I'm pretty pissed off at Home Depot (and people in general) at this point...

I've been dealing with a failing, two stroke leaf blower for the past few weeks. It's about five years old and and wasn't exactly top of the line, but it did what I needed it to do. I could probably save it with a carb rebuild, but it will most likely need rings soon anyway, so I just decided to replace it.

I went to Lowes and found a display model that I liked, but it was out of stock so I went to Home Depot. They had one that was similar to my old one. It wasn't as nice as the one at Lowes, but it was in stock and half the price so I bought it, took it home and set the box on top of my lawn mower, where it sat for a week.

Today before mowing, I cut the tape and opened the box so that the blower would be ready to use when I was done cutting the lawn. As soon as I pulled it out, I noticed that there was a large gasket sitting at the bottom of the box. I thought it was odd, as I didn't expect there to be much assembly needed. Then I noticed that half of the air cleaner assembly was missing.

It was pretty clear that someone had bought this thing, removed the parts that they needed, taped it back up and returned it to the store.

I applaud Home Depot for their generous return policy. They will pretty much take back anything from anyone for any reason, because they know that you will be back for more. I understand that the origin of this problem lies with the dirtbag who stole the parts and returned the item, but if the store is going to take everything back, they at least have to take a good look at it before putting it back on the shelf.

A round trip to Home Depot takes me at least an hour and a half, and it's going to take me two trips to resolve this, plus the two hours I spent being pissed off at Home Depot while I was mowing. I have to drive past Home Depot to get to Lowes, so for this item they have me on price and proximity, but I will gladly drive farther and spend more because I don't ever want to look at one of these things again.

Unfortunately, the customer that they're going to lose is not the one who ripped them off (he'll surely be back), but rather the guy who expected the product that they put on the shelf to be what they said it would be.

Get off my lawn.

I am angry at Home Depot every time I go in there, so i don't anymore. I also don't buy lawn equipment from ANY big box store. It's just not worth it.

I'm stopping at the Husqvarna dealer on the way home.

We like our Stihl equipment at work. I like my electric one at home, but I suspect my lawn is smaller than yours.

In reply to dculberson:

If Stihl makes a piece of equipment I need, I buy it. Nothing else compares. Its the Porsche of lawn equipment.

Redmax has some good offerings for blowers too! You can't go wrong with any mentioned above either.

My Redmax EB6000 blower starts on the 3rd pull every time and it's 14 years old. I only use non-ethanol fuel in my equipment. Have had trouble with regular auto fuel. My Redmax trimmer is only on it's second season. The thing weighs only 9.5 pounds. It's awesome! It replaced a 13 year old Stihl FS55.

Yeah, I've stopped buying power equipment at big box stores, too. The last thing I have is a Homelite chainsaw, and it's a POS.

I have an Echo leaf blower that I like a lot. My string trimmer is a Stihl, and my next chainsaw will be, too. I got the last two the same place I got my Cub Cadet ZTR mower, a moderately high-end lawn equipment store called Weingartz.. I'm sure there's an equivalent near you.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to dculberson: If Stihl makes a piece of equipment I need, I buy it. Nothing else compares. Its the Porsche of lawn equipment.

Everything's in the wrong place, yet somehow it works?

Will wrote:

bravenrace wrote: In reply to dculberson: If Stihl makes a piece of equipment I need, I buy it. Nothing else compares. Its the Porsche of lawn equipment.

Everything's in the wrong place, yet somehow it works?

The snap oversteer on that weed whip is brutal, might send you clear into the next lawn.

trucke wrote: Redmax has some good offerings for blowers too! You can't go wrong with any mentioned above either. My Redmax EB6000 blower starts on the 3rd pull every time and it's 14 years old. I only use non-ethanol fuel in my equipment. Have had trouble with regular auto fuel. My Redmax trimmer is only on it's second season. The thing weighs only 9.5 pounds. It's awesome! It replaced a 13 year old Stihl FS55.

Redmax products are excellent and would buy their stuff over any other brand.

www.vminnovations.com/Husqvarna

Order from there. I've bought a trimmer and a saw... No issues.

I got my money back and stopped at the Husqvarna dealer. Unfortunately, he sold his last two yesterday but should be getting more in within a week. He had a Redmax but said it would be overkill for my needs. It was also $100 more than the Husqvarna, which was $80 more than the Homelite from Home Depot. I'll take a look at Stihls.

Stihl = German engineering + made in America

Win-win in my book.

Although I appreciate your frustration, the parts thief was careful enough in repackaging to get by both the store clerk and you. I always check carefully for evidence of an opened box before buying... well, just about anything these days!

Oddly enough, when I made the original purchase, I had to dig past two open boxes to get to the only sealed one.

bludroptop wrote: Stihl = German engineering + made in America Win-win in my book.

I like this^.

My BIL is the head QC engineer for Stihl America in Virginia Beach. They honestly do make good stuff.

Look at almost every commercial lawn care company. They all use Sthil. There is a reason they do.

Toyman01 wrote: My BIL is the head QC engineer for Stihl America in Virginia Beach. They honestly do make good stuff. Look at almost every commercial lawn care company. They all use Sthil. There is a reason they do.

I had a tree service come out and cut down a bunch of high branches in my back yard last year. Crew of 4 guys. All used Stihl saws.

Although my $100 Poulan chainsaw has been absolutely reliable for the last 6 or so years, I've otherwise come to the conclusion that yard power equipment is one place where it really pays to spend more and get the commercial quality stuff. I totally don't get leaf blowers.

Woody wrote:

bludroptop wrote: Stihl = German engineering + made in America Win-win in my book.

I like this^.

And thus my Porsche analogy. That, and, well, you know. Hopefully you know, because I hate having to explain these things.

I worked at home depot for a while on the MET team (restocking stuff, organizing stuff,etc...) and some of the stores would put broken stuff back on the shelf, others wouldn't. One of my co-workers went as far as taking a fat sharpie and writing "BROKEN RTV" (return to vendor) on all sides of the box whenever she found something broken or missing, just so they couldn't do the lazy thing and put it back on the shelf.

Woody wrote: I got my money back and stopped at the Husqvarna dealer. Unfortunately, he sold his last two yesterday but should be getting more in within a week. He had a Redmax but said it would be overkill for my needs. It was also $100 more than the Husqvarna, which was $80 more than the Homelite from Home Depot. I'll take a look at Stihls.

I like my Stihls … weed whacker, chain saw, and a leaf blower

Zomby Woof wrote: I totally don't get leaf blowers.

when I can do a leaf job in 30 - 45 min that would take me 3- 4 hr to rake … I totally understand leaf blowers

Tom_Spangler wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: My BIL is the head QC engineer for Stihl America in Virginia Beach. They honestly do make good stuff. Look at almost every commercial lawn care company. They all use Sthil. There is a reason they do.

I had a tree service come out and cut down a bunch of high branches in my back yard last year. Crew of 4 guys. All used Stihl saws.

the tree com. I used had a mix of Stihl and Husqvarna

bludroptop wrote: Stihl = German engineering + made in America

From parts made where?

I finally got the Stihl dealer I bought my chain saw from to admit the parts were not made in the US. Granted this is the cheap home owner saw.

I loce my husq stuff But never had any trouble with atihl when I worked commercial landscaping in college. You cannot go wrong with either brand. Buy the commercial versoon and don't think about it for the next ten years.