Hey ya’ll,
The Home de-pot is opening a new store here and I have an opportunity to get some of the contract install business (cabinets, windows, doors, decks, etc).
Anyone experienced with this?
Al
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Unfortunately, yes.....about 2 months worth a few years ago before I finally told them to stick it in their ear. They don't have a CLUE about installed sales.
My experience:
First, I had to have a fax machine because they send all their work orders, etc by fax. So I go buy one ( HP multi function fax/printer/scanner/copier) that will work on one phone line. 3am Monday morning the phone rings, I roll over in the bed and answer it to get a fax tone in my ear. I go in the living rm where the machine is and out rolls my first work order from HD. So I go to the store when they first open ( Hey...I was up anyway ! ) at 6:30 and ask if there is some reason for 3am faxes and can they stop that ? "No....we enter them into the computer and it auto dials starting at 3am" So the rest of the short time I worked with them, I would take the phone off the hook at bedtime, and put it back on when I got up.....and it would usually ring in a matter of minutes with another of their faxes that had no doubt been trying since 3am !
In addition to work order faxes, they start the next day with "status reports". Say today they send a WO for Mr Jones. The next day, they sent a status report where you fax them back to tell them if you've contacted the customer about installation and so on. So say I called Jones the same day, arranged to do whatever for him next week and put that on the report, fax it back. The following day, the same status report come and asks the same question...plus any additional WO that have come....and this continues until the job is closed out.....and when you get a dozen or so open WOs, ALL OF WHICH YOU HAVE CONTACTED THE CUSTOMERS and arranged whatever, they STILL keep asking the same thing. I finally just wrote on one " I NO LONGER INTEND TO SEND THESE BACK AS YOU PEOPLE ARE >OBVIOUSLY< NOT READING YESTERDAYS" and threw the rest of them in the trash.....never heard a word about it.....so they must have thrown them in the trash on their end too.
They will sell stuff to the customer in the store, say a new entry door for his house, without having ANY CLUE whether it will fit or not. I got the first one of those where a guy bought a 3/0 door with 2 sidelites. I asked the yoyo at the millwork desk if anyone from the store had actually measured at the customer....Uh, No.....so I drive 45 minutes to the customer's house and as soon as I pull into his drive, I know we got trouble....he has a set of twin 3/0 doors in the front now.....RO is about 12" wider on that and it's in a brick house. So I tell the guy they sold you the wrong thing, go pick out another set, or get you money back. I drive back to the store to tell them a thing or two, and the customer has already been on the phone raising cane about how "they" told him it would fit, no problem and his old lady wanted it and rant, rant, rant.......so the guy at the millwork desk says " Can you get it to fit" I told him, well yeah...I can close it in, put a filler panel on each side outside and do some sheetrock work inside.....but NOT for the price of a standard install. He says" No problem....we'll pay whatever" and they did...... And time after time they sent me on crap like this that I KNOW they lost their behinds on......how in the heck they make any money on installed sales is beyond me.
If you decide to go work with them, their installed sales manager will sit down with yu and "negotiate" prices for each and every item you might encounter. ( the "manager" in my case was a guy that knew NOTHING about construction/remodeling....I found out they had just hired him from a local grocery chain where he had been a store manager for years ). So before you go to that meeting, find out what they charge in labor for every job you will do.....go to another store and get the prices......and then shoot for about 60% of that, because that is about the most they will pay. Like on replacement windows here, they charge the customer $90 and you can get mabye 55-60 for it......but if they can beat you down, they sure will. Remember, you're dealing with a price driven minimum bid bunch.
Also, you'll get a lot of time wasting CRAP......customer wants a single storm door, lives 40 miles from the storm, will tie you up most of a day by the time you get the door, drive out there, install.....and for this you will make a whopping $50.
If you decide to do it, GOOD LUCK.....and find the address of your local food stamp agency.....you'll need it.
Andy you are in Johnson City right? Do you go to the JC HomeDepot? We live closer to JC, but I have found that I get better service in Asheville. It is about 25 min. further away, but the people in JC just don't seem to have their act together most of the time. Of course this last time I went to Asheville to pick up a commode for a client of Lars. This guys is standing in the aisle and has the little apron on. I ask him "Do you work in this department?" He says, "I wouldn't be standing here if I weren't." I then said "Well I thought you might just be hiding out." Oh boy I hate a smartie! Of course when they realize I might halfway know what I am talking about then they start being nice.Tamara
Tamara,
I agree....the Asheville store IS a lot better. That was the first HD I'd ever been in and I was so impressed...they would actually walk up to and ask if they could help you !!! Unlike like Lowe's where they scurry like cockroaches that the light just got flipped on whenever they see a customer coming.
I couldn't wait for them to open the store in Johnson City thinking it would be like Ashville. Know what they did here ?? Hired every dud that left Lowe's, the old Paty store and a few other places. Same duds I'd run into for years around here.....what a mistake.
I was putting some wnidows in a for a lady last week, and she wanted a front door and replacement Andersen slider too. She was getting the doors from HD. Told her on Monday I'd do her windows on Wed, and need the doors on Thurs. She paid HD for the doors and delivery.......$55 to bring them 4 miles ! and then they only said "sometime Thursday".......so I told her I'd run get them and she went back, cancelled the delivery and got her $55 back. I got the doors Wed on the way home, but was in a hurry and forgot the screen for the slider. Went back Thursday lunch and they spent AN HOUR hunting for it...finally found it on a cart that was getting loaded on the delivery truck.......along with a duplicate order of a front door, and another Andersen slider !! I real MEAN guy would have just let them deliver the second set :) ( I didn't)
I put some windows in for another guy few weeks back and he wanted a patio door to replace his slider. Did the windows on a Friday and was going to come back to finish the window trim and do the door on a Monday. When I got there Monday, he told me the tale of ---> 4 different delieveries for the same door<-- !! The first was delivered up the road to a neighbors late Friday....the guy when up and the neighbor and he man handled it across the side of his little pickup bed and when he gets it down to his house, his wife tells him "wrong hand/swing". So they call HD....Saturday morning HD brings another......of the exact same hand......Saturday afternoon HD brings another.....of the same hand as the other two......Finally , Sunday afternoon, they bring the right door. 4 trips down to Baileyton TN, about 35 miles from the store
HOW THE HECK DO THEY MAKE ANY MONEY ???????
Price, Service, Quality.......Pick any two.
Andy,
Your reply was hilarious!
Let me ask the obvious questions: do they factor in travel time for installs, was the labor rate on their "schedule A" (the HD document which lists labor rates by task) consistent with your area (I gather from your reply it wasn't), are they light or heavy on the hours allowed for tasks (i.e. cabinet installs, decks), and was the outside sales manager receptive when you showed him his ignorance (it seems not).
Also, how long did you have to negotiate to land the install contract? Was it for everything with you acting as a general contractor (including plumbing and electrical work)? Or did you only have the carpentry work? And, on the front door install, were changes bid by you, or was it billed T&M?
I really appreciate your responses, this will help me go in with open eyes.
Al
Don't even go in... if you do... never admit it... because only stupid hacks work for HD installs...
But go ahead and learn the hard way... I laughed to their face... the numbers are way too obvious... if you can't see past that then go ahead because you deserve each other.
Sorry to be so harsh... but this is reality!
Al,
No, they did not pay anything for travel....it was the same in town or 50 miles away. I guess if someone from Miami had dropped in on vacation and bought a door, they would have expected me to go to south Florida and put the dang thing in !
The "labor rate" was whatever you negotiate with the HD guy.....they weren't looking at hours.....just pc rate for that item. Now I just did doors and windows, if you were doing something a little more open ended like decks, I don't know how they figure what you're gonna get.Price, Service, Quality.......Pick any two.
I HATE THIS NEW FORMAT>>>>>I HIT THE CARRIAGE RETURN while typing the message, it posted my message and cut part of it off to boot.....Don't know if I can put up with the quirks of this software.
Anyway, lost my train of thought.......if it's a new store, and you don't work for them, watch the paper over the next couple of years.....you'll probably see ads for subs in the same areas on a regular basis.
I don't agree about being stupid for try them......heck, I'll TRY anything once......but anybody that can take a steady diet of HD has a stronger stomach than me.
I wouldn't want to be one of their employees, either.....that was another pissor in dealing with them. Say, ED at millwork sold the customer this job.....Well, Ed works 7 to 3 today, but tommorrow he may be on 12 to close, off the next day and some other screwy time the next......heck, it might be 4-5 days before you catch up with ED again if you have a question about the job......Must be like working in a nut house.Price, Service, Quality.......Pick any two.
I didn't say it was stupid to try! Just to work for them as in "longer than a try out"
Nobody has touched on kitchen cabinet installs so here goes....
First they deliver the cabinets to the wrong address and leave them in the yard in the rain. Customer waits 3 more weeks for new cabinets with no kitchen.
Many design errors.. sink not centered in window.90 degree bulkhead in corner, they put in 45 degree wall cabinet. Not enough toe kick, pulls,scribe......
But the winner is they had a refrigerator cabinet and panel 6" into a sliding glass door.
You have to negotiate getting paid for every trip back. HD calls and says the toe kicks in we need you to go out and put it in ASAP. I ask what about the rest of the missing parts and they don't care just do the toe kick NOW!!!!
The customer beat them out of the entire installation cost and needless to say they will never darken Depots door again.
The entire time I had to run block for them trying to explain how it wasn't that bad. I got better things to do...Like make money.
Having to install missing componets piecemeal (as they come in instead of waiting) has got to be a REAL downer! That is taking the wrong tack on customer service. They may THINK the customer wants parts as they come in, but what about the inconvenience of opening up your home 8 times to have a cabinet install completed!
As far as run blocking goes, to me that will be the most interesting variable. If I am installing on a contract basis, and it comes down to making me AND HD look bad, or making HD look bad (if it is truly their fault), I'm sorry but my truck is out front with my name and not theirs and I will not take a fall for some faceless corporation.
Can't believe they don't pay for travel time!
Al
If I am installing on a contract basis, and it comes down to making me AND HD look bad, or making HD look bad (if it is truly their fault), I'm sorry but my truck is out front with my name and not theirs and I will not take a fall for some faceless corporation.
Trouble is a Al, you get tired REAL QUICK of having egg on your face because you ARE representing these yoyos. The LAST job I attemped for them was a house full of about 18 windows. Picked them up, took them to the house ( about 25 miles) and set up to start ( with my paid helper).....while he was unwrapping the windows, I went in a measured to confirm ( I didn't do the original measurements)......Not a single window was close enough to work.....they were metal windows with sheetrock returns, and HD had made the windows to "opening size" , which means they cut them about 3/4" each way, instead of "exact size".
Loaded them all back up, drove back to HD, piled them on a cart...( and THAT brings up another issue.....their whole store really ain't set up for contractors....that "get it off the rack, put it on a cart, roll it out crap" is ok for JohnnyHomeowner, but wastes a LOT of your time if you do it on a regular basis )Price, Service, Quality.......Pick any two.
IT DID IT AGAIN......I HIT THE RETURN KEY ( just like I had already done several times already in the message) and THIS CRAPPY SOFTWARE POSTED THE MESSAGE AGAIN......WHAT IS THE DEAL ?????
No....I don't care what the deal is.....I'm thru with it. Having to go thru 3 screens to get to this one is bad enough, but this BS and the "frames" is just too much crap...
If you want to talk to me, I hang out at
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
I won't be back here.Price, Service, Quality.......Pick any two.
Good discussion! I did not have anything to add until Andy decided he'd had enough trying to maneuver around this board.
Everybody may want to check out the link he posted. I don't know much about the content of that board but the format under which it is run has got to be the easiest bulletin board program to use.
Just wish Taunton would have considered it over this new system.
Scott R.
Andy I hate to see you go. I have enjoyed your input here. Especially since you are close to our "neck of the woods". I will check out where you are at the link you gave. Take care!Tamara
"I don't know much about the content of that board but the format under which it is run has got to be the easiest bulletin board program to use. "
You know why? Because that's the format that 90% of discussion boards use on the internet. A much simpler, straight-to-the-point system.
Even bob vila figured that one out: http://www.bobvila.com/BBS/index.html?/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
Actually, I hate that type of board.
Taunton's old site was the best forum that I'v ever used. I used to recommend it to others when they'd mention a need.
I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone....
blue
To be fair, Taunton's old board and the one on the Wood site are structurally very similar. The forums are divided into broad categories, each category has a list of all topics within. Clicking on a topic brings up a single-threaded discussion.
This site is similar in that regards, but is disimilar in that the interface to access all of the topics is completely foreign to most people.
The biggest thing I miss about the old boards was the ability to click on ALL and see all of the messages on a topic on one page...it makes for much easier reading, IMHO.