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November 26, 2006
An exercise in frustration
What is it about male sales clerks, particularly in departments like plumbing, that makes them think that a woman, because of her sex, cannot possibly know what she's talking about?
While Dad was cutting moulding yesterday at Home Depot, I wandered off in search of plumbers' grease, as the newest canister in our filtration system has a bit of a leak (due to the O-ring not quite sealing). We've encountered this problem with each of the others that we've installed, and have discovered that a wee bit of plumbers' grease, applied to the O-ring, seals the canisters without problem. Unfortunately, the plumbers' grease that I know is somewhere in the house lives in a small, blue plastic container about 3/8” thick and the size of a loonie. It's currently missing in action, likely to be found by the dog at some later date.
After searching up and down the relevant plumbing aisles, I came up empty-handed. There were sales clerks around, but they were either busy with customers or completely ignoring me. When I finally did get a clerk to make eye contact, I quickly asked him where they kept their plumbers' grease. Now, had he been paying attention, he would have known that I had already spent five minutes wandering up and down the aisles, obviously looking for something. Rather than showing me where it was, he indicated that I could obviously find it half-way down the previous aisle, in small white tubs with red writing.
No plumbers' grease to be found there. What he'd described was the brand of plumbers' putty that Home Depot carries. When I went back to ask, again, he suggested looking at the other products in that particular location, as one of them would surely suit my needs—still, he didn't volunteer to walk over to the next aisle with me to ensure that I actually got what I needed. Now, I didn't ask him for epoxy putty, plumbers' putty, any of the various plumbing cements, teflon tape, or pipe joint compound. What I specifically wanted and needed was plumbers' grease, which they didn't have. There's a big difference, especially because we need to be able to retain access to the filtration canister so that we can change the filter.
This was a completely unnecessary exercise in frustration, and one that is becoming increasingly common in the plumbing department of our Home Depot. If it weren't for the fact that they have the largest selection of stock in the city, I'd likely stop shopping there. It's pretty obvious that volume, and not customer service, is their priority. I just find it rather amusing that they're trying to attract more female customers with new programs and seminars designed specifically for women, when their sales clerks seem to think that communicating with women or, heaven forbid, actually helping us find what we're looking for, is so obviously beneath them.
Posted by plainstext at November 26, 2006 09:28 AM
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Comments
I completely understand how you felt. Ever since a couple of ridiculously useless visits to the depot, I've found myself going to the smaller locally owned stores and the service is much better. I have also discovered that even though Home Depot is physically large, that doesn't always mean they have what I need. If you can, support your local hardware store. They would most certainly appreciate it.
Posted by: Joe at November 26, 2006 11:10 AM
I know it's a bit pointless for buying small things like plumber's grease, but I always think that buying online (yeah, especially from the little guy, Joe)can be much better than in person. There is so much competition on the web, that neanderthals like these just don't have a chance.
Best of luck!
Posted by: Lucy at May 12, 2007 02:51 AM