BIG RANT – Home Depot Rat Feces

[MTM]

Last week I went to the Home Depot store on Delridge to pick up a spray nozzle in the garden department. I reached into one of the open containers to pick up a nozzle and noticed that the nozzles were lying in a layer of rat droppings. And the one I was holding in my hand had rat droppings clinging to it. I was horrified. I looked around more closely and noticed rat droppings in most of the nearby containers, on the shelves, and on the floor under the shelves. I immediately went to the restroom to wash my hands. After washing the filth off, I stopped at the store offices and ask to talk with the store manager. A woman (Brook) identified herself as the acting manager and explained there was a situation in the store that she needed to see and address. We walked back to the garden department and I showed her the containers and products that were covered in rat droppings. She told me they knew they had a rat problem and pointed to a rat trap on the floor under the shelves. I told her that was good but they needed to clean up the rat mess as unsuspecting customers were coming into direct contact with it and it was a public health issue. She told me she understood and would address my concern.

Several days later I was back in the store for cleaning supplies and decided to see if the area had been cleaned up. Well, if anything it had gotten worse, with bags of seed chewed opened and more rat droppings. So this time I took pictures and called Home Depot’s corporate headquarters. I spoke with a very nice women (Andrea) who seemed genuinely appalled and promised to make sure the issue was pushed up the chain of command and dealt with immediately.

That was four days ago. Today I went back and the mess is still there, all of it!! I really wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to correct a nasty problem but instead they have proven to me that they don’t care about the health and welfare of their customers. I have pictures if anyone wants to see them, but I don’t know how to post them here. Or you can walk around their garden department and see for yourselves. I can’t go to that store again.

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[jamjets]

I was there at the outdoor garden area about 4 days ago and the rats had a real party going on in the grass seed. I told someone at the front desk, they looked surprised and I heard the garden area paged as I proceeded to the check-out. A few d-cons is not going to get the job done here!

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[JanS]

perhaps they need to be reported to the health dept. directly.

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[B-squared]

Take your business to McLendon’s – it’s not that much further south. No, I don’t work there…. just like to support the locals and they have a wonderfully, helpful staff.

http://www.mclendons.com/

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[GoGo]

I second B-Squared’s comment! I love McLendons and was told that they are struggling financially so everyone should shop there instead of the big box stores!!

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[hammerhead]

ok yes I know it is gross. At least there is no food around. You are right, and god know they have enough products to kill rats or mice, would you have rather seen a dead rat or mouse, not me. That store is huge, they are on a green belt. I would suggest cats but then people would complain about that too.

I like Mclendons too at times but they are way more expensive and do not have a lot of supplies on hand. I am sure they have rats and mice too. Hell every one does. As for their staff, in my opinion they may know where stuff is located but do not know exactly what might need to be done. I end up calling my dad to telling me what to do.

There is posting as of right now to get rid of rats.

We will never get rid of rats, mice, racoons, or coyotes or politician we just have to deal with it.

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[TeeTaw]

I refuse to go to the big box stores, McClendon’s may be a little more but every worker in that store knows where everything is. Ask someone at Home Depot and you usually get the deer in the headlights look and they have to go find someone else to help you.

The rat issue is disgusting and to think that they are not cleaning it up is even more disgusting. It sounds like they need a professional to take care of the issue.

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[anonyme]

I was just about to pay HD a visit, so I’m grateful for this post as a reminder as to why I hate shopping there. That store has had serious issues for years, and yes, I’ve taken them up with both the store managers and corporate offices.

McLendon’s is a bit more expensive, but the service is almost always excellent. On many occasions, staff members have taken the time to talk me through projects. They also carry a lot of hard-to-find items that you’d never find at HD. The main difference is in the quantity on hand, and the size of the aisles. That said, I’ve actually had the experience of visiting HD only to find they were out of 2×4’s (WTF?) or drywall corners, and ended up at McLendon’s anyway.

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[MTM]

You know… I get that a place can have a rat problem, especially by a green belt. But, there’s no excuse for droppings where customers end up picking them up with the products they purchase. I’ve run rats out of my 100 year old home’s basement from time to time… but I don’t let my house guests come in contact with feces.

Vermin proof the outside of the place, hire a cat, do whatever for control, but for goodness sakes… clean up the mess!!!

McClendon’s here I come… :)

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[cjboffoli]

MTM: You’d probably hate living in New York City. Even the pharmacies and restaurants have rats, not just the home improvement stores.

Listen, no business owner wants to have rats in their store. It’s bad for business. But Home Depot is a BIG store. And rats are tricky little suckers that, as a species, are smart and resilient. I doubt any exterminator (unless they’re armed with napalm) would be able to produce a successful rat abatement in four days. That is simply not enough time. Rats are neophobic. So when you introduce traps into their habitat, they avoid them because they’re new.

Sometimes business owners are dealing with a pest problem so persistent that it just SEEMS that nothing is being done. Heck, the West Seattle Blog had an ant problem at their headquarters that was once so bad that whenever I loaded the WSB website at my own house, ants would be marching across my screen!

I can understand how disempowering it must feel to take the time to communicate a complaint to a business owner and seem like you’re being ignored. I’m often surprised by how often even small business owners won’t take the time to provide the courtesy of a response to a quick e-mail sometimes. I guess the bottom line is that no matter how often they give us the schtick about how they value our business, the truth is they just care about our money. Don’t take it personally.

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[JoB]

if the rats outside at Home Dept are an issue for you

stop shopping there.

it’s that simple.

there are other stores who will be more than happy to have your business

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[KatherineL]

Sure rats are everywhere and hard to get rid of. But they don’t deposit a whole layer of droppings on one shelf in one night. If someone points out that customers are picking up droppings with the merchandise, the least they could do was clean off and disinfect those shelves. It doesn’t take four days to do that.

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[Ken]

Every time I complain to the manager or an employee of Home Despot, I get the same response.

“It is the smallest store in the state” so therefore we are out of _______________ (insert whatever size of electrical, plumbing, consumable power tool parts that is the most popular or widely used on the planet)so I drive over to 4th Ave where ____________ is always in stock.

Ergo, the Delridge store must be rat infested for the same reason.

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[MTM]

Yes, my shopping days at HD Delridge are over. KatherineL is correct. This isn’t a one night rat party. This is a layered mess that the store isn’t cleaning up. Crazy me… I have an expectation that, A) I won’t pick up rat droppings with merchandise I’m purchasing from ANY store and B) When I point out that I’m picking up rat droppings and soiled merchandise with a store’s products, they will clean it up and not just blow me off – at least within 4 – 6 days. Too high of an expectation? I don’t think so!

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[waterworld]

Maybe HD can work out a deal with Hammerhead to install a clan of feral cats in the garden department (after spay & neuter of course). Rat problem solved, and kitties have a new home!

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[timeslid]

Noticed the droppings about six months ago in the paint department. Again, as has been said, go to McClendon’s.

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