Even with Black Friday this week, I may not patronize Home Depot. I shop there because it’s convenient, because it’s cheaper in many instances than stores like Lowes, and because they have certain items I prefer over those offered by competitors. However, I have never seen a business so apparently disinterested in serving the American citizen. They seem to not like the very men and women who make their business profitable. That’s sort of like a cow kicking the woman milking it. Home Depot may kill itself.
Home Depot doesn’t offer regular military discounts. On Veteran’s Day, my father, who is a decorated combat veteran, was given some glib comments about how they don’t usually give military discounts. It was Veteran’s Day. How ungrateful can you get? If you are a veteran, you usually have to ask a manager to certify the discount, and they never give the discount on lumber. Who doesn’t buy lumber from Home Depot? I don’t know where else to buy it sometimes. Last time I bought some, which was within the last two weeks, I went to Lowes because it was cheaper and because they give 10% off on lumber as well. Your loss, Home Depot.
Home Depot is allegedly behind the amnesty program initiated this weekend by the President. I don’t know exactly how they benefit, because I do go to Home Depot regularly because they will sell to the college and wait 90 days to get paid. However, they do seem to benefit somehow from cheaper labor. Their prices are already lower than other home improvement stores, and if they can get even cheaper employees, why not? Maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s about all those migrant aliens in the parking lot who glare at me when I don’t offer them work. Notice you rarely see alien day laborers outside Lowes, at least not in Vegas. Home depot already has poorer customer service. The store closest my house almost begged me after I had a positive interaction to write them a review. It’s nigh impossible to get help from someone there, and when someone deigns acquiesce to my request, they do so reticently, and look visibly annoyed to have to help me. Screw that.
Coupons come with far too many codicils at Home Depot. Several recent mailings included appropriately vague language to draw customers in with a bait and switch. What they don’t know is that my grandfather once worked in advertising, and so I am frequently able to leverage his expertise to get them to honor the advertisement as written. Your 40% off isn’t on everything, only on clearance items? Well, it doesn’t say that, so you can either honor it or respond to a complaint. I have the time to fight this kind of crusade because I’m a single male, and sometimes knights errant fight impossible causes because they need to be fought. Whether they forget to list the limitations or list a line of limitations that rivals the possible counterindications of a pharmaceutical, I always have to read the fine print at Home Depot, and quite frankly their ads are not worth considering any more.
I love my home, this United States of America, and I grew up knowing about the Home Depot because my dad fixed many things at home himself. Home Depot was part of my life growing up, and now they’re more of a side thought. I will continue to shop there despite commercial shenanigans because they have product lines that I prefer at prices lower than their competitors. However, they should beware. Eventually the double speak grows so large that I prefer to pay more and patronize other competitors. Almost every company that does that risks driving itself out of business with its duplicitous and unpatriotic behavior. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Home Depot, empor.
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