Giovanni and his wife bought a counter from Home Depot, but caught a nasty surprise when he called to check on the order. Suddenly he was told he had to cover a minimum order and he’d have to pay hundreds more than the agreed upon price. Now kitchenless in New York, he writes:

I’m wondering if you guys have some advice for us. We recently decided to get our small New York kitchen redone, and went to our local Home Depot to buy a new counter. The guy we spoke with, [redacted], was friendly and helpful, and he suggested a specific color of Corian counter because according to him it was the only type that did not have a minimum order (otherwise we would have had to pay for a much larger counter than we needed). He drew up the paperwork and we signed for it and paid approx. $750 with a credit card. In the meanwhile, we had our old counter removed for the counter people to measure the space exactly and because we are re-tiling that wall. So now we don’t have a counter.

This morning my wife called Home Depot to check if they could speed up our order (they had told us it would take up to three weeks), and was told by the person she spoke with (someone named [redacted]) that there had been an error and that there actually was a minimum order on the counter and that we had to pay another $500. My wife explained that we were told that there wasn’t a minimum on the style we ordered, and the person replied that the contract says that prices are apt to change upon measurement. But clearly that applies only if the measurements are different than what was estimated, and has nothing to do with a minimum — the measurements came back the same as the estimate, so there was no reason there for any price adjustment.

I called [redacted] and he was busy so I left a message, and he later called and left us a voicemail saying that he had not said that there was no minimum, that he had actually said that he would try to negotiate with their vendors and that my wife had misunderstood. That really made me angry, because I was there when he said there was no minimum, and now he was trying to blame it on my wife. I called [redacted] again, and after I confronted him he admitted he had made a mistake and that he would speak with his manager. He called again and left another voicemail (which we still have) in which he again admits he made a mistake but that the best they can do is split the difference with us. So basically we made a deal with Home Depot, paid for it and have their signed paperwork PLUS a recorded voicemail saying they had promised us something else, but they want us to pay an extra $250! Isn’t that illegal?

I’m calling the store manager, someone named [redacted], tomorrow (I called today but was told he had already left), but from the conversations we’ve had so far it looks like they’re really going to insist on this new charge.

I’d say it’s time to abandon ship, dispute the charge and move on to another company. Another option is to contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808.

What do you think, internet?

(Photo: cmorran123)

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