Posted on 06/16/2002 11:29:08 AM PDT by John Jorsett
Edited on 05/11/2004 5:33:47 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
When the US Gov uses an IMPAC card to buy a $15 dollar hammer from anyone, it costs $15. Period. The vendor processes the IMPAC card the same as it would any other Visa.
Not at all. They're using your money for free instead of paying interest charges. The business world is full of SOB's like this if you let them get away with it.
So, who are the owners of home depot? Has the ownership changed recently? Who else are they doing business with? Where does their merchandise come from?
"Focus" is one thing, but to refuse to sell a hammer or a bucket of paint to customers outside of "focus" is plain bizarre - they can't even sell an item to a private citizen if they suspect it would be used by the feds. Something is going on here.
Great post.
I am with Home Depot all the way here. If they have the guts to tell big government to go drop dead, I gotta love it. It sounds like they are pre-emptively stopping all the "Civil Rights Division" mice from getting into mischief at their expense. Think I'll go over to Home Depot today and buy a few things.
Nah, they just want to be sure that their show is fully staged. They need to be able to say in court that they did all they reasonably could in order to NOT do business with the federal government. They aren't going to worry about "suspecting" what somebody does - - the guidelines keep things pretty simple and straightforward. No government credit cards, no delivery to government addresses, and no written records which would indicate government addresses, payments, or uses of purchased materials.
and all of it paid for by taxes on your fellow Americans. I hope you're kids are proud of you.
The ignorance of many is coming through on this. TankerKC you are exactly correct - the IMPAC card looks just like any other VISA and is processed exactly the same. If Home Despot is not going to take that VISA than why should they take mine? They won't because as a Vietnam Veteran I will go to Lowes or better yet take my business to a locally owned "mom and pop" store.
Actually, it's "retentive":
1) anal-retentive. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...Psychology Indicating personality traits, such as meticulousness, avarice, and obstinacy, originating in habits, attitudes, or values associated with infantile pleasure...
2) retentive. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...2. Having the ability or capacity to retain knowledge or information with ease: a retentive memory. re·tentive·ly -ADVERBre·tentive·ness -NOUN...
3) retentivity. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...1a. The quality or state of being retentive. b. Capacity or power of retaining. 2. Physics The capacity for a body to remain magnetized after the magnetizing field...
PS: In a battle of wits, don't show up unarmed. Moron.
Ahem.... ;)).
I wasn't talking about Home Depot's policy.
I also find the local HD has a far superior gardening and outdoor product selection compared to the local Lowes.
I suspect the federal government probably had a whole list of requirements for Home Depot to meet and they probably decided that they didn't want to meet them (as is their perogative). I have no love lost for Home Depot and I suspect they may have been subject to some of their own medicine. We do business with some federal agencies because we have some products they can't get anywhere else in a timely fashion so we are able to circumvent some of the requirements. But it's nice because they always pay with their credit card. No waiting for the usual 60 day payment term.
It's about time big business grew a set and started standing up to the government and making them feel the pain of stupid laws and regulations.
So9
Home Depot Clarifies Position On Doing Business With Federal Government
ATLANTA -(Dow Jones)- Home Depot Inc. (HD) issued a press release early Monday morning clarifying its position on doing business with the government, prompted by a newspaper story that said the home improvement retailer won't sell to the government.
Home Depot didn't say the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article was inaccurate, and didn't return phone calls or a page in the early hours of Monday morning. No one could be reached at the newsroom of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch overnight as well.
Home Depot stated that it has always maintained a policy of not being a federal government contractor. The company said it made the decision years ago due to "administrative and systems requirements."
Home Depot said it will continue to monitor the situation and could decide to change its policy at some point in the future.
The newspaper story, picked up by the Associated Press and Dow Jones Business News, said it checked with 38 Home Depot stores in 11 states and all but two said they recently received instructions from corporate headquarters not to take government credit cards, purchase orders or cash if the items are being used by the federal government.
Home Depot spokesman Tom Gray told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for its story that this policy wasn't new. "Home Depot is not and does not plan to become a federal contractor or subcontractor." he said.
In its press release, Home Depot said it "takes compliance very seriously," said "since we have never been a federally approved contractor, our intent was to re-state our existing policy for our stores and associates and remind them of their responsibilities in complying with related rules."
Home Depot shares, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, closed Friday at $ 36.98, down 92 cents or 2.4%, on volume of 11.8 million shares.
Company Web site http://www.homedepot.com/
+++++
So this appears to be a non-story, in the sense that HD claims to have taken their no-biz-with-the-guvmint position for a long time. HD's internal memos probably came about because of evidence that stores may have inadvertently been doing biz with the feds in violation of previously stated policy, and therefore might get sucked into the regulatory quagmire they are trying to avoid. The St. Louis Compost Dispatch didn't do enough legwork to determine whether the policy was old news or new news (typical).
I AM surprised that HD has been able to have such a policy for years without harrassment from the alphabet soup agencies (OSHA, EPA, EEOC, etc.).
A number of years ago, an associate in an HD store signed a government contract under which HD lost several hundred thousand dollars in complying with. At that time, employees were told not to deal with government purchases. They had to make a bright line rule, so the associates understood that under no circumstances were they authorized to deal with government contracts.
Recently, after the 9/11 attacks occurred, HD became concerned about delivery trucks being sabotaged en route to deliveries at federal facilities (and the incumbent liabilities therefor), hence the prohibition on CASH purchases that require delivery to federal properties. However, HD has a subsidiary company that deals with sensitive deliveries.
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