Home Dep*t

[Cass]

I'm not sure about other parts of the country but I was in a HD the other day and they are now in the lawn cutting buisness and interior painting buisness. I guess soon they will be doing everything.

[hj]

They don't do it directly, but subcontract with companies that want to make up for low prices with volume. HD usually dictates what you can charge for the services and requires that you purchase your materials and supplies from them.

[Rancher]

Kind of like how Sears does siding... or re-modeling.

Rancher

[Gary Swart]

Box stores, Sears, and others have been doing this for years with kitchen cabinets, water heaters, carpeting and other floor covering, heating and air conditioning, siding, roofing, and probably lots more that don't come to mind immediately. It's not a new idea, just a continuation of how they try to get more of the consumer dollars. It's not necessarily a bad deal, but I'd sure check the price of installation they quote against what you could hire a contractor yourself. If the store is going to add 10% or more to what they pay the contractor, the bottom line to the consumer would likely be more that if the consumer hired the contractor. The extra cost might be worth it to some folks that just don't want to bother with finding someone to do the job. Pretty much the opposite side of DIY.

[speedbump]

I think you will find that most of the HD and other subcontractors are non licensed, non insured and hungry for work because they just broke into a business they know very little about.

I would rather use a licensed contractor than some weekend warrior.

The other thing that ticks me off about them doing this, is it makes them a General Contractor of sorts without having the GC license and the county.state don't seem to care. Think about it!

bob...

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Yesterday there was a show after the evening news dedicated to the home and garden show in cincinnati.

They had one company that completely redid bathrooms with the skins over the old tub and shower and


another company that wasn't a plumbing company at all, showing removal/replacement of sinks/dishwashers/disposals, toilets.


I'm self taught on advertising and I have to admit.....if I was a consumer and needed plumbing services done, I would of at least been inclined to consider calling and possibly hiring due to the way the advertising was done.


It was that good and I'm sure, no license to speak of.

The HD I have the closest relations with in my area has went through 6 plumbing contractors. They keep asking me and absolutely not. I'll keep taking the leftovers and crumbs and keep the nonsense of nothing but water heaters for 7 days straight to a minimum.