“Hello! Welcome to The Home Depot! How can I direct you? Would you like some coffee?â€
This is how I was greeted upon entering you’re Little Falls/Wayne store located on Route 23 Sunday morning, April 14th. As I walked to the truck rental desk, I was impressed. Having worked in the Consumer Goods Relations industry my entire adult life, I can fully appreciate his attitude and the reasoning behind it from your corporate standpoint. It’s often the small personal touches that are greatly appreciated not just by me, but consumers everywhere.
Upon arriving at the desk, I my experience went from day to night.
“Hello,†said I. “I would like to find out about renting a truck for the afternoon?â€
“LICENSE! INSURANCE! CREDIT CARD!†your clerk barked at me, without looking up.
After informing her that my insurance card was in my car and I would have to retrieve it, she stared at my blankly, as though such an error ought to be rectified with a public stoning or caning of some sort.
Upon receiving my insurance card, I glanced down to it while still in my car. It had expired on April 11, 2013- making it invalid. “What did this mean?†I wondered aloud. I knew my updated Insurance card had come via mail, but it was home. Was I to drive all the way back home to retrieve it? My consumer compromise attitude came to mind, in a stroke of genius. I called my girlfriend, and asked her to please take a picture of my new card, which she did, and sent along to me.
I thought I was a genius. the expired card I had matched all the numbers on the new one, which also had a date of being valid through April 11th, 2014. I figured all I would have to do would be to show the clerk my expired card, show her the picture of the brand new one, and I would save gas and aggravation driving home over something so tedious.
As I re-entered the store, I noticed the friendly greeter was gone. Unbeknownst to me, this would be foreshadowing for the rest of my experience.
I was told that my picture was invalid- they needed an updated, physical card to see. I explained that seeing the card and seeing the picture of the card were essentially 2 sides of the same coin. I asked if it was because they needed a Xerox of the card- which would be understandable. I was told they did not. So, why did they need the ACTUAL card? I never got a reason. Here I was, asking them to please charge me $60 for their services, and was jumping through baseless hoops to do so. I asked to speak with the manager, who gave me the same curt response. At this point, I began to reason that the greeter had been killed or fired by Home Depot brass who railed against his friendly demeanor and helpful attitude. At this point I drove home, retrieved the card, and brought it in. Don’t get me wrong- at the point I wanted to just give up on my excursion (delivering a new mattress for an elderly relative free of charge) and not give HD my business. Alas, my moral compass would not allow me to do so.
Can you explain why I need the physical card? Is it because you figured my girlfriend had doctored a fake insurance card within 10 minutes and fired me off a copy? Do you think this is some scam we pull? Go around to Home Depot’s with phony insurance cards to rent trucks? Or, alternatively, do you think your agents/managers were being quite lazy and not consumer centric?
There’s nothing you can offer me to compensate me for the insane ordeal that occurred Sunday, as I wouldn’t patronize your establishment if the clerk managed to carry the mattress on her back for the one-hour trip in lieu of the truck. I just wanted you to know why I won’t be stepping foot in your store again- in case you were curious.
Regards,
MartyOwns
