Our terrible experience ordering online from Home Depot

We had always had such a great experience shopping at the home depot store near where we lived — helpful staff, hassle free checkout etc. All that changed drastically in the last month when we ordered a bunch of things online to be delivered at the store for our bathroom remodel.

1. Bathtub: The bathtub we decided on was already available in store. We placed the order online and it was ready for pick up the next day.
   Satisfaction: 100%. Ready for pickup in 1 day
2. Toilet: The toilet we ordered was delivered broken to the store. Once they identified that it was broken, they had to reorder it and it took as many days to deliver it the second time as it did the first time.
   Satisfaction: 50%. Ready for pickup in 17 days
3. Vanity: We had ordered the vanity along with the toilet as part of the same order. The day after the estimated delivery date, we stopped by their store to check on the status. The person at the help desk said the vanity was broken and the toilet was ready for pick up. Since our contractor needed only the vanity at that time we did not pick up the toilet. Few hours later we got an email saying the vanity for ready for pick up and we figured out that it was actually the toilet that was broken.
   Satisfaction: 90%. Ready for pickup in 9 days
4. Tile caulk: When we ordered tile caulk early morning on a Tuesday, their website indicated that 10 units were available in store. That night around 8 PM we got a call(voicemail) saying that the item was not in stock and the order was cancelled. We stopped by the store to figure out if any other nearby home depot stores had that particular product in stock.The person assisting us was unable to check with the other store over phone (he was on hold for 20 minutes) at which point we gave up and decided to check it out ourselves in person.
   Satisfaction: 0%. Order was cancelled.
5. Shower tub doors: The doors were available on time but our happiness was short lived as when the contractor was installing them he found some screws were missing. By this point we knew that if we waited for home depot to replace or provide the missing part we would wait for at least few weeks so we just went to a hardware store and got matching screws ourselves.
   Satisfaction: 80%. Ready for pickup in 9 days
6. Mirror: When the mirror got delivered it was also broken. Our contractor had already finished everything else and this was the one thing blocking completion. I called home depot and requested expedited shipping for the replacement mirror. The person on the phone said she will put a note to the seller etc. No difference. It finally came two weeks after it was first delivered broken. Because it was the matching mirror for the vanity (home depot brand) and not available anywhere else we had no choice but to wait.
   Satisfaction: 0%. Ready for pickup in 27 days

Lessons learnt:

• If you item is not available in store order from somewhere else. We had no issues with any of our non home depot orders online. We ordered a lot more from home depot; maybe we got lucky with the others. With home depot, we had just 2 out of 6 orders that were ready for pick up with no hassle. Also in comparison the other stores had much better tracking systems and estimates on delivery.
• Do not trust the inventory numbers shown online. When we asked why the website showed that 10 items were available online, the person in the store explained that sometimes people walk out with small items without paying and it is hard for home depot to keep track of the numbers accurately. I don’t even..
• If it can be broken, it will be broken. If their website says you will get an item in ‘n’ days, expect it in ‘2n + 1’ days: n days to deliver the first time, 1 day for identifying that it is broken and ‘n’ days for delivering it the second time.
• Have no expectations: When you place an order be mentally prepared that you will get your item sometime in the near future. Do not make any plans based on the estimated delivery dates. Do not expect the customer service person to be capable and find out the correct status of your order or even offer alternatives or suggestions if something is messed up.
• Always pick up at store: This was one of the things we definitely did right. For some of the items we had the option between shipping to store and getting a delivery at home. I am so glad we always chose shipping to store as anytime there was an issue we did not have to take the broken item to the store or ship it back. This removed any manual effort in the return/ reorder process.