"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"BJ Conner" wrote in message
ups.com...

Home Depot is consistently in the ten worst lists for lousy customer
service.

http://www.crmlowdown.com/2006/11/the_10_best_and.html

Our good local hardware store was wiped out by Home Depot. The old
guys who could walk back and get you a 5/16" Whitworth left handed
HHCS are gone. Now if you can get someone to talk to you they don't
know NC from NF.

Home Depot arrived here about ten or fifteen years ago and started popping
up a new store every week or so.....or so it seemed. For the first couple
of years the service was outstanding, and it has since gone into the
toilet. No surprise. It was also no surprise that they went head to head
against a regional chain, Menard's, and started opening new stores
wherever the competition was. What IS surprising is that Menard's took up
the gauntlet and started building new stores across the street wherever
Home Depot was and they didn't already have one of their own. Don't know
the numbers, but Menard's looks VERY healthy. Then came Lowe's.....just
in the last couple of years. Same story.

Of course, a lot of small neighborhood hardware stores have gone tits up.
But I've seen that happen for many many years......and long before the big
players entered the market. Meanwhile, a lot of small neighborhood
hardware stores have NOT died. We've got one a mile and a half from here,
Blair's. Home Depot is about a mile from them. Blair's has a loyal
customer base comprising people who don't need someone to tell them the
difference between lumber and lawn litter and who appreciate access to a
staff who know the difference between a saw-set and a set of saws.

I go to Menard's (and sometimes Home Depot or Lowe's) when I need a couple
thousand dollars worth of treated lumber for a deck project or when I need
items that I can find in stock and know I would have to special order at
Blair's. Otherwise......well, the folks at Blair's know me on
sight.....and by name.

Wolfgang
who hasn't seen a whitworth thread (let alone left handed) in
decades......but still has the gauges.
Due to the unfortunat circumstace that i remodel and build for a living I am
forced to "shop" at the above mentioned mortal enemies of the craftsman.
There are no statndards for lumber and the quality of standard items you
purchase is unspeakably substandard. Along with Walmart, they have written
new specs. for the items they sell which cheapens everything and gives
lifespans of very short duration on items that in the past we thought may be
a once in a lifetime purchase. all this crap made in china, Korea, souteast
asia, etc is ...well, i already said it "is crap". These companies are
*******ising America. Sad but True. here have all the standards gone? Ah..
for a good old fashioned lumber and hardare store that still maintain
standard lumber classifications. Just wishful thinking - Hope Home Depot and
Wal-Mart don't get into the trout business,
G