I am writing this letter to express my extreme dissatisfaction with my entire experience dealing with your Home Depot store located at 11180 Abercorn St in Savannah, GA. On 14 May I paid in full for the purchase of my door (a total of $1,135.68 minus the measurement fee). Prior to this, I spoke to the salesperson, Rocco, who informed me that they could install not only the door but also the side lights for cheaper than Lowe's could. After some negotiation on the price, we finally decided to go with Home Depot and agreed on the final price mentioned above. It would seem that we made a mistake.
When the installer came out originally, he informed me that it would be no problem to install the windows separately from the door (which is, as I would like to remind you, one of the arrangements in which Home Depot sells the doors). When we finally returned to the store, there was a note in your system saying that your installer felt uncomfortable installing our sidelights. No one deemed it necessary to inform us of this unexpected surprise until we came into the store prepared to buy, so we decided to go back to Lowe's to see what they had to offer. In an effort to re-earn our business, your employee Rocco called us back to tell us that, on top of what we had already negotiated, we could get the door for 20% less if we just came back, due to some special or other. The problem we ran into was that he was misinformed. After some discussion with the management, we finally agreed on a price and paid the money for the installation a few days later.
The scheduled time for installation was Saturday, June 6th, between the hours of 2 PM and 4 PM, as per a call by the installer. When we called at 3:30 PM, just to check on the status, as we had not received a call at that point and were getting worried because we had dinner and entertainment reservations, we were informed that the installer had picked up the door an hour prior (2:30 PM). We live 20 minutes away from this store's location.
We did not receive any call from the installer or from Home Depot to inform us that the installer would be late or delayed, and we had to call both of them. After repeated calls to both Home Depot and the installer, he finally arrived almost an hour after his latest scheduled arrival time (at 5:45 PM). Because of this, we were forced to cancel our dinner and entertainment reservations that were scheduled for later that evening (7 PM, considering a 2 hour installation) and that we had already paid a fee for in advance, as we were counting on a big name company to keep its word with the installation.
We were informed, first of all, that the installer had just recently had a car problem and, after another call, we were told that he was a few houses down from us performing another install and would be 30 minutes away. In speaking with the installer, we found all of this to be false, as he only had a battery problem earlier that morning, per his own word and contrary to what Home Depot told us. Furthermore, contrary to what we were told by both Home Depot and the installer, he was not working on a door at either of the properties he mentioned (I know both owners at the places he and Home Depot said he was working, and I stopped in to check, as we have gotten nothing but lies from this store to date).
In speaking with the homeowners at the two locations that the installer and the associate at Home Depot mentioned, I came to the conclusion that there was no installer at their location doing any work. I am prepared to have both homeowners say so in writing. I find it disgraceful that not only your installer but also your associate, Tasha (whom I was on the phone with continually trying to figure out what was going on), would deem it necessary to lie to me when I am spending this much money at your establishment. Why not just tell me that your installer is running late for some reason? All in all, this does not account for the fact that neither the installer nor a single one of your employees at your store contacted my wife and me when the installer knew that he would be late, especially considering we had received calls from both your store and the installer previously and they know they have the correct numbers.
I find it disgraceful that not only the associates of this store but also its contracted employees would lie to a customer like this. I ask you this, sir: what else are your associates lying about? How am I, a hardworking consumer, expected to trust anything that your employees say, sell, or any service I receive from your location? Considering this, why should I or anyone else spend our hard-earned money at your establishment, or continue to shop there, given the business practices you have shown me?
I find it appalling that a company as big and as nationally recognized as Home Depot does not think more of its customers' interests and the impact on their daily lives than to continually lie to them and fail to keep them informed of any change that will impact their schedules further than necessary. Putting this into perspective, what would your company do if you told me you would install at a certain time and I was not there? I find it disgusting as a business practice that this company would have its salesperson say one thing, do another and then, when you finally have the chance to make amends and get my business, fail to inform the customer, in a blatant attempt to have them come in anyway just to spend money at this store.
I also find it hard to believe that when a company as large as Home Depot, or one of its contracted employees, makes a promise as to what they can do, they can fail to keep it and then outright lie about it, believing that the customer is either too misinformed or too ignorant to check on the status of a job that has cost them over a thousand dollars. To put this in another light, what if I promised to pay the monthly payments on a Home Depot card but failed to do so? I can reasonably expect that I would be treated with much less patience and understanding than I have shown this store and its installer.
Finally, when the installer, Adam, showed up to his appointment almost an hour late, I might add, he informed us that he could put in our sidelights for $150 each on the side! This more or less is what Home Depot offered to do them for, yet the original contractor, his boss, said he was uncomfortable doing it. Why is it now that your installer claims he can do them outside of a Home Depot contract? Is he just saying that he can do them now to get more money in his pocket while telling Home Depot he cannot, in an effort to get more of my hard-earned money? Is this what I have to expect from Home Depot? Maybe I should have gone with your competitor. While they were slightly more expensive, they at least were honest with me (as far as I could tell).
In light of these developments, I have come up with a solution to my problem that I hope will get your attention. The installer employed by Home Depot and, in general, your employees at Home Depot itself have both failed to live up to their promises and expectations, while I, as the consumer, have lived up to mine in that I have paid you in full and up front, in addition to being at my location on time and taking time out of my schedule with my family to be here for an installation that your employee showed up late for. I am giving this letter to the General Manager, Doug Coleman, at extension 311, in addition to emailing, faxing or mailing a copy to your Regional Manager (whoever that is, as your employees do not know, or just do not wish to say at the moment).
I am also posting a copy of this letter on usacomplaints.com and craigslist.com so that others may see it and, hopefully, avoid this company and its shoddy business and customer service practices. I sincerely hope that your business practices return to a much better way of treating your customers. Provided they do, I will be more than happy to either remove or update my posts and return to shopping at your establishment.
As it stands now, and unless drastic changes are made in the way your company conducts business, I will not be considering your business for any more of my home improvement needs, regardless of what they are. I will also point everyone I know in a different direction for their home improvement needs, in an effort to save them considerable time, money and heartache. I sincerely hope that you take this matter to heart and revamp your business practices.
Thank you for your time and your consideration in this matter.
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