For some reason, and we’re sure someone will figure it out but we’re not going to waste our morning, the Home Depot Tool Rental Search does not recognize Middlesex, NJ as a valid zip code. This irritated our reader enough that he wrote several letters to Home Depot, in a vain attempt to find a location in New Jersey that rented tools. Read his letters and Home Depot’s replies inside.

Chris writes:

Yesterday I was searching for some local tool rental places, and I
recalled that Home Depot does offer tool rentals in certain locations.
The have a snazzy website to help you at http://www.homedepotrents.com.
Anyhow, I went there and I type in my zip code to be displayed an
error that says “Please enter a valid zip code!” I try a few more NJ
zip codes (all of which lead off with a zero) which all fail as well.
I then try a few non-NJ zip codes (that lead with something other than
a zero) which all work. Seems that I’ve found a bug that prevents the
entire state of NJ from searching for Home Depot tool rental centers.

Naturally, I contact Home Depot’s customer service through their website form:

###

Hi,

I am visiting http://www.homedepotrents.com, which appears to be slightly
broken. I live in NJ and when I input my zip code (in the upper right)
I get an “invalid zip code” error. I think it is because of the leading
0 in the zip code (as I did try other cities w/out leading 0s and it
worked). Please resolve this issue as you are shutting out all NJ
residents from using this site.

Thanks,

Chris

###

A few minutes later I get a canned response from Home Depot:

###

Dear Home Depot Customer,

Thank you for your feedback concerning our website. Your feedback has
been forwarded to the appropriate department.

Thank you for shopping at homedepot.com.

###

Then, this morning I get a response from a person who didn’t even read
my email, which made me quite peeved and prompted me to write you
guys:

###

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your e-mail to Home Depot Direct.

We realize your concern and apologize for any inconvenience caused to
you.

For assistance regarding product search online, visit our website
http://www.homedepot.com and on top right hand side Search enter the product
name or model number and click on search, you can browse the products
and place an order online.

For additional information, click on Description and Specification.

If you need help finding the store closest to you, please follow these
steps: go to http://www.homedepot.com and click the Store Finder tab on the
toolbar. Once you accessed the Store Finder page, enter your geographic
information, and click the Find Store button. The Store Locator will
provide you with a map and a list of stores in your area.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Manish
Home Depot Direct

###

I guess it was another canned response, but it had nothing to do with
what I initially asked, so I sent a final reply telling them exactly
how to reproduce the bug:

###

Read my email again. I’m not trying to find the closest Home Depot
location. I already know where that is! I am trying to find the
closest location that RENTS TOOLS!!!

Do this to see where your bug is:

1- Go to http://www.homedepotrents.com
2- In the upper right corner of the screen see “Find a rental center
near you”, then input “08846” as the zip code and then press search.
3- You will get a pop-up saying “Please enter a valid zip code!”

Please fix this as all zip codes in the state of NJ start with a zero.

Thanks,

Chris

###

It was a good theory, but some zip codes from New Jersey do work…just not yours, Chris. Home Depot considers Middlesex, NJ to be invalid. Don’t take it personally though.

Anyway, we dug up this PDF of tool rental locations for you in about 15 seconds of searching Home Depot’s site. One would have thought the Home Depot help monkey could have done that for you but hey… We’re the Consumerist. We’re everyone’s help desk. —MEGHANN MARCO

Home Depot Tool Rental Locations (PDF) [Home Depot]
(Photo:jvree)

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