Comments from Home Depot Supporters
3,31,2000 - I don't have any bad stories
1999
6,8 - Retail Principles
5,23 - re: the bird killing stories
3,31 - live in glass house
3,26 - What is wrong with you people
3,24 - pick on someone else
Mar 14th - You people are sick, "socialist"
Mar 13th - quit your bitching
wood
trees are for everyone
Nice name for a website
rainforest lovers
get your facts strait
From: Maddawg37@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 9:07 PM
To: info@arcweb.org
Subject: Not what you think
I don't have any bad stories and this was the only place I saw that I
thought
I could reply so here goes. I am a Home Depot employee, have been for 14ys.
I respect what you are doing and I hear you when you say lets protect old
growth trees. I belive in your cause, and so do many of our employees. As
on of our stores managers I have trained my employees to find alternitive
product for our customers. We now carry recycled products for decking,
while
it is more expensive and I might add a hard sell, it is worth the time to
educate the consumer. After reading some of the letters from both sides, it
seems to appear that they are not listening to each other. Have customers
had bad experiances at Home Depot, yes they have. As a manager I do
everything in my power to fix any misunderstandings or problem merchandise.
Some of the things that have happened in the past have been aggresively
looked at and delt with. As a company I can assure you that we have delt
with sovling all customer issues and employee issues. We are not a perfect
company by any means. There is one issue I would like to adress personaly.
It has to with what goes into the garbage. 1. No chemicals are EVER thrown
in to the dumbster. 2. 90% of our damaged products are returned to vendor.
3. Products that are thrown out are demed not useable, I personaly have
tried to set up reducton tables with prices greatly reduced, as a retail
manager, I don't want to give the impression that we sell junk. At our pace
of bussnies it would pile up fast. Alot of returned items are greentaged
and
sold on the floor if nothing was wrong with them at a reduced price. It
always has the same warrinty as a new item. 4. As a manager I respect all
of my employees and have always had an open door policy. Under no
circumtances would I or any other manager show disrespect to any employee.
5. Any employee that joins the company is given a handbook stating the days
the HD is closed for busneiss. I'm sure the gentalman who wanted the day
off
for the 4th of July, made a request for that day before any schedule was
posted. He must of known that that day was coming up, it does ever year.
There are other employees that have also requested the same day off and only
a few can have it off. To be frank, I'd just let him have it off. Not that
big of deal. Thanks for allowing me to say what I wanted to say. P.S.
Keep
up the fight for the old growth. Thank you Michael M.
Subject: idiots......
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 16:43:30 -0500
From: "drago" <drago@usa.net>
To: <hdsucks@companyethics.com>
drago wrote:
i do not believe that any company would sell something that the public did not want to buy..
SIMPLE RETAIL PRINCIPLES!!!
instead of picketing something why dont you guys plant trees and quit smoking the leaves off of them... idiots......
OUR REPLY:
Hello,
I wonder why people bought DDT, lead paint, lead gaseoline and a whole
slew of other products that were banned only after much human and environmental
damage.
People tend to trust company products, they can't
be experts in all areas. They don't know that only 3% of old growth trees still
exist in the U.S. All we are saying is that Home Depot should not buy
wood from companies that cut down these type of trees. Why is this so
much to ask?
RE: the bird killing stories
Date:Sun, 23 May 1999 21:24:18 GMT
From: daryldaman@mindspring.com
To: arcla@envirolink.org
CC: hdsucks@companyethics.com
i am neither a supporter or non-supporter but....WHAT THE FUCK WOULD
YOU PEOPLE RATHER DO, HAVE BIRD SHIT AND PISS ALL OVER THE STUFF YOU
BUY? POST THAT!!!!!! as a salesman for a respected beverage
company, i travel from store to store servicing and selling my
particular products, i see birds in 90 percent of the grocery stores
i am in at one time or another. you guys need to quit whining and
just FUCKING DEAL WITH LIFE, BECAUSE ITS NEVER GOING TO BE PERFECT AND
BIG BROTHER IS ALWAYS GOING TO RULE.
OUR REPLY
I don't think people want to see dead and suffering birds nor shit and piss on stuff.
It is possible that live traps be used and the birds are released outside?
Also, just because life is never going to be perfect, does that mean we shouldn't strive
for a more compassionate world?
From: Jjalf1297@aol.com <Jjalf1297@aol.com
To: arcla@envirolink.org <arcla@envirolink.org
Date: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 3:11 AM
Subject: Home depot
I glad that you live in a glass house 'cause if you had a house with wood
studs (like 99.99% of us) you are a hypocrite. As the Good Book says,
there's nothing worse than a hypocrite. I'm sure you have and do use eviromentally
unfriendly products everyday. I'd bet that this web site is even powered
by, gasp, a fossil fuel power plant. Man all those greenhouse gases.....or
maybe a nuclear plant. Or maybe you used a pen with petroleum based ink to write a
note to your other green friends.
Don't get me wrong. I cherish our enviroment but I can't stand ignorant
people and you and your organization are some of the most ignorant and self
righteous I have ever meet.
Jon Alfred
OUR REPLY
Jon,
We are not against using wood. We are against using wood from ancient
forests. This seems to be the most common misperception of people that write
to us. The world we live in is not perfect, but in everyday life it is
almost impossible not to use products that damage the environment. However,
as a society we have a choice. We are focusing on wood, and we do not
believe that using old growth wood is a wise choice. Alternatives are
available.
If you cherish the environment, do you really think it is a good idea to
cut down tropical forests for plywood?
From: Airdio@aol.com
To: arcla@envirolink.org
Date: Friday, March 26, 1999 5:07 AM
Subject: (no subject)
Get lost. What is wrong with you people. without wood you would not have any homes. Get a better hobby.
Our Reply
We are not against using wood. We are against using OLD GROWTH wood, that
comes from the last 20% of ancient forests on earth.
This is not a hobby, it is serious business. Scientists now estimate that
over 100 species may be going extinct everyday. The major cause of this
mass extincition is the loss of habitat caused by human activity including
destruction of ancient forests.
Subject: pick on someone else
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 14:30:38 EST
From: CALOFFLA@aol.com
To: hdsucks@companyethics.com
You people are sick and have nothing better to do than worry about trees, I
feel sorry for you. The merchandise that is thrown out at Home Depot's is
merchandise that they have to discard as a result of an order from that
manufacturer. Go after the manufacturers, not HD. You obviously are so
infantile that you know nothing of how a business works, or you would be
praising the Home Depot. Not only have they given jobs to thousands of people
and helped those families, the donations, compassion , and the impact they
have had on different communities would make your head spin. I personally was
involved in remodeling a home for abused and abandoned children , where Home
Depot donated the materials, and all the work was done by Contractors from
Home Depot and their dedicated employees. I could go on and on about this
company and am frankly appalled that you would trash their name. Go pick on
other companies that aren't worth a damn. like Builders Square, or Lowe's.
You'll never win this one.
From: Chiefgs@aol.com <Chiefgs@aol.com>
To: arcla@envirolink.org <arcla@envirolink.org>
Date: Sunday, March 14, 1999 2:37 AM
Subject: Re homedepot
You people are sick, "socialist" just like your pervert president you
people endorsed, you don't seem to be bothered by what he is doing overseas! I
wonder how much pollution there is in one cruise missile let alone what it hits.
also our wonderful government burning off merrit Island every year in florida,
yet a person can't even have a burning barrel in his or her back yard. If you
are so worried about the trees "That You Don't Own" buy the land and do what
you want with it!
OUR REPLY:
Dear Chief,
We are not socialist and we do not endorse presidential candidates. I
personally do not endorse shooting cruise missiles, so I can agree with you
on that point.
Both public and lands held in common trust (sorry to dispell the myth that
land is 100% private), are being destroyed so we can have redwood decks or
cheap plywood. To me, this is not acceptable. Everything in the world is
interconnected, so we have a responisibility to each other to take care of
our world for our children and their children. Right now we are eating it
up just as fast as we can. Species are going extinct 1000 times faster than
the natural rate of extinction-all because of negative human influence.
80% of ancient forests are gone. Let's save the last 20%. Don't buy old
growth wood.
From: gary cameron <camgar@direct.ca>
To: arcla@envirolink.org <arcla@envirolink.org>
Date: Saturday, March 13, 1999 12:22 PM
Subject: quit your bitching
If it wasn't the Home Depot, it would be someone or something you people would bitch about. The Home Depot is a
great
employer and does lots for each community. So maybe some of their operating procedures are a little strange to
your people,
but that's business, so live with it and shut the hell up!!!
By the way, consider how many people that a Home Depot employs. Not everyone has free time to give to hug a tree.
Some of
us are trying to make a living.
Thanks
OUR REPLY
Well Gary,
You're sounding a little aggresive. I was wondering if you believe in things like democracy and free speech. Do
you respect other people's points of view? It does not sound like it.
As far as Home Depot goes: Sure, Home Depot provides jobs, but so does any other business. Sure, Home Depot gives
to charity, but they also contribute to rainforest destruction. We are not asking Home Depot to "hug a tree"
we are asking them to stop selling wood from ancient forests. We are not asking Home Depot to fire any of their
employees. I wonder if you even read the information on the web site.
There is more than one way to do business, and the way businesses are run effect the entire community. So I do
not believe that we should just ignore the way things are being done and "shut the hell up"- that's what
Hitler wanted everyone to do in the 40's.
-ed
From: Stephen Wehmeyer <swehmeyer@mail.portup.com>
To: arcla@envirolink.org <arcla@envirolink.org>
Date: Thursday, March 04, 1999 4:32 AM
Subject: wood
I see pictures of wood at a Home Depot store and yet no proof of where the wood came from. Dowels from old growth
trees? I think you better do some more research.
The world needs wood. America was built with wood and you probably live in a wood house. If you don't you are living
in a house that isn't made out of a renewable resource.
Steve W.
swehmeyer@portup.com
OUR REPLY
Stephen
We know for a fact that Home Depot carries old growth wood because they admit it.
Dowel handles are generally made from trees cut down in tropical rainforests. Perhaps you have heard of the problem
of tropical deforestation
(gee only about 90% of the world's species live in the rainforest).
If trees are so renewable why don't logging companies just regrow trees instead of cutting down the last 20% of
the world's ancient forests? In
other words prove that they really are renewable.
Finally, we would love to offer concrete proof of all of Home Depot's wood sources but they are not giving it up
(probably because they source
in ancient forests). Why don't you prove to us that the wood is not old growth.
We know it's not all old growth, but we also know too much of it is old growth.
Subject: trees are for everyone
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 13:33:48 -0700
From: Get A Life <capitalist@usa.com>
To: homedepotsucks@companyethics.com
dear bleeding heart,
i suppose that you have never used any wood products. do you live in mud
huts? what do you wipe your butt with? why are you such a hypocrite?
everything we do to survive effects the enviroment in some fashion. you
probably destroyed the enviroment in some fashion to get the money to
sit on your ass and screw with other people trying to make an honest
living.
capitalist
Subject: Nice name for a website
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 17:35:47 EST
From: DepotBabe@aol.com
To: homedepotsucks@companyethics.com
you couldn't think of a better name for the website. Maybe you should get
your facts together, and do something useful with your time. Get A Job.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Subject: rainforest lovers
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 15:26:05 -0900
From: "Mark Hoyt" <misty@ptialaska.net>
To: <homedepotsucks@companyethics.com>
you "rainforest" people and others like you are a bunch of totally braindead idiots!!!!!!
if you really think that man can destroy the earth, when even mother nature herself
cannot, then you are stupid. stupid to have the audacity to think man is
more powerful than nature. your ilk has cost me and most of the people
i know our jobs and livelihoods by filling the heads of people who don't know any better
with a bunch of bullshit propaganda. trees really are renewable, believe it or not!!
when the forest is managed responsibly there will always be "old growth" because
only about 6% of it is ever actually harvested.
Subject: (no subject)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:05:49 EST
From: STICKSELER@aol.com
To: homedepotsucks@companyethics.com
As much as i cant stand home depot....you should get your facts strait about
the old groth forrest...if PALCO were allowed to follow there own rules old
groth forrest would be back to previous levels by 2010. Tree huggers in Cal.
spend $ 35k to get the laws changed and the lumber companies spend millions
researching there impact on the enviornment. Owls, woodpeckers and condors
actually flurish in new growth forrests. By the way...what kind of house do
you hipocrites live in...a cave???
untitled
Wood Products and Impacts | Forest
Stats | Customer/Employee Horror Stories
| Home
towns vs. Home Depot | Day of Action against Home Depot
| Protest a Store
Opening | Join us
| Links | Good Wood Alternatives | Comments
from the other side | HOME
Action Resource Center, PO Box 2104, Venice, CA 90291 (310) 396-3254
Email Us