Home Depot has disgustingly declined over the years. I would much rather go to Lowes.
I prefer to buy my materials at my local lumber yards but that isnt always possible, as the local guys have crappy hours. Being that most of my contracting work is either weekends or in the evening after my regular job, Im stuck with the box stores.
HD was good back in the old days when the salespeople actually had to have real life work experience in the dept they worked in. Now they are mostly HS kids and cluless lay people. Half the time I am in there, I end up helping other customers with what they need.

Giardelli? or whatever his name is ran HD into the ground, walked away with 1/4 billion and is now running Chrysler Corp. for a private equity firm... good work if you can get it. The guys sole objective at HD was to up the numbers by getting rid of knowledgable higher paid employees, depleting inventory, letting the stores go to ruin then collect his monster bonuses.... a true captain of industry.

Bring the item back to the store, set it on the customer service counter, and light it on fire.

I've had to educate the 'tile dept' staff people on numerous occasions...


The Napa store is full of jokers.


KT

Nardelli came from GE. He had no retail background. Didn't understand the customer experience or thought he could assess it through metrics. He pushed to win on those metrics and didn't see that he was losing the customer. Kind of like Westmoreland in Vietnam, focused on body counts. Nardelli is failing at Chrysler too, but I don't know who wouldn't. I don't think even Steve Jobs could save that company.

Yep, He must have been a student of the Robert McNamara school of business.. :D

Agree about Chrysler, I feel for their employees and dealers but that's a dead horse they are flogging...

Lowes and HD are stocked about the same for me. I rarely find a delay at the Lowes checkout, so I go there more often.

Saturday I went into HD to buy a shower door because their website said "in stock". I go to the store and don't see it amongst the dozens of others doors.

Me to Clerk: Can you check your inventory on the computer for xyz shower door.

Clerk: Okay.... it shows 4 in stock.

Me: There isn't any on the aisle, where to they keep them?

Clerk: Probably locked up in storage outback. Need the manager with the key.

Big Pause..........................................

Me: So are you going to fetch the manager or am I?

Clerk: Oh, you want that door right now?

Me: No, I just drove here to verify your inventory against your website. Of course I want it now, jeeeez louieeeeez.

HD used to be pretty good. I used to be able to get what I wanted and often was able to speak to someone who could offer me some help/advice. They built one less than a mile from my house. I had wood because the other was a pain in the butt because of the drive. This one was well stocked with people and stuff for a short period of time. THese days, it looks like the inventory is done by a chimpanzee, not a computer or human. I bet if someone came in and did a thorough inventory they'd find that the place only had 70% of the parts that they are supposed to have in the store. They might squeak up to 80%, but that would be because the other 10% was in the wrong place or fallen behind/under a shelf someplace. The help is pretty much all kids who could give a crap because they are making crap. I still shop there because it's close and they have the basics.

There is a Lowes another 2 miles farther down the road. For whatever reason, I don't like it at all. They seem to have more of their stuff in stock. That's the only reason that I go is when HD doesn't have what I need.

I'd be totally tickled if they both just had 99% of what they were supposed to have and had employees for nothing other than making sure that all of the crap was neat and where it was supposed to be. The bins and pegs of crap on the nut/bolt aisle are a joke. It's like they let a hundred 7 year olds loose in them for a day.

The HD closest to my house is the worst in the area IMO.

I always heard that lowes was so much better than hd. I've been to the local lowes a few times now and it seems about the same.

We have a Menards, Lowes, and Home Depot all within 8 miles of each other.

Home Depot has the worst lighting; its like walking into an airplane hanger that has half the lights turned off. And they have stuff stacked dangerously high up in the racks in my opinion. I like their automated checkout machines though; at least the machines say please and thank you in clear english, unlike the sorta-human cashiers.

Home Despot and Lowes (Blowes) = same same...

Store layout is the same big box formula....Employees are not those experts that HD used to tout in their TV adds..

I think Lowes hasn't quite worn out there welcome yet...

I search out "local" small business owned building supply/lumber yard/ hardware stores...and gladly pay a higher price....( I do haggle and bring out the "HD" sells it cheaper once in awhile)

It is altruistic, but I try and support local privately owned businesses, rather than corporate megastores..

I own a building materials shop and have to say that I am not surprised at all by some of the posts here. I say if you need an appliance go to an appliance store. HD to me is like a jack of all trades, master of none. Or maybe a convenience store because of the hours.

Come to a small shop like mine and you work a deal with me, the owner. You have a problem - you come to me, the owner. I give a hoot about you. You are important to me. You are my customer. At home depot there are just customers. You are one in a sea of many.

As for a better deal, as someone else mentioned some companies stock their products in HD themselves and manage their areas. HD gets a cut on what they sell. I deal with the same company only I purchase stock and inventory it. An identical item I sell at 58 cents, they sell at 75 cents. I am an independant too, no banner or buying group. To be fair they do have some items I cannot compete with, or they will loss leader something - to get you somewhere else. These items I no longer carry as there is nothing in it any longer.

Oh, Our staff are 35 yrs, 34 yrs, 32 yrs, 22 yrs, 6yrs so if you ask us we'll probably know - unless its about gardening or appliance, BBQ or a patio set. :)

Reg,

I hear you loud and clear... I gave up the big box home center a few years ago... and search out independents... I may have to drive few more miles to your store, and possibly pay a bit more..

I'm ok with that...

When I called the store earlier today, I got passed from dept to manager to manager and back.

One 'customer service representative' was having a conversation with someone else while I was on the line. Giving me the "uh-huh", "yeah", "OK", "let me transfer you to the shift manager"...

I should got her name and went down there in person.
But, that would have been a complete waste of my time, wouldn't it?


KT

Hey Tim

Glad you've come around.

Not sure where in NY Wantagh is but a couple months a lad from Rochester drove to me to purchase hardwood flooring. Not sure how many HD he passed on the way, about 300 or so miles. Price must have been good ;)

Every time I set foot in HD I walk out wandering why. They don't stock many simple items, like certain plumbing fittings. The staff is absolutely worthless, typically if they don't know what you're talking about they simply claim they don't have it. They research the items that consumers typically price, then sell them at little profit or a loss. They then mark up the little stuff that nobody thinks about. That's why you can get a cheap toilet, but pay $20 for a wax ring and bolt set. Their lumber is crap too, good look finding anything that's not warped.

As the former manager of a small-town independent hardware store/lumber yard, I can rant about HD and Lowes for hours.

I'm listening. :)


KT

Ive never had an issue at any HD around here. Of course there are 8 big stores within 20 miles of my house, (yes, really 8) and about 4 Lowes, and i dont see much of a difference, and have found all the employees very helpful. i have brought back several items over the years with no receipts and never had a problem. And i have some friends that fly for them, and they have no complaints either.

I recently got a pretty good deal on upscale door hardware for my house fron H.D, but had a small problem last week.
I originally bought $3,400 worth of interior & exterior door hardware, which had to be special ordered. To their credit, there were only a couple of mistakes in the order (I say "to their credit" because customer service everywhere is so crappy nowdays, we've come to expect lots of mistakes). One mistake was that they shipped one of three handsets with a right-hand lever instead of the left-hand lever I needed & had ordered. The kicker was that when I went in to get it exchanged, they told me they didn't carry it anymore!!! I finally fought with them enough they contacted the factory to get me the right one.

Surprised I didn't hear about that one - where was it? And how many more can this area really support anyway? We've already got two (Signal Hill & Spring St.) not to mention Grainger, WhiteCap and a few others for "real" contractor stuff.

The last thing this area needs is more "big box anchored" shopping centers.

I noticed yesterday that the one over by Sears is now going to have TWO major anchor tenants vacant - CompUSA's space is still unoccupied after a year and a half & now Circuit City is closing up. If Sears goes, that entire shopping center will probably collapse.