Home Depot manager calls my wife a vulgar name

A Home Depot manager, thinking no customers were around, called my wife a vulgar name.

What he didn't realize is that I was sitting nearby and heard him. I confronted him on what he said and he not only refused to apologize, but went running off into the back of the store telling me to "leave him alone."

What in the world kind of customer service is this? Home Depot is a disaster these days, and this incident is just a perfect example of why -- poorly trained employees and an out-and-out hostility to customers is no way to run a store.

Here's the story. My wife and I went to the Home Depot location at 5900 Hwy 6 South in Missouri City on Saturday evening.

We selected close to $700 worth of merchandise. While checking out, my wife asked if we could have the "12 months no payments, no interest" promotion.

The checker said she didn't know anything about that ... she asked someone else nearby and that employee didn't know anything, either.

My wife said she knew she had seen a sign somewhere about the promotion, but since it was late and I was tired, I told her to forget about it.

As we were walking out, my wife turned back to the store and there, in huge orange letters painted on the front, was the sign: "12 months no payments, no interest."

So she went back in to ask once again for the special financing. Because I was carrying a giant rug, I sat down on a bench just outside the automatic doors in the front of the store.

A few minutes later, an employee came out angrily complaining about a "stupid c---" ... I watched him as he looked for the sign on the front of the store. He cursed again and went back inside.

It took a moment to sink in, but I realized after he had left that he was calling my wife that name ... and I went inside and confronted him about it.

He said, "Tell me what I said."

I said, "That's not a word I would ever use."

He replied, "Well, if you can't tell me what I said, then I didn't say it."

Huh?

Finally, we asked to see the manager, and he said he WAS the manager! Amazing.

My wife asked for his name and he would only tell her his name was Fred.

He started to walk off and I followed him, telling him he should be ashamed for using that kind of vulgarity when talking about a customer, and he told me if I couldn't say out loud what he said, then I should just leave him alone.

Then he walked quickly to the back to get away from me.

We told the customer service lady to credit us for the merchandise, as we didn't want it anymore. She did, and we left -- angry and frustrated that a manager employed in a customer service role would treat us in such a shabby way and then refuse to be a man about it.

Fred at Home Depot thought he was alone. He thought he could complain about a customer without anyone hearing him. He was angry that he was being asked to do his job. He was frustrated because he had no idea how to solve this issue.

Rather than communicate effectively to find a solution, he resorted to name-calling, using a vile term that is particularly hateful. He probably does this all the time, in the back, in the office, in places where no one can hear him.

I just happened to be sitting there this time. I guarantee you there won't be a second time, for my wife and I, at least.

Because we'll be shopping at Lowe's.

Update, 11/19 at 2:30 p.m. -- I did speak with the store's top manager today. He was very gracious and assured me that not only would he have a serious discussion with his assistant, but he would also have him apologize to my wife.

If that does indeed happen, I will update this entry again.

Update No. 2 -- You can read more about my discussion with the manager here.

Update No. 3 -- You really need to read this. Lessons learned