Homeowners Pan Home Depot's Installation Work

Source: Yahoo! News

May 21, 2007

One of the biggest names in home improvements is under fire throughout the Tri-state and across the country.

Homeowners have filed complaints against Home Depot, which boasts the motto, "professional installation you can trust."

"I don't trust them, and I would not recommend them," said former Home Depot customer Beth Scheid.

"Just nothing but lie after lie after lie," complained Andy Gunningham, another customer.

Gunningham and his wife have been waging a three-year battle over work done on their roof.

"When we sit here at our kitchen table and it rains... you see the water coming down over the fireplace," he said.

The Gunninghams wanted a new roof and new skylights, but they say what they got were damaged soffits, ripped up siding and shingles piled on top of one another. Three years later, the roof still leaks, and Home Depot still wants $14,000 for the work.

"I would not hire Home Depot to put a new roof on a dog house," said Liz Gunningham who, along with her husband, is suing the company.

Beth Scheid was also unhappy with Home Depot. She bought carpeting from the company and hired its workers to install it.

"The carpet started unraveling on day one," said Scheid. She said Home Depot only offered to try to fix the problem, not replace the carpeting even after three people, including a manager from Home Depot, admitted there was a defect with the carpet.

"I was really, really shocked," said Schied. "I was extremely disappointed, because Home Depot had such a good name."

News 5 contacted Home Depot's corporate offices for a response to some of these complaints.

"One of our founding principles is providing great customer service. Any customer disappointment is one disappointment too many," said a spokesperson for Home Depot.

But other complaints have been filed across the country. In Los Angeles, a Home Depot salesman tried to sell a new roof to an undercover television news employee posing as a customer, but an expert said that the home did not need a new roof.

Another television news investigation in Boston found Home Depot sales people promising that its subcontractors are Home Depot employees, which did not turn out to be true.

Home Depot admits that it has a problem with subcontractors.

"One of the things we're trying to do with Home Depot is we're trying to bring some level of standards and consolidation to that business to where we get independent contractors -- whether flooring, roofing, electrical or plumbing -- operating with some level of the same standards," said vice president of Home Services, Gary White.

As for the complaints, White said, "49 of 50 installs go without a complaint, so we do fairly well in the marketplace, but our goal is to be at 50 out of 50. We'll be disappointed if we don't get to that goal, and that is absolutely our mission to make sure every customer is fully satisfied."

In the Tri-state, over the same three-year period, Home Depot had 66 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau while Lowe's had 13.