Ordered by phone a replacement 50 gal electric residential water heater with installation service by a Home Depot sub-contractor. Answered various questions about the install, agreed to price and gave my credit card to be charged. Later the sub-contractor's office called to schedule the work. My install was of the quick and easy variety -- same size unit, no stairs and lots of space to work, as it was in my garage on a concrete platform.

Next day sub-contractor arrives with new water heater on his truck.

He looks over the existing installation, then pulls out a tape and measures the platform height. It's 20" -- I had previously explained when ordering that it was about 18". The installer demanded an extra $70 "up charge" saying that any platform over 18" incurred this extra charge. I said $70 for 2" higher seemed absurd -- nobody had warned me about that. He became somewhat rude at that point.

I asked him to please wait a minute in my garage while I phoned his (the sub-contractor's) office. The office was firm about the policy. Not wishing to fall prey to this obvious scam, I canceled. On returning to my garage maybe 5 minutes later, I found the installer had left.

A short time later, Home Depot called to say they had gotten word from the sub-contractor that I'd canceled and that they were making $35 trip charge. After stating that I would vigorously fight any such charge because of the circumstances, the caller checked with her boss and reported the charge would not be made. We'll see.

I am very much of the view that this incident and probably other aspects of up charges for similar installs are scams. Sub-contractors to Home Depot probably give them low prices, then due to some little detail wind up making their money on exorbitant up charges...the ageless game of exploiting a consumer in distress.

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