I prefer HD and have always used them until moving here. Now it's just too far to go to one.

Hmm, I'm the exact opposite. I don't want the employees talking to me or trying to help me, if I need you...well just be available.

In Florida it is company policy that you must be 23 or younger or 72 and older to work at HD. Oh yea, you don't always have to speak English even as a second language.

The HD employees around here all have the same standard response to a question, "this isn't my aisle".

2 Lowe's stores about equal distance away, 1 very helpful, other is a ghost town.

As far as Menard's, asking a question just leads to frustration and blank stares. They always ask if they can help, but they are incapable of providing it.

I noticed the change about a year ago in two of the HD's I go to. I stopped one of the associates I was acquainted with and asked why the stark difference. He it was a new company policy.

My Home Depot story; Iwas at the local HD and before I went there I looked on line to make sure that they had the drill bit I needed. It showed 5 in stock. I look all over the tool section and then I went to the electrical section was because I thought it might be there. The bit I was looking for is the kind that you can drill the hole and disconnect the bit and using a hole in the end of the bit pull wire through the hole.

I asked a orange vested dude in electrical about the bit and he rudely said we do not have any such bit. I then stormed off mumbling about why I never like coming here and that I am going to Lowes. Well I guess I said it in front of an assistant manager and she stopped and and said let me help you and please do not go to Lowes.

Long story short she located the drill bit and rang me up and went out of her way to convince me to continue shopping at HD.

I have made many trips to HD because I am doing a complete remodel of my back yard and have noticed that the workers there have become more helpful in the past 6~8 months.

Dave

I hate HD. The ones I go to do not have many knowledgeable people working in there (I mean location of thing that I need, not knowledge about products). The ones in Orange County are much better. Lowe's use to be really good, until they have to pull from the local gene pool. I usually go to my local lumber yard to get rape. Most professional tool shop had been put out of business by HD, so I tend to support my local tools places. They are super pricy on a few items. They problems with HD and Lowe's are that people who go in there have no clue what they are doing, and they are asking the guys in orange how to repair something. The people who work there are just some guy who needed a job in retail. So, it's just two monkeys trying to Fcuk a football.

A couple of years ago, I send a friend to HD to get some grout for his kitchen counter. He has a sample with him so he goes to the guy in the tile section and pops the question. He told my buddy to go to the paint and match the grout color to the paint chip and have a can pf paint made so that he can mix it into the grout to match existing. My dumb ass friend did just that.

Quite the opposite here in NYC. HD sucks and Lowes rocks. The service at HD got better only because a Lowes opened up next door, I call it the "Lowes Effect".

As a man, I don't ask for help in the hardware store. All I require is the hardware store sell hardwares.

Yep, same here.

I have a strong disklike for Menards because they attempt to a$$rape their vendors. I actually cancelled them as a client. Oh, and that annoying jerkoff on the commericails used to grate on me as well.

HD has made some positive changes I think. A "wharehouse" with knowledgeable workers to help was the initial concept. It strayed pretty far from that, and I think they are trying to get back on track. I applaud them for making the changes.

I go to their corporate every once in a while, and have seen changes there as well.

Bill

Just a little history....
When Bernie and Arthur, the two guys that started HD retired, Robert Nardelli was hired to take over as CEO. He came in and "let go" of all the people that knew what they were doing. Some had been with HD since the beginning in 1979 and were making 20 to 25 bucks an hour. These were guys that were electricians or plumbers that didn't want to work in the field and were happy to work at HD and help customers with their projects. Nardelli replaced these people with very young people at minimum wage and only part time so they wouldn't get any benefits. HD's stock plummeted from 66 dollars to 22 in short time. Business disappeared. Nardelli was paid off millions to get the hell out of HD and went to Chrysler! We all know what he did to Chrysler.....
HD is still trying to recover from the Nardelli years....the stock has never recovered, still stuck in the mid 30s.

That's exactly how I feel. Mainly because over the years I have come to the conclusion that I know more about most of it than most of their employees and on more than one occasion I have been given "help or advice" that I knew was BS.

I realize everyone has to learn one way or another but... Recently, In a HD in Houston I stopped and asked a young guy (early 20's at best) where the nailsets were? His response was essentially: What is a nailset??

I usually have god experience with HD, and almost always bad experience with Lowes.

my last visit was outstanding..

i bought a bucket. yup. i needed a clean bucket for changing water in my aquarium. (for the record, a contractor will find every bucket you have hidden and use it for grout)

the cashier, very cute, with glasses and having that tina fey thing going for her..asked me, "do you need the lid?" i asked "is it included?" she didnt know, so i grabbed one from a nearby pile..i saw the price tag and shook my head to her..and put it back.

she yells, "bring it here! i'll hook you up!" after the confusion at the register, she ended giving me the lid free, and charged me 50% for the bucket.

her manager laughed at me and my confused look and said, "yea, she does that sometimes".

for the most part, all the big box stores suck. nothing like the commercials.

Vash,
tell us the rest, at the dinner with the cashier. :lol:

Last major HD purchase was levelor blinds. They had a sale and the prices were right. Measured all of my windows for an inside mount. Went to the lady working the blind section, showed here the model and accessories we wanted, then started giving her the sizes.

Her"is this inside or outside mount?"
Me: "inside mount"
Her"Then we will dedcut 1/2 from each width measurement so it will fit"
Me: "No need, I measured based upon an inside mount, these are exact"
Her"No, they won't fit if we use the measurements, they will be too wide"
Me"No, I took the inside mount into account and the numbers I am giving you are the sizes required"
Her" "they won't fit"
Me" Okay, then it is an outside mount-"-gave her the same dimensions

Blinds arrived a few weeks alter and were a perfect inside mount fit.

Yeah they just don't listen... :rolleyes:

I was at a place call Blind To Go, after he did his routine of is it inside/outside minus this and that, he ask me the 5th time for the dimension, I left.

Went to HD explain the above story and told her that I would not go through the routine, give her the dimension I wanted and my phone #. She got it right and it was half price :)

There needs to be a sign for the layman:
-Inside mount blinds attach inside the window frame. The blind needs to be smaller than the window frame. Usually a 1-2 inch gap on each side is correct.

-Outside mount blinds attach outside the window frame, on the wall. The blind can be any size, but usually a 1-4 inch overlap is correct.

I wish my blinds story was as good from lowes years ago. I gave the guy the dimensions I needed and he cut them on his machine. Got home and they were eith too long or too short. Had to get longer ones and cut some down. How had can it be to measure and cut the blinds?

As far as asking workers for help, it's a rare trip that I do. Having built homes for over 20 years, I've been in them hundreds of times and know the stores inside and out.