is your local Home Depot severely incompetent?

[testcase]

I was in a HD last week. HomeDepot.com showed FIVE air conditioners of a particular model as being in stock. The staff was unable to find any. :banghead:

[modelamac]

The same gene pool supplies Home Depot with employees as other retail store, but Home Depot (& Lowes & Menard's) has many times more products for those employees to remember/be familiar with.

I don't expect online product to match in-store shelves on a one-for-one basis, and I don't cancel orders. If I make a decision to buy something, I buy it.

I think the problem here is expectations,

[OWC Jamie]

Speedy wrote:
Too bad the big box stores wiped out the mom and pop hardware stores.

The customers who shop on price alone did that.

[mattkime]

I'd rather support a good local hardware store - but my local hardware stores are of the sketchy variety. My previous neighborhood have a very nice one that I loved going to

[decay]

Some things you can't get at the smaller stores. Sadly.

Home Depot can be great, but I find it to be a huge time-suck.

[Michael]

We had a great Ace Hardware 4 miles away until last winter. And then it burned down. Nothing indicating that they are rebuilding.

[OWC Jamie]

Michael wrote:
We had a great Ace Hardware 4 miles away until last winter. And then it burned down. Nothing indicating that they are rebuilding.

I have two Ace hardwares within several miles depending on whether I want to go East or West. One has been an Ace since I can remember and has become a Craftsman Sears outlet of sorts, but still sports the Ace name. The other was purchased by a different Ace franchisee ( http://www.rockys.com/store_locator ) and become horribly expensive.

[Kraniac]

They vary..but my perspective is different. I'm in the building biz and I do a wide range of things..so, yes, most of the time the answers I receive are extremely shaky..except this.

"Where did you move the X toooo?"

[NewtonMP2100]

depends....there is always the one employee who is very knowledgeable and helpful (usually an older gentleman)....but most give you incorrect information (usually some young'n - though I once saw a young'en that was very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. but that is the exception)......

[anonymouse1]

In the Washington, DC area, every HD I've been to has been bad to awful. Every Lowes has been great.