The stock market hates Home Depot. The stock holders hate Home Depot. The Media hates Home Depot. Our readers hate Home Depot.Everyone hates Home Depot.

First the housing slump, awful earnings, and crap same store sales figures sent Home Depot’s stock plummeting. Now local media outlets are having a field day uncovering shady Home Depot subcontractors and their nefarious bilking of customers. Oh, Home Depot. Everyone hates your ex-CEO and his record-threatening golden parachute. Everyone hates your sales staff and their apparent lack of knowledge or training. Everyone hates you! Even people who used to love you hate you. Maybe it’s because you’re wasting everyone’s time?

From the Boston Globe:

Back in 1990, when my wife and I loved Home Depot, the store was staffed with well-trained, knowledgeable and helpful people. If you had a question — even a silly one — it was easy to find someone who knew the answer. Home Depot had an amazing inventory. It also had a staff that helped you access that inventory and make choices. While it didn’t have employees waiting at the door, as high-service stores like Elliot’s in Dallas and Big Jo in Santa Fe do, you could make a purchase quickly at Home Depot.

But today, it is difficult to find a staff person at a Home Depot. Personally, I’ve left the store empty-handed after a hopeless wait. During one long wait shortly before Christmas, I commented to a worker that the store was so busy they must be getting lots of overtime.

“No way,” the employee said.

Home Depot: Bad investment. Bad customer service. Scammy subcontractors… and now short-staffed, as well. Yikes. Maybe some tear-jerking reality-tv-esque ads will help?—MEGHANN MARCO

Home Depot’s Biggest woe: It wastes our time [Boston Globe]
(Photo: carvalho)