Home Depot
Canton Store Understaffing Caused Long Waits and Missed Work

We purchased a home in March '05 a couple of miles from this Home Depot. Part of the agreement was to receive gift cards from Home Depot totaling $7,500.

Since that time, we began visiting Home Depot to purchase the usual items that a new construction home would need (blinds, paint, etc.).

We also decided to build a fence in the back yard and finish our basement. We therefore purchased a delivery order of lumber, sheetrock, pickets, etc.

We have been to this store on numerous occasions, and only one time did we find someone knowledgeable, helpful and seemingly caring about our situation. Thanks, Tammy, you seem to be the only great employee there!

In every other instance, there were many, many problems. Most of them stem from what the store employees call an "understaffing" problem. I call it a management problem. My wife and I, as regular homeowners (not contractors), have spent an average of $1,000 per month since March 25 on everything from lawn mowers to lumber, aerators to zinc bolts.

Below is a list of problems (not by any means exhaustive) we encountered:

Minor damage to my pickup truck's tailgate from the forklift driver.

Oil stains on my driveway from another forklift (delivery).

Multiple trips to the store to return sub-par materials. Thanks for wasting my time.

Waiting a minimum of 40 minutes and a maximum of 90 minutes for the forklift to arrive to load my truck after I made the purchase. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

Missing work and cancelling social plans on multiple occasions to wait for the delivery to arrive. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

After missing work and cancelling plans on one occasion, I found out that the truck had broken down hours earlier and I could have gone to work for about four hours and not missed our social plans that evening. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

Looking for an employee for almost an hour to run the saw inside the store for a length of shelving we intended to purchase. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

We asked a simple question regarding a specific way of doing something, and the employee spent 35 minutes lecturing us on how we should do it using one of his "three recommended ways." After we heard all three, we told him that none of them would work due to the specific situation and that we had already considered them. Thanks for wasting more of my time.

You can see my frustration, I'm sure. Virtually nothing is more important to my wife and me than our time. If we were reimbursed the amount of money we lost in missing work alone, the total would add up to well over $500. This does not include weekends and evenings, where we spent the majority of our time in the stores.

There were multiple times when we called to complain. The first time, we were told that they were sorry and it would not happen again.

The next time I got the standard "would not happen again" speech, and I told them that this was my second time calling. She said to call corporate because they were "understaffed." I called a corporate number and ended up leaving a message for a supervisor after being transferred numerous times. No reply to date.

The next time I got (surprise) the "would not happen again" speech. This time I told them that I had been told this twice previously and asked what guarantee I have that it will not happen again. They quickly and curtly replied "none" and again stated they were understaffed and to "call corporate." After I told them I had done so, she said something to the extent of, why are you calling us, then? Call corporate.

I have since found that if I drive 20 minutes (one-way) out of the way and go to a different store, I will be home more quickly than if I go to the store five minutes from my house, simply because they are knowledgeable, friendly and sell quality products.

Avoid the Canton Home Depot like the black death! You will regret any time spent there unless you request to work with Tammy at the customer service counter!

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: Georgia
City: Canton
Address: 2200 Riverstone Blvd
Phone: 7707208910

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