My home depot appliance purchasing exp.

Grouse · 03-09-07, 10:20

On February 09th our washing machine pretty much lost its spin cycle. I could get it to spin but I had to Gerry rig it 3 or 4 times a wash. Even then I could only do ¼ the normal loads. On February 14th our dryer stopped putting out large volumes of heat. This started to make even the ¼ sized loads take 3-4 times longer to dry. In short I was in need of a new washer and dryer.

I spent a few days looking online at consumer reports and finally settled on a brand. I notice Home Depot carried the brand I wanted. So I stopped in on the 15th of February to see the models. After looking at them all I decided to order LG models. This is where it went south. Way south.

During the purchase I was given choices for delivery on Sat, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.
I chose Sunday February 18th. I was given 10% off my order and a 55 dollar rebate on delivery and install. I was then charged 390$ for power cords, vent piping, water hoses, install brackets etc. This was about 15 dollars short of my 10% discount and 55 dollar rebate together.

My wife had not seen the models so we stopped by home depot the evening of February 15th (the same day I bought the set). While talking with the sales rep, he informed us that home depot could not accommodate the Sunday 18th delivery. We discussed this as we would be out of a washer and dryer for a full week then. He politely assured us that Tuesday February 20th was the first day he could get the washer and dryer to us. Content but a little perturb we left. 10 days without a washer and dryer would be a pain.

Sunday February 18th rolls around and I get a phone call from our home depot salesman and he says unfortunately our Tuesday 20th delivery time was not available. He is able to get it on the Wednesday February 21st delivery thought. So now it is 12 days without a functioning washer and dryer for a family of 4.

Monday February 19th comes around and I get a phone call from Home depots manager. They need a separate check from the one I wrote for to cover the costs of the power cords, vent piping, water hoses, install brackets etc. Somehow this was not included in my original bill, I debated this as they were clearly listed in my receipt. On and on we went. I acquiesced and came in and wrote a check for an additional 400. Bringing my total of 3457 for the washer, dryer, stands and install to 3857 for piping bits.
I am starting to get very upset at this process. Not only did I loose my full discount they are charging me twice for it. But at this time I have 30 loads of laundry sitting in my hallway and I need to get it done. I can not take it to a laundry matt because I have two very small kids during the day.

On Tuesday February 20th I removed the old washer and dryer, which and only been able to complete one load of laundry a day for the last 11 days. I spent the day draining the washer, un hooking the dryer, and cleaning the laundry room for the new arrivals the next morning.

Wednesday February 21st comes around. I am waiting patiently for my delivery. I receive a phone call at 10:30 from my salesman. He wants to know how my Tuesday delivery went. Tuesday delivery? I replied you switched it to Wednesday this last Sunday. He apologizes for the confusion and says he will look into it. 15 min later I get a phone call with him saying the washer and dryer are not even at the regional distribution center. The earliest day they can get that to me is Thursday February 22nd. I replied that is simply unacceptable. He hangs up to look into what he can do.

I call the manager, the manager replies that they have switched delivery companies and it is not all sorted out. And yes they can get the washer and dryer to their warehouse on Thursday February 22nd. However the first day of service for the new delivery crew is Saturday February 24th, and he would do his best to "squeeze me in" . At this point I am livid. This means I am now 15 days without a washer and dryer if I go by the home depot schedule. I hang up.

I spent a few min on the phone with the wife discussing options. I received a call back from the manager he told me the weekend deliveries and Monday are full. Tuesday February 27th is his earliest delivery day. I ask if I can pick the washer and dryer up at the store or warehouse. He replied that is not a possibility as they do not carry the washers in inventory at the store and the warehouse does not have them in stock and will not receive them till the following Tuesday. I replied wait, you just told me you could deliver it to me on Tuesday the 26th and now you are saying your warehouse is receiving them Tuesday the 26th. He replied yes the ware house is getting them Tuesday the 26th. If we can get them of the truck in time we can deliver them on Tuesday. At this point I replied get me the washer and dryer installed by 5pm today (Wednesday February 21st ) or cancel the order.

Here is where it gets even worse.

He replies they cannot get it to me by 5pm. So we agree to cancel it. I ask what is necessary and he says since the checks have not gone through just cancel the checks, and he will deal with it on his end. I call my bank and cancel the two checks 3457 and 400. I spent the next 4 hours calling appliance stores finding one that had the model in stock in the greater Seattle area. I found the two in stock, in Redmond at Fredrick's appliance. A quick talk with Casey on the phone and he assured me he could have them delivered that day Wednesday February 21st. His price was 100 less than what home depot was charging me. 4:30 rolls around and I receive a call from the delivery guys, they are on their way. By 6 pm I had my washer and dryer.

Two weeks go by in laundry bliss. I love the new washer and dryer. On march 3rd I received a letter in the mail from the Issaquah home depot general manager.

"Dear Aaron,

My name is neil goehri and I am the general store manager of the Issaquah HD.

This letter is a follow-up to your recent shopping experience with us relating to an appliance purchase which was subsequently cancelled. Please allow me to express a sincere apology for any inconveniences this transaction may have cause you and your family.

Please be assured I value your patronage and hope that you would afford us another opportunity to regain your confidence here at the Issaquah home depot store. Please feel free to contact me at any time for your convenience the stores telephone number is 425 391 8467.

I am looking forward to your continued support . Again I offer a sincere apology to you for any inconvenience this experience may have caused.

Thank you.
Signed,
Niel goehri
GSM
Issaquah Home Depot # 4704.

<hand written PS>
P.S. I am having a 100 dollar gift card sent out to you also. It should arrive in appx. 1 week."

Now one might thing this is a nice thing. And it is to a degree. Except for the other two letters I received that day.

"Dear Aaron,
This is to notify you that check #### in the amount of 3457 and check #### in the amount of 400 was returned due to stop payment and has been referred to Certegy payment recovery services for collection...."

Yep, they are trying collecting on a product they never received and could not deliver.

I have called Niel 5 times, once a day this week. He has neither answered my calls nor returned them. I have been fair, now I am dealing with this in the same manner they have treated me.

TigerMike · 03-09-07, 11:17

Wow, that is some kind of hell! Thanks for the heads up though, as I am (or *was* actually) looking at HD for a cheap Maytag dryer. I think I'll definitely shop elsewhere! Sears or Roy Good here I come!

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but it goes to show that sometimes it pays to give the local store the business, because they may pride themselves on greater levels of customer satisfaction and service, as they need every customer and word of mouth goes a long way in the local markets. HD does not. They will still make multi-billion dollar revenues this year without your purchase and the care towards your situation shows they don't care about the individual. They could obviously care less, and that is not accepatable.

Grouse · 03-09-07, 11:21

Yep i here you tigermike.

I however have posted this in every regional GD area of every forum i post on. I am a prolific poster......

Coupe · 03-09-07, 11:28

I bought a washer and dryer last october from HD.
I got the $55 delivery rebate and was charged nothing for install or hardware.
It did take a week though.

Grouse · 03-09-07, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coupe

I bought a washer and dryer last october from HD.
I got the $55 delivery rebate and was charged nothing for install or hardware.
It did take a week though.

I think they were trying to make back the suposed 10% discount they gave me.

LouisanaJeeper · 03-09-07, 06:12

I HATE home depot with a passion. I usually go to Lowes and have not had any major problems. Unrelated, but do the home depots out there have self service checkout registers? Down here they have about 8 self service checkouts and 1-2 "real" cashiers. Try checking out some 8ft 2x4's or a bag of cement with those things or waiting 20minutes in line for the cahiers who are working...

In the rare event you do buy an appliance from home depot, go ahead and rent one of the trucks they have there for $30. They will load the washer/dryer on the truck at the store and you can offload at your place and stop by the disposal place to get rid of the old washer/dryer. Just have to have a hand truck or something at your place.

you can buy new hoses and ducts for about $30 at lowes or home depot.... you should not need a new electrical cord unless it is over 15yrs old or something

TRD-22 · 03-09-07, 06:15

Wow that totally sounded like hell.

My parents (I'm gonna be 17 soon) bought a new house that did not have any appliances at all. And they went over to HD to initially get a LG Dishwasher and a GE stove and a GE over-the-stove microwave .

I believe the order was placed around end of September and we were charged a hefty sum but we did get the rebate on appliance delivery. Along with the current rebate at the time of having a gift card sent back for every $XXX.XX spent, I honestly can't remember

The delivery took about more than a week unforunately. That said, we hadn't moved in yet so it wasn't much of an issue. It was placed on a Sunday and delivered the following, following Tuesday or Wednesday. Everything went fine.

Then came the 2nd purchase, a bunch of LG appliances: a fridge, LG washer & Dryer (with the steam function).

That was a bit quicker, arriving in a week's time. Same rebates as mentioned earlier and HD installed everything for us.

Everything for the most part really went well. That said, I live on the other side of the country in NJ.

paradigm · 03-09-07, 07:03

that is amazingly bad. ugh. also another good reason that i pay for everything with my Visa...if a problem comes up later i'd rather have Visa deal with it than me after writing a check.

good luck with getting it straightened out!

DaGonz · 03-09-07, 07:36

You are far better off dealing with the small local appliance store. When you are buying mutiple things, like a washer/dryer or stove/fridge/microwave, they will offer you a discount that beats or exceeds those of the larger chains, like HD, Sears, etc.

velobard · 03-09-07, 07:47

Sounds like a true Home Deopt hell. You had more patience than I would've, by far. I have a Fisher-Paykel washer I bought at a local appliance store several years ago and I'm very happy with it. I agree with DaGonz, I like to support the local stores when I can and with some appliance companies the prices are set by the company, so you get the same price wherever you shop.

roaringmouse · 03-09-07, 08:57

Sorry for the crap Home Depot put you through.

Seems like Home Depot sucks everywhere. I ordered/paid for granite counter tops ($3000). I was told I could select my granite slab locally (within 5 miles from my house in Tampa, Fl) and that someone would stop by to verify my measurements within 72 hours. 5 Weeks and multi visits to the store later no one even called about measuring my kitchen. I was then told I had to call long distance to the installer to setup an appointment and that I would need to drive to Ft Myers (nearly 100 miles one way) to select my granite. On top of that the granite supplier wasn't open on weekends which would force me to take a day off from work to drive down. I canceled the order and got a full refund. My tops were installed yesterday by a local fabricator who measured and installed within 2 weeks for $600 less then HD.

Ordered Kohler tubs, toilets etc to remodel 2 bathrooms from Homedepot.com over $1000. Order arrive missing one of the toilet seats $20. Home Depot refused to ship another seat. They said I needed to ship back the complete toilet which I had already installed. Wrote 3 letters, return receipt, to Home Depot CEO expecting to get someone to send me what I paid for. Got the signed delivery receipts by no reply HD.

Corey Bit Spank · 03-09-07, 11:40

Aren't they owned by Walmart?

edit: Oh, wait, no. They appear to be as terrible as Walmart on their own.