Who has the better return policy? I know Costco has great return policy on electronics...bring it back for any reason within a year and get a refund (or at least they used to). Who's most like this in the home improvement arena, Lowes or Home Depot?

8/5/2008 2:23:38 PM

i don't know anything about home depot's policy, but if you take something back to lowe's and don't have the receipt, they only give you store credit for it.

soooo that probably wasn't that helpful, but it's all i've got

8/5/2008 2:25:16 PM

I don't know about return policies but to me Home Depot is like wal-mart while Lowes is like Target of the home improvement.

8/5/2008 2:25:48 PM

i bet its on their website

8/5/2008 2:31:34 PM

i always liked lowes more...since like age 7

8/5/2008 2:33:38 PM

lowes will look up your purchase if you used a credit card.

ala target.

8/5/2008 2:34:30 PM

home depot is the same way.

8/5/2008 2:40:27 PM

home depot is too dark and too orange.

8/5/2008 2:44:15 PM

^and a messy shit hole.

8/5/2008 3:05:54 PM

<-- works at lowes


have the receipt and they'll refund you the way you paid, cash, credit ect ect

no receipt and you'll get store credit, but its generally up to the manager.

8/5/2008 3:06:41 PM

^HD's is the same way. Reciept = however you paid. None = store credit @ current price.
<-(Former Employee)

8/5/2008 3:09:34 PM

^^,^

cool good to know.

also on the topic of these two stores, whats the best way to get discounts? I noticed in the CityPass coupon booklet there are a bunch of 10% off coupons for Home Depot ($5 off $50, $10 off $100, $20 off $200). Are there other discounts like this out there?

8/5/2008 3:20:54 PM

go on sites like hgtv and register and they'll email them to you.

8/5/2008 3:22:26 PM

Quote :

"I know Costco has great return policy on electronics"

my grandfather has bought a laptop at costco with every intention of using it for a full year and returning it before, and made good on it.

i couldn't believe they let you do that.

i know my dad bought some wood and left it outside for more than a year and took it back to home depot, who returned it no questions asked. it was in terrible condition, too.

8/5/2008 3:28:50 PM

i've had good experiences at both stores.
Sometimes i've gotten tools or parts or whatever, and they either didn't work well or didn't turn out like I wanted them to, and I thought I would have to make up a big elaborate excuse as to why I was returning it, but they didn't care. You can tell them you didn't like it, it was piece of junk, wrong size, it broke after the first time I used it, or it broke after I used daily for 2 months, and they don't care

8/5/2008 3:40:20 PM

I've never had problems returning items at Lowes for either a full refund or store credit- and it's always been my choice as to which. I can't honestly remember the last time I shopped at or returned something to a Home Depot, so I can say much about their policy.

8/5/2008 3:42:50 PM

I worked at Lowes for a summer.

The return policy is basically "whatever makes you leave happy" if you bring a manager into it. They're also good about refunding partial returns when it comes to tile or brick, or whatever.

I assume it varies by store, though.

8/5/2008 3:45:36 PM

Lowe's is better.

And they sponsor Jimmie Johnson!

8/5/2008 4:41:28 PM

8/5/2008 5:03:28 PM

Shop at Lowes. I worked at The Home Depot for a summer and I hope that place goes bankrupt. Absolute morons.

8/5/2008 9:22:35 PM

Both stores have great return policies. I don't know about a YEAR later, but they certainly do 30 days, and I've returned stuff as much as 2-3 months later, no problems.

8/5/2008 10:47:42 PM

FWI, the Costco policy on electronics has changed to 90 days. People were renting TB's, computers, etc. for years then bringing them back and exchanging for a new one. Was costing them a ton.

8/6/2008 1:49:59 AM

Deciding between Lowes and Home Depot? Here's what helped me pick one over the other:

Lowes is right off US1 North. You've got two stoplights, but you can go right on red for both of them.

Home Depot. You've got to go a little further, traffic on Walnut is always ridiculous, stoplight cycles on Walnut ( and Cary in general¹ ) are ridiculous, and a few of them have red light cameras.

Don't know how much of a pain it is to get to from the opposite direction, but I don't ever come from that direction.

¹ I hate how most Cary lights don't give the green arrow to people turning left first. Opting for the opposite of what 99.9% of every city in America does. The cycle for most lights is: straightaways first, people turning left second. It's nice when you are in the situation where you could either go straight or turn left to get where you need to go, so you pick the left lane, because they get the green first. Nope, have fun waiting.

Plus I've been through light cycles where you wait up to 4 or 5 minutes for a two car opportunity to get through the intersection (at night, straight on Maynard where Walnut crosses - the light turns yellow before the first car is halfway across).

/rant.

[Edited on August 6, 2008 at 7:38 AM. Reason : -]

8/6/2008 7:36:48 AM

Quote :

"Lowes is right off US1 North. You've got two stoplights, but you can go right on red for both of them. Home Depot. You've got to go a little further, traffic on Walnut is always ridiculous, stoplight cycles on Walnut ( and Cary in general¹ ) are ridiculous, and a few of them have red light cameras."

ha, i actually made the same decision. I come from Cary down Walnut, and Lowes is just easier to get to. I don't want to have to go into the Crossroads and the Target/HD parking lot

8/6/2008 7:52:35 AM

^^ yeah the light on maynard and walnut is pretty ridiculous.

8/6/2008 6:43:04 PM

I like our return policy at my work:

- 30 days on Electronics and Mattresses, 90 on everything else.
- Over the time limit = no.
- No receipt = Store credit if you haven't been doing it abusively (we track this using IDs).
- Opened? Don't like it? Nothing wrong? = 15% restocking fee you indecisive fuck. Suck it.
- Opened? Broken? Within time frame? = You tell us what to do.

8/7/2008 9:51:44 PM

^cool, so if works perfectly put I don't like it, I will just slam it on the concret.....now it is broken.....

8/7/2008 9:55:26 PM

Quote :

"ha, i actually made the same decision. I come from Cary down Walnut, and Lowes is just easier to get to. I don't want to have to go into the Crossroads and the Target/HD parking lot"

aha pretty much the exact opposite place for the same reason for me

i live near tryon and it's all right turns going to home depot

i hate trying to get over to that lowes/mcdonalds/jiffy lube/circut city place

8/7/2008 10:07:25 PM