"Ripped off: homecenter.com sent me a defective plumbing fixture. I sent it back via a UPS tracked shipment. They signed for it. Five months later I still cannot get my money back - even after repeated emails and calls. I will never buy anything from them again and I'll tell everyone I know to avoid them."

"I recently purchased a Franke sink through Amazon.com which processed the order through Homecenter.com. The price was unbeatable and saved me hundreds. Amazons website informed me the ship date would be between 6/23 & 7/3, a little late for my kitchen renovations. I called Homecenter directly to see what could be done about expediting the order; they said it was already on the way. I was provided a UPS number and it was at my house in perfect condition on 6/19!
After reading very poor reviews here, and mixed reviews at Amazon I was nervous. Looking at the date stamp on Amazon reviews, things seemed to have changed around April of this year and customer service has improved. Long story short, very satisfied with order and aptitude of people I dealt with.
Jeff G ~ California
"

"We ordered light fixtures from homecenter.com in mid-July. As of early August, they had charged our credit card, but no merchandise had arrived. We tried emailing and calling to find out what was going on, but we were given no information about the status of our order. We informed them that we would dispute the charge if they did not deliver the merchandise or provide an explanation, and they did neither. So, we disputed the charge with our credit card issuer. A week or so later, they emailed us to let us know there was a fire at the factory and that we would receive our light fixtures. We did receive them, and so we reversed the dispute, and the credit card company paid the bill.

In late December, we began receiving harassing email and phone calls from a person identifying himself as an employee of homecenter.com, however he called from a residential phone line and gave no way for us to verify that he indeed worked for the company. He accused us of not paying our bill. We explained that we did and gave him the details of our resolution of the dispute. He continued to email and call telling us that since we had not paid he would charge our credit card again or send us to collection. We informed him that we reported him and homecenter.com to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General in our state.

I posted this story on a public website and received a comment that this same individual has been harassing another customer for exactly the same reason.

I recommend that you direct your business elsewhere and stay away from homecenter.com. "

"I ordered two sets of "Delta Victorian Lavatory Faucet Venetian Bronze Model" from homecenter.com couple weeks ago.
When I opened it, one set has been opened. Parts are there, but registration form is missing. I think homecenter.com sent me "open box" instead of "New". I am very angry, but these are X'mas gift, it too late. Their shipping is slow."

"My experience with homecenter has been terrible. I first contacted them by phone on July 20 and spoke to Dominic about the type/size of tub spout I needed. I told him my current spout was a Kohler and compared it to those pictured on the homecenter website. My problem was that my exhisting Kohler spout was too short, and I wanted a longer spout. After determining that Kohler did not make sufficiently long spouts, I was directed to a Grohe spout. I found it acceptable and ordered it. Unfortunately, when my order was processed, Dominic ordered the identical Kohler spout (at $109.69) I already had, and wanted to replace. When this arrived, I immediately contacted Dominic. He acknowledged his mistake, and provided me return instructions via UPS. He also took my order for the Grohe spout (for $158.90). I returned the Kohler spout, and a Grohe spout arrived a week or so later. Unbelievably, the Grohe spout had a defective finish. I called Dominic and told him of the problem... he told me to return it, and I ordered another Grohe spout (for another $158.90). Having deposited over $316 towards the Grohe spouts, I am still awaiting delivery of a non-defective spout. Incredibly, on August 30, I was notified that my reimbursement for the returned Kohler spout would not be processed b/c homecenter claims the returned faucet was scratched. I tried to explain to Dominic (by phone) and Jennifer Moise (via e-mail) that I never ordered that spout, I never took it out of the plastic, it was likely scratched upon delivery to me but I did not note it since I was returning it b/c I never ordered it, and/or it might have been further damaged during UPS' handling during its return. Regardless, I should not have to pay for an item that Dominic/homecenter admittedly incorrectly ordered for me and billed to me. I was told that was their policy and there was nothing further he could do. This is completely unacceptable... Dominic/homecenter is being held harmless for their mistake, and I am paying for it. I have acted in good faith throughout, and am patiently awaiting the replacement Grohe spout. I've extended some $425 towards a spout I still do not have. This is extremely customer "unfriendly". I feel absolutely helpless because they have my money and I am not able to speak to anyone in a decisionmaking position. "

"one of the worst online experiences ever. Not only did they send the wrong product, a faucet that while similar looking, was $100 less than the one we had paid for... nice try. But instead of sending the correct one, we had to pay for a new one and wait for the credit which is still pending more than a month later.

my favorite part is where they asked us what their UPS tracking number was, because they don't track packages. excellent.

At this point we have now purchased two faucets from homecenter.com and have wasted 10+ hours of our time trying to track down the refund on the first order.

never again.



"

"I ordered a tub and a shower seat and was told they would arrive within 4-6 weeks. Tub did not arrive until after 6 weeks, even though Customer Service told me on consecutive days it had arrived and would ship that day or the next. Follow up calls confirmed both Customer Service people I spoke with were wrong. I asked for a credit of my shipping, but they only credited me 50% of the shipping.

In addition, the shower seat still has not arrived after 8 weeks! They could not give me an estimated time of arrival, so I finally canceled it and found it somewhere else that promised to ship the next day (and it was cheaper).

Bottom Line: Bad customer service (and rude!) Slow shipping. Better deals are out there. Avoid the hassle."

"This online store is terrible. I ordered two items that were shown "in stock". First, they automatically give a "ship date" two weeks after the order is placed. After waiting three weeks, I tried to contact the seller via their site and e-mail. After another ten days, I placed a call to their service number; after over 20 minutes on hold, I got an rep and gave my invoice number. After another 10 minutes, I was told that neither product was available, nor had it been for sewveral months! I was given no apology or other explanation."

"We were sent the wrong items on 1/20/05 and are having a HORRIBLE TIME trying to get what we originally ordered from them. I have to hound them to get a response and now they are saying the package that was returned to them was "lost" or "misplaced" by ups and I cannot get my correct order until that is found. Several times I emailed a CSR rep named Jason, who responded back weeks later - then to a supervisor named Melinda - who took a long time to respond as well. Now, I emailed the CEO - Brain Okin and while he did email me back, he is basically saying his hands are tied and that they only way to get my orginially ordered product is to pay again. Then, when and if they find the other package, they will return my first charge! They are the worst online company I have ever dealt with. I wish to heavens I would have read this first!

UPDATE - just spoke with another person from homecenter because we disputed our charges with our credit card company. This person stated to me it is not my fault, but UPS's fault and that they will get my money back either through them or UPS. So, I guess if you hit them in the pocketbook - they will respond a little faster!

ahhhh --what wonderful service!"

"Simply Horrible experience. Contacting them results in only "we'll contact the vendor and get back to you right away". They don't. I've made 4 contacts regarding one item missing from an order without any satisfactory results. The only time they were prompt was when they were verifying my payment. Will not do business again."

"I had a very bad experience with Homecenter.com similar to that of the reviewer kimjh0 on 1/25/03. I first placed an order on 9/2/2004 but when it arrived it was the wrong item. After several phone calls to customer service I was able to have a call tag sent out to pick up the item. However, they wanted to charge me a restocking fee for sending back the wrong item they shipped. I still haven’t received the item I originally ordered almost 4 months ago. I have made numerous calls and sent emails but to no avail. Like the other reviewers experience I was told the item shipped but they could not provide the tracking number. Always a long hold time when calling customer service. Finally told them I just wanted to cancel my order. They couldn’t even do that. Some excuse that the item shipped from their warehouse but they have to check something (not sure what). This is the worst on-line purchase experience I've ever had. I am very aware that there can always be problems. However, it seems this company doesn’t have the processes and infrastructure in place to handle these problems. Moreover their customer service staff doesn’t seem empowered to make any decisions and they most certainly do not put their customer first. They have consistently quoted their policies, promised dates, and made excuses, before ever trying to help me the customer."

"I wish I had read reviews prior to making my large purchase from this site.

I ordered plumbing fixtures for my new house ($14000 worth and still need more) from HomeCenter.com. I was pressured into placing the entire order before I was really ready (my fault for letting it happen) because I was told I would get better pricing for a larger order. Well I didn't.

After I placed the order, I found the items cheaper at TooHome.com. Each item is not necessarily cheaper, but they seem to always have a discount of 8-12% plus cheaper shipping on the entire order. I would have saved about $1500 on my order from TooHome.com.

I am trying to get a rebate through their "price match policy" which is not going very well. I spent a lot of time and made very detailed spreadsheets showing the savings, but it too confusing for them. I was told that this was a "waste of time".

I am seriously considering canceling the remainder of my unshipped order because with any penalties I may have to pay, I will still save money. The person processing the rebate is rather rude. The person I orderd from was and is still very helpful."

"Received a bogus ship date from the vendor after the order. After a week of calling, they can't even provide me a tracking number. The customer service persons are rude. Takes a long time to talk to a live person. Usual hold time of 15 minutes just to get a tracking number of my shipment. Stiff restocking fee is there with every order. They keep telling me that the items have been shipped, but they can't provide me a tracking number. This is the worst on-line purchase experience I've ever had. I strongly discourage users to use this web site. They don't seemed to stock anything. So, when they get your order, they might order their items from mfgrs/wholesalers and wait for the parts to arrive at their site, then send parts to you after they get them. I am not sure on this, but it's my gut feeling. Otherwise, why can't they verify stock availability and ship the items they have in stock in the same week? I hope I can get my items. I would be happy to seem them."