Home Depot is making me pay for THEIR mistake

I'm sorry to be yet another customer screwed by Home Depot. A couple of weeks ago I ordered custom interior doors at a Brooklyn, NY Home Depot with an elderly fellow byt the name of Dominick Romano. I brought in the catalogue where I saw the doors, and pointed my finger at the picture. "These are the doors I want ordered," I said. As he began to fill out the order in the computer, I noticed that the same doors were hanging in the aisle behind him, and walked over, pointing at the doors. "These, are the doors, right? These are the doors that I want; the same as in the picture; you are ordering these, right?" I had to make sure with him, and he reassured me. "Absolutely," he said, "we'll have them in a week or so. We'll call you." He finished typing the order into the computer, printed out a contract and had me sign it. As it happened, I filled out the application for the Home Depot credit card to take advantage of the 10% off offer. After all, the 2 doors totaled over $700 in price.

A week or so goes by, and I decide to call the store. I was told that my doors arrived and were ready for my pick up. I came in, and to my total shock, the doors I was handed were NOT the ones I ordered. When I told the employee that these were the wrong ones, he told me that I need to speak with Dominick Romano, who was the one who placed the order. A few days went by, and I was finally able to track Dominick down at the store, and when I spoke to him, we figured out that he ordered the wrong doors because he simply made a mistake reading the numbers off the catalogue. There were 2 pictures next to each other on the page, and he simply wrote down the wrong one. THE HOME DEPOT EMPLOYEE ADMITTED THAT IT WAS HIS FAULT THE WRONG DOORS WERE ORDERED. However, an assistant manager, by the name of Frank Maestro came in and told me that I have to keep the doors, and they will not take them back. When I asked why, he told me that it is my fault that these doors came in! WHY?? He rudely explained to me that it is my responsibility to make sure that the item number is correct on the order form before I sign it. Who does that, really? I mean, I understand that this Dominick Romano character is not a person with a higher education degree, but no normal human being would think even for a second that a trained store employee (with 7 years of experience as I found out later) would make such a mistake when I'm standing there sticking my finger in the catalogue, and pointing to the actual door (just different size) that was already in stock. I've shopped at this store many times, and ordered custom merchandise many times before, and never had a problem like this. HELP!!! I wasn't able to reach the store manager (I called all of this week), and according to various forums, calling corporate is pointless. I don't want to be stuck with the wrong doors, out of $700. What can I do? I tried filing a dispute with the credit card, but if they provide them with the contract I signed, I don't think I'm going to win that battle. Short of filing a small claims court suit, I'm beat. Can anyone let me know if there's any action that I can take. This situation is clearly not my fault!

I agree with you. I am a manager at another store, and it is not your fault the wrong door was ordered. I'm guessing that the manager you spoke to does not understnad the whole situation, or the associate that placed the order is claiming that that is the door you wanted, to cover his own a--. I would try speaking to that same assistant store manager again, and if that does not work, calling corporate will help. Ask the Assistant storee manager for the customer care line phone number, and those are the people that will make sure your situation is rectified. I'm sorry you're going throgh this, and this type of situations is what makes home depot look bad. Hopefully you will not think all HOme Depots are the same. I hope everything works out.

Shannon wrote:

I agree with you. I am a manager at another store, and it is not your fault the wrong door was ordered. I'm guessing that the manager you spoke to does not understnad the whole situation, or the associate that placed the order is claiming that that is the door you wanted, to cover his own a--. I would try speaking to that same assistant store manager again, and if that does not work, calling corporate will help. Ask the Assistant storee manager for the customer care line phone number, and those are the people that will make sure your situation is rectified. I'm sorry you're going throgh this, and this type of situations is what makes home depot look bad. Hopefully you will not think all HOme Depots are the same. I hope everything works out.

Shannon, in previous forums you have Identified yourself as a department supervisor....now a store manager? there is a big difference in the 2.

johnny wrote:

<quoted text>Shannon, in previous forums you have Identified yourself as a department supervisor....now a store manager? there is a big difference in the 2.

I am a "Key carrying" department manager. If you have worked for the company you will understand what that means. I am a department manager, but many times I'm left to run the store on my own. I carry every key that a store manager carries, but have not yet been given my own store. I am considered part of the management team.

Oleg H wrote:

I'm sorry to be yet another customer screwed by Home Depot. A couple of weeks ago I ordered custom interior doors at a Brooklyn, NY Home Depot with an elderly fellow byt the name of Dominick Romano. I brought in the catalogue where I saw the doors, and pointed my finger at the picture. "These are the doors I want ordered," I said. As he began to fill out the order in the computer, I noticed that the same doors were hanging in the aisle behind him, and walked over, pointing at the doors. "These, are the doors, right? These are the doors that I want; the same as in the picture; you are ordering these, right?" I had to make sure with him, and he reassured me. "Absolutely," he said, "we'll have them in a week or so. We'll call you." He finished typing the order into the computer, printed out a contract and had me sign it. As it happened, I filled out the application for the Home Depot credit card to take advantage of the 10% off offer. After all, the 2 doors totaled over $700 in price.
A week or so goes by, and I decide to call the store. I was told that my doors arrived and were ready for my pick up. I came in, and to my total shock, the doors I was handed were NOT the ones I ordered. When I told the employee that these were the wrong ones, he told me that I need to speak with Dominick Romano, who was the one who placed the order. A few days went by, and I was finally able to track Dominick down at the store, and when I spoke to him, we figured out that he ordered the wrong doors because he simply made a mistake reading the numbers off the catalogue. There were 2 pictures next to each other on the page, and he simply wrote down the wrong one. THE HOME DEPOT EMPLOYEE ADMITTED THAT IT WAS HIS FAULT THE WRONG DOORS WERE ORDERED. However, an assistant manager, by the name of Frank Maestro came in and told me that I have to keep the doors, and they will not take them back. When I asked why, he told me that it is my fault that these doors came in! WHY?? He rudely explained to me that it is my responsibility to make sure that the item number is correct on the order form before I sign it. Who does that, really? I mean, I understand that this Dominick Romano character is not a person with a higher education degree, but no normal human being would think even for a second that a trained store employee (with 7 years of experience as I found out later) would make such a mistake when I'm standing there sticking my finger in the catalogue, and pointing to the actual door (just different size) that was already in stock. I've shopped at this store many times, and ordered custom merchandise many times before, and never had a problem like this. HELP!!! I wasn't able to reach the store manager (I called all of this week), and according to various forums, calling corporate is pointless. I don't want to be stuck with the wrong doors, out of $700. What can I do? I tried filing a dispute with the credit card, but if they provide them with the contract I signed, I don't think I'm going to win that battle. Short of filing a small claims court suit, I'm beat. Can anyone let me know if there's any action that I can take. This situation is clearly not my fault!

Well Oleg H., thats just how Home Depot doe's business. I am a carpenter that has a customer that is an elderly lady that went to Home Depot and purchased a door for her home. She told them that she needed a door without the jamb to replace an existing door. She gave them the size of the existing door 32"x 80". The door had to custom ordered and when it was delivered the door was 31 3/4"x 79". I spoke to the store manager myself and he told me that it was too bad, they were not going to take the door back. Home Depot should have told her that the dimension of the door they were selling was not 32"x 80" before she ordered it.

As a department supervisor in the special orders area of Home Depot, I can see where both the associate/ASM and the customer are coming from. Granted, the store copy of the customer invoice is indeed signed by the customer as an agreement that everything on the order is correct. In the upper right hand corner of the validated customer copy of that agreement, it states that there is a 15% restocking fee for all special orders and that custom merchandise is non-returnable/refundable.

Ordinarily, that'd be the policy, but this is obviously the associate's mistake. Even though the Home Depot is a company that stands behind its product and that the associate is a trained, paid employee of the Home Depot, we tend to forget one basic fact - he is indeed human. If the associate would have owned up to the mistake and apologized, things would have perhaps gone a bit more smoothly. Perhaps he may have offered to reorder the doors for the customer in his error.

I do apologize for your inconvenience, and I do understand where you are coming from. I do hope that this situation clears up soon and that your doors (which have probably been received and hung already) are looking beautiful.=]

to both customers of h.d. when you have an issue with a special order the store should have an EXPEDITER this is who you should ask for, tell them the situation it is their job to handle customer issues such as this. They are trained just for this. We do take very good care of our customers at my store and I hope that if you give the correct info to the expediter they will work with you on a solution.
Good Luck

Shannon wrote:

<quoted text>
I am a "Key carrying" department manager. If you have worked for the company you will understand what that means. I am a department manager, but many times I'm left to run the store on my own. I carry every key that a store manager carries, but have not yet been given my own store. I am considered part of the management team.

I have to agree with Johnny i also work at a home depot and its just a clown show there....good staff but the mangement has no idea how to run retail

you may ask why i work there ...well its a small town with not many jobs.It also seemed to be a cool place to work at least the first week but oh man what a friggin nightmare the management team is.

you may also look and see that there is no home depot in duncan bc but i work in victoria bc

Just wanted to provide the resolution - just came accross this post (had it saved in my links) and remembered my frustration with the whole situation. So here's what happened:

I went back several times and didn't get any help from the associate or the assistant manager - to no big surprise. I called corporate and they told me that this issue needs to be handled in the store. I even asked to speak with supervisor when I called and got the same run around - "you need to speak with the store manager." I tried getting a hold of the store manager for 2 weeks. It appears that he is only in a couple hours a day and no one knows when he comes and goes - kind of weird for a "manager" - isn't the whole point of a manger to be on site and manage the damn store?

I argued with him and brought in the associate and the assistant manager and they completely flipped the story around in front of the manager saying that I came in screaming at them because I decided to get a different door! Clearly covering their own ass and there wasn't anything I could do to resolve this smoothly. I wish I had recorded the conversation I originally had with the associate when I came back the first time (this time I did bring a tape recorder and recorded the whole thing - but it was too late to make anything of it).

They finally agreed to let me return the doors and charged me the 15% restocking fee. Since I get the HD card and got a 10% discount, I only wound up (in reality) losing 5% of my money. It was still a horrendous mistake on their part and I was very upset. I proceeded to order the correct doors and wanted to get the 10% discount again - since I made no other purchases and they screwed up the first one - but they refused! The argument now was "the 10% is only given when you just open the card" - which would normally make sense - but I got the card for the exact purpose of getting the 10% off on the doors. If I got the wrong doors and returned them, and even paid the 15% restocking fee - why am I not allowed to get the new set at the 10% discount which is rightfully owed to me?

I was so aggravated and upset that I broke the card in two and threw tossed it on the manager's desk. Right in front of him I walked over to the desk that opens these accounts and opened a new one - this time on my wife's name. And I still got the 10% discount on the doors. One thing is for sure though - I am NEVER dealing with those people again.

Sam wrote:

As a department supervisor in the special orders area of Home Depot, I can see where both the associate/ASM and the customer are coming from. Granted, the store copy of the customer invoice is indeed signed by the customer as an agreement that everything on the order is correct. In the upper right hand corner of the validated customer copy of that agreement, it states that there is a 15% restocking fee for all special orders and that custom merchandise is non-returnable/refundable.
Ordinarily, that'd be the policy, but this is obviously the associate's mistake. Even though the Home Depot is a company that stands behind its product and that the associate is a trained, paid employee of the Home Depot, we tend to forget one basic fact - he is indeed human. If the associate would have owned up to the mistake and apologized, things would have perhaps gone a bit more smoothly. Perhaps he may have offered to reorder the doors for the customer in his error.
I do apologize for your inconvenience, and I do understand where you are coming from. I do hope that this situation clears up soon and that your doors (which have probably been received and hung already) are looking beautiful.=]

Thanks, Sam. You sound like a good guy and I would say that there should be more people like you working in Home Depot instead of the slime I had to deal with. I want to again mention the names Dominick Romano and Frank Maestro. If anyone ever comes across any of these two, please give them my worst.

I got the right doors a month or so after I ordered them, laquered them, hung them, and they do look great!

I work at home depot and i will never shop there or even work there again they are indeed total rip off artisis.The management also really doesnt care,even about there employees that complain about not enough staff and no help for new staff.
Trust me shop at lowes,rona,or if your in canada...Canadian tire.

hd sucks wrote:

I work at home depot and i will never shop there or even work there again they are indeed total rip off artisis.The management also really doesnt care,even about there employees that complain about not enough staff and no help for new staff.
Trust me shop at lowes,rona,or if your in canada...Canadian tire.

maybe if you learned how to correctly spell and use proper grammer you would have had a better oppurtunity to succeed. Some people, yourself apparently included, are too unintelligent to shine even in the world of retail. Go back to school, please!

hDLBF
Foot in the mouth syndrome! It's grammAr, not grammEr

I agree with you. I am a manager at another store, and it is not your fault the wrong door was ordered. I'm guessing that the manager you spoke to does not understnad the whole situation, or the associate that placed the order is claiming that that is the door you wanted, to cover his own a--. I would try speaking to that same assistant store manager again, and if that does not work, calling corporate will help. Ask the Assistant storee manager for the customer care line phone number, and those are the people that will make sure your situation is rectified. I'm sorry you're going throgh this, and this type of situations is what makes home depot look bad. Hopefully you will not think all HOme Depots are the same. I hope everything works out.

im sorry sharron but as a former store manager, there is a long way to go between being a "key carrying" department supervisor and being "given your own store". I also think that "oleg" situation was handeld improperly, but in all fairness we have only heard one side of the story, but regardless "oleg" could have been treated with more respect and class than he was regardless of the end decision.(even though he unprofessionaly used the real names of people on an internet complaint.) As far as the home depot bashing by previous employees, in my experience home depot is a fantastic company which is more than willing to help their associates and provide the tools needed for associates who are willing to take the initiative to advance their skills, knowledge and career.

I did the same after being setup by a manager for a questionable release. I have paid off and cancelled my credit card, cashed in my 401K, sold my stocks and told local stck clubs to do the same. I wrote to Frank Blake and never received a reply. Chicken I guess or busy spending his bonus. Frank needs to go and manager Darren DeVito of Danvers East store must go.

Do what everyone else does go to LOWES. Better service, Better prices, Better Management...

At HD the customer is right. I don't know about how other HD's handle orders,but they should make the customer happy to shop at the store.Some people should be retrained more like management. They sound like they own the store.Get your head out of you ### and serve the customers! Make them happy to shop at HD!

Shannon, you are the only one who calls yourself a manager, all you are is a department head (DH) who has given yourself the title of supervisor. Like I tell all the DH's who and try to pull that BS with me, your the fool that took the key's for no extra money and you think Iam impressed with that, you may scare some 90 day person but not someone who has been with the company...