Home Depot Woes

orangebluegreen · Sep 11, 2005

Probably depends on the area of country you live in. I live in a huge growth area and the HD Lowes TSC’s are well stocked, especially after last years hurricanes. I noticed they have far more electrical items in stock including heavy duty stuff. The frustrating thing is I have three HD’s and two Lowes within 10-15 miles of each other, and they all stock different items so a day into town to pick up supplies means going to all of them, the north HD has items the south one doesn't etc. Also have Ace, TSC, only a few miles away with two Northern Tools and a Harbor Freight Tool. Any large lumber orders still go to 84 Lumber, much better stock. It takes years to learn a town of who has what. I also own an old motorhome I have completely rebuilt over the years.....I find some of the big RV dealers are the best places for electrical items and real oddball things you can’t find elsewhere. Found my inlet plugs for hooking my generator to the home system at an RV shop.

Now if HD/Lowes would just stock the 18x30 AC filters like they used to that fit, the ones without the metal webbing. You would think 18x30 means 18x30....but NOOO it means slightly smaller depending on manufacture and you can’t count on them fitting snug without modification. HD/Lowes stopped handling that size a couple months after my new AC was installed....Ace is the only place that has them, but not the right size of 18x30. Even Graingers doesn’t have them.....I will probably be forced to install a larger grille, seems the HD’s of the world do stock 20x30.

Farwell · Sep 11, 2005

Mark777,
I retired early from American Broadcasting/Disney for almost the same reason. When Disney bought ABC they destroyed it by doing almost the same type of thing you described HD doing. As soon as I get done posting this I am going to Google to see if I can find "Home Depot Sucks" I need a little entertainment, thanks.
Farwell

DannyD · Sep 11, 2005

you will find lots of blogs, websites, and things on HD. I spent an hour looking over one site..........

Be in a good mood, the one I looked at will make you feel lousy, so much negative in it. I had to quit and go work on my pond

Junkman · Sep 11, 2005

you are ruining my thoughts of purchasing HD & Lowe's stock in my retirement account. The stock has been going up, but after people read all this negativity, who knows ..... they might just go bankrupt.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Farwell · Sep 11, 2005

Danny,
I did the same thing and quit the site because it was so depressing. I did not make it for an hour, only lasted about 25 minutes before I had enough. I quit and put a new muffler on my JD 2010. Not sure what thread it was on but someone wrote about a bad muffler could decrease horse power so I thought I would give it a try because my JD was becoming gutless. It worked, I have my power back!!!!!
I still shop at HD but I always shop with an alternative in mind.
Before I bought my truck I called the HD service desk and asked if I could reserve one of their rental trucks. The lady said that she could not reserve the truck for me but would hold it until 10:00 AM. I arrived at HD early after driving 25 miles and bought about $800 worth of building supplies stacked on two carts and headed for the check out stand at about 9:30. While the items were being checked out I went to the service desk and asked for the lady that I had talked to on the phone to see if I could get the truck keys. She was the keeper of the keys and she had let a HD employee use the truck for personal use and said that he would be back around noon. I had no way to get the items home so I went back to the clerk and let her know that someone would have to re stock the items and I left. I shocked my self at how polite I was when I left. Guess it made me feel good that they lost the sale and of course everyone with in 15 feet heard about it.
Farwell

Farwell · Sep 11, 2005

Junkman,
Wish I had purchased a ton of their stock a few years back. Not sure what it is doing now but they are still really expanding and that makes me a little nervous. They both may still be a good investment but if you do invest in them you will have to keep a close eye on them.
Wards was where I picked up on checking out the caliber of employee and their average attitude. Very slow service, rapid employee turn over and bad attitude. Three months later they were bankrupt.
Farwell

Junkman · Sep 11, 2005

I passed on HD & Lowes, and purchased Haliburton (HAL) at $55+ and now it is at $65..... I have a sell order in for $70... then I will just hold onto my profits and wonder what to do next... Anyone have any good tips???? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

jmc · Sep 12, 2005

( Anyone have any good tips???? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

As goes the housing bubble, so goes the building suppliers.

John

riptides · Sep 12, 2005

( Anyone have any good tips???? )

Buy low, sell high. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Looking at mid-sized oil, steel, and lumber companies.
Demand will outpace supply, IMHO.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Farwell · Sep 12, 2005

Junkman,
I am 61 years old so I do not invest too much in individual stocks. What I did was roll my company 401k money into seven Vanguard mutual funds under one IRA (for accounting ease). It is called the "Coffee House Portfolio" by some web sites. My investments are well spread through out different markets. I did the roll over about 3 years ago and have been living on the earnings from these investments. So far, I have pretty much been able to preserve my original investment.
At my age, in my opinion, I can no longer take the risk with my investments that I could 20 years ago so I think that the more conservative approach , mutual funds, spreads the risk over a broader market than individual stocks.
The single thing that I wish I had done when I was younger, and had an income, was to spend more time educating my self about individual finances. I do not use brokers or financial advisors. I have a phobia about trusting people with my finances, so I have spent hours and hours on the Internet sites educating my self. CBS has some very good information on the Web, but probably the best is Motley Fool. Motley Fool's site has some outstanding tutorials that I recommend to anyone interested in taking charge of their own money or finding the right way to find someone else to help and guide them with their finances.
The main goal is to make money with your money so you can buy a bigger tractor and more implements.
Farwell

LBrown59 · Oct 8, 2005

Anyone have any good tips ?
========================
 Never combine savings / investments with insurance. They are 2 different things so always keep them separate from each other.

LBrown59 · Oct 8, 2005

The single thing that I wish I had done when I was younger, and had an income, was to spend more time educating my self about individual finances.
 =========== ====
I did that 21 years ago but wish I has done so another 25 years before that.
Had I done that then I would have bought fewer cars and more real estate and invested more money in savings and would have been a millionaire several times over by now.

Mismanagement of assets is the biggest killer of retirement financial security!

Farwell · Oct 8, 2005

I didn't have all the cars and toys, had too many kids. I did ok in some of my real estate ventures. Split it all in half, along with my pension and 401K going through a couple of divorces but through dumb luck, if I am careful, I should have enough to survive for a few more years. My only regret is that I don't have enough to buy the land and tractors I want.
The guys I worked with think they are going to be able to live on the company pension when they retire. The pension will probably pay their property taxes and not much more if they continue to live in California.
The Vanguard funds have really helped me preserve my investments.
Farwell

dennisthomas · Oct 9, 2005

I used to go to LOWES for all my lumber needs then i was talking to my babysitters husband who was building a deck. about 25x25 a good size deck off the back of his house. i asked him where he got the lumber and he said 84 lumber and i said really why not lowes and he said 84 beat lowes by approx 1000.00 i was shocked. i had a little building project in the works and went to 84 and they gave me a huge discount just walking off the street. needless to say i get all my lumber products from them from now on. i dont even check at lowes anymore
W

AndyM · Oct 9, 2005

I'm a Carter Lumber guy myself.
They go out of their way with extra service...

I ordered the materials for my deck railing. When it came time to deliver, they were missing a few items. The assistant manager went to another location to pick them up, and he dropped off the missing items at my house after hours in his own vehicle. On top of that, my delivery charge was refunded because of the missing items on the first trip.

You don't get that kind of treatment from the box stores!

rtimgray · Oct 10, 2005

Just a reply to this thread in general:

I guess that I have had almost a completely different experience with Home Depot and Lowes than most posting on this thread have had. I live about 40 miles away from them (Lowes and HD are located about a mile apart). We've been in the process of building our house for about the last 2 years (we've done all of the working except the septic system ourselves - excavated, poured basement, brick, framing, roofing, siding, electrical, plumbing, etc.). A lot of our lumber came from a building materials supplier in the same town as HD, - cheaper and good quality. Almost all of the sheet goods and studs came from HD - lower than building supplier. Tools, windows, doors, lighting fixtures, ceiling fans - HD. Shingles, siding, etc - HD. Everytime that I have gone to HD I have left with a positive feeling. We went one time and spent about 2 hours putting together an order. I had a clerk with me walking around with the special order list, writing down quantities and SKU numbers, then we went to the contractor desk, verified everything and set up delivery. The windows that we got were all special ordered - came in with no problems.

Now in defense of you guys, for the most part, I know what I'm looking for so I don't have to have that much help looking for something. The few times that I have needed help, I've found the folks at HD to know their store very well and the've directed me to the right spot.

My wife and I have commented several times that building the house would have been much more difficult without HD. There is a local building supplier less than five miles from the house, but their prices are sky high and they have a tiny stock of anything in house (but oh, they can get it for you). Their prices for Andersen windows were almost double HD - for the same models.

I do buy most of my plumbing and electrical stuff at a local farm/hardware store, where they do have a "can do or can get" attitude (I've been going there for years and years and years and their customer service is excellent and prices are comparable or below HD for plumbing/electrical stuff).

Maybe we are fortunate and simply have an uncommonly well-stocked, well-staffed and well-run Home Depot in our area. I'll be sure to update you guys on my future dealings, as we are getting ready for another big trip.

sixwarden9 · Oct 10, 2005

Another Home Depot story:

Yesterday I was in the big orange store looking for an air filter for the Central A/C. I use a 3M Filtrete rigid frame filter with a refillable media. I needed the refills. My bride had gone by the store last week searching for the same item. I went to the display case and they were out, but as luck would have it, a gentleman in orange garb walked by and made the mistake of asking if I was finding everything I needed. The answer was no. The gentleman was kind enough to write down the product number and check the computer for the reorder status. All is going well at this point......

When he came back he asked, "Are you sure we don't have any? The computer is showing three in stock." I humored the gentleman and looked again at the empty rack, but still did not find any. His response was to go to another store because the computer would not automatically reorder the item until it showed 0 in stock. The ironies of life!

As there were obviously none in stock I asked if it was possible to force the computer to show zero so an order would be placed. I was met by a blank stare and then, I don't know, you should probably go to another store. I tried to explain that I lived twenty miles away and would have to travel an additional twenty miles to get the nearest store, fuel prices are high, etc., etc., would he please asked about reordering. His look of annoyance told we I would be taking another trip.

goodoleboy · Oct 17, 2005

Well HD and Lowes have a great business model. Stock the shelves and stay open till 10pm so everyone can get the chance to give them their money. Most people know what they want when they go in.When a person with no knowledge of what they need and an employee "helps" them the unknowledagble person does not know the differnece.
Example I had a friend who worked at HD and was pretty smart on most subjects but not on others such as electrical (I dont think anyone is that good to know everything) and gave me bad advice as well as customer on occasion.

I do have to comment on the hours they stay open really late.If they did not stay open late I would be without the product I shopping for at 9 pm so thats a positive.

FL_Cracker · Oct 17, 2005

The fact is all HD and Lowe's are not alike. Sure the stores look the same, the product is the same and the advertise like they are the same BUT they are run by managers found in the local market. A lot rides on his skills to manage people but for the most part it's up to the quality of the local labor market. Some gene pools are just not a full as others. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Example, hire a dummy and he'll act like a dummy... When they open a store they need lots of people and you just don't know what your going to get. (Box of Chocolate)

Forest Gump

I will give the two HD stores I use(Stuart, FL & Blairsville, GA) a "thumbs up". I must also say that the Ace Hardware & Building Center in Blue Ridge, GA gives HD a run for the money. Good prices(often less than HD on lumber), great service, yard employees that help you load, and good old fashion charge account. They also offer a free delivery service to the local contractors and your sales rep will deliver small stuff in his pick-up.

Blue Ridge, GA has a new store ready to open but has only 1/2 the help they need so we'll see what happens when they go on line....

LBrown59 · Oct 17, 2005

Went to Lowes Saturday to get a 12'' long radiator type hose clamp.
I asked a guy where the hose clamps were and knew I was in trouble the minute he asked what I wanted it for.
He was no help at all.
I then asked 2 other guys where they were and they took me to the clamps in the plumbing department pointed to the counter and showed me the bin with 6'' diameter clamps saying that was the biggest they had.
Well, my lightning fast mind told me 3 x 6 is about eighteen inches long for the 6'' diameter clamp and 3x4 is about 12 inches long for the 4'' diameter clamp.
I grabbed up one of each.
Turned out the 6 incher was to long for my application but the 4 incher was just right.