[Rant] Home Depot Appliance Installation

[Logan Allec]

So I have a unit out in the sticks.  The tenant is long-term, amazing, and pays premium rent ($1200/month for a 250 sq. ft. studio out in the middle of nowhere), and in return I provide amenities such as a washer and dryer.

Her washer and dryer was pretty old and had been giving out, so I ordered a new one from Home Depot with a scheduled delivery date of today.  I paid for installation and haul away.  The unit is on propane, so I bought the propane conversion kit as well.

I called Home Depot to let them know that this particular unit runs on liquid propane, not natural gas.  I also noted that the house is on propane in the delivery instructions.

So the deliverymen / installers arrived today and informed my tenant that they cannot install the new appliances or even haul away the old ones because they do not touch appliances that run on propane and that I would have to hire my own plumber to do the job.

Well, I wish that Home Depot had told me this, you know, right when I told them that the unit was on propane so that I could've made the necessary arrangements.

Now my awesome tenant is pissed because she took time out of her day to be there for the installation, still can't wash her clothes, and will now have to take time out of her upcoming Saturday for my plumber to come and install her new washer and dryer.

Oh, and as a bonus, when I called for a refund of the installation and haul away fees, the rep screwed up refunding me everything I was entitled to, so now I have to go to my local Home Depot to complete the refund at the register.  Lovely.

Not the end of the world, but just felt like ranting somewhere.

Moral of the story: Home Depot-contracted installers will not install or haul away appliances that run on liquid propane, and they will not inform you of this beforehand, preferring to leave it up to their contracted deliverymen / installers to let you know this little detail as they're delivering the appliance itself.