Home Depots idea of a new chainsaw

johnlobb

Well-known Member
I just saw a news item that said that Consumer Reports went to a Home Depot in New Jersey to buy a new Homelite chainsaw to use in a test of chainsaws and when they got back to the lab and opened the box and looked inside the case, there was obviously a used chainsaw inside. There were opened leaking bottles of bar lube, sawdust on the chain, this was a used saw. They took it back and the people at Home Depot told them "We cannot take back a used saw". Great people to do business with. I personally like doing business with Menards, then Lowes next and Home Depot last.
 
I think that your HD management is the problem. Our's is not like that. They are very accommodating. Have never had a problem like that.
 
I"ve heard that HD will re-box used, returned items and put them on the shelf.

I recently bought a humming bird feeder from HD. Didn"t look used, but sure got a lot of gunk out of the basin when I cleaned it out.
 
This isnt an uncommon practice... Here's how it works at tractor supply, atleast it did as of a few months ago when I quit to go back to school:

Someone returns something

annnd...

1) The store gets credit for it, writes it off, destroys it, and chucks it in the dumpster

2) The store does NOT get credit for it, so they (we) clean it up real nice in the back room, rebox it and put it out on the shelf, again for full price.

If someone really b*tches, the manager will take 10-20% off, otherwise someone re-buys it, walks out with it and we never see it again. lol.

If it sits for a few months and no one takes it, then we'de mark it down 10-20%...

You'd be amazed at how often people buy used things and don't complain about it... In fact, the whole time I worked at that store, I can't once remember someone returning something because it was used when they bought it new... But to be fair, the store probably lost a few customers over that practice.

Oh well, wasnt my idea *shrugs*
 
Bought a answering machine from Best Buy years ago, it had a message recorded on it when we set it up. Was obviously a return.

Paul
 
I second that.

Don't tar all stores with one brush. Our HD is great. Never had a problem. They'll give me a 10% military discount without even asking for proof of service.
 
That was New Jersey. Someone probably used the saw to clean up after Hurricane Sandy and then returned it, claiming it was defective.
 
Home Depo MY Experience, here could care less if you come in their store. Don't ever try to return anything, cause it ain't broke, it wont break and they are right.
 
It"s not just HD. I went into our local Ace Hardware to get some red paint. They had ONE quart-sized can of red Rustoeum and it had been opened. The groove around the top was full of paint and you could tell the label had been wiped off. Now who buys a USED can of paint?
 
We have two HD's. They are light years different. One is clean helpful and stocked, the other is like whitetrashmart-filthy poorly staffed. About 6 years ago I bought a pushmower from Lowes that knocked so they said bring it back but drain the gas-no problem. Took it to store and they freaked out cuz it had oil in the engine. They said "Take it around back to the edge of tha blacktop and dump the oil in the grass, you'll see the oily spot where we dump all the returns". This is at a suburban mall type area! I took a plastic truck tool box back to TSC (one of my other favorite places, NOT) because the lid leaked water. I brought it in and told them what was wrong. They said " do you know where we have them on the shelf? Take it back there and put in on the shelf" So, you see, most stores suck.
 
Somebody carefully taped the box shut and returned it as "unopened" and Home Depot put it back on the shelf.
 
That wasn't a slap at New Jersey. There are people like that everywhere. I just meant it because the circumstances were right for someone to take advantage.
 
Bought a set of spark plugs once. When I got home to put them in.....waa laa.....all 8 were used. No doubt someone returned them and got their money back.
While reading this post, a thot crossed my mind. What happened with buying at the mom and pop store? You might pay a tad more, but usually the service is exceptional. Always the same folks there, and someone is there who wants to help you.
 
Worked for many years at a electronics wholesaler in the Minneapolis area. We"d get calls from dealers wanting to return an item. They would claim "never even opened the box" When it arrived we would inspect and find the instructions were missing,cords and accessories missing. It finally got so bad when we would get an item like this, we"d simply sent it back to the dealer and have him eat it.
 
Wife bought an ink cartridge that had 3-4 tea bags taped together inside it.

The store took it back, no questions.

Some people are just thieves, no less.
 
HD was sold a few years ago and the service went with the old owners. It has gotten a lot better at our store. I can t stand Menard's, if I want to buy food I will go to Walmart.
 
I believe none of the big box stores would knowingly do what you described. Not Home Depot, Menards, Best Buy, Sears, Northern or even Harbor Fright.
Some dirtbag scammed them and repackaged it.
That said,
Home Depot is the better store. Way better than Menards as far as the quality of product goes.
Yes Menards is cheaper on many, if not most things but they are usually some off brand and generally of inferior quality.
I go to a home center just about every day of the week. Between the big three I spend about 90% of my customer's money at Home Depot and will usually go out of my way to hit one over a Menards.
I hate Menards.
 
I guess I forgot to say that a number of repackaged used saws were found at that same store. (I do not remember how many.)
 
I have worked for Lowe’s for over 6 years and we have the same issues that any other retailer experiences with returned merchandise. Trust me, the Home Depot store did not know that they were selling a “used” product because of the actions of a dishonest customer. Unfortunately the next customer suffered because of the actions of the “crook”. We see this a lot of these type of things.

Lets say you bought a chainsaw 2 years ago and used and abused it. One day you need to cut up a tree, you find it in the garage and after a bit it finally starts but runs poorly because of the year old gas. You try to cut a limb but it is really slow because the chain is junk because of the piece of hidden metal in the trunk of the tree that you cut the last time you used it.

You take a $400.00 used and needing repair saw back to the store without a receipt, bare without the case, and none of the accessories demanding the we replace it with a new one. Of course we can not do that! You are asking us to pay you $400.00 because you did not take care of the tool. Then there are the threats about how we are going to lose the biggest customer we have, you are going to close all of your non-existent credit accounts, tell all of your friends about our lousy customer service, and finally call our corporate offices. All of this because you did not use and maintain the saw properly.

Knowing in the back of your mind that we were right in refusing to take back your saw and that you screwed up, you decide that you are still going to get a new saw because that tree still needs to cut up. You form a plan and proceed. After all, this is a mega retailer and they have return policies with vendors and its only a few bucks to a mega retailer and the mega manufacturer. So you go back into the store and buy a new saw and head home.

Once at home you carefully open the box just like a kid snooping in wrapped gifts before Christmas. You get that new chainsaw and accessories out of the box leaving the case behind because your old one is in the garage somewhere, and then replace all of the packaging around your old saw and put it in the box. Time to seal the box so that it looks like it was not tampered with. Glued end flaps or staples that were carefully cut open with a sharp kitchen knife are glued back with a hot melt glue gun. Nylon strapping is repaired with super glue. Tamper proof seals are commonly cut off of the box and then glued back in place. The clear box tape is carefully taped over with a new piece and extremely hard to see. Now off you go to the mega retailer to return your “new” saw.

Man you are in luck, the seasoned veteran employee working returns this morning has been replaced by a 20 year old that is just there for the paycheck. You present your receipt and the repackaged saw explaining that you really didn’t need it after all. You “borrowed” a saw to do the job instead. The saw looks like it was never opened and still brand new so we send it back to the floor. We happily refund your money and you are an extremely proud person because you got one over on the mega retailer! For an investment of a little time and materials you saved $400.00!

Three days later another customer goes into the store and sees the chainsaw that they want to purchase and then takes it home. It would be great to have the audio and video recording of that person when they open the box just to find your old saw. This person is upset but not as upset as they are going to be. Off he goes back to the mega retailer to get what he paid for, a new saw!

The seasoned veteran employee working returns this morning greet you as you explain that you got an old saw in a new box. She rolls her eyes because she has seen this “scam” before and is just doing her job protecting the company’s assets. You know the rest of the story from here. We have a customer service issue and it isn’t easy to fix.

The scenario above is all to common. Small parts are lost, parts break and are not available because they are part of an assembly, or my favorite are accessories available with upscale models that are optional with the cheaper model. People buy and return merchandise everyday knowingly committing fraud thinking that its OKAY!

A retailer is put into a poor position by folks like these! It is truly a no win situation for the consumer or the business. The result is higher cost of doing business with higher retail prices.

The shoplifting stories I have are even better.
 
I don't buy it...I worked for sears during the whole "used diehard" scam by Dateline and know that issue was a complete crock. No national chain will take the risk of such foolishness- they throw out better every day.
That store got scammed by a customer or a journalist. .. Or maybe a journalist/ customer like sears did.
 
Maybe they wouldn't take the risk at the top but the teenager at the service desk doesn't care one bit, and probably doesn't know any better either. He's already forgotten 95% of his training and is a typical "knows it all" kid that won't ask questions and just blindly does whatever...
 
Quote from 504-1 at the bottom of this thread.

"HD was sold a few years ago and the service went with the old owners. It has gotten a lot better at our store. I can t stand Menard"s, if I want to buy food I will go to Walmart."

Well, 504-1 really should read up on the history of HD before making statements like this.........

From https://corporate.homedepot.com/OurCompany/History/Pages/default.aspx

You will find that the company was privately held for about three years, and has been a publicly traded, stockholder owned company since 1981, which is more than "a few years ago", try 32 years ago!!!!! Charles.....................

The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. Along with investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising guru Pat Farrah, the founders’ vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer came to fruition when they opened the first two Home Depot stores on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1981, the company went public on NASDAQ and moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1984.
 
"HD was sold a few years ago and the service went with the old owners. It has gotten a lot better at our store. I can t stand Menard"s, if I want to buy food I will go to Walmart."

Well, 504-1, you really should read up on the history of HD before making statements like this.........

From https://corporate.homedepot.com/OurCompany/History/Pages/default.aspx

You will find that the company was privately held for about three years, and has been a publicly traded, stockholder owned company since 1981, which is more than "a few years ago", try 32 years ago!!!!! Charles.....................

The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank. Along with investment banker Ken Langone and merchandising guru Pat Farrah, the founders’ vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer came to fruition when they opened the first two Home Depot stores on June 22, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1981, the company went public on NASDAQ and moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1984.
 

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