Home Depot Bait and Switch

WNYBill

Member
HD Fathers Day ad came Monday, went to HD Tuesday to get the Ryobi "buy 2 battery kit ($99) and get a free tool". I wanted a hammer drill. Got there and no 2 battery kits but they had pasted a picture of a drill and battery on the ad. Called HD headquarters and nice lady made so many excuses I hung up.

Got on internet and found the latest model new Ryobi hammer drill (brushless) with the big 4AH battery for $100. Retailers are driving us to "on line" buying.
 
Yep, Same here, more and more online. But frequently delivered to retail store for pick up. That saves shipping .
Jim B
 
"Retailers are driving us to "on line" buying."

Yep, that they are! I try to keep the mom and pop stores in business, but sometimes I have to draw the line.

I needed some bearings and seals for a machine at work. Called the local bearing supply, gave him the numbers off the bearings and seals, made it easy as possible. He starts mumbling and bumbling, saying one of the numbers wasn't in his system, he'd probably have to get that one out of Japan... What???

So he calls me back the next day, parts and shipping added up to around $500, one week out unless I wanted air, which would add another $100.

In the meantime I had done some shopping. Ebay, $86, three day free shipping.

Exact same parts. Gave me no choice.
 
Yep. Same here. Selection locally is poor. Internet has most everything and lots of freebies. Besides, it helps the USPS make a profit.
 
Well, just an observation here but I have found that store managers are often responsible for not having product on the shelves. Head office offered that deal to their stores and so some larger stores may order twelve dozen of that particular deal whereas small stores may only order two dozen. I have found this with flooring and other products, the sales flyer offers the deal but its sold out by the time you get there. Being sold out means it was a good deal but the store manager dropped the ball. At the same time the manager doesn't want to order volumes of the product and then be stuck trying to sell it for months and months afterwards. Buy low , sell high and keep the product moving !
 
Another problem I have ran across twice in the last week at Home Depot- no checkers. They have the self check outs and two checkers (sometime one) at the other end for contractors (with a long line of carts full of stuff). I put my stuff down and walked out the first time, but the last time was stuff I had to have then.
 
I like to shop locally when i can as much as i can. But anymore i am very seldom in a spot that i cant wait a day or 3 to order something online and save quite a bit of money and have it shipped to my house.

Most times it is no less than an hour to go to town and back, let alone the time spent getting through town etc etc, if i can get stuff shipped to my house when i am not in any big hurry....

This morning i bought one of those worxs cordless pressure washers for around the house and basement use, 105 bucks on amazon and will be here this afternoon and i just ordered it at 730 this morning but i am running into town to eagle trailer and get a couple 7 blade socket adapters cause i need to make a trip tomorrow...so its kind of a balance. I see lots better deals on homedepot online than i do in the stores, i just have to plan ahead on my trips..like normal...
 
I rarely go to Home Depot anymore. Don't know if it's our local store or system wide, but they have almost eliminated the 10% military discount. It used to apply to everything, now just to a few items. Last time I was there, on a $100 purchase my military discount saved me $0.86.

On the other hand, I'm in Lowe's system and when I check out all I do is give my phone number and the register automatically deducts 10% from the total. Lowe's is a few miles further, but it's a no brainer.

If you ask a Menard's employee about a military discount, you just get a blank look.
 
I needed a 3 inch fitting,$150.00 local,$23.00 on Amazon. I like the local HD,but I have been in Lowe's three times lately,they have almost converted me to a full time customer. Menard's just makes me mad looking at their sale flyers. Give me a discount now, not four weeks later in a rebate.
 
(quoted from post at 10:41:25 06/15/18) I rarely go to Home Depot anymore. Don't know if it's our local store or system wide, but they have almost eliminated the 10% military discount. It used to apply to everything, now just to a few items. Last time I was there, on a $100 purchase my military discount saved me $0.86.

On the other hand, I'm in Lowe's system and when I check out all I do is give my phone number and the register automatically deducts 10% from the total. Lowe's is a few miles further, but it's a no brainer.

If you ask a Menard's employee about a military discount, you just get a blank look.

Yup, just went to Lowes wearing a USMC hat and the girl asked me if I was registered in their system as a vet. I told her I thought they'd done away with that and she said it had changed. She put in my info and services dates and bingo! I'm registered for a discount. I like Lowes for the most part.
 
Goose; A few years ago I was buying paint at Home Depot. I started with a few gallons and got the 10% veterans' discount. The size of the job changed and I needed more so I got a five gallon bucket of the paint I was using. It had to be mixed in the store. At checkout I asked for the discount and was told that it was now available only on Veterans' Day and July 4th. I still regret that I didn't just say, "Well, keep it then." I'd have had to buy it at a different Home Depot but it would have been worth it to see how they felt about having to sell $175 worth of paint at a discount because returned or unsold mixed paint is treated as a mixing mistake.

Stan
 
Also Menards discount/rebate is often just a credit on a Menard's Store card. So you really did not save anything you just got some other stuff you may not needed.

My biggest issue with Menards is finding stuff. They do not put everything together. An example would be roofing nails should be with the other nails. No they are over with the shingles. So about every single time you have to find someone to asked and you get dumb looks half the time even then.
 
Years ago I picked up my mail and found a Grossmans flyer in it.It had 5/8 texture 111 on sale for $4.95 a sheet.I figured it was a typo,as $14.95 would have been a good buy at the time.I headed my truck to Grossmans,walked into the contractors desk and told them I wanted 30 sheets.I showed them the flyer,really expecting to be turned down.I was ready to pay $14.95 if that's what it was,I needed some and it was a buy at that price.The guy told the yard man to load 30 sheets on my truck.Your paper says $4.95 and that's what you are paying.While I was strapping it down I watched the yard man load all their remaining stock on one of their trucks.At that point they became,out of stock.They explained that it can become quite a legal hassle,if the typesetter at the printers misses a 1 it can cost millions.
 
If you were ever a contractor doing work for Menards you would never step foot in one of their stores.
 
Bait and switch only works when you have a customer looking for something for nothing.
 
> Another problem I have ran across twice in the last week at Home Depot- no checkers. They have the self check outs and two checkers (sometime one) at the other end for contractors (with a long line of carts full of stuff). I put my stuff down and walked out the first time, but the last time was stuff I had to have then.

Same here... I refuse to use the self-checkout but the last time I went to Home Depot I arrived early in the morning only to find there were no cashiers - only self checkout. I would have left the cart and walked out but unfortunately was in the middle of a project and needed the items. I guess a person needs to take a peek at the register line when you arrive to assess the situation prior to purchasing anything.
 
Hello WNYBill,

That is a good by. Those 4000 Mah batteries will spoil you!

Guido.
 
I can't stand the totally useless workers at Home Depot. I will NEVER set foot in another of their stores. I can get 90% of the stuff I need at Menard's. Lowes now refuses to give me the military discount. Never a problem before. Love menards 11% off. I'm always buying stuff there, have used it to save thousands of dollars on the houses/buildings I have put up thru them.
 
I hate the place but still go in there for some stuff. Lumber and materials are junk. Stock is mixed on the shelves and too many times I bought something and got it home to find it damaged or missing pieces. I went there to get a Camo deck screw tool. They didn't have the economy model I wanted so the sales kid offered me the fancier one for a discounted price. I agreed then he actually said to me "Or you can just use it and return it when you're done like everyone else".
 
Yep they are driving us to online buying. I needed two jam nuts for my case not available around here. Called John Saeli yesterday morning. just got them today. I could not have driven and got them any cheaper or faster. We all have to remember Just because it's online doesn't mean that it's big buisness.
/by the way Thanks John and Chris.
 
Many retail chains with brick and mortar stores have made it easy to go online to check stock levels of almost any item at your local store or at any of the stores in your area. Some stores let you purchase items online and either pick up the item at the local store or have it shipped to your address.

Limited stocks of deeply discounted sale items is nothing new. There is a very old joke about a lady that complained to her grocery that the store is selling bananas for 10 cents a pound and the store down the street is selling them for only 7 cents. The grocer said "That is a very good price, why don't you buy your bananas from the store down the street"? The lady replied, "They are out of bananas". The grocer replied, "I can beat that price, when I'm out of bananas I advertise them for 5 cents a pound"!
 
One summer I was in Home Depot. Work pants and a t shirt. Came in for a roll tape and some wire ties. They accused me of shop lifting. Radial saw blades. I ask the manager where would I hide them. That was over 25 years ago. Never been back.
 
I've spent hundreds of dollars in the past week or so on tractor stuff. I bought hydraulic fittings and hoses online. Hoses were built and shipped same day. Had them in 3 days even though I didn't expedite them. Found I needed a single pretty standard SAE ORB fitting I'd forgotten. Nothing exotic. I was in the middle of the project so I looked online and found a Hydraulic Supply house that had a Servic Center within 3 miles of my house. Since we're new in the neighborhood, I didn't even know they were there. Their website says "Our nationwide network of Service Centers, Distribution Centers and Hose Shops carry a wide selection of hydraulic and industrial hoses and the clamps, couplings, brass fittings to get the job done". So I called them up. The guy sounded surprised when I asked for the fitting. Said no they didn't have them in stock and he'd have to order it in. Didn't say how long it would take or anything. I asked if he knew any other places locally that might have it. "No, I don't" was his quick answer. I ended up ordering it from the original online place on Tuesday afternoon. It showed up at my doorstep 10:00 AM today.

On the other hand, I needed a Speedi-Sleeve this week for my Ford 3600 steering column. Found it online at several places. Saw that Oreilly's Auto Parts carried them as well but wasn't optimistic as there are dozens of sizes. Called the local store 2 miles away, gave them the part number. Girl said, "oh, I don't have that in stock but I can have it here by 1:00 PM". This was at 9:00 AM. She called at 1:15 and said "it's here." Was $10 cheaper than online as well.

I figure my time is as valuable to me as my money so I always factor that into my purchases. I've taken to ordering my HD or Lowes stuff online and just picking it up. Saves the hassle of looking through the aisles, loading a cart and going through checkout. Lowes even has a few parking spots right up front for online pickup. I go in, show them my ID, sign a receipt and take the bag or wheel the cart out to my truck. Easy-peasy. The HD and Lowes are right across the street from each other 10 miles away. So I'll shop at one or the other, put in several orders and then make one trip. I do this a couple of times a week now that I've got a lot of projects going on.

I do agree that online merchants are making it easier and easier to shop online but the brick and mortar stores CAN compete if they build the net into their business model.
 
I agree. Our local Bakers (Kroger) grocery, and Walmart offer free drive-up pickup of online grocery orders or low cost delivery to your home. Many pharmacies offer drive-up pickup and home delivery too. Auto parts stores send hourly delivery trucks to many repair shops.

I don't think it will be too long before drones will deliver repair parts to businesses, oil rigs, construction crews, farms steads and farm equipment in the field (so long as your dad, kid or neighbor doesn't shoot it out of the sky first).
 
I find myself doing more on line shopping all the time but sometimes if I’m looking for a power tool I will look at the tool selection online, make my decision and then go to the local store to buy it. Most of the time the cost of the tool at the store will be very close to the online price if I have to pay shipping for the online part. By ‘store’ I mean a local mom and pop. If I have to choose between the box store and online, online will win every time.
 
Bait and switch only works when you have a customer looking for something for nothing.
 
wgm: That's clearly not true, and it wasn't the true the first time you said it, either. Legitimate sellers put items on sale all the time, sometimes at deeply discounted prices. Buyers who want to buy the item at the sale price are not looking for something for nothing, they're responding to the seller's offer. There are many valid reasons for a seller to offer to sell an item at a discount. When a seller uses the same practice to offer an item that he has no intention of selling at that price---for instance, he doesn't have that item and hopes the buyer will buy something else instead, or he offers an inferior item instead of the one advertised---that is bait and switch. A person who comes in good faith to buy the advertised item is the victim, not the accomplice.

I suspect that what you're referring to when someone offers something that any reasonable person would know is too good to be true, but falls for it anyway. That's not the normal definition of bait and switch, although I suppose you could view it as an extreme variety of it.

Stan
 
I buy some things online but more so I deal with people everyday that bought something online at my work.

Two problems I see with online buying.

Hope the product gets here undamaged.
If the box is in good shape but the product is damaged.....
The shipper will take the stance it left our building in good shape contact the carrier.
The carrier will take the stance the box is in good shape so it looks just like we picked it up. Contact the shipper.
And if you do get one of them to claim fault they pay pennies a pound; not what the item cost if you did not buy the insurance.

Be fore warned when buying big bulky items the shipping does not include getting it out the truck.
Time you take a day off work; pay for a liftgate or have some forklift to unload it you could have spent the extra and bought it local.
 
That's not bait and switch. Bait and switch is when you never had any of the sale item in stock, never intended to, and only intended to sell the customer a more expensive alternative.

In this case, where's the "switch?" You wanted the battery set. Nobody was there trying to sell you a more expensive battery set. They were simply out of stock of a normally-stocked item.
 
(quoted from post at 11:11:33 06/18/18) That's not bait and switch. Bait and switch is [b:e45c737d77]when you never had any of the sale item in stock, never intended to[/b:e45c737d77], and only intended to sell the customer a more expensive alternative.

In this case, where's the "switch?" You wanted the battery set. Nobody was there trying to sell you a more expensive battery set. They were simply out of stock of a normally-stocked item.

Is is still "baiting" to get you into the store.
And doing it on purpose when the retailer never had it in stock.

When it happens, go to the service desk and demand a rain check.
 
(quoted from post at 18:13:37 06/15/18) I can't stand the totally useless workers at Home Depot. I will NEVER set foot in another of their stores. I can get 90% of the stuff I need at Menard's. Lowes now refuses to give me the military discount. Never a problem before. Love menards 11% off. I'm always buying stuff there, have used it to save thousands of dollars on the houses/buildings I have put up thru them.

I guess it depends on the store. At my local HD they have a retired licensed plumber in the plumbing department, licensed retired electrician in the electrical, retired professional house painter in the paint dept.

As to Menards, I actualy wrote an email to their corporate on behalf of my military daughter to ask why no military discount and they replied that military gets paid like everyone else so they see no need.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top