I worked at Home Depot for 3 years so I can write a book.
You have to realize that many of the bigger companies like HD don't care about the employees, no matter what the customer is right and it is the managers responsibility to always satisfy the customer. HD would rather take back a $200 return that they shouldn't and keep a happy customer than piss them off and have them shop at Lowes the rest of their life.
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I always see people returning stuff. Since I worked at the store the longest, I would get calls when managers refused to listen. Many were people wanting to return/exchange powercords that were cleanly cut, tape measures, sheetrock knives etc.. But then we would get the jem customers.
One guy returned a min fridge saying it was broken. It was a scratch and dent. The guy was given a refund. I went to move the fridge back to it's department. The door opened and there was still food inside the freezer. So I run outside and ask the guy if he wants his bag of frozen chicken. He tells me to keep it. We grilled the chicken at the next store meeting.
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Then came the old lady who returned her toilet seat. She got a round seat but had a eliptical toilet. No problem but the seat was used for a few months. Management let her return the seat, which featured splashback and skid marks all over the underside.
When you see a toilet display, it isn't funny if you pee or crap in it.
One return cashier was so afraid of making customers angry she would return anything. She would return "Wal Mart" paint. Cross off the barcode and write in any SKU to return it under.
There was the gentleman who wanted to return his lawn mower. I asked what was wrong. He said it wouldn't start. I checked it. The gas tank was filled to the top with motor oil. Told a manager, manager gave him a new mower and I was instructed to give him a quick lesson on where the oil goes and where the gas goes.
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I got a call over to Garden. A guy bought a natural gas grill. He has a natural gas hookup in his home. I told him the garden section would have the hose to connect the 2. He said he already looked and they were too short. He needed a 25" hose. I said we don't have them. I told him the plumbing section would have gas hose that he could use to do that. He saw the price and balked. He then picked up a 25" green rubber garden hose. I told him I wouldn't recommend that. He proceded to tell me he knew what he was doing and it would work out fine.
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One day working the paint counter, a older guy and his middle aged son walk in the store. Pops is pushing a cart with 2x 5gal jugs of Lowes paint and starts walking towards me. The son goes elsewhere to do some shopping. Note that the previous night some idiot put roof tar in the paint shaker. The can exploded. I came in the next morning to find the can and tar STILL in the shaker. I spent the first 3hrs of the day cleaning that. Then this old guy asks me to shake his lowes paint. I gave him 2 paint sticks. He wanted them shooken. I told him that those paint buckets were a few years old, the seal was already broken, he didn't buy them here and I just finished cleaning a shaker because of a busted can.
Pops: :
rofanity filled comments::
Me: Have a good day sir.
::son comes back and asks his father what is wrong::
Pops: This stupid fusking guinna won't shake my damn paint.
At this point there were enough co workers around to hear this and they all start laughing. From then on, I was known as "stupid fusking guinna".
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Every weekend I tought the paint clinics which sucked. The clinic were advertised in the store, in the flyers, on TV and Radio to start at noon. I would get people at 4pm asking for the paint class. I would inform them that they missed it, and told them it would be the next Sunday at noon. They go to the service desk, ask for a manager. Manager comes to me, chews me out INFRONT of the customer and tells me to give them a paint clinic. So I then I tell my brilliant boss that I used my prep board for the CLASS earlier that day. He told me to re use it. You can't do faux finishes over a board that was already faux finished. Moron manager.
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Ralph Lauren has paint. This stuff is expensive. Ralph also has a bunch of custom faux finishes. Middle aged housewives see the displays and light up like child on christmas. With some of the techniques, it can easily cost $300+ for the paint and tools. Woman comes up inquiring about it. I walk her through how to do it, showed her sample boards I made, showed her the INSTRUCTIONS on the can, and gave her a HOW TO book that walks you through. Sold her the paint and everything was good. Her husband comes back 5 days later with the empty cans of paint and glaze. They want a refund.
Him: My wife tried that faux finish crap and it turned out like chit. I want my money back.
Me: Sir you used all the product, there is nothing to refund. If the paint failed to perform, then I could refund you, but faux finishes are unique and vary by who applies them.
Him: Well my wife had no idea what she was doing and it looks like chit.
I refused a refund, he goes to service desk, gets store manager. Store manager brings customer back to me. I explain situation. Manager chews my ass out again in front of customer. Tells me to go get a piece of sheetrock. I do. He orders me to give the gentleman another $300 of paint and glaze for free and give him a lesson on how to properly do the technique.
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The darker the paint, the more pigmant, the longer it takes to dry. A woman comes back one weekend.
Her: "I bought some green paint, painted my desk, let it dry. Then put items on the desk. My son put his text book on it, it was stuck and we had to rip it off the table. Your paint sucks and I want a refund."
Me: What color was it?
Her: Forrest Green
Me: How many coats did you put on?
Her: 4
Me: How long did you wait inbetween coats?
Her: A couple hours.
Me: How many?
Her: About 2 between each.
Me: Thats your problem.
I then explained about dark colors. Then need 12-24 hours dry time between coats. All she did was rewet the previous coat thus the top layer was dry, but the first layers were still wet and when the items were put on the table the paint dried on the items. She then said the paint was horrible and someone should have told her. I pulled a can of deep base down, and pointed out right on the label where it told her the same exact thing. Her reply was "oh".
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Everyone in the store knows I HATE it when the customers don't speak english. So it slowly became a running joke in the store that whenever you got a customer who spoke no english, you told them to go see me. HAHA very funny.
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The best was working down in lumber and watching as people would buy all this lumber then not realize that they couldn't get it home. One gentleman purchased 8x8 studs. He had a civic. He had a brilliant idea straight out of the A-Team. He tied the studs to the side of his car hanging from the roof rack so the studs were in front of both side door. Great idea until he realized he couldn't get in the car.
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Guy purchases $500 Weber gas grill. Asks for assistance getting it in his car. I agree. He pulls up in BMW Z3 roadster. I tell him it won't fit. He tells me to take it out the box and fit it in piece by piece. I say ok. He warns me to not scratch anything on the car or else. Moron.
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And my last one for today which was the most serious. We are about 30-40 minutes away from Lake George which is a popular get away spot in the summer. I help a woman with some sheets of panneling. She pays and I wait for her to pull up her car. She pulls up in a minivan. Not a problem right? Wrong. Picture your regular minivan. 2 seats, then a row of 2 seats then a row of 3 seats. The 3rd row of seats was stacked to the roof with crap like boxes and luggage. 3 childeren under 12 were cramped in the row of 2 seats. The passenger front seat had a cat in a kitty carrier on it. And there was also a dog somewhere in the back seat with the kids. She wanted the 5 sheets of panneling tied to the roof which I warn her about. She doesn't care, so I tie it up. She tells me "I'm going up to lake george now and it is raining up there. Can you put this tarp over the panneling so it doesn't get wet. So I tie the tarp down and send her on her way.
4 hours later an angry man rushes in the store asking everyone for the guy who helped his wife with panneling. Eventually he found me and wanted to strangle me. He got a manager, came to me and proceded to start chewing me out. I'm an idiot, a moron, and I nearly killed his family. The manager is confused and asked what happened. The man said his wife was driving on the interstate up to their summer house in Lake George. It began to rain. A wind gust came blew the tarp off, then the panneling slipped out a few seconds later causing a 3 car accident which "nearly killed my family". So this guy continues to chew me out, my manager out, threatening to sue, etc. I then expalined to him and my manager that the van was a death trap to begin with. I gave my description of the vehical. How she couldn't see out the rear window. 3 kids in 2 seats. A dog roaming around freely, etc. Turns out the woman was doing 70 on the interstate. Of course the panneling would get caught under the wind and blow out. But they tried pinning their ignorance on us which never happened. From then on, the store had a policy that only customers can tie items to their roofs of cars and were not responsable for anything that happens.
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Rich people are just as dumb, stupid and ignorant as poor people. It makes you wonder how they got rich to begin with.
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