Re: Home Depot***Angie - Loooooooong

[Guest guest]

Oh I’m not shy anymore…some of my doctor visits would have fixed that if

this DD hadn’t….. here goes! P.S. Me too!!! I think I get more upset to

see it happening to someone else…. I can no longer see something unjust

and keep my yap closed. My son just wanders off until the fireworks have

settled. Thanks :-)

**********************************************************************

Home Depot Store #3303

I just left Home Depot after a rare journey outside my 4 walls, let

alone by myself. The most precious thing for me, since become disabled,

is independence, the ability to do something, anything for and by

myself.

I went to Home Depot, not because I am feeling spectacular, quite the

opposite, I went to try to finish something I started before I lost the

ability to get out of bed everyday. I needed a screwdriver, a big one,

to loosen a screw because I am unable to just replace the whole thing

since my disability insurance payments started being withheld.

I got a cart so I could walk and made my way to the tool corral. My

optimism was high, as it always is at the beginning of an outing. I had

to park my cart, still empty, but carts don’t fit in the tool corral

isles.

The cashier at the entrance acknowledged me and my cart. I have quite a

distinctive ‘walk’ and I was spoken to… I assumed the cart would be

fine. I gathered my tools, one humongous standard screw driver, a

2-piece set of Vise-grip locking pliers and the biggest crowbar/tile

remover I could drag. And drag I did, all the way back to the cashier.

I looked for my cart and sighed when it wasn’t there. The cashier asked

what I said. I simply said that someone had taken my cart away and I

will need another to get the tools out to the car as I couldn’t carry

the weight. She said “Well, I can’t leave to go get you one”. At that

point I had already swiped my debit card, the cashier said “this has no

sku” and looked at me as if I:

* Had removed it

* Could make up a sku

* Had done this to ruin her day

Needless to say, she was not happy. I suggested this “How about I go get

a cart while you get the sku and I will be right pack with, my pin

number”. She said “Ok”. So I went to get a cart, It took me a few

minutes because I can only ‘walk’ so fast with out kicking of back

spasms, but I was quick, under 2 minutes – I found a cart thankfully

close by. When I returned she had cleared my transactions, pushed my

items aside.

I stood at the register and I remarked as she was ringing up another

customer, “Oh, you didn’t believe me.” She shot back; I have to take

care of the customers. My jaw fell and I heard myself say “But I was

your customer.” I had to stand and wait while she finished with her

customer.

She then called a co-worker over to look up the price, my jaw dropped

further. She hadn’t even waited one second before dumping my order; she

had yet to have someone check for the price. He co-worker turned the

tool over and said she could just type in the part number but went to

check on the price. The price check took longer than I did getting the

cart.

After I purchased my tools, I started making my way to my truck. If this

sounds like drama and exaggeration to any who might be reading this

letter, count you blessing you have never had a life changing handicap.

For me, this is reality.

I had to sit down outside half way back to the handicap parking, why is

the exit so far from the handicap parking anyway? While I was sitting I

had a chance to think about what just happened when the sweetest you man

came up to me to wish me a Merry Christmas and ask if I was ok. That is

when I decided to call the store and speak to a manager, after I thanked

him and wished him Happy Holidays.

He gave me the strength to get back to the truck. That is how people

should treat each other. Not just store employees and customers - that

should be automatic. After all, isn’t the customer your livelihood? I

called the store from my truck and wished I hadn’t based on the tone and

choice of words. I explained that I had just made a purchase at his

store and had been made to feel more handicapped, crippled, than I have

before in my life. He asked why I hadn’t asked to talk to him while I

was there. I said I am right outside, in my truck parked in the handicap

section. He came out and kept saying how sorry he was that something

like this had happened. He also said he had seen me at the tool corral,

he had seen me leave to get a cart and return. He said he was right

there. That was when I decided to write this letter. He knew I was

having trouble, he knew I needed a cart and the cashier was unwilling to

call anyone to get one for me. He could have retrieved a cart. He knew.

He saw. He did nothing.

I informed him that this was the fourth visit to Home Depot Store #3303

in a row where I had been treated badly, this was by far the worst but I

was no longer his customer or his concern. I wanted him to prevent this

from happening to the next person. I asked for his name, he said D.

I asked how he spelled his last name, was it ‘dee’? He said no, just the

letter ‘d’, my jaw fell the rest of the way. He asked what he could

possibly do to make certain this type of thing didn’t happen again.

I said,Tell your people that they should not treat people poorly just

because they are different. Tell them that some people need extra

assistance and that does not make them any less deserving of civility.

Tell them not to ‘dismiss’ a person just because they can’t do a thing.

Especially at this time of year, tell them to have compassion for

people. I honestly don’t believe that this has to be told to a person

but it does. Discrimination has so many faces, all of which degrade and

hurt the recipient beyond the ‘normal’ person’s comprehension. I also

mentioned to D that I was no longer his ‘problem’. This was trip 4

out of 4 to the Home Depot Store # 3303 where I had been made to feel as

if I was less that a person and my business not wanted. I know that I am

far from the only individual who has been treated poorly by this

company. We may be unable to do everything ‘normal’ people do but we can

– and do - communicate and they say word of mouth is one of the most

powerful tools a company can have. But it works both ways.

My purchase sits in my car waiting for someone to carry it in for me.

Yet another reminder for me that I am not like the ‘normals’.

************************************************************************

******************************************************************

[Guest guest]

Absolutely, please – the more the merrier – the only way to change

something is with numbers…. Anyone who feels they have a good place for

this to be forwarded to has my permission. I have sent my letter to our

4 local channels, their corporate hq & the store … oh, the ADA as well.

Maybe one of these, especially if it is a repeat.

Thanks so much , for your thoughts and efforts!

Angie / starwish

Herring wrote:

May I forward your post to Home Depot Customer Support? There may not be

a lot of us here but I'll bet that the powers that be would like to know

of shoddy treatment, especially when it's a repeat x 4.

[Guest guest]

,

You are in no way a coward. I used to wait until I had a good day too,

then I stopped having them last July….. so, what is a person to do? When

I have enough energy to get dressed, I try to do one errand & it usually

goes badly but hey, I have to have something to eat (even though the IBS

punishes my body for eating anything).

I am at the lowest low I have ever known physically. I cry often,

preferably in the bathroom when I am alone. I have been on LOA from work

since the end of July and every week I have to send an update to my

supervisor. He still accuses me of faking it. If the end of January

comes and I cannot work, that’s the end of that relationship. Yes, I

have talked with HR and they feel a true conversation about any of this

while I am ‘sick’ is “inappropriate”. I am trying to get an attorney; I

picked one from Blair Benninger’s list and turned over my documentation

(500+ pages already) 2 weeks ago… I am supposed to be getting a call

this week.

I am also at a new low financially. I faithfully paid every 2 weeks into

a short & long term insurance plan, just in case, and when I need it…

they cut me off…3 times so far, the last time was a ways before

Thanksgiving.

Do not think that Home Depot = Atlanta…. I think it’s more like an

infestation :-) As for possibly collapsing when I’m out….(don’t take

this the wrong way) maybe someone in the medical community will take me

seriously, I just cannot drive very often any more, I seem to have a new

friend called vertigo.

Despite all that, or possibly because of it… I still have hope. I have a

new doctor who listens.

All these things, all these reasons is why I get so mad at ‘normals’.

They have no idea what they put us through, what it takes to go out and

try to do one perfectly normal errand.

Oh, oh….. IBS mouth again… no coffee yet either.

Hang in there , we have the numbers on our side, we truly do :-)

Angie / starwish

[Guest guest]

You have my sympathies - that was no way to treat a person. The

problem with chronic pain is nobody can tell you are hurting. Just

because you are walking with difficulty doesn't mean it necessarily

hurts. I suspect that most people assume that if you are walking

around, it doesn't hurt.

I don't know if Home Depot can do this but sometimes a cashier

can " park " or suspend a transaction if you need to do something like

get your ID out of your car. She can then ring up other customers

until you return. When you get back, the transaction can be resumed

without having to re-scan your items. But since there was an item

which needed to be looked up, she SHOULD have been doing that while

you got the cart. If she finished THAT before your return, she

should have parked your order.

BTW, when I have to leave an empty cart, I always grab some nearby

item and put it into the cart, so that a person who comes across the

cart knows that it is in use. When I get back, I put the item back

on the shelf and continue. Also, there have been times when I didn't

have a cart and it became too painful to walk unaided. If I spotted

an empty cart nearby, I would wait a few minutes to see whether

anyone came back to it. If no one came, I took the cart. So it is

possible that the cart-snatcher was another chronic pain person who

was desperate.

One last comment - since Home Depot's entrance is like a mile away

from the exit, I always park near the exit and go in through the

exit doors. Many times there are carts in this part of the store

from when people finished shopping. Even though the " handicapped "

spots are near the entrance, there are tons of non-handicapped

spaces a whole lot closer to the exit, so I never use the real

handicap spots at Home Depot.

Nina