Unpatriotic store

THEY SELL FLAGS !!!! There are probably 50 flags on the shelf & they
cannot replace the ratty flag outside? Sorry, but I can't see a HO
getting upset about an employee doing the right thing & replacing the
flag. Service at Home Depot is been horrible in my area - I look for
other alternatives whenever possible.

I get that the flag was old and needed to be replaced.

But unpatriotic?

They fly the flag by choice.

I work at Home Depot and would like to clarify. We proudly fly the
American flag at all of our US stores. We have a program in place to
check the condition and care of each flag on a regular schedule. The
manager you spoke with was likely referring to a recent improvement to
this program, which provides each store with a replacement flag for
safe keeping so they have one on hand and can request the change more
quickly. The flags are replaced by a third-party vendor who has the
proper equipment and ensures their proper disposal.

Frankly, our store associates are usually the first to notice when one
of our flags begin to show wear, or a simple nod from a customer like
you can help us realize when a flag was missed in the last rotation. I
appreciate the heads up and will follow up with our store in Blaine to
make sure we get a new flag on display there quickly.


Michael
Customer Care
The Home Depot
Atlanta, GA 30339
Information@homedepot.com

Go to Lowe's. Lowe's also gives Veterans 10% discount every day unlike
Home Depot. Just show your Military ID at the register.

How do you know that it wasn't? You assume that he is lying to you,
and he might be, but then he also might not be.
When my husband was in college he was a manager at a major fast food
chain (which will remain nameless) and one night they ran out of
onions. Something they had never done in the 5 years he was there, so
when a customer wanted onions on her burger and was told there were
none, she freaked out. He told her, that they can't just go to the
grocery store and buy onions, thy have to be ordered though HO. HO
shorted their last order and he had placed a new order the day after
he realized. There was nothing he could do, he just had to wait.
She too went to the local paper and they refused to investigate it and
she went to HO they wouldnt confirm it with her, but did confirm that
all orders for the restaurant have to be done through HO.

rules and respect that come with hanging flags. Not hanging one is ok.
But if you do hang one, the flag must be in good repair. If it's all
ripped to shreds, it's rather disrespectful. But so are flag themed
thongs, so I try to pick my battles.

And it also must be displayed properly, and not in the form of a
thong.

Having the beat up, worn flag flying over the store during our
country's birthday weekend or having no flag at all because it was on
order?

The asst manager probably had no idea who or what to doregarding
odering a new flag so he gave a standard "corporate headwuarters"
reply.

Just an FYI...Members of our local VFW posts will actually write
letters to businesses/city owned property and even residences
informing them when the US flag they are displaying needs to be
replaced. And if this does not work they then ask for assistance from
local news stations to please come out and video these to show on the
news.
Seems to work very well.
Maybe you can ask your local VFW post members to also be on the
lookout for these flags.

I think the real complaint is somewhat lost in the letter writer's
feelings about Home Depot. He obviously has a bone to pick with them
which is why the manager's response hit a nerve. I think the letter
writer would have been better off just sticking to the actual
complaint about the worn flags, especially if that was his real
concern.

If these flags were in that bad of shape, new ones should have been
ordered a long time ago. They shouldn't wait until the flags are an
eyesore to put in a request for new ones. Flags should be replaced
when necessary and certainly before customers have to bring it to
their attention. Shame on Home Depot.

As a former employee of Walmart, I can assure you that when we say
"corporate is working on it" or however it may be phrased, it is NOT
an excuse.

Did you know for example, that in every single Walmart the heating and
A/C is controlled in Arkansas, the WM headquarters? I kid you not. I
live in the Great Lakes area and when the cold winter air comes across
the lake in like September and the a/c is still on, we have to call HQ
and tell to turn on our heat.Same goes for turning off the heat when
it finally warms up in July. (OK thats me being sarcastic, but
seriously, on July 4th we had to wear jackets)I worked in the vision
center and we called to have the temp. turned higher. The person at
corp. office punched in our store # and actually saw us there on the
camera hooked into the ceiling.That there gave me the creeps.

Anyway, the manager said the new flags were ordered and these big box
stores needs to write down everything ordered/bought etc. to the exact
penny or else heads will roll. Go back in a few weeks and if the flags
are still ripped then bring it to their attention again.I hope
everyone who has a worn out flag is giving it to their local veteran
clubs (VFW, American Legion etc.) to be disposed of during the June 14
Flag Day ceremony each year.

He agreed the flags are in bad shape, and didn't say it was
corporate's fault. He said the flags were ordered from corporate just
a week ago.

In patriotic fashion, you told him he lied to you. Just what did you
expect after this interchange?

I agree that the flag should be properly maintained. Even if it were
not such an important symbol, the store should be in generally good
maintenance and repair...

I would give him the benefit of the doubt about the order. They can't
just pull flags out of nowhere or open inventory without approval from
the higher ups.

I don't see the reason for the complaint. He saw the flags were not up
to the appropriate standards and mentioned it to the store. The store
said they already knew and had already taken steps to correct the
situation. Why complain about that?

I guess it's no longer enough that a situation is in the process of
being rectified. You have to prove you already started that process.
You have to prove you are not a liar. If you don't prove it, then it's
time to let the world know! Oh well, God bless America!

I agree that if a business is going to display the American flag, it
should be properly displayed and maintained or taken away.

I disagree with Jeffrey that "it marginalizes the importance of the
flag when it's something that one looks at, for a second or two, on
their way into the Home Depot." I don't think you have to be "on your
way to volunteer at a VA hospital... on your way to help inner city
kids... or your way to protect someone's right to free speech" in
order to appreciate the flag and what it stands for. Many people have
limited time for shopping or home repairs and using the July 4th
weekend to get things done does not diminish a person's patriotism.
If your family went on a picnic at a local park, you would expect the
flag to be properly displayed and maintained, even though your reason
for being there was simply to have fun. I wish more people would take
a moment to look at and appreciate the American flag regardless of
where it is.

Maybe you went about this the wrong way, but I think your intentions
were good and your request was reasonable.

Do you really think that, on July 5, the entire nation was celebrating
the "good old USA"? Or do you think they were busy doing Sunday
things like... I don't know... for example... buying $417 worth of
stuff at Home Depot?

It's wonderful that seeing a piece of cloth reminds you of what's
important: your country. But how meaningful is it when it's a mere
stop on the way to buying stuff?

Now, if you said that you were on your way to volunteer at a VA
hospital, I could see it. Or if you were on your way to help inner
city kids. Or if you were on your way to protect someone's right to
free speech (even if you didn't agree with what they had to say)...

But it marginalizes the importance of the flag when it's something
that one looks at, for a second or two, on their way into the Home
Depot.

Plus, calling someone a liar? Is that the sort of behavior taught in
the USAF?

The thing is... when you see something day in and day out, you don't
really SEE it. Someone just coming along will notice something that
you haven't really noticed for a good long while.

I think it was very rude of you to call him a liar to his face. How
do you know that they weren't ordered last week? That doesn't sound
like an honorable way to behave.

My exhusband, the son of a career Air Force flight engineer who served
two tours of duty in Viet Nam, once wrote a polite letter to a car
dealership regarding the poor state of the flags being flown at their
dealership. He never got a response, but the next time he drove by,
all of the flags were brand new.

I surely hope the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press
ignore your photos, and do a story only if there turns out to be done.