Favorite New Snack – TimTams

Favorite New Snack – TimTams

Was introduced to this tasty treat by a colleague from Australia.  The family is now hooked.

Home Depot Delivery From Hell

Saturday, March 1 – dishwasher delivery, install and haul away scheduled for between 1-5pm

Received the phone call about 30 minutes prior to delivery, around 1:30pm.

Shortly before 2pm, delivery men arrived at door. They had a rental delivery truck in the street. (There was no Home Depot signage and no GE Delivery signage) I acknowledged the lead delivery person (I will refer to him as the “delivery man” and his delivery assistant as “assistant”) through the window of the front door as I took our dog to put her in a closed room.

I then greeted the delivery man on our covered front porch. He had a clip board and read off that he was here to deliver and haul away a dishwasher.

I responded that he is supposed to install the new dishwasher too.  This is where the problems started since the delivery man was gruff and unwilling to be helpful throughout all interactions. Conversation as I recall it continues like this.

(We are standing on the covered front porch)

DM (Delivery man): No, we aren’t scheduled to install.

Me: Yes, it is supposed to be a delivery, install and haul away.

DM: No. There is no installation.

Me: Can you call your manager to confirm that. My husband reviewed everything this morning and said there is supposed to be delivery, install and haul away.

DM: No. I can’t call. You need to check your receipt.

Me: I don’t have a receipt. This was ordered online by my husband. It is supposed to include installation.

DM: You’ll need to call Home Depot.

Me: What’s the number?

DM: I don’t know the number.

(I leave the porch to go inside to try to find any papers, the phone number, and to reach my husband who doesn’t have his cell phone with him. DM stays on the front porch. After I realize he’s still on the porch, I tell him to come in while I try to figure out what to do about the install issue. I am 99% certain that install was included in our order because my husband and I had discussed it, but the DM is not being helpful since he won’t call his manager and can’t/won’t tell me the number to call myself.  I scramble around my dining room looking to see if my husband printed a receipt while simultaneously trying to reach my husband who is at a kid birthday party and opening my computer to try to find the number for home depot on the website. DM and his assistant are now standing and waiting in my living/dining room.)

This conversation happens while I’m trying to find a number to call while looking at my computer and calling on my phone trying to get my husband to get more information:

Me: I need to try to call my husband but he doesn’t have his cell phone with them. This is supposed to include installation.

DM: (nothing)

Me: If you don’t install today, once I show that we have install, will we have to schedule for them to comeback.

DM: Yes

Me: While I’m doing this, you can go ahead and take the old dishwasher.

DM: We don’t do uninstall. (The dishwasher is still sitting in the cabinet base.)

Me: The electrical is disconnected. My husband read the instructions that said the electrical needed to be disconnected. That is done. You can take it out the back door if that is easier. It opens wider.

DM: No. We’ll go through the front.

(DM and assistant remove the old dishwasher from the cabinet and take it outside by carrying it through my dining and living room rather than carrying it through the back door next to the kitchen that I suggested. Meanwhile, I am having no luck reaching my husband, just leaving messages for him and can’t figure out what number to call for Home Depot while all this action is going on. I did figure out that my husband did not place the order through my account so I have no information about the order.) 

The DM and assistant return and the conversation continues.

DM: Where do you want the dishwasher?

Me: In the cabinet where the old dishwasher was.

DM: Install isn’t included. We don’t do install.

Me: It’s not install. Just put it in the cabinet space.

DM: No.

Me: Then put it on the back porch. 

DM: (Yelling) No! I’m not going to help you anymore! 

(With this, he and the assistant walk out my front door onto my porch and I follow them. They start to pick up the new dishwasher which they had already set on the front porch.)

I stand next to them, put my hand on top of the dishwasher box and yell, “Leave it!” They drop the dishwasher to the ground.

The delivery man runs from my porch out to the truck and yanks the old dishwasher off of the truck by the cords. It crashes into the middle of the street in front of my house.

I didn’t understand what was happening but this delivery man was really scary. I stood in front of the truck and started yelling for neighbors to call the police, call 911.  Both delivery people got into the truck and started backing up.  I ran to the side to get out of the way since I didn’t know where they would go.  As they drove off I saw that they had shoved the old dishwasher from the middle of the street and left it next to our driveway.

I was in shock about what just happened. I couldn’t understand why this delivery man would not do what we had paid for, wouldn’t help get the right answer, would get so mad about being asked to put a dishwasher less than 10 feet away from where the old dishwasher was and then try to take my new dishwasher that he had already put on my porch.

I was confused, angry and scared by this incident, and still am. This person reacted so violently, smashing a dishwasher into the middle of the street.  Why wouldn’t he call his manager when I initially asked him to clarify the order? Why couldn’t he tell me the phone number to call myself? Why wouldn’t he put the dishwasher under the cabinet where the old one had been? If not that, then why wouldn’t he put it on the back porch? Why start to take my new dishwasher away? Why throw my old dishwasher into the street?

After he left, I finally was able to figure out the phone number to call. (It helps not have people impatiently staring you down.)  The woman I spoke with confirmed that indeed my order did include installation. She held me on the line while she contacted the local delivery service to figure out what happened. In the interim, the police came to my house to confirm I was okay. She told me that they would reschedule the install for Tuesday afternoon (which isn’t exactly convenient – there was a reason we booked a Saturday afternoon.) and assured me that it would be a different crew. I told her I don’t know that they delivered everything since there was supposed to be an install kit and it didn’t seem like there was anything other than a dishwasher in the box.

I asked what was going to be done about the smashed old dishwasher in the street in front of my house. I said I wanted that removed today (Saturday) She asked me to hold while she contacted the local delivery manager again. I held for over 20 minutes waiting for her to return, but eventually hung up. By myself, I was able to shove the new dishwasher through my front door into my foyer. I then left my house because I did not feel safe there by myself. 

When I returned later after my husband was back, the dishwasher was gone from the street. This morning he called to confirm that a crew would come back on Tuesday afternoon. There doesn’t seem to be any acknowledgement of this violent delivery person.  I need to feel confident that the appropriate managers at GE and Home Depot know how this person behaved. Is it standard training for the delivery people not to call a manager when the customer says there is an issue? Standard for the delivery person not provide a telephone number? Standard for them to ask where the customer wants the appliance and then not put it there? Standard to take away the appliance they were delivering? Standard to toss the old appliance into the street?

I don’t understand why he reacted with, “No! I’m not going to help you anymore!”  Why wouldn’t he just call his manager?