How the Home Depot Free Tool "HACK" Works

Home Depot is running its Free Tool promotion again. The internet has called this the Home Depot Hack to get tools for a steep discount. There's a little bit of work involved, so in this video, we'll explain how to do it using Milwaukee tools as an example, and we'll share why it works.
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Links to all the parts mentioned in this video:
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▶ Home Depot Free Tool Promotions: homedepot.sjv.io/Y96yxJ
This video is not sponsored, but product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something I'll receive a small commission.
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Merchandise
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▶ Comprehensive Vehicle Maintenance Log Book: amzn.to/3wc2EMl
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Social Media Links:
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▶ Facebook: / kintsugimoto
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▶ Email List: kintsugimoto.ck.page/47f50ba6fa
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Timestamps
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00:00 Home Depot Hack Introduction
00:10 Searching for Milwaukee Tool promotion on Home Depot website
00:30 Example of Milwaukee Free Tool promotion with the $199.00 M12 High Output 5.0 Ah and 2.5 Ah Battery Starter Kit
00:52 List of Free Milwaukee Tools with Purchase
01:14 Price of both tools in the shopping cart after discounts applied
02:46 Using the Cordless Packout Flood Light to get the maximum discount on $149.00 M12 4.0 Ah and 2.0 Ah Battery Starter Kit
03:30 Using the $149.00 M12 4.0 Ah and 2.0 An Battery Starter Kit to get a discount on the M12 Compact Spot Blower
03:35 Picking up the M12 Compact Spot Blower and the M12 4.0 Ah and 2.0 Ah Battery Starter Kit
04:36 Home Depot Receipt with M12 Compact Spot Blower and the M12 4.0 Ah and 2.0 Ah Battery Starter Kit purchase completed
04:47 Explaining how the Home Depot HACK works
05:32 Back to Home Depot to Return the unwanted tool
05:39 Home Depot Return Receipt that completes the HACK
#homedepot #milwaukeetools #hacks

[@trao192]

Finally a video thats recent and that goes in depth of the whole process. Thank you.

[@kintsugimoto]

Thanks for watching and your kind comments !!!

[@603me.]

Be careful with returning the item. HD uses a third party service to monitor return activity, and if they decide your return activity is suspicious, they can revoke your ability to return anything. Often the hack was done by setting one part of the deal to pick up in store, and the other part to ship to home. After completing the purchase, you just cancel the part of the order that you didn't want. HD has gotten wise to this and now requires the same form of delivery for the entire deal. But ship to store and pick up in store are considered the same by their system. You can also set each item to be picked up in a different store. Lastly, I have only been able to do the hack via the desktop version of the website. On the mobile site or app, it will probably not itemize the deal after checkout, and so require you to cancel the entire order or return in person. The desktop version of the website will itemize in my experience.

[@kintsugimoto]

Thanks for the additional insights!!! Yup, I’ve also done the pickup from different stores method too and then just waited for HD to cancel the order that I didn’t pick up. Now that you mention it, I’ve usually always ordered from my desktop, so good to know that I should not use the app. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

[@jmackinjersey1]

Home Depot is, or has been cracking down on fraudulent returns, not legit returns. If they suspect you are trying to rip them off, then the customer service associate will ask for an ID. They will run the name and check it against the database, or add your name and deny you the return. However, a few years ago, you would pay full price for a tool, and then get a free battery or vice-versa. Then a lot of guys would scam the system and return the paid for item and keep the free item. So they got wise to this and started pro-rating the items, so if you do return and keep one, you are still being charged for the item you keep. Their corporate return policy is that if you have the original receipt, they will take it back within the allotted about of time, be it 30 days up to 12 months, depending on what plan you have with them. I have the ProXtra Corporate card, so I can return items up to one year after original purchase if I buy it with that card. I buy everything from HD with that card since it is part of my business account. As for their internet return policy, when you check out online, you will see that a high majority of their shipped items will say that the item/s must be returned at the store. They do not have to be returned to any specific store location, as all HDs will accept any legit return. Some items, like large appliances or tool boxes that were delivered are typically picked up by the delivery person. As far as shipping various items on the same order to different locations, HD does not have any issues with that happening either. Countless times I have had certain orders split delivered for security reasons. If at checkout I see one item will be delivered on a day when I will not be home or at the jobsite address, then I will have those items delivered to the nearest store, and then the remaining items delivered to my house or the jobsite address. If there is any return to be made, I simply take that item/s to the nearest HD and make the return. I have been dealing with HD for decades as both a home owner and a contractor and have never had and major issues. The desktop and app operate the same in regards to ordering.

[@premiummelons1512]

Another option is ordering the items for pickup at two different locations, picking up the one you want and ignoring the other. It'll eventually be returned after a week.

[@kintsugimoto]

Yup!!! I’ve done that too :)

[@rawalqayyum5128]

Oh shit, thats pretty slick. I will be trying this.

[@kintsugimoto]

@@rawalqayyum5128 Glad to hear it !!! Thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@TheBigboy208]

When you pick out the item, check the price cause you can get it cheaper if you get the price item at a lower cost, so I would say try different items to get the better deal

[@kintsugimoto]

Good tip!!! I usually use the highest priced item as the “gift” to get the largest discount on the item that I want to keep. But usually it will only end up being a different of a few dollars. Most of the gift items have very similar prices. Thanks for watching!!!

[@epiccollision]

On the Canadian version of Home Depot, They just discount one of the items, if you try to break them apart the discount doesn't work or the transaction fails, weird they would use two different rebate systems.

[@kintsugimoto]

Oh that's interesting that they would have two different systems. Unfortunately, I guess that means this trick won't work over there. I should probably add a disclaimer to the video that says it only works in the US. Thanks for sharing!!

[@notta3d]

So you order it online, go into the store and go to the customer service desk, get the item, leave, go back in and talk to the same exact person 10 minutes later and say you want to return one of the items? Thanks for finally posting a detailed video.

[@kintsugimoto]

You could do that :) I usually go back the next day or the next time I go to Home Depot. They have a 90 day return window, so I’m usually not a hurry. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

[@juanmartinez8967]

Got to do this before they catch on

[@angelbermejo9470]

It works 😁😁👌

[@stephenculcasi]

It's been going on for years, everyone knows about this

[@603me.]

They know about it, and have started taking steps to limit it, but their main problem is how the system prorates the parts of the deal.

[@iamshevanel]

For some reason I no longer see the m12 battery pack as part of the deal? M18 only now

[@kintsugimoto]

The M12 deal might have expired, but they’ll bring it back. I see it several times a year. Just look for the Free Tool with Purchase Promotion and this should work.

[@jesusvalles7312]

From when is this deal I can’t find it anywhere!

[@kintsugimoto]

This was last week. Looks like the M12 deal is over, but they are running the same promotion with the M18. If you really want the M12, then just wait a couple of weeks. With the holidays around the corner, I'm sure they will do another deal. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

[@kintsugimoto]

Here's the link to the current M18 deal: www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-XC-Starter-Kit-with-Two-5-0Ah-Batteries-and-Charger-48-59-1852B/320379720

[@donaldsandoval7069]

how it’s done they can’t say no when to go return all my questions answered!

[@kintsugimoto]

Glad it helped :) Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

[@WesleySutton]

Have they ever told you no, you need to return both items

[@stephenculcasi]

I've done it so many times, they won't say no. They can't, it's itemized on your receipt.

[@kintsugimoto]

As long as I’ve had a receipt, they haven’t told me no yet, and I have more tools than I known what to do with!!! lol 😂

[@Billmull8622]

Nope they’ll probably start now! Lol

[@TradingFeline]

Why would they? It’s not a bundle

[@lostandfound6501]

They have told me no on a few occasions. If you do it too much , you get put on a "no returns" list. Be smart about when you hack.

[@DONMARIO96]

I can find that

[@kintsugimoto]

I think the M12 promo is over now, but you can do the same the current M18 promo. With the holidays coming up, they will probably run the promo with the M12 again. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

[@MrAlternation]

The closet home depot is 1 hour away from me, if i ship it to my home how would you proceed with the h@ck?

[@kintsugimoto]

If you ship both items to you home, then just take the one that you don't want back to Home Depot to return when you are close by. Home Depot's return policy is 90 days, so you have a bit of time to take it back. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!!!

[@MrAlternation]

do you know if they will do a return label so i can ship it back?@@kintsugimoto

[@jefferygaldamez5551]

Can you only do this by purchasing online?

[@kintsugimoto]

I haven't looked to see if this promotion is offered in store ... so I honestly don't know. I usually purchase online and then go pickup at the local store. I'll take a look the next time I'm at a Home Depot.

[@jefferygaldamez5551]

Thanks for the quick feedback! Yeah, I was looking to do this in-store, but if it does not work the same, I'll just do it online. @@kintsugimoto

[@txmade4371]

Wont the receipt show the discount tho?…

[@kintsugimoto]

Yes!! And you want it to show a discount on each item, so instead of one full-priced item and one free item, the receipt shows two discounted items. Then you can return the item you don't want and get a discount on the item that you keep.

[@txmade4371]

@@kintsugimotoDo you have to show ID or just your receipt? Thanks.

[@kintsugimoto]

@@txmade4371 Just the receipt or the online order number. You're very welcome :) Thanks for watching!!

[@Derek-tk4wf]

So with the popularity of these videos, depot will be sure to have this loophole closed for next year.

[@kintsugimoto]

I actually think that Milwaukee and Home Depot secretly like this loophole. It gets them a lot of attention online and my guess is that the profit margins on these tools are really high. They have been running this deal for at least the past five years ... maybe longer. That said, I really hope they keep it going. There are still a few tools that I'm waiting to get added to this promotion :)

[@jmackinjersey1]

How is this a hack? You paid $89 for the batteries, then returned them and received the $89 back?

[@kintsugimoto]

The promotion is for Buy One Get One Free. So you buy the battery pack for $149, and get the blower for "free." But if you look at the receipt, it shows that I paid $89 for the battery pack and $59 for the blower. Normally the blower goes for $99 by itself (I think I've seen it on sale for $79 at its lowest), so by doing this hack, I was able to get it for $59. The battery pack usually goes on sale for $99, so the hack would get it down to $89 (if I returned the blower). So the idea is that you get a really good discount on the 1 item that you want to keep by buying both items and then returning the one that you don't want. Hope that makes sense.

[@jawojnicki]

I will be SO SAD if they ever put the kibosh on this thing!

[@kintsugimoto]

Same !!! Although, I need another tool like I need another hole in my head !!! lol

[@georgeblank2648]

Nothing is free if you have to buy something to get it

[@kintsugimoto]

That is true!!! But saying the “Discounted Tool Hack” doesn’t have the ring to it :) thanks for watching!!!

[@RollinHomies]

My friend you need to shop around more. This is not a hack but more of a time waste’r. You can find the 2bat/with rapid charger for

[@kintsugimoto]

Hahahaha … you’re probably right :) I actually did this deal for the blower, which after the hack, was the lowest price that I’ve seen in a while. Thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@shaynejenkins446]

I watched 2 guys get escorted off Home Depot property by police for this same thing. Home Depot isn't as dumb as these idiots think. How stupid would you feel if you were banned from Home Depot lol.

[@kintsugimoto]

They haven’t banned me yet, so maybe the Home Depot’s in my area are more lenient. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@calvin4589]

It seems legit that you bought the tools and decided the 2nd tool was not needed. You paid for it and nothing was stolen.

[@niq872]

so you are saying you stood and watched were able to hear the reason that he was removed and it was because he was doing this? sure, at worst they will say return both items this isn't new.

[@vchow6749]

​@@niq872exactly what I was thinking.

[@gregoriodecker2692]

I'm sure you saw someone get escorted away.. knew what they were doing and exactly why they were escorted away.. plus they weren't stealing .. this is returning a part of a deal you paid for and is itemized on a receipt.. max refund per item.. this is not illegal at all.