Yes, There is a God

After nine months of mayhem and, no exaggeration, probably 20+ calls to customer service, I just received a long overdue $125 refund from Home Depot for a wedding gift that they mis-shipped to my friends in VT.

Instead of simply reshipping the correct product without further involvement from me, Home Depot claimed to be crediting my account and I had to reorder the gift. I was also informed that, since Home Depot marked the item as "returned" on their system, someone else had already ordered it for the couple and I had to pick something else. I almost ordered something immediately, but decided (thankfully) to wait until my account was credited. I had no idea that it would take the better part of a year, with literally no response from Home Depot to my countless calls, and would result in a final, three-month “escalation” process.

During that same span of time, I have maligned the company not only personally with anyone who will listen but, more importantly, professionally in front of countless organizations by using it as a case study for “what not to do” as well as a treatise on the importance of effectively living your brand values.

You know, a good friend once joked to me, “I just read ‘I’m okay, you’re okay’ . . . I get the ‘I’m okay part’.” Well, that’s exactly how I feel about the Home Depot tagline, “You can do it. We can help.”

Home Depot either needs to streamline their internal operations, train their staff on customer service 101 (starting with the importance of returning a call), and revisit the term “escalation” or simply change their tagline. I suggest the following:

“You can do it. Let’s all sit back and crack open a beer as we watch her struggle.”

I'm going to celebrate by going on a shopping spree at Lowe's. Anyone need anything?

OMG! Update! Update! I just received a call (June 12) from Home Depot! The woman was looking into my account and couldn't figure out what was going on. I shared with her that I had already been reimbursed -- she didn't even know. Could this possible have been the call I requested in October? She stated that I had requested help reordering. As if!