HOME DEPOT

The estimate and final installation went well. However, during the initial installation the subcontractor tried to substitute a different fiberglass product from what was purchased. After I issued a stop work order on the project and several telephone calls to the regional office in Knoxville the correct fiberglass was installed. Home Depot told me it was a "mistake" on the part of their subcontractor and offered no discount or compensation for my trouble. The customer service aspect of the project was poor.

The meeting with Home Depot began good, the sales rep. came out and showed us everything we needed to see and took the mesurments. we then reseaved a call from the regional office telling us that services would be on Monday September 12, yet did not receive a call conferming this. Had to call three time the week before and never recieved a call. Then called on the 12 to find out that the services was on the 12 but they would not make it out because it was an inconvinous for them to make it up to our house because they had to drive 80 miles out of their way. They then proceeded to tell me that the 13th was the day that was set yet the suporvisor said when I called it was set for the 12th.

The guys in the store were helpful, answered questions, set up an appt. for an in-home estimate. No show. Approximately 6 hours after the appt., the salesman called to explain that there was a miscommunication about the appt. We weren't home so he had to leave a voice mail. We decided to give him another chance. He explained that someone else had recently left the company, leaving him to cover a second area in addition to his own. The company had not notified him of our appt. We set a new appt. Ten minutes before he was due, he called to say he was running late. Over an hour later he shows up. I can blame 15 minutes of this on MapQuest. We did not tell him at this point that we had already talked to another company. He was nice enough at first. A lot of chit chat, too much. The window he brought in to show us was the Home Depot brand window. Not anything we had seen in the store. He said this was exclusively for Home Depot customers who schedule an in-home estimate. You will not see these windows in the store display nor will you fine any written information on them at the store. According to him, these are better quality than anything else we're gonna find. When he got into the sales pitch, he found it necessary to trash his competitors, naming company names and brands. When I asked about just ripping out the window frame to the studs and using new windows for replacements, he got somewhat perturbed. He acted as if I was trying to take money directly from his pocket. He did not bother to explain why my idea wouldn't work well. He finally got to working up a total for the windows and installation. He also calculated the deposit amount so we could make out a check. When we told him we were not intending to make our final decision right then, he got down-right rude. We also mentioned that it was a lot of money to be making quick decisions about. He said that he had thought we wanted a quality window so that was what he brought in to show us. He had other displayers in his truck (the brands you find in the store) but that he had thought we wanted better quality. His attitude was as if we had intentionally wasted a lot of his time. We had previously discussed with him getting an estimate for replacing the doors also. He asked how much time to give us before calling with our door estimate and to get our decision on the windows. We told him a week. We have not heard from him since. Summary: 1) miscommunication between store and salesman does not bode well for a contract job 2) he was late for second appt. 3) he talked trash about his competitors, by name 4) he got rude when we wouldn't sign up right then - if he has a quality product at a good price he shouldn't be worried if we talk to another company 5) he never called back with door estimate 6) it felt like a bait-and-switch scheme when he showed us H.D. windows that you can't see in the store I will continue to shop at Home Depot but I'm not interested in talking to them about installation work again.

I stopped by Lowe s and asked about having an estimate done for the roof. The Staff behind the counter told me it would be $35.00 to have the estimate done and it would be refundable if they got the job. When I told them I would not pay for an estimate he was not surprised and smiled as I left the store. I also contacted Home Depot they did do an estimate for free but they were over $2000 higher that the lowest estimate received for the same job. When I asked them to drop it by $500 to see if they wanted the job but they could not. The quote I went with was $2700.00 (I will let you know). My advise is to get three or for estimates but not from the big box shops. Bryan in Kingsport.