[PLUG-TALK] Why unsubscribing from ecommerce messages take so long?
Ted Mittelstaedt
tedm at portlandia-it.com
Sat Mar 23 20:14:32 UTC 2024
There's plenty of alternatives to HD. I find I buy less and less there all
the time. They are constantly downsizing the stuff that's actually useful
and replacing it with crap like appliances. And more and more of what they
are selling is just garbage grade plastic.
Here's a typical example:
This:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Trip-Lever-1-1-2-in-20-Gauge-Brass-Pipe
-Bath-Waste-and-Overflow-Drain-in-Chrome-SH-7200-N-01-05-1/308507160
Is identical in construction (including the leaky screw joint) to this:
https://www.amazon.com/Eastman-35201-Overflow-Chrome-Plated/dp/B00838ITCW/?t
h=1
When what you REALLY should be buying is this:
https://www.amazon.com/GERBER-29317-CHROME-BATH-DRAIN/dp/B0040273TA/
I also get really irritated having to go in there and spend an hour picking
through a pallet of lumber to get 5 boards that aren't full of
Knots or rotten areas or warped beyond all recognition or the grain is
crazed.
Their paint is also worthless, for a smallish kitchen ceiling it took THREE
gallons of ceiling paint for coverage since I had to roll it multiple times
since the paint is so thin.
HD _used_ to sell the good stuff but they have been gradually replacing what
they sell with crappy stuff more and more you have to order the good stuff
online from them since while they may have it in their catalog they don't
carry it in the store.
My guess is that their overhead has gone sky high. The cities and other
taxing authorities hand property developers building rack-stack-and-pack
sardine tin apartments billions in tax abatements to build "low income" ice
cube trays, and then come baying and slavering to what they think are the
wealthy businesses like HD for excessive property taxes to make up for the
giveaways.
Ted
-----Original Message-----
From: PLUG-talk <plug-talk-bounces at lists.pdxlinux.org> On Behalf Of Rich
Shepard
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2024 12:40 PM
To: Off-topic and potentially flammable discussion
<plug-talk at lists.pdxlinux.org>
Subject: Re: [PLUG-TALK] Why unsubscribing from ecommerce messages take so
long?
On Sat, 23 Mar 2024, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
> Whatever happened to the old standby:
>
> "customer dissatisfaction with website shenanigans = customer not
> using site anymore"
>
> That has effected more change in retailers behavior than anything else
> in history
Ted,
Try telephoning customer service for companies like Home Depot (I tried
calling to check on a refund I hadn't received.) The computer first asks if
you're over 50 years old because they have a special offer for you. Doesn't
matter if you press 1 (yes) or 2 (no) because you have to listen to the long
spiel on whyI should by my medic alert doohickie from them and pay to have
them monitor it (is Home Depot now in the health business?). Then, no matter
what option you select from their menu you get stuck in that same sales
pitch.
After three hangups and recalls I called the local store, explained to the
customer service staffer who answered what happened when I called the 800
number she had given me when I checked in the store for my refund (which she
couldn't do from her terminal.) She asked me to wait; took about 3 minutes
but she contacted an actual carbon-based customer service person at HD
headquarters and the refund was sent to PayPal that day. The next day PayPal
send an email message that they forwarded it to my checking account.
For too many large companies 'customer service' is aspirational, not
operational. It's a wide-spread disease.
Rich
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