We are moving to Lawrence, Kansas after losing my business, our home, and most possessions after the federal government and government contractors retaliated against me, illegally cancelling a $50,000 contract this past January and blacklisting my service-disabled veteran-owned small business because I "BLEW THE WHISTLE" AFTER WITNESSING AND REPORTING FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE ON A GRAND SCALE LAST YEAR.
After being forced to give up our 4,200 square foot lakefront home, we are moving to a 1,000 square foot "fixer-upper" in Lawrence . We desperately need to install new floors in the Lawrence house after years of neglect, so we went to Home Depot (Lawrence, Kansas) to look for flooring.
The salesman, Robert Jenkins, a seemingly nice person of British descent, told us they were having a special on installation ... JUST $399 FOR A WHOLE HOUSE! We could hardly pass up a deal like that, particularly in our present financial situation, so we picked out the flooring we wanted and scheduled a measurement appointment for the next day (8/6/2013 - we were charged $50 that would be refunded upon completion of our order).
I called the day after the measurement, being told that I would receive a call "as soon as the measurements were taken" (which never came), wanting to schedule installation as soon as possible because Robert had told me that installations were running three weeks out and we wanted to have the work done before we move-in.
Here comes the old "Bait and Switch"! I finally got a call at 8:30PM last night (8/7/2013) from a salesman stating that he had my quote. One of the type (of salesman) that love to hear their own voice and cannot listen to save their life, he started rattling off prices for the job that I estimated, based on what I was told in the store on 8/5/2013, at $2,200 after military discount (10%) and taxes.
He said the flooring was actually $300 cheaper than I expected because I had overestimated the square footage by 100, so things were looking good ... UNTIL HE STARTED LISTING THE THINGS WE WERE NOT INFORMED ABOUT IN THE STORE!
He went on: "you're going to need sub-flooring at 25¢ a square foot" ... Hey, wait a minute, nobody ever mentioned having to put in a sub-flooring at the store; he continued: "the installation of the sub-flooring and the quarter-round baseboards are an additional $400" ... baseboards? "Yes, THEY ARE REQUIRED and will cost an additional" ... I tuned-out at that point due to the shock of what I was hearing. When he said "that brings the grand total to $4,500" and change ... What? What happened to the $399 installation? "Oh, your order does not qualify for that special pricing". And I have to pay for baseboards and their installation that I never asked for? "You bet, we do not install flooring without new baseboards". At that point I was so pissed-off that I told him to take his bait and switch tactics and put them where the "SUN DON'T SHINE" in so many words or less.
I called Mr. Jackson this morning (8/8/2013) and told him what happened. He said their was some kind of mistake and that he would sort it out and get back to me shortly, knowing we were on a tight schedule and needed the floor installed BEFORE we move-in next week. Six hours later, Mr. Jackson called me and said "I was able to have the installation reduced to just seven hundred and some odd dollars, so now we are at only $4,000". After asking him why installation WAS NOT $399 as I had been told and to please itemize the bid, he had some information wrong, had to "fix" our estimate, and would get back to me in a few minutes ... THAT WAS OVER TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO!
I have been a loyal Home Depot customer for decades, driving past Lowes on dozens of occasions to spend tens of thousands over the past 25 years. The new house, which is over 100 years old, neglected, and in a desperate need of repair, we will likely spend tens of thousands of dollars more in the near future (if we can afford it) AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I WILL NOT BE PASSING BY LOWES ANYMORE!
Lowes also has a 10% discount for military and retirees, so they will be the recipients of my business and hard earned money from now on ... UNLESS ... Home Depot has the integrity to DO THE RIGHT THING and honor the promises made during our initial visit on 8/5/2013, which I highly doubt based on previous experience with large companies who could care less about customers, focusing on short-term greed and profit more than repeat business.
You KNOW why they think they can get away with treating us like shit? Because they do ... ROUTINELY ... and because most people do not have the backbone, the discipline, THE NUTS, to follow through with a commitment ... EVEN IF IT COSTS THEM MONEY ... THEIR SELF-RESPECT ... THEIR DIGNITY ... THEIR INTEGRITY!
That is exactly why the airlines treat us like crap ... THEY KNOW WE ARE GOING TO BUY THE CHEAPEST, MOST CONVENIENT TICKET NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO ... NO MATTER HOW BADLY THEY TREAT US! They act with impunity because they can, because people let them get away with it ... IT IS CALLED Institutional Terrorism and is the reason I started this blog ...
WELCOME TO THE "HALL OF SHAME" HOME DEPOT, YOU HAVE A DISTINGUISHED LIST OF NEIGHBORS, INCLUDING:
Verizon WirelessCenturyLinkKMartBest Buy JE Dunn ConstructionGreater Kansas City YMCAThe Diocese of Kansas City, Missouri University of Missouri - Kansas City YMCA Governor Jay Nixon, MissouriMissouri Department of Higher EducationUS Department of Education Congressman Sam Graves (MO 6th District) Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt US Department of Interior MHN Government ServicesMagellan Health Services Etc ... Etc ... Etc ...
Join me ON THE FRONT LINES IN THE BATTLE AGAINST INSTITUTIONAL TERRORISM ... THE FIGHT FOR OUR DIGNITY AND THE RIGHT TO STAND UP AND SAY "WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!" DO YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO JOIN ME? WITHOUT THE MUTUAL, ORGANIZED SUPPORT WE CAN PROVIDE EACH OTHER, LARGE INSTITUTIONS WILL CONTINUE TO CRAP ON CUSTOMERS ... CITIZENS ... ANYBODY THAT GETS IN THE WAY OF POWER ... MONEY ... AND GREED.
UPDATE ...
To their credit, Home Depot contacted me shortly after writing this piece, offering to sell me the flooring at the price quoted by the salesman, nearly $2,000 less than they tried to get me to pay. I was quite impressed by their willingness to do the right thing. Unfortunately, they failed to tell me that the flooring was a "special order" and could not be installed until 2-3 weeks after we moved into the house. Being disabled and unable to move the heavy furniture and concerned about placing our furniture outdoors for two days, I had to refuse their offer and asked for a refund which they quickly processed. It was unfortunate that we could not get the new floor we wanted, but Home Depot went above and beyond in their willingness to make me, the customer, happy.
Home Depot has been removed from the HALL OF SHAME and I continue to shop there (unlike Best Buy, Verizon and others who were not willing to satisfy the customer).
CombatActivist ... OUT!
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