This would be funny if it was a joke; but it really happened to me about an hour ago. I went to my closest HD to buy $600 worth of gift cards and a plug to fix an electrical cord. My first attempt to get help finding the part was met with an employee pointing me in the direction of the part. This actually was fairly accurate. However the exact size (115 vac 15 amp male) was not to be found. I did find the box that was supposed to contain the part, but the wrong plugs were in the box. After a brief and unsuccessful search on my part I decided to get some help. This is where the fun really started. I found one of those "push button to get help" boxes and pushed the button. A voice said "an associate will be right there to assist you". All was going good so far. Meanwhile three associates passed me while I stood by the "help" box. And none even looked at me. My theory here is that if they don't actually see me, then I must not exist. After a minute or so the box told me that it was out of order (it might have started out with that little tidbit of information). I found the associate that originally pointed out the general location of the part I wanted and asked if there was another "help" box I could use. Her reply was "those things were all disconnected because whenever someone pushed the help button, an associate had to get to the box to get it to shut up, and they were annoying and interupted the associates work". Isn't the purpose of the "help" box to assist customers? While I appreciate her dilemma I still needed the plug to make my repair. So I showed her where the correct plug should be and she scanned the bar code and informed me that there were eight in stock. After a brief search she concluded the eight were "missing in action". Not to be easily deterred, I looked behind the display stock and... Yes! I found one of the missing plugs. About the $600 in gift cards: With a heavy heart I still purchased the gift cards because it was what was requested by two of my kids. I will be going to Lowe's from now on.
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