The Home Depot

I’ve never had a problem with this location. The staff isn’t overly friendly, but they don’t avoid you either. They carry the same items found in any Home Depot at competitive prices. The one thing I don’t like about this location is the parking lot. It seems like people almost try to run you over there. Not sure what could be done to improve the situation, but it would certainly make my shopping experience better if I don’t get flattened by a truck.

Well, it’s improving but still has a long, long way to go.
First problem is you can’t see it from the road. I don’t know how many times I’ve needed an item for a project around the house, drove right past it and because I didn’t see it, didn’t think about it until I was on my way back home and saw Lowes on Eisenhower. Then, I bought the item at Lowes because I didn’t want to make the trip all the way back to the castle on the hill depot.
Nice location, if you could see it. Even if they could put a sign at the road reminding people that, hey, there’s a hardware store on that hill, it would help. But, on the plus side, since many people just pass it by, it’s really never crowded.
Customer service here used to be beyond bad. If I needed something and if, IF someone could be found on the floor they were generally of remedial quality, middle school smart on what a PVC elbow is, where it’s located within the store and what’s its actual function is.
But, things have improved. I did have a very nice lady help me finding and figuring out an issue I had regarding telephone tools. Another lady was even more helpful and suggested trying Lowes when Home Depot’s product was inferior, but she was a vendor and technically not a Home Depot employee. Figures.
Here’s what TAKES THE CAKE. I was in the market for a washer and was going to go home with one that day, one way or the other. Period! CASH MONEY! I started out at Home Depot and looked over their selections. One had a temperature setting of «cold tap» or maybe «tap cold.» What the heck is that? Does it spit out beer on tap?
I politely asked an employee, who I will not name. To preserve his anonymity, let me just pick out a name at random. Let’s just call him the Jolly Green Ginger Giant of the appliance department and no one will know who I’m talking about. Now, I didn’t spout off about does tap cold mean beer on tap. I politely asked him what the world is that.
It may have been getting close to his lunch, maybe he thought I wasn’t a serious buyer or maybe he’s just plain stupid. He told that for $ 650 or whatever the price was on that washer, that he didn’t think that they’d put a refrigeration unit in it. I countered that you wouldn’t want a refrigeration unit in a washer anyway.
Oh, yes, you would was the beginning of a bunch of BS on how water often comes out of the pipe TOO hot to wash clothes. Remember, this is the cold water pipe. He told me that at his house the water comes out of the tap at 85 or so degrees. Well, maybe for a second or two until water runs through the pipe that’s been in the ground. Or maybe he lives over an active small volcano?
I left going to another part of the store and thought, let me go back and see if there’s someone in that department who isn’t a complete, certifiable idiot. Finally, another employee looked the manual up on line and a knowledgeable person explained it. The theory is that powdered detergents often don’t dissolve in too cold a water and when it says cold, it may be mixing in some hot water. Tap cold would be without any warm water added.
I left to check out other stores and bought a washer from a store on Mercer, conveniently located a couple of blocks north of this Home Depot! Just go north on that side road to Mercer and take a right. Yellow building. Can’t miss it. The guy who runs it can read, write and knows what’s he’s doing. No BS.
Of all the sorry employees, of all the sorry hardware stores in all of this state, this guy, the Jolly Green Ginger Giant, has to be the most sorry king of sales of the whole sorry lot. I mean, come on, if you’re going to try to lie, think of something believable. With people like him, no wonder this country is in such bad shape. This is a great example to explain to kids why to say no to drugs. I don’t know if this guy is a user but at least that’d be an excuse other than the obvious one of just plain stupid.
Great store if you like BS, snow ball answers and maybe out for a lark one day and ask a simple question for an answer that will give you your laugh for the day.
A few days later I went back and the Jolly Green Ginger Giant was at lunch. A woman was writing up an order for a couple for a washer/​dryer combo. I told her the experience of the magic washer and that now refrigeration units come in some models, how BrandsMart up the road about 45 minutes has most of their same appliances at about 40% the cost and that store on Mercer beats their prices on all washers or dryers any day.
As I continued, I could almost hear her teeth grinding. Perhaps a hair or two fell out as she was typing their order. I suggested to this couple that they check out BrandsMart and save them a bundle of money. The employee writing up the order thanked me for my comments. What else could she do right in front of two people in the process of buying a washer/​dryer but still to the point that they might say, «hey, let’s go to BrandsMart.»