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| - Alright, before Yelp was a glimmer in my eye, I shopped at Home Depot. It is, as my three star review suggests, A-OK with me, though I'm seemingly pathologically incapable of leaving there without spending at least $100.
There's always been ONE area of their services that caused me great consternation, however, and that was their automated tank exchange kiosk system. I recently returned to Home Depot to exchange my grill's propane tank and see that they have solved this problem uniquely and ingeniously, by placing an "Out of Order - See Attendant Inside" sign on it. I believe that sign has been on it for two years now. The following "review" was written pre-Yelp, but sums up my "automated propane exchange" experience. I don't recommend it, unless YOUR Home Depot has implemented the above solution.
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Home Depot in its wisdom has streamlined their propane exchange process. Now, instead of the old antiquated method of telling the cashier that you want to exchange your propane tank and having that person walk out with you and unlock a tank and take yours and let you go. . . they offer this high tech alternative:
You pay for the exchange at the counter. The cashier hands you a receipt. You exit the building and walk to the exchange kiosk outside the building. If you are a dumbass you are not wearing a coat because you don't expect to be long. It will probably be close to freezing. You approach the kiosk and try to figure out what to do. A short video will show you a person taking his receipt and folding it over a credit card, then sliding it through a card reader. You will perform this action and it will rip your receipt in half. You will continue to perform this until a locked but empty gate automatically swings open. You will place your tank in the empty cage slide it into place and close the cage. You will return to the kiosk when nothing else happens. It will ask you whether you have another tank to exchange. You will say no. The kiosk will thank you for depositing your empty tank. No full tank will subsequently appear.
At first you'll think this is an error, but it is just part of the streamlined process Home Depot is offering.
You will walk back into the building and summon a cashier who will then tell you to wait for someone outside. You will return, coatless, to the outside for several minutes, waiting. The wind will pick up.
When help arrives you will present your receipt to him just like you did before the streamlined process. He will take your receipt and double it over a credit card. He will swipe it through the card reader you previously used and rip your receipt into thirds. Subsequent swipes will open the exact same locked compartment you previously filled. The helper will look slightly perplexed at this, but when you tell him that yes, this IS the tank you just deposited he will nod knowingly, ask you to shut the door again and observe nothing happen.
The helper will then swipe your receipt again, and observe another empty cage open. He will ask you to shut it. When you shut it, the cage you previously filled with your tank will open. He will then close it himself, take out a key, open something, push a button or two, mutter, then return to the kiosk. Once more he will swipe your receipt. you will no longer be able to feel your toes. The cage holding the empty tank you returned to Home Depot will open a fourth time. The helper will ask you to remove the tank and replace it, apparently in a nod to my IT department's standard Help Desk solution, "turn it off and turn it on again to fix nearly every computer problem.". You will then close the door and the door to another compartment will open. You will then retrieve the full tank and carry it to the car very carefully in light of your inability to feel your fingers.
All in all it seems like a lot better process. I noticed that not EVERY Home Depot has implemented this time saver. Perhaps they're piloting the process at mine. It's awesome. Really.
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