Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Home Depot

This was only a mild irritation of a shopping experience but it's the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and got this whole blog thing going. I needed one door stopper for our front door and I'm at the Home Depot anyways so I figure I'll pick one up. I look at the wall of stoppers and see a white, plastic stopper that would match the drywall that the door knob is denting. So I look in the corresponding box on the shelf and find that it's empty. I ask an ever-present sales associate if they have anymore somewhere in back.
"No" says The Man,"we only have what's up front. But maybe some have gotten mixed up in the brass stoppers." So he digs in the box of brass stoppers and eureka! there's one at the bottom of the box. I said I'll take it.
"Sorry" says The Man, "but it's not in the package and there is two in a package. We wouldn't be able to ring it up without the code on the package." I then explain that I really only need one and the other would just be hanging around. He then jokingly asks if I only have one door. I tell him no, I have more then one door, but only have a problem with one of them and besides the brass stoppers are too tacky.
I then have a brainstorm. "Can't you just ring it up under 'miscellaneous sale'? "No", says the man, we can't do that" and takes the lone stopper and walks down the isle with it in his hand.

What gives? I am a consumer who wants to buy an item that a store stocks but said store can't sell it to me because it doesn't know how. So what do they do with it now? Throw it out? Why would I have to buy 2 anyways and why do you have to sell it in some environmentally-unfriendly plastic bag?

The next day I bought one door stopper at True Value although it didn't come in a fun plastic bag.

Verdict? The Home Depot Sucks!