Dont buy paint from Home depot.

Investor · Ridgecrest, CA · Member since 2017 · 246 posts · 120 votes

I brought a paint sample to home depot to match and purchased a sample. I only needed enough to cover a few sq feet. When I went to use the paint it didnt match. I took it back to the store for a refund and they refused. How the hell can they not guarantee a color match. I was going to be spending about 10 to 15k at their store in the last couple of months of this year but I will be taking it somewhere else now.

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Alexander FelicePro Member

Guy with Great Hair · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 4k+ votes

@Tom R. Its a clear no-return policy for this exact reason. You made a mistake, it happens. The correct response would be to take some responsibility and go fix the problem, instead of trying to rally a boycott. In this business youll have a LOT more businesses piss you off, and cost you money than what a couple gallons of paint cost. Pace your anger my friend, youll need it. ;)

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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Derek Janssen:
Originally posted by @Lee Bell:

Behr Swiss coffee FTW. No issue at all with matching.
Yes, you may need to paint a whole wall and not just spot paint.
Except when you forget that it's Behr Swiss Coffee and end up ordering 10 gal of Behr Swiss Mocha instead and have to repaint the whole house a few years later... Doh! :)
I now use Dunn Edwards Inside Passage (DEC 764) - everywhere.
PS - help me understand this. You're going to not do $15k of business with a company over a $3 paint sample that probably wasn't returnable. Just want to make sure I am understanding this correctly.
I think you understand it correctly. Posts like these always say more about the poster than it does about the company or situation about which they complain. There's no perspective (i.e. a $3.00 can of sample, the relatively low-trouble of repainting a wall or even a whole room) and no pragmatism (i.e. spending more somewhere else because of a $3 non-refund).
Being in real estate is not easy. It will be a miserable existence if the lack of "there, there" posts or the lack of a refund from HD over a sample encourages the OP to try to organize a paint boycott or denigrate the people on this site, petty reactions if I've ever seen any. On a side note, if 90% of the people on this site are worthless (the OP's numbers), why even bother coming by here to tell us all not to buy paint at HD? Aren't we too stupid or worthless to heed the advice anyway?
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David Dachtera
Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
Just want to echo JD's statements.
The OP (@Tom R.) sounds like a "typical consumer": the business didn't do it MY way, so I'm gonna complain. This person will find REI quite challenging.
Businesses work how they work. Find something about each that works for you and make the most of it you can. The stuff about that business that doesn't work? Seek it somewhere else.
I post this to many forums. I hope it can be helpful here:
"Perfection" is a fictitious town in Nevada from the "Tremors" movies. Stop looking for it.
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Craig HansenPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Long Island, NY · Member since 2013 · 44 posts · 9 votes
8y
I know Home Depot only does samples with Behr and Glidden paint near me so, if the paint color was from a different brand then it will be off understandable. Your best bet would be to just repaint the whole wall and open a HD Pro Xtra account so you can save your paint colors (5 years). That ability with color saving history has saved me a lot of frustration and headaches on trying to match colors in rental properties. I used to just use 1 color for every property but as I started to renovate some of the properties we have expanded on our color palette to help with the decor.
May I add that Sherwin Williams does work with local REI communities and Small Businesses so be sure to ask when you are there. I use Sherwin Williams paint on my flips and have not had 1 complaint yet. I pay maybe 5% more for the top quality paint then I would at HD for their top quality (still low grade) paint.
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Account Closed
Real Estate Investor · Marysville, OH · Member since 2014 · 242 posts · 196 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Alexander Felice:
Pace your anger my friend, youll need it. ;)
Hahahaha. Ain't that the truth?!?
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David Mcginnis
Investor · Bellevue, WA · Member since 2016 · 10 posts · 2 votes
8y
I have used Home Depot for color match many times, and the color is normally pretty close. But not so close that I can just do spot painting, I generally have to paint the whole wall. Then one time I went to Sherwin Williams because I had an old SW can with a color code. Here is a recreation of the conversation: SW “we have different color codes now so we will have to do a color match, it will take about two weeks.” Me. “Two weeks! Home Depot can do it in 20 minutes” SW “does it match?” Me. “I’ll be back in two weeks” So I agree with. If you want a perfect color match, go to a good paint store.
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Tashia K campbell
Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 3 votes
8y
Couple weeks ago I had them try to match the "recipe" on a 20 year old can and it was way light. I didnt even bother taking the can back but just eyeballed a sample card. It wont go to waste. Next project it will be used. Dont let a gallon of paint steal your peace.
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Richard Balsam
Investor · Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2015 · 241 posts · 185 votes
8y
So, you go to HD and buy just enough paint to cover a small area? OK...we can argue all day who is at fault here- but your issue still remains. Since the paint doesn't match, you see a wall with two different shades... Right? There are only a few fixes here: 1. Did you peel off the EXACT wall area you need to match? Paint fades over time. Did you peel off a piece of drywall that the sun always hits? Or, was it from a dark area - like a closet, where there is never any sun- and you put it on the wall that the sun hits and faded over time? 2. Is the base of the paint the same as the base on the wall? This is HUGE. A pastel base will never match a flat, which will never match a semi-gloss, satin, etc - even if the paint tint is perfect. Want to hear a REAL problem I had? I used Porter paints on a house. When the tenants moved out, I used the actual gallon paint still in the house to touch up the wall. It didn't match at all. No sample size- this was a gallon size. Back to the store, and I had them match a new gallon size for me. It still didn't match. Why? Get ready for this one...Their gallon size paints are made in a different factory than their 5 gallon paints, and they told me the walls had the 5 gallon paints on them, while the touch up can I used was a single gallon... Even with the same paint tint done at the same time at the same store. So - your small HD mismatch is no big deal vs this one! I had to repaint entire walls where I touched up - all over the house. Also- I moved to HD Behr paints or Valspar. Always available in most towns, always consistent regardless of container size. And I use eggshell finish - to be able to wipe away some of the small stains, vs a flat where you can't clean the walls easily. In your situation - just paint the wall needed - as long as the base is the same and tint color is "close", the eye will not pick up the difference, as long as you are careful not to get any on the adjacent walls.
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Patricia Mangham
Investor · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2018 · 64 posts · 15 votes
8y
@Tom R. Very strange . If paint is not mixed with other paint they should have no problem refunding your money. Have you asked for a manager? I would escalate to the manager and what they can do is mix your color with another color to get you the color that you need. If still no success definitely escalate to corporate to inform them about how their store operates. Good luck !
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Patricia Mangham
Investor · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2018 · 64 posts · 15 votes
8y
@Thomas Murray I don’t understand why race is brought into this conversation?!?
0 Reply
Mark Gallagher
Flipper/Rehabber · Allentown, PA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 701 votes
8y
@Tom R. I’ll provide some constructive feedback. FIRST - Never, ever, ever, ever, expect to touch something up. Does it happen, yes. But the odds are never working in your favor. For perfect touch up, you need to use the same exact paint, apply with the same exact applicator, in the exact same weather conditions and relative humidity. Light colors touch up better than dark colors. Use as little paint as possible, and thin it with water 5-10%. Never touch up a wall that was painted with a roller, with a brush. You’ll have different textures that will make even the perfect match stand out. To save yourself headaches, simply paint from corner to corner. Instead of $3, if you would have spent say $12 on a gallon, and painted corner to corner, you’d spend probably an extra 30 minutes and $9, but surely you would have been much more satisfied with the outcome.
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Tom R.
OP
Investor · Ridgecrest, CA · Member since 2017 · 246 posts · 120 votes
8y
Update: I contacted corporate and they refunded the cost of the paint and apologized. I still wont be buying paint from them except for touch ups on houses that have their paints. When I repaint I will be shopping elsewhere.
1 Reply
Renee Harris
Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 218 posts · 111 votes
8y
I just wanted to say this thread cracked me the **** up! LOL!!!!
0 Reply
Albert Ng
Rental Property Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 401 posts · 221 votes
8y
So you wasted an hour plus gas to bring back an about $3 half-used paint sample to Home Depot to return. Then wasted another hour complaining on BP....
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James Caruso
Real Estate Investor · Middle Island, NY · Member since 2016 · 147 posts · 68 votes
8y
Getting perfect color match is going to be very tough, no matter where you go.
I'm not a fan of Home Depot (Behr) paint though, I use Benjamin Moore exclusively now.
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Jeff Rabinowitz
Investor/Landlord · Farmington Hills, MI · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Tom R., congratulations. What are you going to buy with your refund?
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Corin Prendiville
Real Estate Agent · Dallas, TX · Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 43 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Tom R.:

Update: I contacted corporate and they refunded the cost of the paint and apologized. I still wont be buying paint from them except for touch ups on houses that have their paints. When I repaint I will be shopping elsewhere.
That is more than any other store will do for you. In my experience home depot has the best return policy of any store on the planet. I think you are overreacting a bit to a pretty reasonable store policy, even if one employee did screw up and tell you that it was returnable.
Ive even heard they'll take back stuff people steal off of others job sites! Credit of course.
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Matt K.
Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Derek Janssen:

Originally posted by @Lee Bell:
Behr Swiss coffee FTW. No issue at all with matching.
Yes, you may need to paint a whole wall and not just spot paint.
Except when you forget that it's Behr Swiss Coffee and end up ordering 10 gal of Behr Swiss Mocha instead and have to repaint the whole house a few years later... Doh! :)
I now use Dunn Edwards Inside Passage (DEC 764) - everywhere.
PS - help me understand this. You're going to not do $15k of business with a company over a $3 paint sample that probably wasn't returnable. Just want to make sure I am understanding this correctly.
If we talking trendy paint colors, I just went with Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams....
2 Reply
Tamatha Mallard
Real Estate Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2017 · 31 posts · 10 votes
8y
They should be able to match it perfectly if you bought the paint from them. When you go back to get more it should match if you kept The lid on tight. All my paint matched perfect.
0 Reply
Daren H.
Real Estate Investor · Desoto, TX · Member since 2013 · 560 posts · 528 votes
8y
Reminds me of Trump supporters burning Nike shoes. Something tells me Nike will be alright. Im certain Home Depot is going to make it through this set back, lol.
0 Reply
Michael Patras
Rental Property Investor · Hoffman Estates, IL · Member since 2018 · 10 posts · 6 votes
8y
@Tom R. That’s weird, I’ve always gotten refunds when I don’t get the right match. HD has always accepted returns as long as there’s still most of the paint in the can. Maybe each store is different, but around here, never an issue getting a refund. Maybe send an email to corporate or post to their social media site....don’t ask don’t get.
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James Caruso
Real Estate Investor · Middle Island, NY · Member since 2016 · 147 posts · 68 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Matt K.:

Originally posted by @Derek Janssen:
Originally posted by @Lee Bell:

Behr Swiss coffee FTW. No issue at all with matching.
Yes, you may need to paint a whole wall and not just spot paint.
Except when you forget that it's Behr Swiss Coffee and end up ordering 10 gal of Behr Swiss Mocha instead and have to repaint the whole house a few years later... Doh! :)
I now use Dunn Edwards Inside Passage (DEC 764) - everywhere.
PS - help me understand this. You're going to not do $15k of business with a company over a $3 paint sample that probably wasn't returnable. Just want to make sure I am understanding this correctly.
If we talking trendy paint colors, I just went with Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams....
Agreeable Grey is one of my go-to colors, perfect neutral that looks great. We actually just painted our personal home this color.
0 Reply
Brian Vaughan
Real Estate Consultant · Texas Hill Country · Member since 2017 · 56 posts · 58 votes
8y
"I was going to be spending about 10 to 15k at their store in the last couple of months of this year but I will be taking it somewhere else now."
I bailed on HD years ago and now only go to Lowes. Much happier experience for me.
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George SkidisPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Belleville, IL · Member since 2017 · 875 posts · 529 votes
8y
No one can give you a 100% guarantee the paint will match. Custom mixed paint is not returnable unless it is defective. The problem comes in that the paint analysis is a match to the original color. Sun fade, cleaning solvents, children, age of paint and other environmental issues make a 100% match impossible. So yes it should match the paint as it appeared when it was originally applied in 1957 but it cannot take those other items into account. Paint in rental units has a five year life. Get ready to paint every so often.
At The Home Depot our members get 20% off on paint starting with the first gallon. If they spend over $5,000 in the time period they also get a 2% rebate every 6 months in addition to the 20% discount. The discount is tied to our phone numbers.
The paint discount will not stack with other discounts so it is actually a better deal than the 10% veterans discount when it comes to paint. Make sure to separate purchases if you are getting a paint discount.
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