Garden Center at The Home Depot

Best service in garden center today I have ever had.

Im proud that they have a combat veteran parking spot. The only place in iowa ive ever seen this at. However with the garden center open in the parking lot and the size of the lot plus the idiots driving in it i almost got hit on foot 4x in the time it took me to walk to my car then almost got hit in my car 5x in the time it took me to exit the lot. If ya'll ever get the chance expand the lot and fix it too!!!

Good selection, good return policy, still not as good as an actual nursery though.

I'm just about "done" with shopping at Home Depot. Had two really bad customer experiences lately.

1. Got just a few items (about 5-6) in the Garden center. There was only one cashier, the line consisted of an older guy, myself, and a mom with kids and 1 item. The older guy was ready to pay when the cashier asked him if he wanted to apply for their credit card and started explaining all the benefits. The guy was confused but interested because he would get a $25 store credit. He said yes. Instead of taking him to customer service, or giving a form to complete off the the side, apparently they have to tie up the cash register and apply RIGHT THEN AND THERE, standing in line, using the credit card reader. Either the cashier was ignorant or there is no way to delay the transaction. No "why don't I just help these two, they only have a few items." Between the sales pitch and the application, we stood there about 10 minutes while this cashier and guy did his credit card application. My time is valuable too -- that's just unacceptable. Figure out a different way, Home Depot.

2. My wife went in to buy a few things and brought in a custom board to have cut (they will cut your wood for you as long as you're doing business there). The employee barely spoke to her (seemed like he was having a bad day), then did such a sloppy job that the cut was about a 1/4 inch off the line we had made. Thanks a bunch. This was wood left over from the finishing of our basement used as trim, and we had just barely enough to finish a patched spot. So now we either live with a 1/4 gap in our trim, or take a couple hours to find, buy, and stain exactly the right wood, all because a grumpy employee couldn't take an extra 15 seconds to adjust the saw properly.

The only reason I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1 is because they do have a pretty generous return policy, have some harder-to-find items on the web site, and generally have free delivery and haul away on appliances. But I think I will only shop there in the future for the occasional big purchases. For the small weekly purchases, no point in going to a place that doesn't value my time.

Worst customer service ever!!!
Here is the situation, my parents ordered 80 bags garden soil and 60 bags mulch. They were supposed to have it delivered on Monday the 10th and it was purchased, paid for and delivery scheduled the week prior. The store literally sold the product that was already purchased and didn't have any basic customer service skills even to notify the customer that they were not getting their purchase.
The original purchase was at ankeny store to be reserved at the Urbandale store where it was in stock. This location originally sold the product that was paid for so it was transferred to the Ankeny location.
The Ankeny location received the order transfer. And promptly changed the delivery date without notifying my parents who took off work to receive said order.
My mom finally called after wondering where the order was and was told pretty much too bad so sad deal with the new delivery date. It had been sold because they were having a sale. Pretty sure selling product to someone else that has already been paid for is illegal.
So we get to the reschedule now more time has to be taken off work especially with their vague it will be delivered sometime on the 11th.....
My mom is disabled so they were to bring it into the garage which was scheduled ahead of time. She stated she was not going to be home and didn't want it piled in the drive for her (she is disabled) or my dad (who has a torn rotator cuff injury) to deal with.
Their solution. Leave the garage open for the day. I mean. What?! Not in the nicest neighborhoods would I leave my home open!!!
Their lassie faire attitude and absolutely no care for customers and lack of service recovery is appalling.
If they would have mentioned their mistake in the first place it wouldn't have been an issue. Their attitude for the issue is the worst I have ever seen. I will NEVER be shopping at Home Depot again. Especially when they sell things you pay for and you end up getting the shaft.