Last month I walked into the store seeking to purchase paint for a home I was painting for some clients. They had expressed that they would like me to purchase the paint at this location for reasons that were never made clear to me. Since I would be painting their entire basement play area for their children, and each of the three bedrooms, I was set to buy a fairly bulky amount of paints.
Upon entering the business I saw a few customers wandering about, and a handful of employees sitting around trying to look busy. Mostly they seemed to me to be trying to avoid catching my eye, and thus being put in a position to actually do something. Though I may be wrong, I really doubt it. I spent a few minutes looking over a few displays, and the various paints they were presumably staged to be sold.
After seeing some products I was interested in I stood at the counter. Waiting. waiting. and presuming any one of these drones would decide to perhaps put solitaire on hold and maybe make a sale. I had a 5 gallon bucket, and 3 one gallon cans, and the color swatches I wanted mixed up. I stood there and watched as each and every one of these useless dead weight on the payroll insisted on imagining I was invisible.
Another few minutes passed, I watched the other customer being attended to, so I knew at least one of these people was going to receive a paycheck, and have earned some portion of it by actually assisting a customer. But the customer was a very nicely dressed woman who clearly showed an affluence that I, as a working painter, with paint stained T-shirt and Nikes, well I didn't look like the apparent clientele they felt was part of the demographic Mr. McGovern or his lazy offspring was willing to accept as a potential one time or future customer.
After what amounted to just under 15 minutes since I'd first walked into the store, I concluded that selling paint wasn't what this business was actually interested in, I made an executive decision to still attempt to please my client, but do so by some misdirection. I purchased the Behr Paint I generally use anyway, and found a couple cans of paint donated to the ReStore by the generous BM paint provider that probably mixed colors wrong and couldn't sell a few cans. Removing the labels, and affixing them to the cans of Behr Paint, I proceeded to paint my clients home. They were pleased, and when I was complete and payment was secured, I informed the homeowner of this encounter, to which he said he wasn't sure why he wanted that brand of paint anyway. He hired me to paint his lake house the following week. I just finished up this past Friday.
In closing, I suppose my story may be unique, but I kinda don't think I'm the only customer that was given this shoddy service.
While I certainly am not in favor of promoting the Big Box stores, this was a time where Home Depot reassured me that at least they can know that Mr. McGoverns Benjamin-Moore on Madisons' West Side might unknowingly redirect at least a few irked customers away from their strip-mall storefront, and one step nearer to once and for all closing their doors for good. :O)