Home Depot
FluidMaster item $10 higher online under nonexistent model number

On May 30, I visited a Home Depot store local to me with the intention of buying parts to repair a toilet flushing system. Eventually I purchased a FluidMaster item, model number S2DBL, for $29.98. On the drive home I began to wonder if I might have forgotten an item (toilets are not my area of expertise), so I visited the Home Depot website when I arrived home.

In navigating the website, I unintentionally noticed what appeared at first glance to be the exact same FluidMaster product that I had purchased, but priced exactly $10 more and with a slightly different model number, S2DBLEO:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202191772/h_d2/ProductDisplay? StoreId=10051&keyword=s2dbl&catalogId=10053&ddkey=Search

I wondered, did I miss a critical feature in buying a less expensive model?

The next morning I called FluidMaster about it. I was told that FluidMaster does not make a product with the part number S2DBLEO. Further, the specialist looked at the same item on the Home Depot website and told me that it is in fact identical to what I bought, the S2DBL model. He did not, however, have an explanation as to why a nonexistent FluidMaster model number identical to one they do have was being offered for sale at $10 more than the real item in Home Depot stores. If anything, one would expect a web-only item to be somewhat less, not 25% more expensive. He was clearly suspicious of the situation and thanked me several times for bringing it to their attention.

So, bottom line: Home Depot is selling at its website the exact same item they sell in stores, but with exactly $10.00 added to the price and with a modified, nonexistent manufacturer part number.

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: Georgia
City: NW Atlanta
Address: 2455 Paces Ferry Rd
Phone: 8004663337
Site: homedepot.com

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