I'm a woman in my mid twenties. I purchased my home a couple of years ago, and it was a fixer upper, so I had a lot of shopping to do at Home Depot, the only home improvement store nearby. Unfortunately I have never had a good experience at any Home Depot Store I've ever been to.
In my first experience with home depot, I went to the store with the intention of buying around a $1000 worth of fencing. I went to the fencing department, and attempted to talk to three different older men who all either ignored me outright or dismissed me completely. I asked simple questions and was literally pushed to the side so that the employee could go assist a male customer. I left frustrated nearly to the point of tears, because I felt like I was invisible, and I got the strong impression that it was because I was a young female.
My second terrible experience with home depot included a trip to the electrical department. The light bulbs in my home were burning out within a month of purchasing and installing them. I did some research and discovered the problem was most likely with the electrical utility company, and voltage coming into the house too high. In order to find out if that was the problem, I needed a simple, safe electrical tool. I didn't know what it looked like, so I asked a customer service representative if what I had chosen was the right tool. This older gentleman asked why I needed it, and when I explained the problem he literally pulled the package out of my hands and dragged me over to the bulbs section to show me special bulbs that could accept the higher voltage. Well, that doesn't solve my problem, as higher voltage in the home can cause problems with major appliances, and the associate putting his hands on me was completely unacceptable.
I contacted the manager of the store about these problems, and he mailed me a 10% off coupon. How very underwhelming.
