So Called Maple Plywood at Home Depot

[GF]

I'm just ventilating my frustration.
Just got back from Home Depot in the area.  They had so called Maple plywood for 29.99 a sheet. When I looked at it is was the same as luann plywood. Told there help there I was looking for maple plywood, he told me that was it, I told him that aint maple, he replied back yea it is its just dark. >:( I then looked on the side of the bundle it said hardwood plywood and it was made in China. :D  Guess China Maple is different than ours.  :D

Must have been the guys first day at work I dont think he will smart enough to find where he works the second day.  :D

[Murf]

Hmmmmm.....

I'll bet that Chinese Maple makes terrible tasting Maple Syrup too ... :D :D

[CHARLIE]

That experience just showcases what happens when a company gets so DanG big that they lose their knowledge. Big Corporations don't take the time to train people. They just hire and put'em to work.  I think these large lumber/hardware stores are the worst violators.  They will hire a youngster and put them on the floor to sell.  The thing of it is....most people are ignorant of wood products and Lord only knows how many walk in there, buy what they think is Maple plywood. And the store is now richer for selling Luan for the price of Maple.  

[ScottAR]

Unfortunately,  your both more right than you realize...I work for HD's main compeition and they do as you say, Just dump the newbies out on the floor for us to train.  Maybe they know things but likely not.  

The store I work for is under pressure to reduce the number of full time employees as our store's ratio is too weighted to full timers according to the corporate types.  Yet, we outsell the HD down the road so bad they've gone to throwing our employees out of the store when they go to "comp" shop.  

Off my soapbox for the moment...  

[Ianab]

A cynic like myself might say you DID get the trained kid...

He did know what plywood was  :D :

[slowzuki]

In Canada the Homehardware chain actually retains full-time expenienced workers.  It is refreshing to go in and be able to discuss what you need and they have done what you are doing before.

The other chains are generally as dumb as posts : You have to tell them how to do their job and literally take the catalogs from them to order stuff.

A cynic like myself might say you DID get the trained kid...

He did know what plywood was  :D :

[Gilman]

We have a big orange store just across the river from us.  When they first opened they were great, lots of great employees.  Since their first day of opening they've been declining to the point of employees talking about you not 10' away. The floor managers are swamped and don't have enough workers, the store manager is freaked about getting his numbers to corporate.

It all starts at the top.  That employee talking about me isn't the problem, it's the president.

[ScottAR]

I'd agree Gilman,  Managment has to be rewarded on somthing besides cutting costs...  

[GF]

I have to fully agree its at the management level

[Frickman]

We got a Home Depot brand recipricating saw here, and I needed some more blades. The local hardware store's brand blades are junk, so I made a special trip 20 miles down the road to the big orange box. Took an old blade in with me, and told the high school kid working there that I needed an assortment of these blades. The kid said that they didn't sell them. I said it's just a common saw blade and my old one had Rigid written right on it. He still insisted that he didn't have them, and I walked out without buying a thing. I guess I am lucky though they didn't nab me walking out the door with my own blade.

[GF]

Frickman,
If they did nab you all you had to say was you all dont have these couldnt be yours  :D

[Gilman]

Here's another reason why I hate the big orange store.

Bought a pressure washer at one a couple weekends ago.  We got there early in the morning, thus hardly any customers, parked right up front.  They have the stupid things chained together.  How does someone steal a pressure washer?  Put it in their front pocket?  Hide it under their coat?

After someone finally unlocked the pressious gold reserve, we then had to wait for someone else to give us the tips.  If that wasn't enough we weren't allowed to roll the thing to the register.  The employee didn't let go of the pressure washer until my credit card went through.  I was hoping to seize the pump & engine at the same time that afternoon.  I would have loved to take it back.

Whew! I feel better now  ;D

[ScottAR]

Gilman,   Someone would try I guarantee...   Someone trys to steal somthing out of our store every day and some of em make it.  We find little empty packages everyday.  Screwdrivers, tape measures,  Circuit breakers are really popular.  The crack heads steal small, higher priced items and return them for drug money.  The security is just a cost of business.  They'd rob us blind if we didn't.  The large items could dissappear at night.  Folks **Would** try.

Example,  A couple months ago, a worker at the store found a guy in the plumbing section trying to stuff a tool box into an empty cardboard box that used to have ducting in it.  The funny part is the box of ducting cost nearly double what the tool box did.  

Working in retail, no amount of thievery (sp?) shocks me anymore and sadly I trust few people these days.  

[Kirk_Allen]

While looking for 1/4 oak plywood at Lowe's (I refuse to shop HD)
I asked the sales kid where the two sided oak ply was.  

The stack I found was oak on one side and maple on the other.  I needed oak on both sides.  The sales kid insisted that it "was" oak on both sides.  When I asked him to explain the distinct difference in grain he said that they get trees from all over the country and if you look at an oak from California compared to one on the east coast this is the type of grain difference you will see.   :(

Sad part is, this kid was serious. I asked him who on this planet told him that and he pointed to the gentleman down the isle, the manager.  I confronted the manager about it and he told me the same thing :(

They were lost.  Knowing they have had two sided oak ply in the past I dove into the pile.  Wouldn't you know it, the last 5 sheets in the stack of over 60 were oak on both sides.  I showed them to the manager and the kid and instead of acknowledging a mistake, they said that clearly that ply was made with the same tree. :(

They were lost to say the least.

[Gilman]

Scott,
Maybe you could take a sabatical to Singapore and work at one of their stores  ;)

At least over there you could have a Cane under the manager's desk and take the thieves outside and give em a couple of good whacks  ;D

Nothing I hate more than a thief.

[rebocardo]

> How does someone steal a pressure washer?

Obviously, they must steal them and the tips. Though I think they remove the tips so when someone buys a tip, not a great selling item, they have a picture of the potential thief.

Someone that works at Home Depot was telling me some of the scams contractors pull to steal stuff including pulling two loads of the same material.

Paying for one, leaving with it, have a partner go to the door with the exact same order, and showing the person checking items at the door the slip his partner just paid.

People go around the parking lot, or ask for a slip because they lost theirs and need one for their boss, go in the store, pick the item(s) on the slip, then bring them to the Returns Counter. They look for cash slips.

So, I can see treating those pressure washers as gold.

[bighoss550]

its amazing what some people will try to pull.....
im proud to say ive never stolen ANYTHING in my life.

if those idiots would stop for 1 second and think about what they are doing to the prices of the things they buy, they'd put it back. if it wasnt for theft, the things i need to buy would cost half as much!!! but instead, for every buck i spend in the store, i am paying 75 cents for security to watch or replace stolen goods:(

what are we coming to???? nothing but scoundrels??? sure would make the fore fathers sad to see it!!!

[CHARLIE]

When I'm in a large department store like HD, Fleet Farm or Menards and some kid tells me they don't carry something that I know they do, I'll search that store from one end to the other. When I find it, I'll go get the kid and show him. Sometimes though.....they are right. :

Two houses ago I needed a part for the bathroom faucet. It was from Sears. I took the old part to their Service department and told them I wanted one. What's the model number? They asked. Heck! I didn't know what the model number was. I had the old part and most parts houses can match a part looking at diagrams.  I finally had to go to their Sales Store, a mile away, find the faucet in a box and get the model number. Then go back to the Service Store. That's how to get serviced by Sears.  

[ScottAR]

Don't tempt me Gilman!!   :D :D

Bad service is bad service no doubt, but retail sales is not an easy job.  
For every customer story about bad service there's an employee story about a bad customer.

 I could go on for hours about being yelled at by various folks that were angry about their situation or were just flat out nuts...  but I won't...   :D :D  

On bad days I have to go drive the tractor or mow the lawn or just anything thats not around people so I'm fit to be around the rest of the day...

[Gilman]

 ;)

[rebocardo]

If Home Depot drives you crazy, try walking into Radio Shack and asking for a logic probe :-D  

[Rod]

I don't buy my lumber at the big box stores but I do buy my tools there.I Just keep the box the tool came in and when I tear it up I put it back in the box,return it to the store, and they give me a new one.