Monday, October 13, 2008
Big Box
If you haven't heard, I'm not entirely thrilled with the service levels at places like Home Depot or Lowes. Sometimes I think they'd be better off if they just officially had no workers and just planned on letting you go it alone. Today I went to Home Depot for some stuff and had the usual irritations. First, the one aisle I had to enter to pick up some Minwax finish was next to the aisle they were doing material handling on. That means of course, you have to cool your heels outside the kiddie gate while they decide to finish whatever they finish.
Then comes checkout. I love to use the self-checkout lanes in grocery stores and department stores. I can quickly run through the line with my few items, swipe my credit card and leave. But not Home Depot. Today I bought a couple of tiny batteries for my wife's car's remote. I went to the self-checkout lane (primarily because since they put them in, it's hard as hell to even find a cashier). I scanned my masking tape and Miniwax stuff and put it in a bag with no problem. Then I scan the first battery and toss it in the bag. The bag doesn't register it. The screen sneers and tells me I'm an idiot and will I put the damn article in the damn bag.
I find the self-checkout helper talking to her friend and tell her the scanner isn't scanning correctly. She tell me I'm wrong and it is working. I point out the message on the screen and she goes, Oh, and pushes her button. I scan the second battery and guess what. I tell her again and again she says it is and again and again and finally she pushes her button and I get out of there. And once again the hot dog vulture tries to sell me a hot dog as I leave. (See previous Home Depot Rant).
I put the stuff in my car and go to the gardening center. I ask the two clerks if they have weed and feed stuff for my lawn and I get the classic answer that is guaranteed to piss me off. "If we have any, it's over there..." pointing towards some corner of the building.
If I wanted to wander the store looking for your product that I want to give you money for, I'd wander the store and look for it. I'm asking you because this is your department and you should be able to tell, or at least find out if you have the stupid product. This is like K-Mart and their damn phone that they say they put in for the customer's convenience. If they really cared about customer convenience, they'd have a few more clerks around to help instead of making a customer (who's already in the stupid store) call them on the phone. Quit telling me if you have it, it's over there and just let me know if you have it.
Labels: gripes
