Looks to me to be a poor job on the miter and or pcs cut to short, so no it is not "supposed" to look like that.

They look like old joints. Like they were calked and painted and have now popped--which does happen after time--which is why a quality job is important originally or this is what you get in 5-10 years.

They do not look like new baseboards so are you using the old ones with the new flooring? I think the joints are poorly done but did HD do them or did they just replace what was there.

The mitering of the joints was not done correctly. It is not acceptable and needs to be redone.

It could be a little better but routine caulking and painting should make them look acceptable.

They are new baseboards. Home Depot installed brand new baseboards.

Don't pay them until they come back and do it over.

Caulked and painted will obviously help 'fix' the problem but that doesn't look acceptable to me. When we did our own baseboards (just your everyday DIYer) our corners were tight and we only watched YouTube videos for how-to. I'd certainly reach out to someone else at HD for a second opinion on "standard gaps" in baseboard. Ugh- sorry.

We unfortunately had to pay in advance for the job. That’s Home Depot’s policy.

I had baseboard work done at our old house after new flooring was installed and the installers did a beautiful job, none of what you're seeing. All nice snug joints and hidden nails etc. Then we moved and I couldn't find their contact so hired someone random (long story) and it turned out pretty much like yours. New baseboards, installed a total mess. We could have DIYed and they would have been much better but we don't have time. I still haven't gotten over it, every time I look at them I'm mad all over again but I don't want to deal with the reinstall.

At least yours have the tiny nail holes, at some point the installer for ours switched over to common nails and they are horrible. What a mess, I wish I'd been assertive and kicked him out when I noticed that.

If you can have them corrected, do it. Otherwise I do think that caulk and paint will help it all disappear.

Thank you all so much for your advice/comments!! Because of what you guys said I did contact HD and they are going to send the install manager to inspect the job. Fingers crossed it gets resolved and all issues are ironed out 🤞🏼🤞🏼

That's great news @Cristina L Definitely keeping my fingers crossed for you!