I ordered a Cub Cadet Zero Turn 50" lawn mower online on Monday, 5/14, at night and arranged to pick it up the next day at Home Depot in Yorkville, IL. Yorkville is an hour's drive from me, but I wanted this mower and I needed to use it on Wednesday. Anyway, when I got to the store, I found the mower on the sales floor.
I looked it over and noticed many loose bolts, so I had to find someone to tighten them. This morning, Wednesday, 5/16, I tried to start it, but the battery was dead. I jumped it and finally got it running. I tried to drive it off the trailer, and it would not move. I called the store, and the man tried to help me get it going. I told him that everything looked like it was hooked up, but it still would not move.
I told him I was sitting in my customer's driveway and that I needed to get it running. After a while and a few more phone calls, a rep from Cub Cadet called. By this time I was very upset because I had found even more loose bolts. After he told me that he would be out the next morning, I had finally had it and told him that I would just return it.
A while later, the Home Depot employee I talked to called and offered me first $100, and then $200 for the inconvenience. I once again had to explain that I had jobs to do today and money did not matter. I was willing to give Home Depot another chance, so I agreed to let the store in Yorkville send me a refund in the form of a gift card. I never received it. More time, more phone calls, and finally a Home Depot employee showed up. It was now 4 hours after my first phone call. He finally got it running, and I was able to take care of my customers.
10/8: I have since discovered that the bolts holding the seat back do not match and are not even the correct type. They cannot be tightened. Furthermore, when the machine quit running in the middle of a yard, I found out that the positive wire connected to the battery had broken off. After trying for days to find the right replacement part, I discovered that the bracket to hold the battery in place was never installed.
After calling your customer service today and being put on hold for over 20 minutes, I was told that the Yorkville store would contact me. Hours later the manager called me. She told me that customer service would call me and they would arrange to pick up the mower. I told her that was unacceptable since I need to use the mower to service my customers. She made no effort to try to help me. I still have not heard from customer service. I once again called Home Depot's main customer service line and was once again told that the store manager would contact me, and that the person I talked to would follow up the next day. I never heard back from any of them.
I filed a complaint with the BBB. Here is a copy of the emails I received. "Mr. S*, I have reached back out to my business partners and our position remains the same. We are still willing to provide you with the $200.00 gift card that was never received. Your request for the $500.00 refund is respectfully denied, as the request for a full refund or a $1,000.00. I will respond to the BBB with our response. Thanks, Cornelia Williams, Executive Escalation Team, Store Support Center, CUSTOMER FIRST, The Home Depot, 2455 Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30339, Phone: (800) 654-0688 EXT 76013, Fax: (678) 556-7614. Office hours Mon - Fri 9:00am - 6:00pm EST. Please contact Jessica Edwards, Extension 76406, in my absence."
From: me
Sent: Friday, October 19, 6:31 PM
To: Williams, Cornelia
Subject: Re: REF 51662027
"The original offer was a $200 refund for the original hassle. I gave you guys a second chance by offering to accept a gift card. You failed. It cost me $190 to get it running this time, not to mention the lost work and wages I had to pay to my men. I feel that $1000 was a fair offer. I would be willing to settle for a $500 refund, not a gift card."
On Oct 19, at 5:04 PM, wrote: "We are still willing to provide you with the $200.00 gift card."
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