In Oct. my significant other and I purchased a new flat top stove for $399.00 at the Home Depot in York, PA. We requested to pick the item up instead of having it delivered.
I was told point blank by the associate in Appliances that they did not allow anyone to pick up the item, that we HAD to purchase a delivery.
BUT since we were purchasing the item for more than $299, we would qualify for a rebate on the delivery of the item.
They also stated that the rebate would be sent to us by 6 to 8 weeks.
We agreed to this ONLY because that would have given us our money back by Christmas. Keep in mind, we WANTED to pick this item up ourselves!!! We did not WANT to pay the delivery fee in the first place.
But what are you going to do when your stove dies, and thanksgiving is just over 30 days away?
So, we purchased the stove and submitted the rebate online.
The stove arrived on Nov. 1st, albiet an HOUR later than it should have been (the automated system gave us a window of 12-4, the delivery guys had the time down as 1-5). But hey, stuff happens no big deal.
Fine, dandy, all was good.
Well on December 1, we checked back on the status of our rebate (no notification was sent to us by the way) and only found out after WE looked it up, that Home Depot was stating that the rebate could not be authorized because we didn't spend enough money.
We were a little miffed due to the sheer stupidity of the situation, because after all, the last time I checked the $399 that we spent, was MORE than the $299 required to qualify for the rebate.
Long story short, the rebate center kept trying to pass the buck, and told me to call the store, because the validation code on the reciept must be messed up.
The folks at Home Depot DID get in touch with the rebate center and got it squared away. They were courteous and did what they could... But here's the kicker...
Now, because of THIER ERROR, they're resetting my submission to December 1st as opposed to November 1st when this submission was originally filed.
In other words, now instead of 6-8 weeks from date of purchase, I'll be waiting more like 12 to 14 weeks from date of purchase for my money back.
Today, after the website saying that they'd recieved our submission (for the second time), I decided to call in and see what gives. I was told by two individuals, that I was pretty much screwed. Yes I'd get my rebate, but I must wait an ADDITIONAL 6-8 weeks from Dec. 1st. AGAIN, due to THIER ERROR.
I kept getting apology after apology, but told "There's nothing we can do"... Apologies are NOT cutting it folks!
(How would these employees like it if THEY had to wait for thier paychecks for an additional 6-8 weeks beyond the end of the pay period because the accounting firm made an error?)
So then I called the corporate hotline, I got transferred BACK to the rebate center and given the same song and dance. I was politely told to basically deal with it.
At this point, we are seriously considering returning the new stove and demanding a full refund. So I guess Home Depot is willing to lose a total sale of $600 bucks because they cannot get thier act together and expidite the refund THEY screwed up.
We usually spend a good bit of money in your stores around the holidays. We spend even more throughout the year. But guess what... Approximately 12,000 over the course of this year will NOT be going to your store.
Instead this money will now go to your competitors. I've never had a rebate problem at Lowes, nor Tru-Value.
You've taken $65 dollars of my money and are holding it because YOU see fit.
Money that I would have probably turned back around and spent in your store on Christmas items.
This was YOUR error, not mine. Had this been MY error, I would have sucked it up and waited patiently.instead YOU, Home Depot, dropped the ball.
Had this happened in MY business due to my error, I would have made SURE that that check got cut immediately. The CONSUMER should not be punished because you screwed up.
I hate to believe the stereotype of what I've heard your rebate centers do. Although I'm now convinced that you do indeed hope to gyp the consumer out of the money they're owed due to a rebate. We don't ALL forget, and those of us that don't forget to file the submission, aren't going to stand by and let you screw us out of money that we shouldn't have had to spend in the FIRST place.
We WERE going to go to home depot to have our kitchen completely remodelled in the spring of 2009.
Well guess what, my loyalty is switching to.
Signed,
A former patron of Home Depot.
Angie
York, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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