The Home Depot: Fact Check |
OUR POSITION REGARDING THE CHILE HYDRO-ELECTRIC DAM PROJECT
We are not a party to this issue. A few groups have suggested that we should
take a position on a proposed Hydro electric dam in Chile; a matter which
needs to be solved by the citizens of Chile and their government. Certainly we
take seriously our ability to affect change by doing the right thing in the
communities where we do business. We have, in fact, played a key role in
previous timber disputes in Chile.
However, in this matter, The Home Depot has no role to play or influence to
exert. First, we do not buy any wood within 1,000 miles of this region. The
organizations involved in this situation are not directly involved in
harvesting any of the wood we purchase and the companies that we do purchase
from are in full compliance with our strict wood purchasing policy (http://www.homedepot.com/environment).
The only connection we have to this issue is that the president of our
supplier’s parent company owns shares, along with his family, in one of the
companies that would work on the project. This puts us several steps away from
any ability to affect change, if any were warranted.
We understand that International Rivers, based out of Berkeley, California,
needs a high profile company to heighten the awareness of their campaign and
we sincerely hope that a sustainable solution is possible. Unfortunately we
don’t think it’s our place to weigh in on an issue that we have no expertise
or influence over.
This matter is about the future supply of electricity to the citizens of
Chile. It is our understanding that the Chilean government is sorting through
a variety of options in an effort to determine its future electricity sources,
and this decision is best made by the country and its citizens.
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INTEGRITY OF DRYWALL PRODUCTS
The Home Depot sells domestically-produced drywall. The Company has not and
does not sell drywall made in China or other overseas sources. Simply,
shipping drywall from such a distance is not cost effective for us or our
customers and is a practice we have not pursued. On the matter of quality, we
have very strict policies and procedures in place to ensure the integrity of
the building materials sold in our stores, and we take pride in our ability to
partner with suppliers to maintain these standards for our customers following
significant weather events.
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GIFT CARD / STORE CLOSING EMAIL HOAX
There is a misinformed email campaign currently circulating about retail gift
card expiration dates and store closings. This email chain contains old and
unreliable information as it pertains to The Home Depot.
Our gift cards have no fees, do not expire, and can be used at any of our Home
Depot retail locations. More information about our gift cards is available at http://homedepot.com/giftcards.
Lastly, the information about store closures contains old information. The
Home Depot should not be listed among stores that recently announced closings
as we announced the closing of 15 Home Depot stores May 2008. We have no plans
to close additional Home Depot stores.
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FACT CHECK: HAGGLING / IN-STORE PRICE ADJUSTMENTS
There have been recent news stories regarding haggling in retail stores. To
put this in context and provide more detail, our position is as follows:
The Home Depot has an In-Store Low Price Guarantee for most of the products
found in our stores. If our customers find a current lower price on an
identical, in-stock item from any retailer, we will match the price and beat
it by up to 10 percent. This does not cover every product in our store as this
guarantee does not apply to select products including John Deere, special
order and installation orders among other things. Details on our In-Store Low
Price Guarantee can be found on our Web site in the Promotions section.
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FACT CHECK: CUSTOMER SERVICE
The Home Depot was founded on the principles of providing a great customer
experience. Each week, about 200,000 customers proactively rate their most
recent shopping experience at The Home Depot through an online survey. Our
analysis of more than 9 million of these customer shopping experiences last
year shows The Home Depot's service levels improved across every category in
such areas as speed of checkout, associate know-how and merchandise selection.
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FACT CHECK: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The Home Depot is committed to the highest standards of corporate governance.
The board consists of 10 individuals, with nine of them being outside
directors. In addition, The Home Depot Inc.'s Corporate Governance Quotient
(CGQ®) as of 1-Jun-08 is better than 99.6% of S&P 500 companies and 100% of
Retailing companies, according to ISS.
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FACT CHECK: ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY FOR GIFTS
Maintaining our ethical standards is of utmost importance to The Home Depot
and is something we enforce strongly. The Company has a zero tolerance policy
for receiving gifts and entertainment from suppliers when there is any chance
that the purpose is to improperly influence the recipient, violate the
Company's policies, or violate the law. This policy has been broadly
communicated to our merchandising associates and suppliers. We continually
review our practices and procedures, and regularly conduct internal audits of
the business to ensure compliance.
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FACT CHECK: HIRING IN THE U.S.
The company has a long standing policy that in order to be considered for
employment at a United States location of The Home Depot, candidates must be
legally authorized to work in the United States. As part of the application
process, candidates are asked to confirm that they meet all legal requirements
to work in the United States. Then, all candidates who receive an offer of
employment must pass a comprehensive background check. In addition, once a
candidate passes the background check, he/she must complete the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services' Employment Eligibility Form I-9, which
includes presenting the required documentation to demonstrate eligibility to
work in the U.S., within three days of starting employment. If it is
discovered that an individual presented documentation during this process that
does not satisfy legal requirements, the individual will be terminated.
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FACT CHECK: HIRING PARTNERSHIPS
The Home Depot is committed to hiring a diverse work force. As a sign of our
commitment, we have partnered with national nonprofit and government agencies
and educational organizations. These partnerships allow us to reach out to the
communities in which we operate, and provide our company with a broad range of
qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds. Partnerships include AARP, US
Department of Labor, The Art Institutes, and four of the country's leading
national Hispanic organizations: The ASPIRA Association, Hispanic Association
of Colleges and Universities (HACU), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and
SER - Jobs for Progress National.
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FACT CHECK: ASSOCIATE BENEFITS
The Home Depot is dedicated to providing innovative and industry-leading
benefits, and makes benefits available to all of its 350,000 full-time and
part-time associates. The Company offers medical, dental and vision insurance;
life insurance; the opportunity to share in the Company's growth through its
Success Sharing program--a bonus plan for associates; a discounted stock
purchase plan; and other benefits to eligible full-time and part-time
associates.
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FACT CHECK: OUR CONTRACTORS ARE CERTIFIED
Home Services has assembled a national network of independent contractors who
are pre-qualified thorough a rigorous certification process to ensure work is
completed according to The Home Depot’s high standards for quality and safety.
These Service Providers install products ranging from floors to roofs, windows
to water heaters, and kitchen cabinets to vinyl siding. More than 98 percent
of our installation projects are completed without a single complaint from our
customers.
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FACT CHECK: GIVING BACK TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES WE SERVE
Giving back to communities and doing the right thing are two coveted values at
The Home Depot. Because we hold these values so close, we contribute over $25
million in donations, millions of dollars of in-kind products and millions of
volunteer hours per year to our communities. Across four countries, The Home
Depot associates are looking for ways to contribute in our communities through
service and civic engagement. The Home Depot's core purpose is to improve
communities where we live and work primarily through the following:
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Community Impact Grants - For nonprofit organizations seeking donations
from The Home Depot, see CommUnity Impact Grants
for more details.
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The Home Depot Foundation - For more information, please go to
www.homedepotfoundation.org.
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Playgrounds/Play Spaces - The Home Depot partners with KaBOOM! to build
and rebuild community play areas.
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Store Gift Card Donations - For nonprofit organizations seeking small
donations.
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Team Depot 1-2-3 Projects - For nonprofit organizations seeking to
complete a community project with assistance from Team Depot.
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FACT CHECK: NON-SOLICITATION
The Home Depot has attracted public attention in a few markets where day
laborers typically gather near store property. The Company policy on
solicitation is as follows:
Like many businesses in the community, The Home Depot maintains a policy of
non-solicitation at its stores by individuals and organizations not affiliated
with our Company. In the interest of safety and convenience, we maintain our
non-solicitation policy to keep people from loitering or otherwise creating or
causing safety risks to our associates or customers.
The Home Depot does not operate any day laborer centers. There have been a few
instances in the state of California where The Home Depot was required by
local governing agencies to provide space for day labor centers. In none of
these cases does The Home Depot own or operate the required facilities.
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FACT CHECK: WOOD PURCHASING
The Home Depot is committed to buying only wood products that have come from
forests managed in a responsible way. Upon its announcement in August 1999
that the Company would no longer purchase wood from endangered forests, The
Home Depot has become one of the lead organizations for forest protection
throughout the world.
To help protect endangered forests and to ensure that there will be timber for
future generations, The Home Depot first issued its Wood Purchasing Policy in
1999. The Company’s Wood Purchasing Policy is as follows:
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The Home Depot will give preference to the purchase of wood and wood products
originating from certified well-managed forests wherever feasible.
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The Home Depot will eliminate the purchase of wood and wood products from
endangered regions around the world.
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The Home Depot will practice and promote the efficient and responsible use of
wood and wood products.
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The Home Depot will promote and support the development and use of alternative
environmental products.
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The Home Depot expects its vendors and their suppliers of wood and wood
products to maintain compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to their
operations and the products they manufacture.
In recent years, as the world’s largest seller of certified wood products, The
Home Depot has helped to assist in the monitoring of sustainable wood
harvesting throughout the world. A recent example occurred in Chile where The
Home Depot assisted in the brokering of a deal that resolved a 15-year
conflict between Chilean environmental groups and the Chilean timber industry.
In 2002, The Home Depot was called on to assist with this conflict, and
Company representatives began working with the environmentalists and industry
representatives in Chile. Two years of mediation and meetings culminated with
the implementation of a new sustainable wood harvesting agreement in 2004.
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FACT CHECK: MULCH
Does The Home Depot sell mulch from protected forests?
The Home Depot strongly encourages all cypress mulch suppliers to use wood
from forests that utilize best management practices for the harvest and
renewal of cypress resources. As the world's largest home improvement
retailer, and an industry leader on the environment, responsible stewardship
of the world's forests is something The Home Depot takes very seriously. We
are committed to working with our vendors to conserve and preserve natural
resources and are dedicated to buying only wood products that have come from
forests managed in a responsible way. We take consumer concerns about Cypress
mulch very seriously and continue to review the situation with industry, state
and local foresters.
Does The Home Depot sell mulch from the coastal areas of Louisiana?
The Home Depot will not purchase or sell any cypress mulch logged from the
coastal areas of Louisiana. In 2007, we notified all of our suppliers that we
will not accept cypress mulch harvested in Louisiana south of Interstates 10
and 12. Our suppliers have since provided written confirmation that they are
compliant with this requirement.
Does The Home Depot sell mulch made from termite-infested trees?
The Home Depot does not and will not sell mulch from termite-infested trees,
nor does it utilize any mulch suppliers from the New Orleans area. We have
very strict policies and procedures in place to ensure the integrity of the
mulch products sold in our stores. Mulch suppliers to The Home Depot are
required to be certified by the Mulch and Soil Council (MSC), which created
the industry standards and criteria for mulch and soil certification and
inspection.
On October 3, 2005, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture enacted a
quarantine on all hurricane-related damaged materials and goods. This includes
wood waste from destroyed homes, fallen trees, debris, etc. No such materials
or goods are allowed to leave the 12-parish area of New Orleans, where this
quarantine is being enforced. This is designed to assure that the selling and
transporting of these fallen trees, either intact or as ground up fiber, is
prohibited. Additionally, according to experts, the practical survivability of
a soft-bodied insect - such as the termite - withstanding the violent
environment inside the mulch grinding process or the high temperatures (130F
-160F) of mulch storage, packages and pallet stacks is extremely unlikely.
Does The Home Depot sell mulch that is properly packaged and labeled?
The Home Depot has strict policies and procedures in place to ensure the
integrity of the mulch products in our stores. All The Home Depot mulch
suppliers are required to be certified by the Mulch and Soil Council (MSC)
which created the industry standards and criteria for mulch and soil
certification and inspection. MSC-certified mulch products are required to
undergo random inspections by MSC representatives to help ensure the mulch is
being properly packaged and labeled to comply with state weights and measures
regulations.
Is mulch sold at The Home Depot harmful to pets?
The Home Depot offers various mulch options for our customers. A few contain
cocoa shells and are clearly labeled as cocoa mulch. Some believe this type of
mulch may pose a risk to some animals if ingested. We have received no reports
of pet illness from ingestion of this product. We provide countless
alternatives for our customers in this category, and stand by the quality and
safety of our mulch products for use in the garden and outside the home.
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