Home Depot made a man pay 3 times for gear he'd already returned. Then the local TV heard about it

"To err is human," but people typically don't expect computers to make mistakes. Gordon Caviness, a North Carolina man, rented an Auger from Home Depot for a relative's home project. Three hours later, he was back at the store to return it. A week later, he noticed a $392 charge on his card. He reached out to Home Depot, and they promised to fix it. However, weeks later, his bill racked up to $1,176. That was when he knew he needed help and reached out to ABC 11. The story was posted on September 16, 2026, and it has since received 21,206 views, 122 likes, and 38 comments.

Ghosted by Home Depot

Caviness spoke to the news outlet and explained that he did everything right. "We finished, like, three hours easy. I was back at Home Depot, three hours and 45 minutes, 15 minutes early." His receipt showed that he was even credited $15.47 for returning it early. He had forgotten about the rental until he noticed a $392 charge on his bank card. He thought it was a mistake and contacted Home Depot. Caviness was told, "The computer started the charges" for a "recovery fee." He was assured they would fix it and that he would get his money back. A week later, they charged him another $392. He approached Home Depot again, and the woman informed him the manager would contact him. But they never got back to him.

Cash instead of a check

Another week later, Caviness was charged the same amount again. Now, the total charge had gone up to $1,176. He realized they were not going to do anything about it and contacted ABC11's Troubleshooter, Diane Wilson. Wilson got in touch with Home Depot, and Caviness received a call from them the very next day. A Home Depot representative said in a statement, "After careful review, our team worked directly with the customer to resolve this issue and provide the customer with a refund. This is not the experience we want for any of our customers, and we are grateful for the opportunity to make this right." Home Depot even gave him cash.

Stores fined in North Carolina

Home Depot was not the only store that has overcharged its customers. In 2022, North Carolina customers experienced several scanning errors while shopping at Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sam's Mart, and more, as per The Charlotte Observer. 70 stores across 38 counties were fined for scanning errors. The total amounted to more than $40,000 in fines. North Carolina stores were expected to meet the "2% or less price scanning error rate." If they failed, they would be fined. Steve Troxler, the Agriculture Commissioner, said in a statement that 26% of price scanner inspections had failed in 2021.

Worried of being exposed

Netizens called out Home Depot for refusing to help Caviness the first and second time he asked them to fix the charges. @mssmpoc commented, "They should have added in some extra for the missed interest he'd have gotten from his money being in the bank account." @believensee8621 reminded everyone in the comment section, "Keep all receipts!"

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