Home Depot Begs You Not To Leave The Store Because Of Their Crappy Service
Reader Shawn submits this photo that he took at Home Depot. The sign begs you not to leave the store if you've experienced bad customer service...
Shawn says:
I thought my fellow Consumerist readers would enjoy this bit. A photograph (from my cell phone) placed on the entrance of the Las Cruces, NM Home Depot. One would expect such customer service as a matter of routine business. Instead, it takes a world-wide economic collapse for people to actually do their jobs.
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Comments:
Gotta love the penciled in second o in too.
at least they are trying.
@KarbonKopy: Honestly that would annoy me more than bad service. I hate it when employees won't let me shop in peace. If I need help, I'll ask you for it.
We take customer service very seriously.
@Joey Mendoza: Yeah, I'm surprised this post is so snarky about it. They're being proactive about being accountable and consumerist finds away to denigrate Home Depot.
Home depot is the only store I've ever been in where on multiple occasions, staff have said "I don't know" when I've asked where something is.
When did Home Depot start opening stores in Mexico? ;-)
Why not take advantage of their offers?
Rip your list in two, give him the bottom half and tell'em "get me that and meet me up front in 15 minutes".
@KarbonKopy: I think a number of stores are doing that. A salesperson at Macy's told me they got a memo from corporate to approach the customers more often.
To summarize: "If you are dissatisfied with our service, please call this number and be inconvenienced by waiting to talk to a person only to get connected to an answering machine or hung up on. Have a great day!
Aww, they can't spell either.
No, I'm leaving b/c they couldn't take the effort to re-type the sign with the word "too" spelled correctly. That and when I asked the guy if he could cut this piece of plywood, he said sure, then stayed and talked his friend at the end of the aisle for 5 minutes, and was still talking to him when I put the piece of plywood back on the shelf.
@crycry: could be worse. I've had people in Lowes tell me where something is and then it's not there.
I had to laugh at a manager that had to help me. He let me know that the employee that was supposed to be helping me was the reason that everyone thinks that offer crappy customer service. No one could find her and she wasn't responding to pages or direct calls. I let him know he was the first knowledgeable person to ever help me at a Home Depot... and probably the last.
@KarbonKopy: My local Home Depot started this the other day. I also noticed most people wearing orange collared shirts instead of aprons. Kinda annoying, but better than not being able to find anyone I guess.
Actually, I've been warming toward Home Depot again. When I first bought my house (about 4 years ago) HD was my preferred home improvement store. Then Nardelli (same guy who's running Chrysler now incidently) fired all of the salaried knowledgable people and replaced them with slacker part timers who didn't care and didn't know. Everything I've seen about the new CEO seems to indicate that he's trying to refocus on customer service to differentiate between them an Lowe's. I appreciate it, and will give them another shot.
It is a new policy from Home Depot corporate. - My sister is an assistant manager there.
Actually, this helps make employees more accountable for their actions. The headline on this one should have read "Home Depot Improves Service With Direct Line to the Store Manager".
Let us not get way to cynical.
@FuryOfFirestorm: See, the way I read that was "If you had to do everything yourself without any assistance from us and still couldn't get what you wanted, go right ahead and do one more thing by yourself and go track down a phone and try to call the manager. Don't bother asking anybody at the checkout right behind you. They'll be of no help."
You criticize when companies offer poor service. That is justified. You criticize when companies make an effort to offer better service - WHY? What exactly would please you?
@Ameer Hashw: Perhaps you can clue them into something called "proper spelling" and punctuation. Since there is no period, this sentence is STILL running on.
@KarbonKopy: We used to do that at Blockbuster. There, at least, we did it to deter shoplifting. Maybe you looked suspicious?
I_am_Awesome: I think he took a picture to show proof of the impending cold front that will be going through Hell.
I'm sorry, but this is unacceptable. If they can't hire competant employees from the get-go, they obviously have lowsy management.
I must be the only person who has always had a great experience @ home depot. The one horrible experience I had was at an Expo store and they are now closing. I am somewhat disabled and use a cart to get around. People are always helpful and at least in Northern Cali, they have always been nice...even have had jokes with some on occasion.
@I_am_Awesome: I think it's good to see that customer service is making a comeback.
That said, it's a little stupid asking your dissatisfied customers to go find a phone and call for a manager. One has to ask, if they were really interested in improving customer satisfaction, why not put the manager up at the front of the store? This serves two purposes - one, if check-out lines get too long (one of the situations that the sign mentions), the manager is right there to take care of it. And two, of course, if someone is dissatisfied, once again - he's right there.
@I_am_Awesome: I agree. I didn't see anything in that sign about "not leaving the store" as the headline suggests. It simply offers a way for the customer to get ahold of someone in charge when they're pissed.
"Begging you not to leave the store" was a bit extreme in my opinion.
@crycry:
Hilarious. I had that happen to me the other day at Lowe's. I actually crossed the street and went to HD and they answered my question. It was regarding filters on an ice maker.
It wasn't something where they said, "I am not sure, let me check." It was "I don't really know" :::long silence::: "Sorry."
Sad thing is, I always went to Lowe's. I don't think I have ever walked into a HD prior to this past weekend. Maybe I just got the guy on a bad day.
@I_am_Awesome: This does please me actually. It's a lot better than when cashiers pretend to be the manager. Providing a direct number to the manager prevents this (as long as the manager actually answers the calls).
or for any other reason
"Hello, is this the manager? Yes, please go get him, I'll wait, it's important... Yes, I'm leaving because I finished paying for my things and I'd like to go home now."
I never felt HDs problem was bad employees, its rather not enough employees. They have 15 or so aisles, and about 10 or so employees working those aisles. If you need help with something, odds are you are going to wait, and quite often you might be waiting for more than 15 minutes. If they aren't willing/can't afford to put more employees on the floor, then putting up a sign about calling a manager isn't going to solve any problems.
Hey Home Depot. Do you really think that a pissed off customer is going to bother begging you for you to do your job? Here's an idea. Why not provide a good experience to your customers so they don't have to call you and beg you to do your job in the first place?
Consumers that walk out of business in disgust are exercising their free market right to do business with someone else. You loose the sales you go out of business. For every 1 customer complaint you get 100 customers walked out the door because of the same thing.
I certainly hope you go the way of other failed businesses like Compusa and Circuit City.
GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE to crappy companies!!!
AND YAY! comments are down again. This is pathetic.
I had a key duplicated there and it doesn't work. Seriously, how do you screw that up? It goes in a machine and copies the key I gave you. I come back with the key and tell the girl it doesn't work and she looks at me like I'M crazy. I like Menards better anyway.
I actually see this as a step in the right direction.
I work at an independent hardware store that succeeds by providing what we think is excellent customer service. The HD employees have told us that the company line is: "If you want a job, we have them. If you don't help customers like crazy, someone else will help them."
I saw this sign as I was leaving (out of stock on what I needed; all staff with other people). I went to the phone and it was in use and too more guys were already waiting.
Go figure.
@nakedscience: I think this is perfectly reasonable. A manager, especially one with a large number of employees, might not know every individual's performance every day. Part of the point is to get rid of the incompetent employees. Also, we've seen from too many articles on this site that people have a tendency to blame themselves or circumstances for why they do not receive good customer service - this just makes it more clear that you can do something about it right away, instead of sending some email to a corporate address that may or may not have any impact on the individuals that caused the problem.
The world would be a much better place if every manager had their personal phone number on the exit door of every store, so you could let them know exactly how your service went before you leave and let it go.
I saw a sign at the Huntsville, AL Home Depot the other day with a sort of sad-but-good employee empowerment pledge with things on it like "If asked where a product is, I will walk the customer to it and not point", and "I am empowered to stop doing a task to assist a customer."
At first I thought it wasn't meant to be customer-facing, but it also had a photo of the manager and his direct line, so I guess I was meant to see it.
The boy and I were especially intrigued by that "stop doing a task" part, and concluded that either the chain or that specific store must be a history of managers terrorizing the rank and file into customer-unfriendly behavior.
@nakedscience: sometimes it takes a measure like this to determine who you're worthwhile employees are & who aren't.
a simply sign doesn't solve anything, but if the manager is engaged in his store's operations, an action like this can be a great aide in weeding out the chaff, so to speak.
Home Depot is a bunch of idiots, though it's nice they are trying to do something about it. Maybe hiring some people who give a crap would help too.
Last time I was there I was helping some one make a pretty small drip irrigation system. I went up and asked an employee if they had what I needed to make it, which he replied "Nope don't have it, and I would know I am the assistant manager"...though I noticed something as he was talking. I asked him to take 2 steps forward and turn around, because he was standing in front of exactly what I needed to do the whole thing!
His face turned bright red, and without another word he walked off. I got my things, which work great, and went to Lowe's for the rest of my things after that.
I was recently shopping at the Home Depot nearby, and I'll admit that I know next to nothing regarding hardware or the likes. I try to find someone to help me match the bolts I need, and the first guy I come across says he doesn't know hardware. I found another employee, and when I asked for assistance, he got all snappy and yelled at me because he was apparently helping someone else on the other side of the store. I finally got someone to assist me, and he told me they didn't sell the type of bolt I needed, even though after he left, I found them right where we were standing. I had a few more quesitons, but alas, I could not find another employee.
I think I'll start shopping at Lowe's.
Why is the message in quotes? This is really part of a longer narrative, isn't it?
I too have noticed a remarkable change in the level of service I receive from Home Depot. I almost checked to see if I was indeed in the right store.
I don't know what they threatened their staff with, but it's working.
I have to admit while in my local Home Depot recently picking up some supplies for a home improvement project, I was asked no less than 10 times if I needed help or assistance with anything. Total 180 from my previous experiences in the past....there must have been a memo.