Score at Home Depot

Way back in the dark ages of my training to be a real man, I was working on the barn and purchased a product called ProVent (sometimes called propavent or something like that) to insulate the ceiling. They are plastic sheets that create a 1-2 inch gap between the roof and the insulation to allow air to flow from the soffit to the ridge vent. I bought a case of 100 and left the box unopened in the basement until I was ready to use them. This was about 2 years ago. When we came up with a new insulation scheme (one of about a dozen we toyed with), it turned out that I didn't need the ProVent anymore, so I tried to return it.

Since it had been so long since I bought it, Home Depot (HD) no longer sold it by the case, and only by the single sheet, but at least they still carried it. I wanted to return it, but of course I'd lost the receipt by that time (my Mentor's shaking his head in disapproval - so painful). HD is pretty cool about returns, so I figured it would be fine, but when the clerk tried to scan the box, she said it was no longer registering and that they couldn't take it. What? I was bummed and left with my case, though in retrospect I was too hasty in my retreat.

This past weekend I vowed to resolve this situation. I knew they weren't going to refund my money, but a store credit would have worked out fine because I'm always in the need of real-man supplies. I took the case back, checked to make sure they still carried the stuff, and brought the case to the help desk. The guy was very cool and said it should be no problem, but when he scanned the case, it didn't recognize it again. However, this time he opened the box and scanned an individual sheet, and it worked. Hallelujah! He took the box back and gave me a store credit, which I promptly used to buy compost bin fortification supplies. They were only about $20, so I have plenty left in credit.

Best of all, I was able to rid our house of another big box of building supplies, which makes R happy. I'm happy I finally dealt with it, that I persisted and stood my ground, and that it worked out, thus teaching our kids a valuable lesson that it things are not always as they seem and not to accept someone's word until you find out for yourself... or something like that.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to the House Norhaus for the pic.