“Good things happen when Home Depot comes to town”. That’s what Home Depot likes to remind us. But ask the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in the company’s home turf of Atlanta, Georgia. According to a report in the September 2002 issue of Merchant Magazine, the BBB suspended Home Depot at the end of July, 2002 for failing to respond to 110 customer complaints. The BBB met in early August to review Home Depot’s response. “We’re waiting for them to respond to all the pending complaints before we reinstate the membership,” said the President of the BBB. It turns out that Home Depot is a repeat offender. “This is not the first time their membership has been jeopardized,” the BBB noted. “We had met with them this past year and thought we had it all worked out. It’s not the kind of image I’m sure they want to have.” And what was Home Depot’s response? A company spokesman said the names on the BBB’s list didn’t match with Home Depot’s list. The Depot said being suspended “is not something we took lightly. Customer service is the holiest or holies for us at Home Depot.” The BBB reports that most of the complaints about Home Depot were customer service issues. While in suspension, Home Depot was listed as having an “unsatisfactory record”.
If customer service is so holy, why did Home Depot have 110 “sins” unabsolved? Let’s hope that Home Depot gets back in the good graces of the Better Business Bureau. Or even better, let’s hope that consumers get back to their senses and stop shopping at a company with an “unsatisfactory record” of serving its customers.
