Home Depot

Full review
I ordered a grill cover for my older-model Weber grill from the Home Depot Online Store. My local Home Depot store only carries covers for the newer models, so I was happy to find a cover to fit my model online.

I ordered the product on Tuesday afternoon. I requested "Expedited" shipping because I wanted the item quickly. Home Depot's delivery chart said the Total Estimated Delivery Time (from the time I placed my order) was 2 Business Days, and I was charged about $30 in shipping for the 2.4 lb grill cover. I expected to have my product by Thursday or Friday. I received an email late Thursday night saying that the item had shipped FedEx Standard Ground, with an estimated arrival of the next Tuesday. To me, this was unacceptable since I paid 30 bucks to have it shipped in 2 days.

On Friday morning I called customer service to request a refund of the difference between standard and expedited shipping (about $20) since my product had shipped Standard Ground according to FedEx. The customer service rep told me that "overnight" shipping can take up to 3 business days to ship, after the 2 days they use to process my order. This is ridiculous in itself (overnight takes 3 days??), but I told the rep that I requested "Expedited" shipping, which HomeDepot.com says takes 2 business days. My order was taking at least 5 business days. The rep said that "this happens a lot", and HomeDepot.com would only give me a full refund of the difference if my order did not arrive on the estimated Tuesday. Otherwise they would go ahead and issue me a $14 gift card today for my trouble.

Knowing how reliable FedEx is in their shipping estimates, I took the gift card. The rep said the gift card would arrive in 4-6 weeks. Who knows if I'll every really see it.

In summary, I believe HomeDepot.com charges its customers for Expedited shipping, but then purposely ships items using Standard Ground.