed answers, the problem is that very often those answers are complete nonsense, and occasionally destructive.

In the 1990s, Moen faucets ran full page ads apologizing to the loyal plumbing contractors, because Home Depot was forcing them to introduce a cheaper line of faucets, they admitted that they just could not refuse such a massive retailer, all the other manufacturers complied also.

I buy my materials at plumbing wholesalers, and every couple of years when I have to dash into a Home Depot, I see them selling junk versions of plumbing goods, that I didn’t even know existed and that I wished would never be installed, but it does explain why we are replacing faucets and fixtures that are only 2 and 5 years old.

The faucets that I used to replace, were 35 and 50 years old.

[sand88]

I avoid Home Depot.

Smart move. We made the mistake of buying rebar from them. We had 15 year old rebar laying around. The old rebar took 3x as long to cut with the grinder. The rebar from HD cut like butter. Found out later from a knowledgeable friend on such matters that it is most likely Chinese rebar -- poorly made. He stated the rebar from India is much better quality.

He stated we should be able to ask the store for the COO (Country Of Origin) of the steel. I am disgusted at all the Chinese junk flooding into America.

[ansel12]

The seller should know the origin and legality of his products, not the consumer.

[ansel12]

I have a General Contractor friend that remodels expensive Southern Cal. homes and when I was telling him about the plumbing materials, he was telling me that Home Depot even sold inferior basic building materials, I was skeptical at the time but the friend went into great detail, and even described the inferior finishing nails, etc.

[TSgt]

I was in a Homo Depot this weekend but only because I needed to use their restroom, I shop at Lowes. On my way towards the restroom I passed the employee breakroom. On the wall outside the breakroom was a large sign that said “Celebrate Diversity.” A gay pride display was below the sign followed by black history and on the very bottom a small sign about Flag Day.

They got my piss but not my money.

[Scotsman will be Free]

I’m not a contractor, but do most of my own home repairs. In addition to faucets, door knobs, light switches and doors are also short lived.

[chrisser]

The seller should know the origin and legality of his products, not the consumer

Really?

How is "legality" determined?

What's a "public project" and how does Home Depot know when a government purchasing agent orders something what the ultimate destination of that item will be?

There are obviously exceptions - there aren't any U.S. made TV's anymore, as just one example, yet I see televisions all over the place in government offices.

Shouldn't it be the job of the government to enforce it's own regulations against itself or does a GSA contract shift the liability onto the retailer to police agents of the government?

[newnhdad]

We stopped shopping HomoDepot too but it seems like somebody must make a contribution to Barry’s re-selection campaign..

[donozark]

They (Home Depot) also apparently build defective buildings. At least according to some engineers that have examined the collapsed facility in Joplin. "Tilt-up walls." Deemed unsafe. Not sure what this will lead to...

Oh, I know! Lawsuits!

[steveo]

Stupids at Home Depot probably also drink Budweiser, Starbucks and shop at Walmart too.

[ansel12]

We can see the retailer doing due diligence to verify that his suppliers and foreign suppliers all meet the legal standards of the products they are making and selling if so required, but how is the end user supposed to do that?

I can hand you a box full 100 different products, and when I demand that you verify that they were all manufactured and imported according to law, where do you even start? Home Depot starts at the beginning, before they even write the contract with that supplier.