Home Depot
Storm Door Installation Quote Padded With $114 in Extra Lumber

We have wanted a replacement storm door for years, because the double-paned one we have is fogged (a different story). Visiting Home Depot has always been a pleasure for us, and our purchases there had been very positive until now.

We stopped at our nearest Home Depot on March 12 to browse doors and selected a style. An installation price of $97 was posted on a sign at the door, which seemed a bargain, so we asked the salesman. He confirmed $97, but added that we would owe a $30 "measuring fee" for installers to visit and verify the size. Our own measurement showed a standard 80x36, we replied, yet he said installers have to do their own measuring so they can guarantee their work.

Following long discussion we agreed that this was reasonable and arranged a measuring visit. A waiting list existed, the salesman said, with a backlog caused by a previous promotion that included free measuring. We inquired about it, and the answer was that free measuring applied in January only, so our March order did not qualify.

The waiting list turned out to be short: Home Depot rang us on March 13, the next day, to say a person would arrive for measuring. We mentioned that nobody might be at home, and the caller said that was fine and they would manage without us. After entering the figures, I would be called to order and pay, since a custom door could be required. All right.

March 14, in the morning, a noise outside reached us as we dressed. Looking out, my husband spotted strangers measuring our door. Before he finished dressing and went out to speak with them, they had finished. They stayed no more than five minutes.

I phoned Home Depot the following day to come and pay for the door, but nothing from the measurers had been recorded yet. Our original salesman called on the 16th at last, telling me to come order the door.

I went there by myself and was told that a standard door fits, because the measurers confirmed a 36x80 opening. Surprise, surprise. Yet look at this: the measurers, there for five minutes at the most, had tacked on a heap of extras, namely 11 ft. of pine, 7 ft. of lattice, a door stop and 21 pieces of "special pine". The $114 came on top of the $97 installation charge!

I told the salesman that this was not right. He said he did not know why they were charging for all that. I paid for the door itself but would not pay for installation before discussing the extras with my husband.

It is now March 22, after days of being sent in circles, and finally my husband received an answer: installers pad the order with this material in case the whole door frame must be torn out for the new door. Explaining that the job is easy, remove the old door and put the new one in, did not help my husband, as the manager maintained we had to pay for everything on a precaution basis, with a promise that we could bring back unneeded lumber. Indeed, installers cannot take it back to the store; they would drop a stack of lumber at our house, and returning it would be our chore!

For now we have not accepted the installation terms, and we may end up installing the door ourselves. I am so upset that the storm door no longer appeals to me at all. Canceling would be my wish, but a "restocking fee" worries me, and the measuring fee has already cost us $30. My view of Home Depot has truly changed. Dropping in simply to look around used to be a habit whenever we were close, but now the sight of the place upsets me.

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Dallas
Address: 2610 Fort Worth Avenue
Phone: 2149426658

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