The Home Depot

On the good side, this branch seems to actually have stock. Employees is a different story. Maybe I should bring a bloodhound with me to search for help in the store. And that’s the point of a hardware store that’s slogan is «You can do it, we can help»… but if I can’t find you to help, then what am I to do?
The cashiers seem more interested in moving through the queue than in actually letting you see that prices scan properly and that as a business that goes to Home Depot you get your project name and email invoice. It’s very disconcerting that the SERVICE part of this business seems to be lacking.

I should declare it from the start: I am a fan of Home Depot.
I seem to have good experiences in each store I go into. I continually meet Home Depot associates who have the power to make decisions in their customers’ best interests and the intelligence to actually do so when the situation calls for it; because despite being a fan, sometimes things go very wrong.
I recently bought 2 16-​packs of light bulbs from the Pointe Claire store, the one closest to my house. At $ 4.88/box, and for high-​lumen bulbs, the price was insanely good. Being the procrastinator that I am, I didn’t install them right away. But I had 32 bulbs. That should be plenty, right? You’d think — until I started replacing all of the cheap dollar store bulbs that I bought before I understood what a «lumen» was. I realized that I didn’t have replacements for these bulbs, and at this price, it was worth stocking up.
So I went online. My store, no stock. The 2 stores nearest me, same story. The closest store that showed stock, 23 boxes, was this one, on Sauve. 23 boxes. That’s beyond the margin of inventory error, right? So we trekked from the West Island in search of 3 more boxes of 16. Woohoooo!
At the store, we meet a girl in the lighting department. She doesn’t know the stock well enough, it seems, but has the wherewithal to get a fellow associate to help us. That’s when we meet Jorge. Jorge explains that they are out of that product. We mention that the website shows that they have plenty of stock, and Jorge admits that, get this, they «have known about the stock discrepancy for a while.»
What??? If you know about a problem, fix it! Especially when the public has access to the information and, like us, relied on it. We came all the way from DDO for this product. We told Jorge as such.
In true Home Depot fashion, Jorge got right to looking for a fair, acceptable solution. We didn’t have to push or get upset or ask to see a manager, it was obvious he was handling it, in OUR interest. So refreshing, yet too rare these days. Took about 10 minutes, and Jorge proposed a solution that was fair and reasonable. An equivalent product for the same price as the one we came for. We agreed, he got a manager to authorize it, and it was done.
So, another excellent, professional experience at Home Depot. Hat tip to the unnamed girl who helped us first, to Jorge, for his professionalism, courtesy, and can-​do attitude, and to the manager for his authorization and support of his employee’s work. Amazing job all around!
Sometimes, stuff happens. But once again, it is shown that the most important thing is how we deal with the stuff. Home Depot, you have not only retained a loyal customer, but you have reminded him why he switched from your competitor. Very positive.