Complaint Review: Home Depot - Nationwide

 As the subject line says, Home Depot has, by far, the WORST customer service department I have ever come across. I have spent over 4 hours on the phone trying to find out why I was sent two broken, previously used products, when the products that I *thought* was buying were new, since Home Depot only sells new products. No one can give me a straight answer, trying to blame the vendor rather than letting the blame fall on Home Depot. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I was eventually transferred to Cecilia who claimed to be an "online supervisor" - when she was unable to answer my questions of why I received broken used products TWICE IN ONE WEEK, and was unable to tell me what would happen if there was a "third strike" if I reordered the same product and received yet another used and broken product. I was told that it was a vendor issue but the vendor could not be called because it was after 5 pm EST, however I was later told the particular vendor was in Illinois, and at that point it was not yet 5 pm in Illinois, an inconsistency among representatives which would later become a recurring pattern. I asked for the number to the corporate office and was told the number was 1-800-553-3199 (which another represetative later told me is not a number that exists in their directory of numbers) and then I was transferred to Jasmine who I was under the impression was in some sort of position at Corporate, although with all the bulls*** I was told tonight, I find it hard to believe anything I was told. When I asked Jasmine the number to the corporate office she told me it was 1-800-466-3337 (which I was later told is actually the number for the Extended Protection department) When I called that number I reached Brandon who was also unable to answer my questions and told me the number to corporate was something completely different (1-800-654-XXXX) before transferring me to Michael a "resolutions expediter" who also provided no resolution. When I realzed I was being given bogus numbers by numerous people rather than being given the actual corporate office phone number I found it myself online and called directly myself to leave a voicemail for Frank Blake since no one else can provide me answers. Once the voicemail was left I called the online customer service department again and spoke to both Albert and Cheryl who refused to transfer me to anyone if I did not provide them with identifying information, which I told them I would provide when I was transferred to a corporate supervisor, but I was never transferred to anyone rather I was told I could not be helped. I did reach one representative, Tishan, who was able to give me the number to the corporate customer resolutions department (1-877-467-3057) almost 2 hours after I had asked someone for the corporate number in the first place which is absolutely ridiculous and horrible customer service. Tishan suggested I request that the product be shipped from an alternate vendor so there would less of a chance of it being damaged and used upon receipt IF I chose to reorder. After holding for nearly half an hour to speak to customer resolutions, my call was answered by Carolyn, who was also unable to answer my original questions. She informed me that the product I ordered is only distibuted for Home Depot by one vendor, so an alternate vendor was not an option, rather she was trying to upsell me a product which was priced at $150 MORE than I had paid in the first place claiming it was an "upgrade" when in reality the difference between the two products is very little. When I told her this product was out of the range I was looking to spend she told me a gift card would be sent to use toward the product and that the store I was going to have to go get it at would decrease the price some to get it closer to the price of the FIRST defective, used product I received and then had to return to the store myself to ensure it was credited properly back to my account. The second product was discounted some because of the problem with the first, so now the product Carolyn was suggesting was still more than the price I paid even with the "gift card" (which is most certainly not a gift when I have to use it to purchase a product that isn't the one I originally ordered) and the "discount" the store was going to apply, PLUS I would have to go to the store AGAIN to purchase the product. All absolute bulls*** and inconvenient which is the reason why I made my original purchase online for HOME DELIVERY rather than in a store. I was also told that I could not recevie a refund for the product when I placed it out for pick up for UPS, rather no exact timeframe could be given for the refund because I would have to wait for UPS to pick up and transport the product, and then wait for the return to be processed wherever it went. Since this was unacceptable I had to take the second broken and used product back to the store to ensure I was refunded my money in a timely fashion rather than whenever since no timeframe was given - another HUGE inconvenience. After waiting on hold to speak to someone else for nearly half an hour I finally gave up and called the online return department again - no answers still could be given to my original questions, and the representative was talking about resending a product when that had no been requested OR discussed with me in this conversation. I don't know what kind of business that Home Depot is running but it is downright shady, and trying to resolve an issue is nothing but a waste of time full of bogus information and transferring between departments - none of which can resolve anything. Apparently ordering online is a crock of s**t as well, since the products that are represented as new obviously can not be guaranteed to be such since I received not one but 2 broken, used products in less than 1 week. Being that Home Depot is not the only major home improvement retailer in the market, I would expect that the company would take better care when selecting vendors, and would check to ensure that new products are being distibuted for orders. I would also expect that a customer could actually receive legitimate answers and assistance when they reach out to customer service, rather than having to spend over 4 hours being bounced around and lied to with no resolutions. Now I have reached out to the CEO of the company, to find out why when I ordered a product from Home Depot online, was I sent used and broken products twice in one week? Also what happens if there is a "third strike" if I reorder and receive yet another used and broken product? Why would I want to reorder a product from Home Depot AGAIN when my expectations were not met on the first and second attempts to purchase a product?