It’s fitting that The Home Depot has “depot” in its name, because a depot is where you wait for a bus or a train. How many of you have wandered the aisles of The Home Depot searching for someone to answer a question? I have. Many times. It’s infuriating. Sometimes it’s worse than infuriating, because the few employees scattered about the store are evasive. Among other things, they avert their eyes when they see you. This gives them plausible deniability if they should be confronted. “Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t see you.” Here is a column about one man’s disenchantment with The Home Depot. I know whereof he speaks. I should probably take my business to Lowe’s, although, for all I know, things are just as bad there as at The Home Depot. Feel free to describe your experiences.

As for why The Home Depot treats its customers this way, the author of the column is exactly right. The company has made a decision to increase its profits at the expense of its customers, hoping they won’t notice or won’t care. I’ve written in this blog about the absurdly long waits I’ve experienced at my neighborhood Wal-Mart Market. I don’t wait nearly as long at Kroger or Albertson’s, so naturally I go to those stores more often. I use Wal-Mart Market only for odds and ends, such as bananas. I do my regular shopping at Kroger or Albertson’s. This is my way of punishing Wal-Mart for wasting my time. Do executives and store managers not realize how angry they’re making their customers? Do they think angry customers will keep coming back? I can’t think of anything more stupid. It’s as if they want to go out of business.

Addendum: I predict that certain bold companies will go against the trend and make a killing as a result. Here’s a perfect marketing slogan: “We cater to our customers.” Obviously, companies that cater to their customers—by not making them wait—will have to charge more for their goods or services, for employees must be paid; but don’t you think many people would be happy (or at least willing) to pay more? It’s our time that’s valuable to us. We want to get in and out, with a minimum of delay and frustration.