So, I need a few new trellis panels to replace some decrepit wood trellii on our house. The results of my search ‘trellis’ at the Home Depot web site returned this message:

We’re sorry. Due to shipping restrictions, the product you’re searching for is only carried in our stores. We’ve listed some related products and information that you may find helpful. Or, follow this link to find the store nearest you.

The related product category they listed was wallpaper.

So this tells me the following:

1. They might have what I want at a store near my house.
2. They won’t tell me what it is.
3. I have to call or drive to the store in order to find out if they might have what I want.
4. Their category recognition is so worthless (on this search at least) they might as well not bother.

How utterly frustrating.

Why not display the stock with a note it is not available for on-line purchase? Better yet, why not provide a search of the stock at the store of my choosing? If they know the product is available locally based on my zip code they should be able to provide specific store inventory search to their customers.

Their current solution smells like the result of political compromise over some issue meaningless to customers rather than focusing on providing excellent service.