Report Abuse

Flag a comment for removal

Please use the form below to report a comment to us. We do our best to monitor user comments and we have zero tolerance for profanity, personal attacks and other malicious posts.

Thank you for taking the time to bring this comment to our attention.

Report Abuse

I've been a Home Depot customer for 20 years since 1997. I co-owned a small construction company and in 20 years have spent over $600,000 at their stores. I've also flipped three homes. All tools, gear, appliances, etc. were bought there.<br /> <br /> In the mid-'00s I stopped using any of my 3 credit cards almost completely as well as my business and personal debit card. I refuse to get their credit card. I only pay in cash. If I know I'm going to be buying $3,000 of items that day, I'll go to the bank and take the money out for it. Two years ago I made a $7,500 total purchase in one day at Home Depot in cash. <br /> <br /> Just in the past three years Home Depot has been hacked 3 times (2015, 2016, 2017) and each time over 50 million people's credit cards and personal info was leaked and found on the dark web for sale. Once they were even warned there was a security breach and they took no action. I keep all of my receipts and even have a Home Depot folder but occasionally I will misplace one or one of my guys fails to give it to me.<br /> <br /> I tried making a return a few months ago and was denied. The woman at the return counter called over a co-worker in front of 10 other people and said loudly &quot;Look at this!&quot; When I asked what the problem is she told me &quot;I will never be able to make another return at any store again.&quot; I didn't know about The Retail Equation then and wasn't aware I was supposed to receive a printout with a number and Phone number to call. When I got home and did some research I found out about this company. I called my local Home Depot and explained what happened and they said the only way to get my personal number for TRE is to come back and attempt to do another return so he could print it out for me.<br /> <br /> I did that and contacted TRE and got my return history. In 2015 I lost my wallet in CT at a casino. The next day I got a call from someone saying he found my wallet and got my number from my business card and he'd send it to me in the mail. He told me everything appeared to be there but there was no cash in it. This man said he found the wallet in Rhode Island. I've never been to Rhode Island. When I looked at my RTE report the 1st return w/o a receipt was for a Home Depot in RI. The 2nd one was mine for $79. The 3rd one was the return I was told to attempt so I could get my RTE info to contact them (which is needed.)<br /> <br /> This blew my mind. Apparently, someone who found my wallet took my cash and used my ID to make a fraudulent return. Then TRE counted the return I attempted (knowing it wouldn't work) just so I could get my TRE info to contact them. The last time I made a return without a receipt at Home Depot was years ago and now I'm stuck with over $300 worth of plumbing items I can't even exchange and they're not the kind of things that will easily sell on Craigslist or eBay.<br /> <br /> I'm done with the Home Depot. They've gone downhill in many ways over the past 2 decades but this was the last straw. I don't want my personal info going to some 3rd party company and their return policy is a joke. I've spent over half a million dollars at this store but won't give then another penny. I'm going to be giving my business to local, small hardware stores like I should have been doing all along. Yes, it'll take me a bit out of my way and I'll pay a penny or two more but I don't care.