https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/the-home-depot-sell-tools-only-work-if-activated/?trkid=soc-fhm-facebook&fbclid=IwAR0UexBflAjSLn9u_kJxgLzRFCxQybgnNHI-SisSpUTREjc3lwk7XTkfn-Q

Good for them! Shoplifting adds as much to the cost of tools (and everything else) as frivolous lawsuits....maybe more.

Great idea but they'll just steal the technology to turn them on themselves.

Have you ever walked out of a store and triggered the alarm at the door after your purchase was supposedly deactivated at the register?  Well they better make this system totally error free. I can't think of anything that would upset me more than buying a tool I needed only to get it home and find out it didn't work, solely because some over the air technology failed.

I am thinking what if some idiot comes up with a hack and shuts down all tools of a given brand that have this tech in the whole US?  

3 hours ago, sweensdv said:

Have you ever walked out of a store and triggered the alarm at the door after your purchase was supposedly deactivated at the register? 

I have at Home Depot ! They appologised when I showed my purchase receipt,  but that didn't stop all the customer stares.  Very annoying !

Sounds like a giant load of male bovine organic fertilizer to me.  It will go hard on customer relations across the board.  Next they will want a finger print scanner to determine who and when the tool was used.

 

.40 

It wouldn't hurt to save some of that lost revenue and pay an employee to work in the tool department and be available with a key for merch under lock and key.  Of course they would have a hard time finding someone to work since the government wants to pay them to stay home.

 

 

I have not shopped in Home Depot for over 25 years.  When they and Walmart bring back cashiers, I'll reconsider.  Like Dan said, hire employees to have items under lock and key to insure the safe keeping of pilferable items.  It does cost us more.  I told women that in the produce store when they pick up fruit and press their thumb into it.  It causes a bruise in just a few hours and rots within a day.  That was paid for by the vendor and he is not going to loose money.  He/She is a vendor to make money and provide a service to us.  This is too easy to hack.  Just hire a few immigrants. Put them to work.  

The local HD does have customer check-outs, but whenever I go there, it seems there is always someone there who is ready to assist  with the checkout. 

Same here, Al. Same with Lowes, too. And rarely do you find a surly cashier at either place. 

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

And rarely do you find a surly cashier at either place.

I've found that people tend to treat others like they are being treated.

Spoke with a cashier the borg today.  She said they can't get people to apply.  Am not surprised, we are paying them to stay home.  

funny about the alarms.   i always just keep on going.   never been stopped yet.

13 hours ago, Gunny said:

Spoke with a cashier the borg today.  She said they can't get people to apply.  Am not surprised, we are paying them to stay home.  

If memory serves my correctly, the borg's were having problems with trying to get people to work there way before COVID and the current employment issues.

3 hours ago, sweensdv said:

If memory serves my correctly, the borg's were having problems with trying to get people to work there way before COVID and the current employment issues.

 

 

Very true, current events have merely made it worse.  

Don't know if it's Covid caused or what but, have you all experienced being unable to find supplies and tools that used to be commonly available? 

2 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Don't know if it's Covid caused or what but, have you all experienced being unable to find supplies and tools that used to be commonly available? 

 

Only at the pawn shops Gene... been looking for a good belt sander now, but haven't found many.  My last trip to a pawn shop I normally visit first had maybe half the tool inventory I am used to seeing.  Maybe a sign of the economy?

What sort of supplies are you finding hard to get?

 

@Gunny - how is your pawn shop buddy doing up there?

32 minutes ago, Cal said:

What sort of supplies are you finding hard to get?

From big to little: There doesn't seem to be a riding mower in the whole state of AZ. Closest one available was in Petaluma CA.  Finally ordered one from Amazon and, they only had one. 

Can't find a 1.6 qt. Rubbermaid container anywhere local or, online. Everyone that sells them is out of stock.

3M 90 is not to be found anywhere. 

And, our HD and Lowes just recently got a stock of tempered hard board. The kind that's tempered on both faces.

But, I still can't find, locally, any MDO. The guys in HD and Lowes don't even know what it is. The real lumber dealers know what it is but they can't get it either.

13 hours ago, Cal said:

 

Only at the pawn shops Gene... been looking for a good belt sander now, but haven't found many.  My last trip to a pawn shop I normally visit first had maybe half the tool inventory I am used to seeing.  Maybe a sign of the economy?

What sort of supplies are you finding hard to get?

 

@Gunny - how is your pawn shop buddy doing up there?

 

 

Pawn shop owner is closed down.  Got caught dealing in stolen goods from what I have heard.

 

 

Now this belt sander,  what are you looking for?  Might have one.