Home Depot Carpet Pricing

I am the Specialty Assistant Store Manager at the watertown Home
Depot. If you have any questions or concerns about our pricing
policies- do not hesitate to call me at 788-8539 ext 301. To clarify
our pricing, many national retailers and smaller chains DO offer
"free" services such as furniture removal and rip/haul. However- if
you were to compare the carpet apples to apples, you would find the
cost of the carpet will be inflated to compensate. I have run into
this issue many times, and ask for a retailers bottom line price, and
compare that to a same or similar carpet. You will find that in the
end you are paying less at the Home Depot than elsewhere. If this is
not the case- give me a call.

Can't you buy the carpet and padding at Home Depot, and have it
installed by a reputable carpet layer?

i have just bought carpeting from home depot with a similar
experience, where they nickel and dime you for every little thing. We
are carpeting an extremely large room (400sf) and though we don't have
the room to move all our furniture elsewhere, we are certainly doing
so ourselves because it was $100 for them to do it - and they do not
move pianos or big screen TVs. Gee, thanks! That's extremely helpful
for you to not move the things that need moved the most.

It's another $100 to remove the carpet - I don't honestly recall how
much it was to rip the carpet up (yes, another separate fee for that),
but heck I can do that myself as it's easy.

The part that really, truly sucks about Home Depot is actually getting
their contractor out there to install! Every time I call the store, I
get the runaround (well your carpet just came in two days ago (a day
late, I might add, from the "guaranteed" delivery date) and they have
48 hours to call you from that time... uhhh 2 days actually = 48
hours, thanks) and I hadn't yet found anyone on the phone that treated
me politely and respectfully, since i dropped $2k on carpeting.
Eventually I managed to get the phone number for the contractor,
something that Home Depot should have taken care of themselves since
I'm obviously not happy with their service.

I'd avoid them doing any projects in your home like the plague!

I will never purchase a single item from Home Depot again. I have a
terible situation with my carpet installation from Home Depot and they
will not stand by it. The Home Depot store in Cranberry Township PA
quit using the installers that incorrectly installed my carpet and now
they are telling me they can't do anything about it. They did offer
to give me free installation if I would purchase new carpet from them.
I suggest to anyone shopping for carpet, go elseware!!!

As a followup:

My parents had their small, local flooring vendor special-order the
carpet that they had picked out at Home Depot. This vendor already had
a relationship with the manufacturer of the carpet, so was able to
special order it. They did NOT charge extra to move the furniture or
take up the old carpet. The old carpet was removed from the house
(after being pulled up) by a neighbor who wanted it.

All is well and my parents are very happy with their new carpet, and
Home Depot didn't get a chance to charge them all of their ridiculous
fees!

Same story for me, but Home Depot added quite a bit more carpet to the
order. I am trying to carpet a 276 SF room. I got a quote from
another carpet retailer for 282 sf based on the way the acrpet had to
be layed out. Home Depot came in after the measuring (which they make
you pay $35 for) at 366 sf. They said there is a pattern that repeats
every 36" on the carpet I selected, but it is just a specled texture
type and does not appear to have a repeating pattern. I think they
use this as a way to mark up the job. They also insist on charging
the installed price on all the square footage, but when you think
about it, the extra 90 sf that is waste based on the way they say they
need to lay out the carpet, certainly doesn't need the .44 sf for
padding or the instalation fee. The installation should be based on
the square footage of the room, not including all the waste.
The other retailer I purchased from did it with 282 sf and was upfront
about the total cost without charging a non-refundable "measure fee".
Home Depot's practice seems like a bait and switch.

The carpet may be more expensive because it has a better pile (I think
that's the right term for it). I know when I've shopped for carpet,
you can see a very wide assortment of prices. Generally, this will
determine how well the carpet wares. I've decided that it is worth it
to install the better stuff as you get a longer life of it and it is
more comfortable after it is down.

I do hope your parents found carpeting they like.

First, my compliments on a well-written letter.

However, Brenda, what you have told them is that your parents are not
able to find the same product at a cheaper price elsewhere.
Therefore, we can agree Home Depot is very competitively priced for
its product. Other retailers may provide the extra service, but their
carpet is different and therefore the product is different.

In this case, if your parents want this quality, it seems they'll have
to pay for it. You may offer to move the furniture for them, as well
as pull up their old carpet. If they're like my parents are, they'll
say "No. We would think of having you do that." So go into their
house, while they're not at home. Move their furniture for them and
pull up the carpet before they can say anything different. What a
wonderful surprise when they get home. All ready for their purchase
at Home Depot.

I've never bought flooring from anyone that will take away the old for
free. Move furniture? Sometimes yes (but expect to give a big tip!)
and sometimes no. I recently bought from a high-end place and they
charged for removal. I also shopped HD and saw signs that clearly
stated that the price included pads and installation, but not
removal.

Is your complaint that HD doesn't print an all-inclusive price on
their signs? Or that the all-inclusive price costs too much. Reading
your letter about your parents fixed income suggests to me that you're
asking HD to lower their prices. While better signage (your store
must not have the signs mine does) is a good suggestion, they aren't
going to lower their prices.

You might want to consider WHY the prices aren't all inclusive.
Removal all depends on what needs to be removed. In my house, I had
one room where nothing needed to be removed (it was a concrete floor).
I'd hate to be charged a removal fee for that. In another room, I
removed the old carpet myself. In both cases, there was no furniture.
In a third and forth room, there was old carpet to remove and
dispose, as well as furniture.

So, being charged for what they actually do makes sense.

In any case, HD is know for doing a bad job on install. Lots of
lates, no shows, damage, etc.

A carpet store should be able to order what they want. If they have
an idea of type of carpet, price range, etc., the carpet store should
be able to order samples from their suppliers and then order what your
parents want.

In the end, if there are no carpet stores anywhere near their home,
they might be stuck with HD and what they charge.

OMG, HD is the worst when it comes to knowledge and service. To top
it off, they DO commonly use bait and switch tatics to run up the cost
of the products and their profit margin. Case in point...

I want sheet vinyl in my basement wher I have slab on grade
construction. Since the concrete is not level from end to end, sheet
vinyl is the most forgiving, sans carpet, and comes in a variety of
cool patterns.

So, I purchase the sheet vinyl and they tell me it will be three weeks
special order. In the meantime, they schedule MeasureComp to come
measure the area. I was ASSURED by the PROS at the PRO Desk that the
installation cost was $13.95 per square yard. This was after I
corrected the EXPERT in flooring when she told me the installation
cost was $13.95 a square foot. HAHAHAHA....Anyhoo, the measure guy
comes out, ear rings in both ears....tats all over the place and
measures. Then, a day or so later, a sales guy calls me and starts
going over the numbers. After going back and forth on the details, he
tells me the final cost and I fall out of my chair onto the floor!
THIRTY SIX bucks a square yard was the final installation
cost...nearly $10 grand in total cost for 1150 square feet in my
basement! Almost # TIMES what the basic installation cost was...which
I was told was the entire cost. Not only did was I going to have to
pay for 50% waste in the initial product but they also were charging
me to install the waste, that would be thrown in the garbage!

I people wonder why the consumer is sitting on their money!!!! Home
Depot can take credit for that!

Home Depot is a do-it-yourself place, with the added service of
providing skilled labor that many of us can't or won't do. Of COURSE
it costs extra for those "extra" service you're demanding. That's
because most of us do that stuff ourselves! Or in your parents' case,
family could do it. You know, help out mom/dad and grandma/grandpa
for a weekend. Isn't that what families do?

So people who want to save money. Those who aren't willing to do the
work themselves must find others to do the work, and perhaps hire
people do the work for them. (I ripped out an entire house of carpet,
all by myself--it's hard work but it's doable)

It's only fair for Home Depot to pass this kind of cost directly onto
the customer, rather than spread it among all its customers, including
those who aren't inclined to pay HD to do this work.