I consider Home Depot to be the Wal-Mart of home improvement: you'll pay marginally less but to me it isn't worth the hassle.

It takes me literally half the time to shop at Lowe's. I have to agree, though, that sometimes Home Depot has slightly better products, or at least a better variety. When I lived in Virginia I always went to HD, but the ones in Philly can't seem to get it together.

they all $uck!

You have to go out to the burbs to get knowledgeable staff and quick service. Either place Home Depot or Lowes is a thousand times better if you drive up to plymouth meeting or cross into NJ.

I've had several bad experiences at both places on Delaware Ave. Lowes carries better products like lighting and finishes. Raw materials are cheaper at home depot. But if you don't know what you're doing or waht you need both are utterly useless.

the guy selling doors in Home Depot can't add fractions!!!!!! How can sell doors if you can't add 60 1/2" and 2 3/4"?

__________________
http://dgoakill.zenfolio.com

The Del. Ave. HD is the gateway to Hades. I think their lumber is absolutely attrocious! They're selling hockey sticks, not 2x4s.

The Oregon Ave HD is... actually not bad. But I'm still no fan of their lumber.

My experiences at the Lowes have been relatively painless.

Good point about the lumber -- trying to find enough straight pieces of wood floor board trim to line a room took a trip to two HD's and Lowes. Blech!

What causes this do you think. Are Philadelphians less intelligent, motivated, or what? It carries through to fast food, pharmacies, and other venues. I went into one Rite-Aid and had to wait while a cashier who rang up another cashiers sale while she was supposed to be on another register. I asked for the manager and she was the manager. Hey! I think I saw that on a Chappelle show.

I've often wondered that myself. how could the same store be so different based on where it's located? the pool of people that make up the workforce for jobs such as these must be the problem.....they just don't care.

You ask a question and they act like they are doing you a huge favor by even attempting to answer it, and most of the time they can't.

I think it goes back to the "gallery thread" here, a lot of what has been said about the gallery can be applied throughout the city.

Best Buy is another example, the one on Del Ave. and the one in Plymouth meeting might as well be two different stores.

__________________
http://dgoakill.zenfolio.com

IMHO Home Depot has better "pro grade" materials (like recpticals, uni-strut etc) *if* you know what you are looking for.

However, As Philly is a major metropolitan area - Ive bengun to patronize the "trades" shops
- Diamond Tool
- Colonial Electric

I went down to traffic court today to pay a ticket...my god what a cluster-F...anyways, after getting my printout, I had to pay at the cashier. The entire place was jammed, and people were in the wrong lines.

I get in the line that leads to the cashier window, and casually ask the guy, "is this the cashier line?" He looks at me weird, and grunts. I ask again, and he says, "I dunno what line it is" Ok. So, 2 other folks in the same line, were paying attention to us looked at me with a blank stare. Then I ask, "is this where we pay?" All 3 replied with an enthusiastic yes. They didnt know what a cashier was. Odd, and off topic...sorry

I dread having to get any kind of sales help at HD, especially if it is something located high up and the need the fork lift to get it. And in the checkout, it seems like the cashiers can't do anything without calling for the head cashier and they need to get the key, and so on.

My best experiences are when I can run in, quicly grab what I need off the shelf and go thru the self-checkout. I love the self-checkout.

The Lowes is a little better, but they don't have a self-checkout.

Me 3, esp. because coming from West Philly Quartermaster Plaza is way closer.