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Home Depot Workers make me shake my head

5K views 72 replies 46 participants last post by  wormil 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Today, I put together my new band saw. It was wired for 220v and didn't come with a cord or plug. So off to Home Depot I go. I buy 10/3 wire and a plug and head back home. I wire the saw up and after finishing putting everything together, I want to fire up the saw to test it out. The plug I bought wouldn't fit into the plug in the wall. I mistakenly bought a 20A plug and the wall outlet has a 30A receptacle. So back to Home Depot I go. Of course, I can't find the right plug so a worker about 65 years old asks if he can help. I explain what I need and he starts asking me questions about what I need the plug for. I tell him its for my band saw. He asks how many amps does the saw use and I tell him its wired for 220v and the motor pulls 10 amps. He says, I'm no electrician but you can't do that. You'll trip the breaker or worse, burn up your motor. I look at him puzzled and then I said, with your way of thinking, if I have a 20 amp receptacle in my house and I plug a lamp into it rated for less than 1 amp, I'll trip the breaker or burn up my lamp? The saw motor only uses 10 amps. I have 30 amps available but I won't be using 30 amps of power. He says, well here's the right plug but just be careful. You don't want to start a fire. I took the plug and left. When I got home, I wired it up and the saw works fine.
 
#2 ·
I am somewhat impressed you got someone to help you, even less than stellar help. In my neck of the woods the HD employees tend to scurry off. Especially if some sheet goods are being handled or some other type of "real "work.

I can't speak to all the locations obviously, but it is consistently poor service unless I am dealing with one of their managers.
 
#4 ·
I've told this story before, but I went into HD and the young man in the tool department wanted to help me. I asked where the biscuits were. Looking puzzled, he pointed toward the front door and said "there's a Burger King across the street, I think they have biscuits". True story…..
 
#8 ·
I ve told this story before, but I went into HD and the young man in the tool department wanted to help me. I asked where the biscuits were. Looking puzzled, he pointed toward the front door and said "there s a Burger King across the street, I think they have biscuits". True story…..

- Fred Hargis
Thanks. I needed a laugh this evening.
 
#9 ·
I prefer the stock of my local HD but I often wonder how much cheaper their prices could be if they didn't hire 10 people just to stand by the door and welcome you. Yes, I'm aware I'm at Home Depot. Yes, I know where to go. No, I don't want any Ryobi products.
 
#10 ·
I'll share my HD story. About 2.5 years ago I bought a Grizzly bandsaw and of course it did not come with a power cord. So I went to the local HD selected a 20A plug, searched for and found an associate and asked him for 15 feet of 12-3 zip cord. He refused and told me that the only way to buy it was in a 50 foot package. But I said it is right there on your rack of by the foot! Again the associate refused to sell it to me insisting that I must buy a 50 foot package and he gave me Romex. I got a manager and explained what I wanted and why. Now suddenly the same associate changed his story and claimed that I had asked for Romex not Zip cord.

Now I drive three times the distance to shop at Lowes. Lowes is not perfect, but at least they don't lie.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have several things like that happen to me at HD, Lowes and Menards. They all seem to be the same when you do not need help there is plenty and when help is needed they hide or walk passed. I once wanted to buy 20' of hose and the guy fumbled around and said he would be right back. He did not know how to measure. I laid it out on the floor took a good estimate and cut. When ask at the checkout I told the the story and then went on my way paying for 20'.
 
#13 ·
My story of HD is when I retired from the county. I worked in construction for 35 years,20 of it as a construction supervisor and engineering aid. when I retired I needed something to do so I applied at HD to work on the floor. After applying online and went to the store for an interview, I was told I was over qualified to work on the floor. I could work as an assistant manager if i wanted. They liked to train the people on the floor themselves. I told them that their training for floor personnel sucked because everyone I had try and help me didn't know crap. That ended the interview!
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
Reminds me of when I needed an air conditioner replaced. The Mrs.'s coworker's husband, who apparently earns $85k a year as an A/C tech, was going to replace it. He came over to look at the old one and noted that it said "max overcurrent protection: 30A." He says-you'll need at least a 50 amp breaker for this one. I said, uh, yeah, thanks-I'll call you.

The moral of the story, though, is that you don't want a bigger breaker than required by what you're going to use on the circuit. The HD guy wasn't completely off base.
 
#17 ·
Thai is one good reason why you should go to the local hardware stores whenever possible. There are several local hardware stores in between where I live and the local Lowes and Home Depot.

I definitely like to support the local businesses and the people working there always are more knowledgeable that the big box employees.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
The moral of the story, though, is that you don t want a bigger breaker than required by what you re going to use on the circuit. The HD guy wasn t completely off base.

- soob
If understand what you are saying correctly a 10 amp saw should be on a 10 amp breaker?

The gentleman working at HD may have been misunderstood or he misunderstood what your use was or he could have been completely wrong.

There is no reason a saw drawing 10 amps can not be used on a 30 amp circuit. A 30 amp circuit could be used to power anything from 0 to 24 amps safely. Provided all of the items are the same voltage.
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yes HD/Lowes employees can be insanely ill informed. I went looking for the rip fence that goes with my DeWalt circular saw. An employee there told me rip fences didn't exist for circular saws and I should look at table saws, lol. I explained that I have a table saw but needed it for some quick rips in sheet material… At almost that precise moment I noticed the Kreg RipCut (circular saw fence), grabbed it, said "This will work. And for future reference, this is a rip fence," and was on my way.

Just one of the many, many, MANY times they have proven to be useless. I can only speak for local stores though.
 
#20 ·
At my local Lowes there's a gentleman that has only one hand. He carried over when Lowes bought out Eagle Hardware. He knows all of the tools. I look for him whenever i have a tool question. With one hand he does more than any of the two handed newer hires. And in the nuts and bolts section there's a woman also a carry over from Eagle that can tell you what you need by frickin telepathy. Every nut and bolt and screw and washer is catalogued in her head. If I need anything nut and bolt related I look for her. Even the big box stores do luck out with knowledgeable employees.
 
#21 ·
The moral of the story, though, is that you don t want a bigger breaker than required by what you re going to use on the circuit. The HD guy wasn t completely off base.
- soob
I don't believe this to be true. You don't want inadequately sized wiring for the rated breaker because it will get hot and can cause damage and/or a fire but you can certainly power a tool that uses 10Amps on a circuit that is wired correctly to handle 30Amps. The same principle is true with 110V household current. Most people use 15Amp or 20Amp circuits throughout their homes and what they plug into those circuits rarely uses that much Amperage and when it does, it's usually people that don't give a thought to plugging in extension cords and power strips and overload the circuit. My example of the table lamp in an outlet with a breaker and wiring to handle 20Amps for instance is the same principle as a 10Amp saw on a 30Amp circuit. I'm positive that every appliance, tool, light, TV, etc. in my home and shop is plugged into outlets rated to handle more Amps than what any of those things uses.

The Home Depot worker was asked to help me find the right plug. I never asked for his opinion on whether or not what I was buying would work. I already knew it would work, I just couldn't find the right plug in the mess that they had on display. I re-wired my entire house years ago and I ran a sub panel to my garage/shop and wired the whole thing too. Both were inspected and passed without any issues at all so I'm confident I was buying what would work and what would stand up to code in my area. He asked me what I wanted it for and I answered him. You would think that if he wasn't an electrician or didn't have a good working knowledge of electricity, he wouldn't ask the questions in the first place. I happened to have some knowledge but what if I didn't have a clue what I was doing? I would have taken the advice of someone with no knowledge and could have done something really wrong and dangerous. That's why I shake my head at these workers!
 
#22 ·
Today, I put together my new band saw. It was wired for 220v and didn t come with a cord or plug. So off to Home Depot I go. I buy 10/3 wire and a plug and head back home. I wire the saw up and after finishing putting everything together, I want to fire up the saw to test it out. The plug I bought wouldn t fit into the plug in the wall. I mistakenly bought a 20A plug and the wall outlet has a 30A receptacle. So back to Home Depot I go. Of course, I can t find the right plug so a worker about 65 years old asks if he can help. I explain what I need and he starts asking me questions about what I need the plug for. I tell him its for my band saw. He asks how many amps does the saw use and I tell him its wired for 220v and the motor pulls 10 amps. He says, I m no electrician but you can t do that. You ll trip the breaker or worse, burn up your motor. I look at him puzzled and then I said, with your way of thinking, if I have a 20 amp receptacle in my house and I plug a lamp into it rated for less than 1 amp, I ll trip the breaker or burn up my lamp? The saw motor only uses 10 amps. I have 30 amps available but I won t be using 30 amps of power. He says, well here s the right plug but just be careful. You don t want to start a fire. I took the plug and left. When I got home, I wired it up and the saw works fine.

- Rob
Jamestown, NY doesn't have an electrical supply place?
 
#23 ·
I've had almost everyone of those experiences and at the big 3.I asked for a handle for a hammer because I was going to use it for a mallet, the guy asked me what I was going to use it for?Does it matter?and what would you think a handle for a handle may be used for.So I told him and he told me over to the bath section.So I went and found it myself.
To get hired I Think they should at least watch 100 hr of HGTV.So they have heard the words used in the store.
 
#24 ·
Jamestown NY has plenty of Electrical Supply places. Just none of them are open on Good Friday or throughout the Easter weekend. My saw arrived early last evening and I didn't want to wait until next week to get my new saw up and running when I had the opportunity to do it today.

Jamestown, NY doesn t have an electrical supply place?

- AlaskaGuy
 
#25 ·
The one guy I trusted at my local Home Depot was Hal. I am not sure what Hal did most of his life-I think he works at Home Depot now just to keep active in retirement. But whatever he did, he obviously knew a thing or two about customer service. When we were looking for a new washer, he pulled out an article for a Maytag front loader. It was an article from a town in the Midwest that encouraged the residents to buy it, since it used quite a bit less water. Wow, real marketing at Home Depot! About a year later, I visited Hal again. We had a microwave oven that needed a new glass plate. I had cracked it - it was my fault. He asked me if I brought it. I didn't, so he asked me to bring it in. I said I knew the microwave model, so could he just look it up and order it? He said "Well, I could, but if you bring it in, I'll swap it for the one in our store, free of charge." Wow, I could not believe it.

Sadly, I haven't seen Hal in awhile, and now tend to shop Lowe's for appliances anyway. Lowe's usually has better deals on appliances, especially considering they haul off old appliances, and also, they give you 5% discount if you use your charge card.
 
#26 ·
HARBOR FREIGHT,LOWE's and HOME DEPOT, I am sure if we had a Menards Store the differences between them would not vary greatly.

It's the PEOPLE,not the products that make the difference…..I am NOT saying that product quality and Knowledgeable Associates aren't a big plus.
I have been ignored at LOWE's, pampered at HD and amused flabbergasted and bemused at Harbor Freight,,,,as they say,just about all the products are made in China,but the PEOPLE,they are homegrown and it seems that each one has a different idea as to what CUSTOMER SERVICE really means.
Save the fake smile and the sometimes corny jokes, when I am shopping what I want is SERVICE….Know your products and maintain your professionalism.
 
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