as a Home Depot employee, let it be known: at least in my store: don't assume dads and moms aren't LGBTQ+, as there's plenty of overlap, and everyone seems pretty much at home here. also, as an appliance specialist, i find it amusing that it's the same-sex couples who are usually only ones who actually enjoy shopping for appliances as the task (shopping for and later using) seems more equitably split between them. although, i have observed, lesbian couples tend to view is as a dull task and gay male couples tend to view it as "shopping," therefore "fun".
i automatically give all discernably queer couples a "family" discount that is within my discretion.
seems more equitably split between them. although, i have observed, lesbian couples tend to view is as a dull task
Was a bit surprised until that part. No way my moms shopping would seem like an equitable split between them. Granted, one of my moms is regularly assumed to be a guy (I've had my high school's front office tell me to go to a remote parking lot to see my "dad" before - had fun messing with my teacher by pointing out I don't have one as I left the classroom). So people might not even notice they are a lesbian couple and many probably assume she's a dad when with us. Home Depot has always been far closer.
I do my best not to assume, and use gender neutral language, wherever possible. In my experience, same-sex couples are typically quite enthusiastic about telling me about their recent marriage, or even that they are a couple. I find it lovely. 
In fact, we have a quota for how much in discounts we’re supposed to give every month (but not for sales, although we have goals for that). It’s weird. As a specialist, I can mark down just about anything up to $50 off as long as it’s not more than 25% of the total price.
For appliance sales, that typically amounts to the cost of our haul-away service for an old appliance or the vent kit and plug for a dryer.
Not really. We’re supposed to be free to give discounts for all sorts of legit reasons like stuff that’s in damaged boxes, etc. In appliances, however, that’s never an issue since everything is shipped from a warehouse for delivery and installation. Rarely do we sell anything on the floor, so Appliance Specialists have an abundance of discounts to hand out. Also, we process checkouts through a separate system set up for processing orders that have to be delivered and may need additional parts and installation staged called OrderUp— not the standard POS checkout system you encounter when walking out of the store when you’re leaving with cart of random stuff on a typical visit.
So, we, as a department, have a pooled goal of discounts we’re supposed to give for whatever, but the need for legit discount is far out weighed by the company’s demand that we do so. It’s very weird. So, most people working there just… don’t? I thinks that’s shitty.
Instead, I find creative ways to give people discounts. And I do it secretly to people who I think need it so they don’t feel they need to ask. I do it most often to people who either express or it seems are in financial difficulty. And I’ll do it openly if it’s a deciding factor in their purchase or a factor between them purchasing a piece of crap and a slightly better model. Find lots of ways to give that discount to lots of people.
I also do it to push landlords from not fucking their tenants so hard. This is another place I work VERY HARD. Landlords suck. They only want the cheapest garbage for their tenants, not matter how snazzy the place is. Fuck them. So I always do my best to convince the landlords not to buy whatever is cheapest, regardless of the appliance. And I’m pretty good at it, too. I’m very good at convincing landlords that investing in, at least, reliable, mid-range appliances will both save them money in the long run, add value to their rental units, and not make their tenants hate their fucking guts at the same time. And I’m doing that for every one of you out there who has has too small a fridge, a shitty, plastic-lined dishwasher that leaked everywhere and never got your dishes clean, and every one of you who had to deal with that shit GE wash tower that never worked right and ripped your delicates apart. I fucking hate landlords.
The Robin Hood of hardware stores! As a middle aged dude this impressed me more then the iPhone thing we spoke about earlier. This is careless heroism if anything.
I fucking hate landlords and I do my best to keep them from fucking over tenants with shitty appliances by doing whatever I can to get them to buy something slightly better. I even fib sometimes and tell them that whatever we have that’s cheapest is backordered or somehow not available in the timeframe they need in order to cajole them into buying something just slightly better. I know it’s a little dishonest, but it outweighs their fuckery my miles.
Family discount...do single people often buy appliances? And why would single people be better off than families for there to be a need for a family discount? Lol
"Kirk@[email protected], crackers appliances are a family food, devices happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers buy appliances, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know."