On August 26 I purchased a Wagner Paint Crew paint sprayer for $149 which was to be offset by a $50 rebate which had to be mailed in. The clerk made an extra copy of my receipt so I might mail in the rebate.
The rebate would take 10-12 weeks to process according to the information. When I contacted The Home Depot via email in December I was instructed to continue to wait.
In January, I contacted The Home Depot Rebate Department who stated they did not have my rebate request. I was instructed to fax the information I had over to them which I did.
The next email I received from The Home Depot was a request for my personal information and what I filed a rebate, the information had already been included in my fax so I saw this as a stall tactic. The next day I contacted the rebate department and spoke to a very nice gentlemen who showed an interest in my plight but was unable to assist me because... The rebate I was filing for did not exist in their system.
I was instructed by this individual to go to The Home Depot store that I made my purchase at and speak to the manager.By this time I was completed fed up with The Home Depot. They had sold me equipment that was sold under fraudulent circumstances. I took the equipment back, which I had not yet used, and was told by the store that all they could give me was a store credit. I told them I didn't want a store credit, I wanted my money back. The response was that my receipt was too old and that the "store policy" was to only give a store credit.
I find this a completely self-serving policy considering that I had to wait 10-12 weeks for my rebate. How convenient. The store manager was unavailable when I asked to see him and I was given a 1-800 number to call for customer service. Apparently, the stores are not allowed to provide customer service, you can only get that at the 1-800 number.
However, I was to find that even at the 1-800 number you can't get customer service. I spoke to a representative who again stated The Home Depot policy diatribe of "we can only give you a store credit". I asked for the supervisor who regurtated the same, and then the manager who stated the same. When I asked to speak to his manager he stated there was no one else above him. Eventually, the wonderful Home Depot manager, Blake hung up on me when I continued to insist to speak to his supervisor. I was never abusive, never cursed but was certainly emphatic and The Home Depot Customer Service manager hung up on me.
I feel that The Home Depot sold a product under false/fraudulent pretenses claiming a possible rebate when there was none. Then do not allow you recourse because your receipt is too old. The underlings are not empowered to provide customer service because they wouldn't know customer service if it ran over them.
I find it difficult to believe that The Home Depot would risk losing a customer over $150 but apparently they don't care. I have committed to never gracing their doors to purchase another product. They are not the only hardware store in the world.
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