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What would you do in this situation?

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
I'd just purchased a rather well kept home that is just over a hundred years old before my dad had his airplane accident. It mostly just needed cleaning and the entire interior painted. It's about 3800 sq. ft. with 10' ceilings, so doing so was/is quite a chore. I opted to hire a couple of women who work hard at a reasonable rate to do the painting and cleaning for me.

I opted to use Behr's premium paint because it doesn't require primer and has good ratings. My thought was that, in the long run, I'd be better off with a high quality paint that took two coats than a cheap paint that took four coats and very likely would not hold up as well. They took all the room dimensions to our local Home Depot and bought the required amount of paint in the colors I designated for each room and ceilings. Rather than possibly having hundreds of dollars of left over paint that could not be returned, they bought (actually I bought) enough paint to get a coat or two on each room and ceiling to make sure I wanted to stay with the colors I'd chosen from a small sample. All looked fine, so I told them to go with it.

They went back to the same Home Depot store, worked with the same paint department manager and bought another $600 or so in paint. However, the new paint they picked up wasn't even close to matching. It looked like shit. Every place they touched up a spot was lighter in color. Thinking it was just because the paint was wet, they finished trimming out the house until I got there and said "stop!".

A trip to Home Depot and explaining and showing them the problem got me a reply that my Home Depot store and Behr changed their computers that mix the paint colors. One of the paint clerks said he didn't need to see the house because he said the numbers that tell the computers precisely how much of each color to add to a gallon or 5 gallon bucket of paint were all different now. So, I now have right at a thousand dollars in actual paint and just over two thousand dollars in labor (which should have finished the job) and the entire house needs to be repainted. They said they could try to match the "old" paint, but I'm not at all keen on having paint that cannot be matched if I need to touch up an area. Any paint with the same name as what I'd used would not match.

As you can imagine, Home Depot tells me to talk to Behr and Behr's "upper management" tells me to talk to Home Depot. It's been a full week now and all I've been offered is a "couple gallons" of paint at no charge. :mad: No way!! I very strongly feel that I should not be out another three grand or so because Home Depot and Behr changed their color mixtures over the weekend and never told us anything about it (I've heard that they now have several people complaining).

So, who should I press the hardest? I don't know Home Depot's relationship with Behr. I know Behr is Home Depot's premium brand and Olympia is Lowe's premium brand. IMHO, someone is going to foot the bill to make this right besides me. Both are trying to blow me off, but I'm not going away. Who should I go after?
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
That is total horseshit. If it's Behr's paint and codes, then that's who I would go after. Find the other folks who had problems, and put some heavy pressure on Behr and Home Depot. Somebody will crack. You need to get the Home Depot people putting pressure on Behr too.
 

squerly

Supported Ben Carson
GOLD Site Supporter
Yep, it is total horseshit, but if you're looking for accountability you probably won't find it. JMO but I stopped doing business with HD 6-7 years ago when they screwed me on a home generator. (but that's another story)

I'm afraid the best you are going to get is some "free" paint, complements of Behr. They're going to say that you should have stopped painting when you saw the problem and not waited until you had painted the whole house. Corporate is good about making their problem become your fault.
 

Cowboy

Wait for it.
GOLD Site Supporter
Yep, it is total horseshit, but if you're looking for accountability you probably won't find it. JMO but I stopped doing business with HD 6-7 years ago when they screwed me on a home generator. (but that's another story)

I'm afraid the best you are going to get is some "free" paint, complements of Behr. They're going to say that you should have stopped painting when you saw the problem and not waited until you had painted the whole house. Corporate is good about making their problem become your fault.
Ditto. :agree:
 

luvs

'lil yinzer~
GOLD Site Supporter
i'd call corporate on both. i aim for corporate & request mgmt. when an item/service fails me.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
Behr sucks. I bought some Behr deck stain 8-9 years ago that was supposed to be "sprayable". I even bought a new sprayer just for the stain.

Needless to say the stain was not sprayable and the sprayer clogged and stopped working and by the time I realized this I had blotches of stain on my deck and had to rush around getting a brush so I could brush the crap on.

The stain looked like crap, didn't last long, and was a pita to sand off and replace.

I avoid Behr products now.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Since you purchased the paint from HD, your complaint is probably with HD, who in turn has a complaint with Behr. However, I would probably go after both in the form of a registered letter, then more. I would also start with the letter to the point of purchase. I had a similar situation with a sink that was permanently installed in a granite countertop. Although the guarantee was from the sink company, They local store handled the problem and paid for the removal and reinstallation of the granite. That, however, was Lowes, not HD.
Last resort is always small claims court. I doubt if HD or Behrs is willing to walk through the courthouse door. JMO
 

FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
GOLD Site Supporter
Home Depot. Another company Darnelli scewed up before he went to demolish Chrysler.

You have two culprits here each will blame the other.

The supplier, which in this case is Home Depot, not Behr. And the folks who painted your house. In a fair world, they should both figureout how to deliver to your expectations.

But, reasonable mistakes and assumptions were made here. So, the Women, who I presume are not really professionals, ought to give you a break on repainting.
HD ought to replace whatever paint is required. Their major competitors would. Valspar will replace paint if you just don't like the color.

In the end, you will likely have to foot the bill for the paint. And then take care of the ladies.

As for me, I haven't given Home Depot a dime for 5 or 6 years. Similar events, more than once.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Home Depot. Another company Darnelli scewed up before he went to demolish Chrysler.

You have two culprits here each will blame the other.

The supplier, which in this case is Home Depot, not Behr. And the folks who painted your house. In a fair world, they should both figureout how to deliver to your expectations.

But, reasonable mistakes and assumptions were made here. So, the Women, who I presume are not really professionals, ought to give you a break on repainting.
HD ought to replace whatever paint is required. Their major competitors would. Valspar will replace paint if you just don't like the color.

In the end, you will likely have to foot the bill for the paint. And then take care of the ladies.

As for me, I haven't given Home Depot a dime for 5 or 6 years. Similar events, more than once.
Not giving legal advice, but the lady painters merely applied what Dargo purchased. Unless there was some problem with the application, it seems to me that they are out of the equation.
 

AAUTOFAB1

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
man that sucks, wish i had known you before you started,this shit happens all the time and has happened to me, i have since started to ask for the paint pigment code and all the pigment quantity's in writing(printout) so they are very easy to match anywhere.i can't afford/won't afford,to hire professional painters but have learned my lesson to always test new paint that was not made the same day as the old paint was.(let it dry)as far as who will buy the new paint i think home depot should,as for the paint department- if a change was made they should have told the women before they purchased the new paint -that the code was changed just the weekend before(this should have been the dept. managers job to tell his staff) every customer after the change and made a quart of touch up to try and see if it matched,( this is what ACE hardware did tell me)if it was only a few weeks or so after they changed they should still have the original pigment code and be able to match your old color,hope they fix it for you.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
Not giving legal advice, but the lady painters merely applied what Dargo purchased. Unless there was some problem with the application, it seems to me that they are out of the equation.

That is the case. I supplied the paint. They just supplied the labor. I even went so far as to tell them that their suggestions for colors would not be welcomed. I want all neutral colors and nothing wild.

I just now returned from Home Depot and their POS store manager would not even see me. They sent three guys to tell me that Home Depot is not willing to do anything. I again asked to speak to the manager and was told "no".

I suppose I'll start with the state's attorney general, corporate Behr and corporate Home Depot and go from there. Based on this example of supporting their customer, Home Depot should go out of business within a few years. I'll NEVER buy anything from them again and other items I've purchased from them (paint trays, rollers, brushes, plastic etc.) will be returned and I'll buy the same from Lowes across the road from them. As far as I'm concerned, Home Depot can go straight to hell. They are sadly mistaken if they think they won't hear from me again. According to my attorney, with the labor cost included, my claim against them goes beyond small claims court and Home Depot will have to bring in their attorneys. I don't see any way they could be in the right. They basically fucked me and then when confronted, they basically told me to fuck off. I don't do 'fuck off'.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
Sorry to hear about your dilemma. This is yet another reason why I buy my paint (and tell my customer to buy it) only at Sherwin Williams. HD has crap paint and stains, and I refuse to apply it if the customer has already purchased it. At the end of the day it's always the contractor's fault, so I just avoid all the hassle with SW.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
I buy all my paint from Lowes or a local hardware store that also carries Valspar products.

I rarely shop Home Depot these days. The only time I go in there is if it is really more convenient for me than driving to another store or they have something that the other store's don't.

I used to buy a ton from Home Depot but their service is sub-par and I don't generally like the quality of product they stock.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Lowes is 12 miles farther away than HD but I go there first after HD screwed me around on deck screws. I had almost a 5 lb. container where the heads were bad and would not fit on the square bit I bought from them. They had changed suppliers etc. and told me tough shit. I had my bank back out the electronic payment till they made it right. I don't go there anymore.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Can't add too much more then what's already been said. The one thing I'd add is (if you paid by credit card), call your card company and have then hold the payment as there's a dispute.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Good suggestions all. So Brent have you talked with the Home Depot district manager over this particular store? Like luvs suggested you might need to get to Home Depot corporate but if you work your way up the ladder with each of them, one step at a time, you are giving each a chance to resolve the situation. Home Depot obviously did you wrong. They changed out the equipment which mixed the paint. They should at the very least have mentioned to you or whoever picked the extra batch of paint up from Home Depot that the mixer had changed and to test check the paint before applying if you were trying to match a previously mixed color. Since you had to bring in a color code or used gallon of paint they KNEW you were trying to match paints. That alone would have saved you a whole lot of headache. Surely the home depot person who mixed the paint knew that the mixer was different. They sure had their excuse ready when you came in to complain. How a huge corporation like Home Depot could make a change like this and not tell the customers is a disservice to all who shop there. Does someone have to go so far as to start a lawsuit to get them to do anything about it? I sure hope not. Home Depot corporate should take care of this situation once word gets to them about what happened.

I'm in the middle of finishing a large section of my basement. I've bought a good bit of my stuff from Home Depot. Whether or not I continue buying from them or driving up the road the extra half mile to Lowes will in part be decided by how they take care of this situation. I'm going to need paint. I want to know that when the time comes to match that paint that I can count on whoever I buy it from to truly match the color. Good luck and please keep us posted.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
One suggestion, Brent, you could copy and paste this thread to an email, and let them know that this is just one of many you frequent.
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
My oldest son needed a new lawn mower so last month while visiting we went looking. He ended up purchasing a new Toro ZT with maintenance/storage stand and mulching kit (kit had to be ordered so it was not on the machine at time of issue) from Home Depot which is a big purchase for a young couple. The first time he mowed with it one outside blade kept coming loose, ended up being a stripped spindle.

When he called HD about the issue it was the typical box store answer. We don't do warranty service, it has to go to a approved Toro service agent, brand new mind you. He ended up having to call Toro for the service of a brand new mower. They found the issue and assured him that HD did not do the proper pre-sale checkout prior to it going out the door. They had found numerous issues with the initial assembly. All was taken care of on warranty EXCEPT a charge for the pre-sale checkout they ended up doing. He's working on recoup from HD for the pre-check cost.
 

luvs

'lil yinzer~
GOLD Site Supporter
i think doc makes a good point- the more u speak to, the better. many get frantic at the mere mention of 'management' & 'corporate' & suddenly begin to get very friendly toward u.
they really begin being kind when facebook, twitter, or social media is mentioned.
 

Catavenger

New member
SUPER Site Supporter
DARGO -- I am just wondering if any of your local TV stations has an "On Your Side" segment for consumers? This sounds like something the media would love to go after.

The suggestion about calling your credit card co. and disputing the charges also sounds good. I bought a clothes dryer from Home Depot and it came with a really short cord that would not reach the outlet. The delivery driver told me basically that was to bad and that I would need to get an electrician to move and reinstall the outlet. I told him to take back the unit and that I would report the charge to my credit card company. He returned later with a dryer with a proper cord.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I buy my paint from a Sherwin Williams paint store. They have never been anything but very helpful. Generally speaking Home Depot (and Lowes) are places where you buy stuff but are not places where you get advice, help, or satisfaction when there is a problem.

Sorry Brent but I think you will get some free paint and nothing more. Strikes me that Home Depot is to blame for this. I can't believe that the paint department people were unaware of the computer change over in advance!!!
 

FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
GOLD Site Supporter
Not giving legal advice, but the lady painters merely applied what Dargo purchased. Unless there was some problem with the application, it seems to me that they are out of the equation.

Yeah, I would agree there. I think in fact I said that, but perhaps not clearly.

If they do repaint for him, he will need to take care of them, even if they volunteer to do it for free.

That said however, some fault lies with the applicators who "thought is was just wet." I wish I had a nickle for every time someone told me. ' I didn't think that was quite right" before theydid it anyways and cost me a boatload. I wouldn't be rich but could uy a drink or two to make it feel better.
 

jwstewar

Active member
Before we built the house I would go to Lowes, Home Depot or wherever and by the "good" paint. When we built the new house we painted it ourselves to the builders spec. They required us to use Sherwin Williams Durations. I really liked it, but it was expensive. When we painted the garage we Sherwin Williams primer but Lowes best Valspar paint. I hated that paint after using the Durations. In the house with the Durations most rooms only took one coat, I put 2 in the garage and still didn't have as garage and still didn't have as good as coverage, but we let it go. 1 year later we had to repaint it because you couldn't wash it or anything. We then repainted it with Durations. We used less paint in one complete coat then we did in half the garage with one coat of the Valspar stuff. It has now been there 2 years and still looks good because if something touches the wall we can wash it. We don't even bother looking at paint or stain now at Lowes or Home Depot. We just pull out the color chart that Sherwin Williams gave us when we did the house, pick our color, and go pick it up......though we can't do that right now as the Sherwin Williams in town burnt down.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
My oldest son needed a new lawn mower so last month while visiting we went looking. He ended up purchasing a new Toro ZT with maintenance/storage stand and mulching kit (kit had to be ordered so it was not on the machine at time of issue) from Home Depot which is a big purchase for a young couple. The first time he mowed with it one outside blade kept coming loose, ended up being a stripped spindle.

When he called HD about the issue it was the typical box store answer. We don't do warranty service, it has to go to a approved Toro service agent, brand new mind you. He ended up having to call Toro for the service of a brand new mower. They found the issue and assured him that HD did not do the proper pre-sale checkout prior to it going out the door. They had found numerous issues with the initial assembly. All was taken care of on warranty EXCEPT a charge for the pre-sale checkout they ended up doing. He's working on recoup from HD for the pre-check cost.

Man, I'm sincerely sorry to hear about that. Literally, just after I got married I went through something similar. His problem will be Home Depot. Home Depot told me flat out that they "are not in the business of giving money back except for a qualified returned product". I asked point blank "So, you're telling me that you refuse to make good when it is your paint department at Home Depot that caused the problem. The store manager assured me that is correct; they will not participate one penny to offset my loss due to their change they neglected to tell any customers about!

I don't know if it's admissible in court, but by accident I just happened to have the 'memo' recording the entire conversation on my iPhone. I've tried to contact corporate Home Depot and they have pretty well made it clear that they don't get involved and I'd have to work it out with their store manager; the one who won't come out of their damn office and talk to me and the one who assured me that Home Depot would not pay one penny towards their screwup that has so far cost me $3000 and counting. I have to add the "and counting because I have potential renters at $1200 a month and I've not been able to do anything for the last week because I've been bounced back and forth between Behr and Home Depot. If I lose these renters, because they need a home for their family like last week, I will have the largest law firm I am associated with look into the most I can sue for and let Home Depot be my renter since they flat admit that they mixed the wrong color because of the changes in their computer. :mad: I'm telling you, if Home Depot thinks that I'll simply go away, they are making a terrible mistake. I've just begun to get word out as to how Home Depot treats their customers. As I said earlier, it's no wonder their lot is empty and Lowes is full.

If your reading this Home Depot, I'll bet you $10,000 that the Lowes store on the west side of Evansville clobbers you in sales. Take me up on the challenge. Look it up!! I DARE you! There should be absolutely NO doubt in your mind as to why!
 

Lia

Banned
I'm afraid the best you are going to get is some "free" paint, complements of Behr. They're going to say that you should have stopped painting when you saw the problem and not waited until you had painted the whole house. Corporate is good about making their problem become your fault.


Dargo, I think squerly's probably right on the 'should have stopped before you had the whole house painted.' That could be a major stepping stone for you.


However, I don't believe that you have to accept a few measly pots of paint as recompense. That's just ad policy, and even worse PR.


You know, when I have a complaint to make with a retailer, I first approach the Store Manager. If I don't get satisfaction there, straight away, I don't pussyfoot around a second time. I don't bother to approach the district or area Managers either. I go to the big smell, at the top. The company director/s.


I've found, thro experience (because I have a short fuse on retail service blunders, and I don't have the time or the inclination to bandy words with the lower echelons of management, who don't have a great deal of power or sense to work things out to the satisfaction of the customer) that it pays to politely, but firmly speak to one who will be very careful of how he or she words a reply to your complaint, since the notepaper will be headed, and include their title also.


The big smell at the top will want to show how magnanimous he/she can be, and of course, how wonderful their PR system is. After all, he/she knows how suddenly, such a missive could get into the wrong hands now, couldn't it? *twinkles naughtily*


All I can say is that it has seemed to be a successful maneuver, for me, in the past. Good luck. I hope that you get things sorted without having to spend out a dime more than you already have.
 

cdajen

Bronze Member
Site Supporter
Get in touch with the regional Home Depot manager. If you happen to be a veteran, be sure to mention that. Tell him that you believe in good business ethics and if he cannot make your situation right, you will use your consumer power to dissuade as many people as possible from using their store, and that you will tell as many people as possible Home Depot doesn't care enough about making their customers satisfied. Be cordial but direct.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
Get in touch with the regional Home Depot manager. If you happen to be a veteran, be sure to mention that. Tell him that you believe in good business ethics and if he cannot make your situation right, you will use your consumer power to dissuade as many people as possible from using their store, and that you will tell as many people as possible Home Depot doesn't care enough about making their customers satisfied. Be cordial but direct.

Thanks for the comments. Regretfully, I am not a veteran. However, my son is serving in special forces for our country in the armed forces. It's interesting that you posted today. Behr left me a message and, from my take, is willing to work with me. The Home Depot, absolutely NOT. Home Depot is sticking with the stance that, even though it was their computer that mixed the paint different colors, they are not willing to do anything whatsoever about it. Since my only options are to sue them, which would take years and I'm sure they must have tons of attorneys on retainer with their "fuck you" attitude, I can only try to spread the word about how pathetic Home Depot is as a store when it comes to customer relations.

Honestly, I feel that Behr seems to be trying to go above and beyond since I have been told that they have an exclusive contract to have Home Depot as their sole outlet. I feel sorry for Behr. I feel they have a great product and, hopefully, good customer support. It's too bad that they are stuck with a total and complete failure in customer service like Home Depot is. I think I'll go take a picture of Lowe's parking lot with a time and date stamp on it and drive directly across the highway and take a picture of Home Depot's parking lot with the same time and date stamp on the photo. It's no wonder that, at least in my area, it appears that Lowes does 10X the business that Home Depot does. I'd have to say it's no coincidence. When Lowe's customer service asks how can I help and Home Depot says tough luck, I know where people in my town opt to shop. Honestly, I cannot believe Home Depot corporate could not possibly care less that their store managers just flat out screw customers.
 

cdajen

Bronze Member
Site Supporter
I mentioned the veteran thing because I know that they provide discounts for active or retired military members. I hope you get it all resolved, it sounds very frustrating. Thanks to your son for his service :)
 

Bamby

New member
They all can actually be challenging to say the least but some stores can be worse than others...

Some time back Home Depot carried welding gases, and I needed some argon and the tank leases weren't horrible so I got one. The tank got me through the project with gas to spare and it was quite some time before I used up the remaining gas and needed a refill or replacement.

So I put the tank into the truck and went to Home Depot for an exchange. Come to then find out they had discontinued carrying welding gases, actually for quite some time before. So I then asked about the cash I paid out for my lease and they looked at me kind of stupidly saying I already received my gas!!

I then replied to them the original gas was only a few actual dollars, but I paid out some north of a hundred dollars for the lease and who's going to make that good and where can it be exchanged..

They then hem-hawed around implying I was screwed, and I straight out told them I intended to have some satisfaction of some sort before I left while admiring all they're big huge plate glass windows...

Anyway they must have took me serious because all of a sudden they suggested refunding me my lease with a in-store gift card credited to the value of my original lease... Sometimes a man has to play some real hardball to make things right...
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
That must have been before Home Depot's official customer service response became "Fuck off!! We already got your money and now we won't do shit for you!"

I've never, ever encountered any chain store that has worse customer service and is still in business. Home Depot is the worst with no close second. Our local BBB just laughs when you ask about complaints about Home Depot. You'll notice that Home Depot is NOT a member of any BBB that I've seen. Our state attorney general's office told me that they had a year's backlog of complaints against them. That's when I figured I'd just watch them die a slow death as they go bankrupt.
 
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