I just checked inventory and locations (aisle and bay) online. the two lighting products are available in my store. Only one of the drills is available, and in my experience, that might really mean zero. I will do it this afternoon, and then decide whether to do a different store tomorrow.

@Snuffycuts99 wrote:

Oh, I didn't realize every store has a different arrangement. That kind of stinks...figured I'd be moving along quickly after getting one or two under my belt. The items added up to $180 for me. Why do you ask? I didn't think about that at all considering I just returned all items 10 minutes later and the $180 went right back to my credit card. myst4au...fyi, the two deck lighting products were no longer carried in the store I visited.

There were 5 pretty local ones available to me yesterday. I took one. The rest are gone. There are still some in PA, but further than I want to go unless these are really, really easy.

Yeah I found it! I’m going to do one this week and see how it goes

I did the instore part in 1:30 and it could have faster. If there was a convenient 2nd one. I would do it. Assuming that the kitchen person was available without a wait, might be able to get it down to 60 minutes plus 10 minute wait plus return. Right now, I am in the waiting stage. Note that I tried to spot items by matching prices. Prices apparently vary. With sales tax, I spent $201.57

With tax mine was $162.07 with one item not in stock. You can't just choose what to buy, you have to take pictures of each bay the item came from so they know if it is in stock. The list is 8 specific items. Unless it is out of stock you have to buy it.

I also completed one. The most time consuming part for me was waiting for the two interactions I needed; with the kitchen associate and waiting to get the drill unlocked. I was offered assistance three times when I was looking for the items. Didn't need them then! The return was not difficult at all. I didn't need the receipt and the return went quickly. My total was $181. 00.

Finding the batteries and counting the bay was a huge PITA. The inventory checker online showed the store had them but all the sets that I could find were the wrong SKU with a slight color variation on the package. I couldn't ask for help since the person would just take me to the other packages. I finally found one empty holder for the right SKU in a tchotchke bay that had a gazion different items. Besides that the jobs was fun. I wish I signed up for a few more when they were available.

I was supposed to do one. I read the instructions. I can't lie to a cashier about leaving a receipt in my car. It's going too far for me and in my heart I felt I could not do it. I don't cancel shops, but this one I did.

@Niner wrote:

I was supposed to do one. I read the instructions. I can't lie to a cashier about leaving a receipt in my car. It's going too far for me and in my heart I felt I could not do it. I don't cancel shops, but this one I did.

You're kidding, right?

I am not kidding. Do what you are comfortable with.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2019 08:38PM by Niner.

I have completed 2 so far. The plumbing dept was a little time consuming. In All, not as bad as it looks on paper.

I did one the other day. Using the website on your phone, it was much easier to find the items. It tells you exactly which aisle and bay the item can be found in. Thankfully it's the same items on the second shop I'm scheduled for. Now that I know what I'm looking for, it should be much smoother. Reports aren't bad. Easy $50 IMO.

No need to lie. Leave the receipt in the car. Go into the store. Tell the cashier the receipt is in the car. The instructions say that if it becomes necessary to have a receipt (usually doesn't in my experience), then you can go out to the car to get it.

@Niner wrote:

I was supposed to do one. I read the instructions. I can't lie to a cashier about leaving a receipt in my car. It's going too far for me and in my heart I felt I could not do it. I don't cancel shops, but this one I did.

I just want to be sure that you understand that you will have to look up each item again for the second store. Some stores may have identical layouts, but most differ. I looked them up on my PC at home and then was able to plan my route through the store. But I agree that the second shop will be easier than the first since you know what each item looks like.

@swanderson wrote:

I did one the other day. Using the website on your phone, it was much easier to find the items. It tells you exactly which aisle and bay the item can be found in. Thankfully it's the same items on the second shop I'm scheduled for. Now that I know what I'm looking for, it should be much smoother. Reports aren't bad. Easy $50 IMO.

I have completed 6 of them. It is a pretty easy shop if you look it up ahead of time and know what isle the products are on. The receipt in the car is no big deal, they just ask if you had the card you used and it brings it all up for them Make sure you get the whole bay in your picture. I had one sent back as they could not see the exact end of the bay but I always do extra pictures. It takes me a good hour every time for one reason or another.

@myst4au wrote:

I just want to be sure that you understand that you will have to look up each item again for the second store. Some stores may have identical layouts, but most differ. I looked them up on my PC at home and then was able to plan my route through the store. But I agree that the second shop will be easier than the first since you know what each item looks like.

@swanderson wrote:

I did one the other day. Using the website on your phone, it was much easier to find the items. It tells you exactly which aisle and bay the item can be found in. Thankfully it's the same items on the second shop I'm scheduled for. Now that I know what I'm looking for, it should be much smoother. Reports aren't bad. Easy $50 IMO.

Yeah. The aisle numbers were all different in the second store. It only takes a minute or two to look them all up again and screenshot them, though. Interestingly, the bays themselves were laid out almost identically. So SKU D / E = top left in both shops, SKU H = bottom left, etc. First go around it took me an hour and half with the return. Second go was about 1 hour and that's only because the associate in the cabinet department wouldn't stop talking! I've got a third one this weekend. Hopefully I can blow through it even quicker.

I've done five now. I like them and hope they stick around after the pilot is completed. I've been super impressed with how simple, fast, and easy the return is!

I have my first one tomorrow!

I have a question, I have taken one to do on the 25th and there is a second available in my area. How can I do both when I have to do two returns? Won't it draw attention?

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I have a question, I have taken one to do on the 25th and there is a second available in my area. How can I do both when I have to do two returns? Won't it draw attention?

I would use a different debit / credit card for the second one.

I did two the other day back to back with no problems. I also just used a different card for each shop.

I have 1 for tomorrow (Tuesday) and have a question. If the item is no longer carried by the store, i.e. item d and e, do i just not upload a photo for when it asks for that bay's photo??

There was an email update. It says you must upload a photo of the bay where the item would be if it was carried.

Just did my first one. Easy just time consuming. 92 minutes for me. Longest part was the return! Definitely will do more. How Long does it take to edit?

I have completed 8 and used the same card with no issues. I did 4 in one day back to back with no issues.

How long does it take to be edited? I’m hoping I did it all correctly. It seemed pretty easy

Well I signed up for 4 more! Thanks for letting me know about them!

Glad I found this thread. There's one near me, but I hesitated to take it. Sounded too time consuming (although I do use the online locator when I shop there anyway) and kind of weird to return every single item you bought.

Do the C.S. reps raise an eyebrow when you return 8 items? I'm in my HD all the time buying, returning, and exchanging items, but never an entire order, especially if it was all different items like that.

The CS reps haven't really cared in my experience. Most don't even ask and the return process has typically taken me less than two minutes. I did have a couple ask and I just said that my spouse informed me that she had already bought everything before me.

Hello,

I picked up 4 or 5 of these in my area, and I have completed two. I will share my experience with anyone who is thinking of doing one of these:

- Download the HD app to your smartphone (if you have one) and create a shopping list by entering the SKUs provided in the search bar (not the item name); you do not need to create an account within the app to do this. Choose your store and then "Map My List", and it will literally give you aisle and bay locations for each item (and it seems to be in a logical order so you aren't walking back and forth). The app will also give you their # of items in inventory: I wouldn't use this as your official count, but it can be a good way to double check the numbers you observe.

- The app will retain your shopping list, so if you are doing more than one of these, you can change your store location to the new store and it will map your path again in the new location (no need to enter it twice).

- My first one took the longest (about 1.5 hours, all told) because I forgot to count the number of available inventory in each bay, so I had to double back. Do a quick count at each location and jot it down on your physical shopping list so you don't add time in the store. The second one was 40 minutes because the cabinet department was unmanned, but I plan to do the rest within an hour or so.

- The return is...weird...because they didn't give me a bag either time and you're just walking and saying, "Oh, I want to return these and I don't have a receipt," and just standing there to see what they say. I just played it off, saying my husband wanted to be with me because I didn't get the right things, and I acted a bit ditzy when they asked for the receipt.

I would do more of these if I could: $50/hour is nothing to sneeze at (the reporting took literally 10 minutes).

If there is anything else I can advise about, let me know.