" You don't have to be highly trained or well paid to say "I
don't know."

Actually in our culture you have to be trained to say I don't know
And it's not an easy thing to teach.

Even harder is to find someone who will flat out say I screwed up
instead of shifting blame.

As for Home Depot- they try to find that magic minimum level of
staffing that will get the goods out the door and in many cases it
means I don't go in the door unless there is no other alternative.
Yet I own their shares and have profitted handsomely.