Complaint Review: Home Depot Canada - Toronto ON

I am writing to share my terrible experience in purchasing a brand-new,  top-of-the-line water heater at Home Depot.  By sharing my ordeal, I hope others won't face the same as mine.

On May 14, 2021, I ordered a Rheem water heater at Home Depot.  The heater came with a 12-year part warranty.  It is a top-of-the-line product they sell.  I also purchased an extended 10-year labor warranty on top, and asked Home Depot's installer to install the new heater for me.  I thought the whole process would be drama-free.  After all, it was a one-stop-shop experience with a major retailer.  How could I go wrong?  I was wrong!

On May 19, 2021, the installer brought in the heater and installed it for me. When the installation was about to complete, the installer found that the heater had a defective part. The water heater could not operate. The installer ordered a replacement part. I was told that the faulty part would be replaced in 2 days at most. Six days later, there was still no replacement.  I called and emailed Home Depot and the installer multiple times.  Emails to Home Depot got only auto-reply.  Phone calls to Home Depot, I was put on hold for half and hour before connecting with a human.  Sometimes, my line was even dropped while waiting. Ironically, I was asked to leave a feedback at the end of the call.  What a joke!  If they truly want my feedbacks, here it is.

Despite the multiple contacts, the replacement part was nowhere in sight, as if no one cared.  With the new, top-of-time water heater, I had no hot water for almost a week.  While the heater was dead, my credit card was charged the full price on the date of installation.  The warranty including the extended warranty also commenced on the day of installation, even though technically the installation was incomplete and the heater was not operational.

On the 6th day of waiting, I called the installer again and yelled at them on the phone.  The lack of hot water had became unbearable.  I escalated the issue to Better Business Bureau as I felt cheated in this purchase. Finally, on the 6th day after the first installation, the installer came and swapped out the faulty part.  The multiple visits of the installer was by itself unacceptable in this pandemic time. However, I had no choice but to let them in, or my new water heater wouldn't be fixed.  The installer only knew how to blame the manufacturer.  Home Depot only knew how to pass the bug to their contractor.  In the end, I, as their customer, was hanging out to dry.

Soon after the repair, I escalated to Home Depot for proper resolution on this matter.  Initially, Home Depot offered me a $150 gift card.  It was an insult for what I went through.  Later, they increased the offer to $250 and asked if it was fair.  No, it was neither fair nor reasonable.  It's a shame for the poor customer services and defective product they provided.  Finally, they increased the offer to $450, and suggested me to either take it or leave it.  More importantly, for a multi-national retailer in the business, the way Home Depot behaved is no better than a mom-and-pop corner store.

When I ordered the water heater and the installation service from Home Depot, I was told that if I rescheduled the installation for whatever reasons, I would be charged $125 + HST every time.  However, when they failed to meet their end of the bargain, all they offered me as a concession is $75 a day.  Also, none of my warranties (be that the factory or the extended) was adjusted to start on the date when the work was substantially completed, contrary to the industry standard.  This is terrible for a company that prides itself as a reputable retailer in the renovation business.

I feel the need to share my ordeal with Home Depot, so that no one would face the same experience as mine.  If Yelp allowed me to give me zero star, I'm sure I would.  In closing, shoppers beware when shopping for water heaters at Home Depot!