‘I don’t know electrical. I don’t know plumbing. I don’t know flooring.’
Many people enter home improvement stores thinking that they know exactly what they need—only to learn that they’re actually clueless as to what the project requires.
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This sort of situation may be becoming more common. Rising prices of home improvements, as well as the ease of access to home renovation information, mean that more people are picking up some tools and getting to work. According to the Farnsworth Group, around 3 in 4 homeowners do DIY. And when they make tool purchases for those projects, a majority of them still prefer to buy in-store rather than online.
One of the benefits of buying a product in-store is that employees can offer advice about what sorts of goods one needs. However, this isn’t always the case. One Home Depot employee on TikTok recently explained why in a video with over 10,000 views.
What’s wrong with customers asking for help from Home Depot workers?
In her video, TikTok user Kira (@yallkousinkira) has a question for “delusional customers that come in here and say things like, ‘Oh, I hate coming to this Home Depot.’”
“Why do you come?” she asks, simply.
As Kira continues, she reveals that her main gripe is customers not understanding that each employee has a speciality. She says she’s happy to direct customers to the correct employee for their needs. However, some customers get upset that she does not have knowledge of every product in the store.
“I know appliances; I know paints,” she says. “I know how to cut a key; I know how to check you out.”
She continues, “I don’t know electrical; I don’t know plumbing. I don’t know flooring.”
“So when you come to me, ask me, ‘Can you help me?’ … And when I say, ‘Oh, give me one second, I can find someone to help you’—that’s not me getting slick. That’s me not knowing what you want.”
Kira says offering her advice in other areas in which she’s not trained is akin to the “blind lead[ing] the blind” and going to a foot doctor for a headache, adding that she does not want to offer advice she’s not trained to give as it could pose safety issues.
@yallkousinkira Next time go SOME WHERE ELSE #thankyou #fyp #contentcreator #worklife #homedepot ♬ original sound – YallKousinKira
In the comments section, many users agreed with Kira’s assessment of the situation.
“They didn’t want to pay a contractor now they mad at yall cuz they can’t DIY,” joked a user.
“Even if you’re helping a customer in the department you’re trained in, if you give them an answer they don’t like, they still get pissy. some people just can’t be satisfied,” added another.
“The best thing about hardware stores is the worker in the isle is the expert of that isle. I’d never assume paint knows anything about plumbing. And usually the random man in the isle is helpful too,” stated a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Home Depot via email and Kira via Instagram and TikTok DM.
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