Taking Advantage of the Big-Box Store Sales

Taking advantage of the big-box store sales can save you some serious money. It can also be an adventure in patience and perseverance. When things go wrong, as they often do, you can end up saving even more money if you use the tips I’ve listed below.

I love The Home Depot. You can probably tell that by all of The Home Depot ads throughout my website.  This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

However, taking advantage of a big-box stores online or in store sales opportunities takes a good bit of patience and flexibility.

My Recent Experience with The Home Depot

A while back, I ordered a popular landscape product from The Home Depot online. Their website told me they had sixty in stock, but these sell fast. I wanted to make sure they would be there when I was able to get there. I arrived with my receipt a week later only to find that they no longer had any, and that my purchase was never set aside.  “You’re kidding!” I exclaimed to the customer service sales clerk. “I just took the day off and drove sixty miles to get these!” He verified my address with a glance at his computer screen. “I specifically purchased these so they would be here when I arrived,” I said flatly. Then I waited.

The seconds ticked by. “So, nothing,” I questioned? “How about I refund the purchase price and you pick them up tomorrow,” he finally said. “That sounds good,” I said quietly. In my brain I was doing handstands. I like getting free things. Then the sales clerk noticed I had a cart full of other products. “What’s in there,” he inquired? I told him. He rang up $50.00 worth of merchandise for $4.00. I was very pleased. I made the two hour trip to the store a few days later to pick up my landscape timbers.

Tip #1: Place Your Order Online

• This ensures you have everything in writing, including the sale price and delivery date promised.
• Print it out.

Tip #2: Order Long Before You Need It

The Home Depot is a great place to get appliances for your tiny home, but you need to order your items long before you need them. Certainly you should do this when designing your tiny home.

A Summit four burner gas range, similar to the image,  is only 20″ wide and weighs just under 98 lbs. This is a perfect space saver for a tiny home kitchen. Kind of a retro look for sure. But it’s a “specialty” item, so order weeks in advance.

It will need to be special ordered, of course. The website indicates it should be available for in-store pickup or delivery within a week. You should plan on it actually taking seven to ten weeks to arrive.*

Amazon has the same model for a bit more than The Home Depot. Amazon’s ad claims we can have it in a week or two. However, if it comes in damaged, you are the one stuck dealing with the shipping company for reimbursement.

So again, order your appliances months in advance. Then you can be assured they’ll be onsite when the time comes to install, and you know the exact dimensions.

Here’s why

The appliance factory is in Arizona. To make the shipping as economical as possible, it will be put on a truck to the nearest Home Depot regional warehouse. Eventually, room allowing, it will be sent on another truck that is going in the direction of the Home Depot store nearest you. It may land in one of sixty regional warehouses, where it could wait for space on another truck for several weeks.  Shipping across the country can take weeks.

Tip #3: Working With The Home Depot Team and Other Big-Box Store Employees

Call or go to your local store two days after the product was slated to arrive. When they tell you it has not arrived, express your dismay. You can be firm, but remain polite and civil. Get the salesperson’s name and a new expected arrival date. Call the same sales clerk on the new arrival date. If it has not arrived on that date, ask to speak to the manager.

Express your unhappiness to the manager, again in a civil and polite but firm way. Ask them to track the product (they can do this) and estimate a delivery date. Tell them this is just not acceptable. They might, at this point, begin offering appeasements in the form of discounts.

Big-Box Stores Frequently Advertise Great Sales Both Online and In-Store.

Click here to view the latest online and in-store promotions at The Home Depot!

When we moved in to our new home, I spent hours picking products online from Lowes because they deliver to our town. The sale prices offered were quite good. What I chose wasn’t fancy, but was economical and the most heavily discounted. Everything had to be special ordered! Having lived without a refrigerator for month, I was in no mood to wait. Sadly, my products never arrived. After several weeks with zero results I decided to drive to the nearest Home Depot, sixty miles away.

Home Depot was offering a great appliance sale but no delivery.  We went to the store only to find that they did not carry any of the heavily discounted items advertised, most of the appliances they had were very expensive, and the floor models and were for display only. Because of my bad experience with Lowes, I envisioned a nine week wait, then having to rent a U-Haul and lug them home myself.

What We Finally Did

We left the store and bought from a local Sears store the next day.  Again, they only had floor models and everything needed to be ordered. It took two weeks, but they delivered and installed the appliances for free.

• Note: The new Sears Kenmore microwave oven that came with the house needed repair five times in the first year. Most of the issues revolved around a design defect with the door latch. If you read reviews before you make a purchase, you will see that this is a common issue for microwaves. Our microwave oven languished in the repair shop for months while they came up with a fix. Now, out of warranty, it broke again but, Sears has denied all responsibility and will not fix or replace their faulty designed product.
• So it seems that buying locally does not give you any advantage. Unless you pay extra for an extended service plan you, you’re out of luck. There’s no fighting these giant corporations. What they say in their warranty certificate means little in real life.

Big-Box stores can vary in customer service from store to store

You would think that a chain store would have the same customer service in every store. The guidelines given by the national office are the same for all. However, your experience may differ from store to store because:

• You are dealing with a customer service representative who is an individual and
  • He or she may be having a bad day.
  • You might have rubbed them the wrong way.
  • They might just be a nice or  nasty person
  • They might be compassionate to your plight.

• Company rules are somewhat flexible and open to interpretation. Management is given some leeway in how to apply the rules.
• Your store’s proximity to a regional warehouse and the manufacturer’s plant will greatly impact delivery time.
• If buying a sale item off the shelf, write down the sale price or take a picture of the sale sign. Some stores aren’t diligent enough to change the price in the computer to match the sale sign. The Lowes in Glenwood Springs CO was particularly bad about this.

What has your experience been with “big-box” stores? Which chain store do you like best?

Leave a comment below.