Sting Awakening

I love "consumer protection" investigative reporting and wish this nation's local news teams did more of them. Some time ago, I called your attention to a series that the Los Angeles NBC affiliate, KNBC Channel 4, did on the Jiffy Lube chain. Armed with hidden cameras and hard questions, they revealed dozens of cases where Jiffy Lube employees had charged customers for unnecessary repair work that often was not even performed.

Well, Channel 4 is at it again. This time, their target is the Home Depot chain, specifically their home repair and construction services. If their report is to be believed, Home Depot often does the same thing to homes that Jiffy Lube does to cars. This page will take you to transcripts and video of the five segments that KNBC has done so far on this investigation. It's about what you'd expect — consumers getting ripped off — but it's still shocking.