I have a story regarding Home Depot.

I was working a lucrative contract job in Columbus, OH, and commuting home on my own dime to Atlanta. Home Depot contacted me about a job opening, as the Senior Manager of User Experience. I applied, phone interviewed, came to Atlanta for an in-person interview with the Director, and was hired.

I quit my contracting job and moved all of my stuff home in preparation of starting work on a Monday. Sunday night, HD called and said there was a hang up in the HR processing and asked me to start Wednesday. Tuesday night I got a call and was asked to start the following Monday while they got everything sorted out. Monday became Wednesday, became Monday again. I expressed my concern and received an email from a VP who assured me it was an unusual hiccup and he gave me his word they wanted me and would work it out.

Three weeks after quitting my contract job upon receiving their offer letter, I received a short email that said simply, "We are retracting the offer of employment." I contacted anyone I could, and no one would answer. Original recruiter, people I interviewed with, public email addresses on the web site. No answers.

I used my LinkedIn account to find a friend of a friend who worked at Home Depot who told me in confidence the reason for my email; my papers delivered into HR to set up my new hire accounts had come back marked as "Ineligible for Rehire."

You see, 12 years ago, when I was 22 years old, my wife was pregnant with our first child and was put on bedrest. She had to quit her job. So, in order to supliment my full time income I picked up some hourly part time holiday work at the local Home Depot store. I told the store manager and hiring manager I was only looking for work till the end of the holidays, when my wife was due. They agreed. 3 months later, when my wife's due date came, I told them I was leaving, and I appreciated the opportunity. They thanked me, had me sign the papers, and even had a cake for me to celebrate my employment and my upcoming child.

12 years later, when HIRED for a full-time permanent position with the corporate office as a senior UX/UI Design Manager, I was ineligible for rehire because that original store manager neglected to put those papers I had signed into the right envelope, so they were never filed and I was listed as "Terminated for job abandonment."

Repeated emails to HR and the VP were not returned, so I was left jobless, with no leads, no "official" explanation. And no way to appeal or change the status.

Fun times with job searching.