As long as I'm still up - mini rant on Home Despot

[olnacl]

So I'm walking out of HD a couple weeks ago and there's a lady offering a free Home Despot insulation survey. I've been doing what I can to drop my light bills, so I bit, and a couple days later she came over, flashlight in hand (she left that behind after the survey, but that's another story), climbed into the attic (no mean feat with outdoor temps in the 90's) and then gave me the sales pitch. For R30 blown fiberglass with baffles around the high hat lights and to keep the soffit vents open, $1969.

Florida Power and Light also offers a free energy survey so I called them and had it done. The don't recommend contractors but did supply a list of 19 that were "associated" with them and I would qualify for a $150 rebate from FPL if one of them did the work.

Of the 19, only six were even found by the BBB search and 3 of those were rated F for unresolved complaints. The other 3 were rated B minus. I called the B minus numbers and got estimates based upon the square footage given by FPL (they had done an energy audit for the previous owner in 1996 and the records were right there with the representative).

Bottom line was that the approved contractors' prices ranged from 75¢/sq. ft. down to 35¢/sq. ft. and when I chose the lower priced supplier, the job cost me $344 less the $150 rebate. Same Owens Corning pink insulation. Granted, they just blew it in and then moved it away from the lights, ditto the soffit vents, so it's not exactly apples to apples, but a surcharge of $1625 seems a bit over the top.

Anyone agree?

[Michael]

Sounds like pretty expensive baffles!

I always stay away from a salesperson with a flyer. I figure that somebody's got to be paying their salary--and I don't want it to be me.

[Mike Sellers]

Yeah, but HD would have given you six months no interest if you put in on their card.

That's a pretty outrageous price but you can't blame them for trying. I'm sure they get the occasional sucker who doesn't know how to get competitive bids.

[rgG]

I had Home Depot bid on my re-roofing job a few years back. They were way high on that, too.

[cbelt3]

Go with a big corporation as a middle man, and you'll get hit with a lot of extra overhead absorption. I had Sears bid on a bathroom remodel years ago. The quote included a $700 "Management Charge". I asked, they said it was a corporate requirement. I asked them to remove it, they said they weren't allowed to.

Needless to say, I declined.

[Robert M]

Ol,

It's hard to do a fair comparison between the Home Depot price and the other contractors as you didn't itemize what they're including in the job. That said, for the same job, I expect some contractors to be more expensive than Home Depot and other contractors to be less expensive then Home Depot. But, for Home Depot to be _that_ much more expensive, they'd have to be doing noticeably more work and/or including other items in the job.

Robert

[olnacl]

Robert M wrote:
Ol,

It's hard to do a fair comparison between the Home Depot price and the other contractors as you didn't itemize what they're including in the job. That said, for the same job, I expect some contractors to be more expensive than Home Depot and other contractors to be less expensive then Home Depot. But, for Home Depot to be _that_ much more expensive, they'd have to be doing noticeably more work and/or including other items in the job.

Robert

As I mentioned in the initial post, I have the quote from HD and all it included was R30 pink fiberglass insulation and the baffles for the high hats and soffit vents (which don't exist, (BTW - I don't know how the air is supposed to flow through the attic unless it's from a single location on the front door overhang where the two screens are nearly completely plugged from the HOA hired painters sloppy work - I guess I should take them down and clean them). Same brand of material, same R30 value.

Regarding the last sentence in your comment,

But, for Home Depot to be _that_ much more expensive, they'd have to be doing noticeably more work and/or including other items in the job. wrote:

we might simply add "or ripping off gullible people".

[the_poochies]

You found an actual human employee at Home Depot??? I think the company is trying to automate the entire store.

[Robert M]

Ol,

I've dealt with Home Depot on many an occasion. The price is always a bit negotiable but they've never been that out of line in my experience.

Robert

[olnacl]

She was actually standing outside the exit door at a little kiosk and represented a contractor that was doing business as a HD associate or whatever they call people that let HD pimp for them. While she had the orange HD apron and left me with HD sales materials, she was an representing an independent contractor. So the robot world goes on within the store still.

Interesting sidelight - I went to HD early yesterday AM before the insulation people were scheduled to come to find out what clearance the high hats required. After speaking to a HD employee, in the electrical department, I was told to "just cover them up, especially since you're using CFL bulbs". Well, I found the exact high hat fixtures that I bought there several months ago and read the instruction sheet. "Maintain 3" clearance".

'Nuff said.