Via iStockphoto / @jasonthechao TikTok
A Home Depot customer ordered a vanity. Several weeks later, he's not sure the vanity even exists.
Has Home Depot replaced critical staff with artificial intelligence? That’s what one man is wondering after having a bizarre experience trying to receive his order.
In recent years, many companies have traded humans in customer-facing roles for AI agents. While it may be cheaper for the company, results from these experiments have been mixed. For example, Taco Bell famously reconsidered the implementation of its AI drive-thrus after prank videos went viral.
At the same time, issues with AI agents are becoming a growing source of frustration for consumers. A May 2026 survey discovered that 59% of respondents found AI agents frustrating during customer service calls. Consequently, 85% said they would rather speak with a human—and almost a third claimed they would hang up if connected to an AI.
A user on TikTok recently sparked discussion after sharing his own source of AI frustration. According to TikTok user Jason Chao (@jasonthechao), trying to get his package from Home Depot led him down a rabbit hole of failed delivery promises and AI agents. Now, he’s not sure if the item he ordered ever even existed.
What Happened To His Home Depot Order?
In a video with over 718,000 views, Chao explains his strange predicament.
According to Chao, he placed an order for a vanity from Home Depot. He was told that it would arrive on the following Monday—but Monday came and went without a delivery. This is where the frustration started.
“On Tuesday, I tried to call, and the automated voice message would just send me to silence,” he recounts. “I would press the buttons, and then it would just send me to silence.”
He then tried to resolve this issue by physically going to the Home Depot. There, he met with several customer service workers who called a hotline and relayed that the package would be delivered on Friday. It was not.
This process—visiting Home Depot, being told the package would come on a certain day, then having the package not arrive—then happened again.
Wanting to understand what exactly was going on, Chao returned to Home Depot and asked to speak with the hotline directly. When he held the receiver to his ear, he immediately realized something was amiss.
“I swear to God, the agent is AI,” he starts. “They are way too patient. They are way too accommodating. Their accent is bizarre. I’m literally questioning their existence out loud to the other people here, and it is patiently waiting for me, and it is polite to me.”
Is Home Depot Being Run By AI Agents?
Chao immediately began asking questions of whoever or whatever was on the other end of the phone.
“I asked it where it was from, and it said it was from Atlanta. And I asked it about the Braves—it knew nothing,” he says. “I asked…where their accent was from. They claimed to be ‘from a Latin country’…Not like, ‘I’m from Guatemala,’ not ‘from El Salvador,’ not ‘Brazilian.’ Like, ‘I’m Latin.’”
After prodding the person/robot on the other side of the phone, Chao was eventually able to learn that his package was being handled by a third-party provider, which had it in San Bernardino—“very far away” from Chao’s location.
But when Chao called up this third-party provider, he was greeted by another AI agent.
“I don’t know if my vanity even ever existed, or if any of these human beings are real,” he concludes, exasperated. “And now I have to go and buy another vanity.”
Does Home Depot Actually Use AI Customer Service?
Chao’s suspicions about talking to an AI agent may be correct.
In April 2026, Home Depot and Google announced a 50-store pilot program that put Google’s Gemini in charge of “customer experience.”
According to the press release, “the agents allow customers to skip complicated phone menus and get straight to solving their home improvement problems through natural conversation.” This, the companies claimed, allowed customers to have their problems solved four times faster than traditional phone menu navigation.
Whether the AI is actually effective is a matter of debate. On Reddit, Home Depot workers and customers alike are complaining about the company’s growing reliance on AI.
“The new app sucks with AI,” reads one post. “Dine C stores no longer have the direct store to store line and instead send you to an AI but that refuses to transfer you to a specific department to get a visual on a SKU.”
Others have reported bizarre interactions with what they believe to be Home Depot’s AI agents. After a customer received an order missing an $8 part, he called to get a refund. The customer says he was then connected with someone he was “95% sure” was an AI agent. After a few minutes, the agent randomly offered him $74.
“I have no clue why,” the man wrote in a Reddit post. “I showed no dissatisfaction at all on the call.”
Viewers Say It’s Happened To Them
In the comments section of Chao’s video, viewers with experience at Home Depot, both as customers and employees, voiced similar concerns about the chain’s use of artificial intelligence and the state of its customer service in general.
“Customer service Home Depot associate here .. we’re struggling with this alot rn,” one user wrote. “And majority of the time if it’s in transit status .. we can’t even cancel it .. we just have to wait till it finally shows up to refund the customer.”
“I work closely with Home Depot on the corporate side and I can almost guarantee that this agent was AI,” offered another. “They are pushing it SO HARD to both vendors & internally to their team. It sucks.”
“They sent my lamps to Atlanta. They told me I could drive and pick it up. I live in Detroit,” shared a third commenter.
BroBible reached out to Home Depot via email and Chao via email and Instagram direct message.