I was wondering, how does the big box stores like The Home Depot or Lowes hire their "tech" people?

I mean, if you work at the plumbing aisle and are giving out advice to DIYers aren't they suppose to have some clue on the subject matter?  I mean, just SOME clue?  I will give several examples that happened just within the last few days that has me shaking my head.

At The Home Depot, I was looking in the plumbing section for a 3/4" copper male adapter.  I saw the box, it's empty, I asked the guy with the orange apron walking by, he waved over "Ron" the expert, and I asked Ron if he has any more 3/4" male adapters, he looked and grabbed a sharkbite and said "this is better".  I told him I prefer a rigid connection and I don't use sharkbites unless it's a temp fix or too close quarter to solder.  He said "its code approved..." and he never really helped me look for the 3/4" male adapter I was asking.  At the same time someone else also needed his advice and he got distracted.  I overheard the other guy asked him what the difference is between the two PVC elbows in his hands.  In one hand he had a 1-1/2" PVC elbow for pressure pipes and the other hand a 1-1/2" elbow for drains, the guy was asking Ron if there is any difference.  Ron told him the pressure pipe version is more "solid" because it allows to be under pressure.  After Ron left I explained to the guy what the real difference is, which is the drain version has a sweep that makes it possible to snake, and the inside diameter of the drain fitting guarantees a smooth integral bore for gravity draining when connected.

A day or so later I was at the same Home Depot looking for a 20A double pole switch in the electrical section.  It is marked on the shelf but nothing sitting on the shelf there.  Checked the ivory switch shelf, same thing, white switch shelf, same...hmmm...asked the expert again.  He looked at the shelf label, and told me he would be right back.  A few minutes later he came back with a handheld device.  OH good, they can check inventory on this.  He pointed the device to the label on the shelf, and it scanned.  Then he looked at the screen and said "its 705905".  So he backed a few steps and looked up above where they piled boxes and boxes and said "look for label 705905" if it's up there then yes we have more, if not then we are out.  WAIT, so that device is not linked to their inventory system?  You have to manually look up at the hundreds of boxes and see if there are more?  I could read from the label on the shelf it's 705905, what was the point of getting that device?  To convert the bar code to 705905 which is written in small print on the label in the first place?

So one of my tenants complained that the ceiling fan has a mild "hum" noise.  I went and looked at it.  Yep, a really faint hun when the fan is on.  Not easy to notice but once you do, it can get annoying.  I wanted to make sure it's not the fan speed control dimmer switch, so I disconnected it and hard wired the conductors, same thing.  So it's the fan.   Seems to have the same noise forward and reverse,   I move the fan slightly off the bracket and seat it back down in different positions, same thing.  It's a Hampton Bay "Midili" model and I have about six of these in different units, so I went home and looked at the warranty information and it says LIFE TIME WARRANTY on motors and 1 year on other things.  Not sure if it's motor, sounds more electrical but who knows.

Next day I called the Home Depot store I bought it from, spoke to them and they said come in to the store.  I went to the store and spoke to the customer service, they told me to talk to the electrical expert in aisle 9, oh boy...I did as suggested.  He said "hmmm...you need to talk to 1-800-HomeDepot", and he asked "did you get this fan from Home Depot?"  Now, we were standing in the ceiling fan section, next to a shelf with dozens of this fan which I told him is what I have.  This is a "Hampton Bay" fan, it's a Home Depot brand, they don't sell it anywhere else!  Where did I get it?

So, I called 1-800-HomeDepot.  After a few press 1, press 4, press 6, press 0, I got to someone who is the Hampton Bay advisor.  She asked me when I installed the fan.  I told her I honestly don't remember because I bought six of them over a period of time and I don't know which one was installed when, but it's between 1 and 3 years.

She then asked me to give her the UPC number off the fan.  I said where is the UPC number?  She said right on the canopy of the fan.  OK I am not there right now, is the UPC essential, can I give you the brand and model?  It's a Hampton Bay "MIDILI" fan, can you get the UPC from the brand-model?  She said she "doesn't have internet" and their internal system is based on UPC.  Okay now I need the UPC.  I said I will get the UPC in a few days when I stop back at the property.  I went back later and could not find a UPC on the canopy, not on the fan body, I even used a mirror to look on the top side of a fan body and the inside of the canopy, nothing...I called back and said no UPC number can be found, but I have the brand, model name, model number, internet number, sku number...would any of those work?  Nope, must have UPC number to further assist me.  I said OK, I have spent more than $100 so far on my time which is more than the price of a new fan so it's no longer cost effective to trouble shoot the UPC number.  Thank you.