i hate home depot

after hemming and hawing over the expense and deliberating for weeks on what washing/drying machine, i finally settled on the LG WM3431. i was given a delivery date of may 8th.


V: what time can i expect someone to come?


customer service rep (CSR): someone will give you a call the night before to give you a 4 hour time frame.


V: they can't be more specific than that?


csr: no ma'am.


V: then i'll have to schedule the delivery for another date. i have a big presentation that day. can we reschedule for friday?


csr: ok ma'am. let me contact the delivery people and see what we can do. would you mind holding?


V: no problem.


csr: ma'am. i'm sorry, but they are having a meeting right now. i'll see if we can reschedule the delivery date. if i can't, i'll call you back.


V: ok. so someone will call the night before the delivery to give me a time frame?


csr: yes ma'am.


no call back so i figure we're all set. wednesday night rolls around, no call. . . good, guess they'll definately deliver on friday. so you can imagine my consternation when i get out of my presentation on thursday and find two messages from the delivery guys saying they were at my building but no one was home so i needed to call and set up a new delivery date. argggg. . . so i proceeded to reschedule my delivery to tuesday. i call mondaynight to confirm the delivery window. 10:30-2:30. damn. it. i have an advertising turn-in scheduled at 10 AM that i can't get out of. luckily the boy offers to wait at my apartment for the delivery guys to come and i plan to rush home immediately after my meeting.


timing works out great. i'm on the bus by 10:15 and get a call from the delivery guys who say they are 30 minutes away. i am home by 10:30 and relieve the boy of waiting duties. the delivery guys arrive at 10:45. the installation guy surveys the machine.

installation guy 1(IG1): i'm sorry, i am not allowed to move the cabines. do you still want the machine?

V: i want you to take away the old machine and install the new one. the only reason why i used home depot was because this is their policy.

installation guy 2(IG2): impossible. we can't move the doors.

V: do you have a screw driver? what if we do it?

IG1: sure. we are on a tight timeline though. do you want the new machine?

V: yes, but you have to remove the old one.

IG1: i can't wait around for you to do this.

V: well, i can't take more time off of work to deal with this. you are going to install the new one today while we are all here. i will look for someone to help.

i go outside and luckily the condo maintenance guy (MG) is cleaning the stairwell. i tell him the situation and he agrees to help. within 5 minutes the doors are removed. the new machine is brought up.

IG1: you need a longer hose.

V: what? i don't understand?

by now, i am highly annoyed that these guys don't want to do their job and that the machine which i paid a pretty penny for doesn't come ready for installation. luckily, MG intercedes and instructs the guys to use the old hose and supervises the rest of the installation process. the machine is eventually installed with the only downside being it's a bit too big for the space and juts out past the countertop. but the machine works like a charm and is a beaute!