# Never buy from Lowe's Ever.



## Vraille Darkfang (Jul 26, 2005)

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, But anything from Lowe's ever.

They are completly incompetent.  (At least the one in Columbia Missouri is).

Proof?  What would you call this?

We just bought our first house & were looking for appliances.  Lowe's had a good deal on a fridge (1 year same as cash), so we buy it.  

Or, more accurately, try to buy it.

The 1 year same as cash was with the Lowe's Card (whcih we didn't have).  No problem, just apply right there & they'd have us a card in no time.  Takes 3 hours to get the card & fridge deal done.  3 Hours, people.  I think that was a sign from god we needed to leave.  (In contrast it took 5 minutes at Best Buy where we cot our washer/dryer).

But, I'm, assured everthing is ago.  Everthing is all set the store MANAGER assures me.

Day before It's scheduled for delivery, I figure better safe then sorry, so I stop in to make sure everything is OK.  They have no record of us having been there.  2 Hours later, they 'find' us.  turns out we WERE set for delivery, they'd just put the Delivery entry in the Pick Up registry for their computer.  But, No worries, we got that all fixed now the assistant manager assures me.

I take a day off work & wait around the house for the fridge.  9:30 I call in, ask if evertyhing is all right.  "Yep, we'll be there, absolutley".  12:30 (I'm getting hungry; no fridge = no food).  Call in.  "Yep, we'll be there, absolutley".  3:00 I'm getting annoyed.  Call in "Where's my fridge?".  "He's running a little late, but he'll be there, promise."  7:00 that evening "Where's my fridge?  Let me speak to the manager."  Manager: "Let's see.  Oops.  We forgot to put your fridge on the truck."  

"Why didn't you TELL me that the 1st 3 times I called?  When will my fridge be here?" 

"I don't know sir, we should have checked the computer.  We can't delvier your fridge now.  It's too late & our drivers aren't allowed to drive more than X hours."

"Umm, I was PROMISED the fridge would be here today.  Repeatedly.  What do you mean you CAN"T deliver what you've told me repeatedly YOU WOULD DELVIER WHEN YOU SAID YOU..."  At this poit my wife did a favor and took teh phone so I could yell at profanities (a day without food will do that to you).  They want to reschedule.  I tell them.  Sorry, I took off a day of worlk & recieved MULTIPLE GUARNTEES that you would deliver the fridge today.  Even got the paper saying your deliver it today.  However, I had a dentist apointment the next day, so if they could get it ther by 9:00 the next morning, I could deal.

8:45 next day.  Phone call asking how to get to my house.  Me (faking politness):  Since you must have lost the directions I've given you 4 times already, I'll go through it again, You ...(this is the part I said, as opposed to thought).  But they get teh fridge in by 9:00 and instal the automatic ice maker.  Fine.  It's done I go to dentist.

Get home at 4:00 to Salmon spawning in my kitchen.  They installed the icemaker wrong & my entier kitchen was immersed in water.  (Luckily we have an unfinished basement so all the water leaking into it saved out 80 year old hard-wood floors).  Turn off the Icemaker house.  Call Lowe's, tell them the screwed up.  They send someone out in a couple of days.  He's surprised at how ANYONE could screw up installing an icemaker to that degree.  He fixes it.

All is fine.

Then we get our first bill.  With 40 bucks worth of interest.  (Supposed to be 1 year same as cash).  I call up Lowe's Credit Card Line.  They ask for my card number.  This is when I realize I don't HAVE a card number since I never recieved my card yet.  Lady on the line says she can't help me until we get our cards.  Fine, send me our cards.

I then go to the physical store & ask them to set it straight.  Manager does (takes an hour), but he gets us that 1 year same as cash, no interest.  Finally, everthing is all right.

Then we get the bill the next month (still no physical cards).  Yep, 40 bucks of interest again.  (plus I notice the little yellow change of address label, they're still sending to our old address).  Another trip to Lowe's another hour with the manager getting the interest taken off (and address changed).  Finally all's done.

I make a special trip to tell the manager how horrid our experiecne was.  (i'm not looking to get the fridge for real, but just SOMETHING to convince me that I should ever consider going to their store again).  Manager brushes me off, saying my case was an abberration.  "Repeatedly" I ask him.  "Yep, sorry. It shouldn't happen again."  Never once did he tell me WHY it wouldn't happen again, just that I should believe him.  I know the brush off when I see it.  I resolved to never shop at Lowe's in my lifetime.

Then the bill arrives next month.  Address is still wrong, but MOST of the bill is interest deferred.  About 40 bucks is still accruing interest.  Another trip to Lowe's (Still no actual card yet).  Address change, Manager looks me in the eye & tells me we got the extended warrenty, that's not included in the same as cash.  Oh really, I look over at his shoulder at the big sign stating "All purchases over 399 one year same as cash"  Mention that the sign says all PURCHASES, not all ITEMS.  He ticked off (at being cought guoging me I guess), but he does what theie ACTUAL AD states & makes the account all 1 yr same as cash.

Next month Bill arrives.  No cards yet.  (but I got our card number last time I was in the store, so i can use thier helpful and knowledgable phone representatives).  Sarcasm still does't come across well on-line.  Well, long story short.  Address Wrong.  Fridge Purcahse Right.  Warrenty Wrong.  So I cahnge address, try to get warrenty straight.  Guy gives me the "Not part of the 399 purchase."  "Is t on same reciept" "Yes"  "Is that part of Purchase" "Yes" "So"

Silence.  Guy can't put 2 & 2 together.  In the end I decide not to go a different route & ask if your payments (we'd been apying the minimums just to avoid another layer of screw-iup) I ask if our payments can go to paying off the non-deferred charges first.  Hold for 45 minutes.  (I know what is going on.  They maek their cash off people paying off the deffered while the undeffered pick up interest charges).  Eventually guy come back & says, yes I CAN do that, but must specify it on the check I sent in.  Ok.  I do that.

Finally get our cards.  All 8 of them.  I have no idea what card limbo they went too, but they finally sent us 4 sets of cards.  Stangely, though the introduction letters all had different dates, they were all postmarked with the EXACT same date.

Today.  I got our bill.  Adress is still wrong.  They applied our payment to the deffered balance, not the undeffered.  We have a copy of the check we sent.  It says, apply this to the undeffered balance repeatedly.  At least we now have enough money to pay it all off, cancel our accounts & never shop at Lowe's again.

So, to sum up.  Lowe's NEVER got our stuff right the first time & often took 2,4 or still to be decided times to get it right.  You NEVER get anything right.  That's incompetence.  You should have got SOEMTHING right just by accident by now.

So, I repeat, Lowe's sucks, boycott them if you like your sanity.

(Sorry for the spelling.  I've just needed to get this off my chest for 5 months now).

Anybody who reads this I thank you.  You are cheaper than a therapist.


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## EricNoah (Jul 26, 2005)

EEEEEEEEEK!

Blech! 

Ugh!


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## rom90125 (Jul 26, 2005)

damn man, that has got to be the worst customer service story I have ever heard.  Anytime I think I'm getting shafted, I'll think of you and offer up a small token to the karmic gods.  For what it's worth, you're a better man than me.  I'd be 'swinging for the fences' and into the 'neanderthal knuckle-dragging wanting to hurt someone....bad' mode.


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## mojo1701 (Jul 26, 2005)

I would've asked the manager if his parents ever dropped him on his head when he was little, or if he ate paint chips as a kid.


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## Harmon (Jul 26, 2005)

Dude, that so sucks.

We have a Lowe's some distance away, I have been there once, was not impressed.


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## The_lurkeR (Jul 26, 2005)

wow... you have my sympathies.


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## Vraille Darkfang (Jul 26, 2005)

rom90125 said:
			
		

> damn man, that has got to be the worst customer service story I have ever heard.  Anytime I think I'm getting shafted, I'll think of you and offer up a small token to the karmic gods.  For what it's worth, you're a better man than me.  I'd be 'swinging for the fences' and into the 'neanderthal knuckle-dragging wanting to hurt someone....bad' mode.




Thank my wife.

I did go off the deep end whn I was finally told they had FORGOTTEN to put the fridge on the truck (after I had been told, repeatedly it woudl be there 'no problem').  Plus I hadn't eaten all day & the internet/cable wasn't up yet, so i was a little 'upset'.

If I could channel rage through telephone wires, that SoB who kept telling me the fridge was on the truck without actually lookng it up on the computer would have exploded like an he'd just been given a Nitroglycerin Colonics Treament (with a hose donated by the New York Fire Department).

But, teh main reason I'm still sane, is the fact Lowe's has just screwed themselves out of a lot of cash.  We're gettin gready to re-model our kitchen (it appears to have been last updated circa 1975).  We've budgeted around $10,000 (maximum) for the re-model.  Lowe's WAS one of the places we were consdering going through.  Not anymore.  We're going to be getting a new AC soon (the Amerispect guy id'd our AC as Year-Unknown, Model Unknown, at least 25 years old).  Lowe's was had a good shot at getting our AC money too.  Not anymore.  We have a brick home from 1930.  There is a lot we want to do to it.  We could have easily sunk 20,000 dollars over the next 5 years into Lowe's.

Now, they get 0.  So that is what helps me through this.  Knowing I found out how worthless they are before we started spending big.

I even made a trip to Lowe's to see the manager, explain our situation & give them a chance to 'make it up to us'.  ( I don't mean a free fridge, though that would have been nice), maybe give us dishwasher at cost & offer to dleliver it for free so we could see how much of a 'freak' our experience was.

Nope, they had nothing.  No way were they remotely interestted in keeping me as a customer.  One who might spend up to 30,000 dollars over the next 5 years on things that Lowe's CLAIMS they offer the best values on.  They knew this too, we were pciking up brochures and writing down costs all over that place.

No offense, but if I see first time homeowners of an older home (it's better built than most new homes today, but 80 years is a long time), I'm going tp bend over backwards to make them happy.  We're talking a gold mine here.  And Lowe's tries to squeeze $3.99 a month from interest over an extended warrenty.

Compete for $30,000 over 5 years or squeeze $3.99 a month for a year and drive off PEFECT DEMOGRAPHIC CUSTOMERS.  Lowe's chose option B.

We'll never choose option L again.


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 26, 2005)

You shoulda asked for a total refund on the fridge and told them to kiss off, stating plainly (and a bit loudly) that due to their shoddy customer service, that you were taking your business elsewhere. 

I've only gone there for small items (screws, etc.) and would rather search the store than even attempt to ask one of their monkeys where said item was.


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## Darthjaye (Jul 26, 2005)

Take this story and all your evidence and hand it over to the equivalent of the better business bureau.  Then take it all and post it over a few places on line.  If you know someone who works in customer service, have them mention it to customers repeatedly.  Word of mouth can hurt anyone.  Lastly, write, not on your computer mind you, but hand write a letter to their corporate office detailing your trials and problems with them.  Get the managers name and copies of any and all bills pertaining to said event.  Tell them you have patiently dealt with this for some time and want a satisfactory resolution or you'll take your business elsewhere and hand all this information to someone who will do something about it.  Hand written letters get noticed more than emails and printed mail.  Someone who has taken the time to hand write a letter might get noticed.  If they never respond or try to help with the prbolem stick with your plan and tell everyone you know never to go there again.  

The old addage in customer service is if you do a good job, that customer might tell one or two people if your lucky.  If you do a bad job, that customer will tell about ten people or more.  So to sum up, bad news travels faster...........


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## Darthjaye (Jul 26, 2005)

BTW, that manager sounds like a complete moron (finished all the courses and got extra credit for accomplishing it in style).  I've worked customer service in one form or another for 17 years and he is just about the biggest gomer I can think of.  Wow, way to lose and arguement with the evidence right behind you.   Makes you wonder how many people quit at once in order for him to get that job over anyone else.


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## Torm (Jul 26, 2005)

First of all, you have my sympathies. I've never had a problem with Lowes, but I've certainly had some doozies elsewhere.

But, for future reference, the one thing I didn't hear you say you did was climb the ladder. "Hi! What's your name and employee number if you have one, first of all? Here is my problem. Can you help me? No? Let me speak to your supervisor. Thanks." "Hi! What's your name and employee number if you have one, first of all? Here is my problem. Can you help me? Yes? Can you do it right now and give me a (confirmation/receipt/whatever)? No? Let me speak to your supervisor. Thanks." And so on. Until you reach the person for whom it is literally not worth their time to talk to you, and who can wave their hands and make your problems go away to free themselves up. Usually works. But worst case, you have thorough documentation for the BBB.

Also, did you get any documentation from the second guy who came out for the icemaker? If so, now might be a good time to see if you have ANY water damage to that 80 year old floor - seems like Lowes might owe you damages, to me.....


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## WayneLigon (Jul 26, 2005)

I'd also take that story and the documentation ( I don't suppose you saved those 'all same day postmarked' envelopes?) to the Lowe's district manager or regional manager or what ever  next layer they have.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 26, 2005)

Vraille Darkfang said:
			
		

> NEVER, Buy anything from Lowe's ever...




You got it.


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## LightPhoenix (Jul 26, 2005)

Lowe's is owned by Walmart, if I recall correctly.  That should tell you something right there.


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## Ashwyn (Jul 26, 2005)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> Lowe's is owned by Walmart, if I recall correctly.  That should tell you something right there.



That it's trendy to hate it?


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## Darth Shoju (Jul 26, 2005)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> You got it.




Do we have Lowe's in Canada? 

(of course, Home Despot err Depot is bad enough...although not this bad)


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## Bront (Jul 26, 2005)

I had a frustrating situation with Best Buy.  Bought a Car Radio, they said it would be installed by 2-3 in the afternoon.  So, I walk back to get the other car, tell my GF (it was supposed to be a supprise for her birthday), and take my car home so I can get some sleep (3rd shift).  I get back up to pick her up from work, and drive over to Best Buy, and no, they haven't started yet, might not be done till after 5, but they'll call me.

I have other plans in the evening, so I drop my GF off and tell her I'd call her once it was installed and she and her daughter can go pick it up in her daughter's car.  I get a call at 8:00 from the GF wondering if I'd heard anything yet, and I hadn't.  So, I call the store.  Well, 30-45 minutes later, I leave to get to the store before it closes, because I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone (I tried every department at least once, and the service desk 6 times).  So I get there, and the guy says "Oh, we finished almost 2 hours ago, so-and-so was going to call you before he left."  I calmly ask to speak to a manager, who after listening to my story, gave me a 10% discount on anything I wanted to purchase that night.  So my GF stocked up on CDs and I renewed my rewards card.

On the way home, the CD player stops functioning when it goes over the tracks.  So, GF takes my car to work, and I go back to best buy (Again, durring my normal sleeping hours).  I call the store before hand, and again, no one answers the phone.  This time, I call their customer hotline before I even get there, and the guy on the line applogizes profusely and sends me a $50 gift certificate.  So, I show up, and spot the same manager again, who asks me what's wrong, and they had replaced the faulty player in that car in less than 30 minutes.

Basicly, if you want something, you need to know who to bitch too.  Lowes probably has a customer complaint hotline, and they can probably take care of you better than you might think, as that's their job.  You were lied to by a manager, the credit division, and they couldn't get anything right.  So go call their customer support line first, and then, if they don't help you (and compinsate you for your troubles), go to the better business beuro and file a complaint.


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## KidCthulhu (Jul 26, 2005)

Yerg, dude.  That sucks.  I'd definitely follow this up the corporate ladder until you get someone who will make it better.  This kind of repeated incompetence cannot be tolerated.  Also, if I were the regional manager, I'd want to know!

I've worked a lot of Retail, and even as an associate I'd have given you something for your troubles, like a discount or store credit.  That manager is a ninny.


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## Zander (Jul 26, 2005)

If a company is publicly listed (e.g. on NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE), you can threaten to purchase shares in the company and  ask the CEO about your grievance in front of all the other share holders at the next Annual General Meeting.

I've threatened to do this to several companies and they've all resolved the problem(s) I had with them double quick - one even gave me a £30 ($50) gift card when I was only making a £10 ($17) purchase.   I don't know of a listed company that isn't extremely protective of its share price.

Make sure you address your complaint/threat in writing to the named head of customer service. Chances are that he has the power to resolve your problem and that he's directly answerable to the CEO. You don't need to tell the head of customer service how few shares you have or are going to get (you only need one). Just tell him you're a share holder/investor. For all he knows, you could be a big shot.

Am I CG or what?


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## der_kluge (Jul 26, 2005)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> Lowe's is owned by Walmart, if I recall correctly.  That should tell you something right there.





Wrong. Lowes is an independent company.


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## der_kluge (Jul 26, 2005)

If I were to wager a guess, I'd say Lowes IT department is a complete mess.

I came across a job posting once for Lowes that was really funny. I wish I'd saved it. It was like "support inefficient vendor code, and create documentation where none exists" something along those lines. Really scary.


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## DaveMage (Jul 26, 2005)

I think you should also send this story to Home Depot.

They may get a kick out of it (and maybe send you some coupons as well).


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## WizarDru (Jul 26, 2005)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> Lowe's is owned by Walmart, if I recall correctly.  That should tell you something right there.




I don't think they are; I haven't been able to google any such indication - though I have determined that Lowe's is a publicly-held company like Walmart, so no single entity could be said to 'own' it.  However, all the googling I've done indicates that there is no relationship between them, other than Walmart willing to work with Lowe's when pitching new development in new areas, in an effort to fight mutual competitor Home Depot.

That said, I've never had a really bad experience at Lowe's, and I've had them install some french doors and a toilet.  The toilet install wasn't the greatest, but that was the subcontractors fault, and Lowe's got them kicked into gear.  Home Depot installed several appliances for me and convinced me that Whirlpool is a brand I won't invest in again.  

The fact of the matter is that any large chain has its problems, especially if the store is poorly run and employees treated poorly.  Something I've learned over time is never to chalk up to active evil intent what can instead be blamed on stupidity and laziness.  Most of these large chains employ local sub-contractors to do the actual work, and quality varies wildly.

I would heed the advice of other folks in the thread and go up the chain for some satisfaction.  Even if you don't get anything back out of it, it might give you some closure.


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## Hijinks (Jul 26, 2005)

> Plus I hadn't eaten all day & the internet/cable wasn't up yet, so i was a little 'upset'.




You mentioned this several times, that you hadn't eaten.  But your phone was working because you called Lowe's multiple times that day.  Why not order a pizza?  I mean, who would actually want to be in a stressful situation and add to it fainting-from-hunger?

I refuse to believe that Lowe's is evil because Gene Hackman does the voiceover in their tv commercials.

Ok you're right.  Sarcasm doesn't come off very well online.


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## EricNoah (Jul 26, 2005)

I'd love to write ads for them. 

"When you come to our store, you can expect Lowe service and Lowe quality.  Guaranteed!"


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## Henry (Jul 26, 2005)

It sounds like as der Kluge said, that their I.T. is royally ed, and the manager is terrible. My local Lowe's has never given me problems of that sort, and I've been using them for 10 years (admittedly, I haven't ever financed any of my major purchases, AND I haven't bought anything in the past year. If a Home Depot were near, I'd love to try one out.

I have my own Story, and it involved me wishing Sears would go bankrupt tomorrow and never blight the earth again with their monstrous customer service.


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## Arnwyn (Jul 26, 2005)

Darth Shoju said:
			
		

> Do we have Lowe's in Canada?



Not yet, but they're on their way. They made their announcement not too long ago.


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## Desdichado (Jul 26, 2005)

Henry said:
			
		

> I have my own Story, and it involved me wishing Sears would go bankrupt tomorrow and never blight the earth again with their monstrous customer service.



Don't we all.  My wife and I recently had an experience almost as harrowing as Vraille's there with Continental, trying to buy the plane tickets to send our kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Texas.  

But Zander's got the best solution I've seen yet!    Taking the full documented story to the regional manager--and giving _him_ Zander's threat (if applicable--if Lowe's is privately owned it may not be) is the way to get them to make it right.


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## LightPhoenix (Jul 26, 2005)

WizarDru said:
			
		

> I don't think they are; I haven't been able to google any such indication - though I have determined that Lowe's is a publicly-held company like Walmart, so no single entity could be said to 'own' it. However, all the googling I've done indicates that there is no relationship between them, other than Walmart willing to work with Lowe's when pitching new development in new areas, in an effort to fight mutual competitor Home Depot.




Ah, see, that's why I thought they were owned by the same entity - I always see Lowe's pop up where-ever Walmart has built store, especially their super centers.  My bad.

And to address Ashwyn's comment, what I was alluding to was terrible customer service.

As punishment, I'm now going to buy a fridge from Lowe's.


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## wingsandsword (Jul 26, 2005)

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=low

Lowes is a publically traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LOW, Wal Mart is not listed as a major stockholder, and if it owns any stock it's less than 1%.  The stock is currently going for around $65 a share, in case you really want to go through with the "I'm a stockholder" complaint method (sounds like a good idea).

I've had not catastrophic problems with Lowes, just routine bad service, but I never finance appliance purchases and all my purchases there have been routine minor hardware when I already knew exactly what I was looking for.

As for the IT job posting, yikes, that's something straight out of Dilbert.


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## Gnarlo (Jul 26, 2005)

Whoah, sounds like a nightmare. I've never had any trouble with the local Lowe's, in fact, I wrote a letter to management about a wonderful employee there who was courteous, knowledgeable, and extremely patient and helpful to my wife and I when we were buying blinds for our new house, all of which had to be custom made. 

*Don't* get me started on our local Dodge/Chrysler dealership, however.... *GRRRRRRRR*


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## der_kluge (Jul 26, 2005)

> Lowes is a publically traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LOW, Wal Mart is not listed as a major stockholder, and if it owns any stock it's less than 1%.  The stock is currently going for around $65 a share, in case you really want to go through with the "I'm a stockholder" complaint method (sounds like a good idea).




I get the feeling you people didn't believe me when I said that Wal-Mart didn't own Lowes. I worked for Wal-Mart corporate for over three years. I know what they own. 

Besides, Wal-Mart's IT is incredible efficient and awesome. This would never have happened at a Wal-Mart. So, aside from Wal-Mart's horribly dirty stores, and the idiots that work there, when you consider the amount of information the computers there handle, it's pretty incredible.


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## tonym (Jul 26, 2005)

Whoa!  I *almost* bought my refrigerator from that exact Lowe's a couple months ago, but didn't.  WHEW!

I shopped at Kaminski's instead (in Jonesburg).  It took only a few minutes to do the credit card thingy, and delivery was right on time, and the ice maker was hooked-up perfectly.

The lady at Kaminski's mentioned that getting a refrigerator at Lowe's may be cheaper, but it was risky because, if the refrigerator broke, it could be difficult to convince Lowe's to do repairs.  With Kaminski's, she said, they'll come and fix the refrigerator, no problem, no big deal.

Thanks for posting!  I'll stay away from that Lowe's in the future, too.

Tony M


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## Meowzebub (Jul 26, 2005)

A well written, complaint letter to the region or district office is your best best.  Don't go right out and post bad press (except here of course   ) but kindly threaten them that is what you intend.  Indicate your greivance, the future lack of business, and your intentions to prevent your family and friends from also shopping there.

By keeping it polite and threatening the loss of future business because of your disappointment you keep them from just throwing you in the crank pile.  By stressing disappointment from a company that till recently had provided good service instead of raging anger over pinhead employees you are more tlikely to get the regional manager reaming them out, and possibly getting restitution.  THis has worked for me in the past, although not with Lowe's (who I actually prefer over HD).

A friend of my mother tought me this early on.  She was the queen of the nice and civil complaint letter.  SHe was rolling in free perks.

It can be taken to extremes as two friends of mine are red flagged at REI and other outdoor shops for repeatedly returning used gear complaining of defects just to keep getting new gear.


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## WizarDru (Jul 26, 2005)

der_kluge said:
			
		

> I get the feeling you people didn't believe me when I said that Wal-Mart didn't own Lowes. I worked for Wal-Mart corporate for over three years. I know what they own.




Nah, I started replying before you did...I just spent a long time googling an answer.  By the time I'd hit SUBMIT, three posts had appeared above me.   Some of us have never worked for Walmart, so we had to come by the answer the hard way.


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## MaxKaladin (Jul 26, 2005)

tonym said:
			
		

> The lady at Kaminski's mentioned that getting a refrigerator at Lowe's may be cheaper, but it was risky because, if the refrigerator broke, it could be difficult to convince Lowe's to do repairs.  With Kaminski's, she said, they'll come and fix the refrigerator, no problem, no big deal.



This sort of thing was what helped my father's business when Wal-Mart came to town.  They were drastically undercutting us on lawn mowers and the like.  For about three years they did a booming business.  Then, all their cheap mowers started breaking down and Wal-Mart didn't do repairs.  Our mowers were not only more reliable but we did repairs, kept most of the parts in stock and could get anything that wasn't in stock within a day (or Monday if you ordered on Friday).  A lot of people decided that buying the cheaper mower from the big chain wasn't so smart after that.  Service is something to consider...


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## Thornir Alekeg (Jul 27, 2005)

*Lowes Blows*

I'll add my own Lowes story, nowhere near as bad, but annoying just the same.

I needed to buy a new leaf blower/vac.  Went to Lowes, saw the model I was interested in getting.  The shelf tag says it costs $x.xx.  I go to the register, waiting in a very slow moving line.  Finally my item gets rung up and the price is reported as $15 more than the shelf tag.  I tell the cashier that the price is incorrect.  She stares at the screen for a minute, looks at the box, looks back at the screen and tells me, no its not, it is the correct item and that is the price.  When I tell her that is not what the shelf tag says, she calls someone in the department to check it out.  Five minutes later we have heard nothing.  She calls again.  About another five minutes pass when someone comes to the register and tells the cashier that I read the wrong shelf tag and the price for what I was buying is correct.  At this point I am not happy, and not convinced, but I figure the best way to take care of this is to do it myself.  I purchase the leaf blower, bring it out to my car, drop it in the trunk and head back into the store.  

I check the shelf tag myself, maybe I _ was _ wrong.  Nope, the shelf tag lists brand and model number and the price is exactly what I thought it was supposed to be - $15 cheaper than I just paid.  At this point I head over to the customer service desk and ask to speak to a manager.  The person at the counter asks what the problem is, and I tell her it is a pricing error and to please call a manager.  When a manager finally arrives, it takes me 10 minutes of explaining, walking back and forth with the manager from the shelf tag to the registers to show him the problem.  The manager refunds the difference.  I tell him that while I appreciate the fact that he is going to do so, I do not appreciate that it appears someone was either too lazy to check the shelf tag when I first noticed the problem, or they lied to me about the actual price.  The manager just shrugs and tells me I have paid the correct price now.  

When I got home I sent an e-mail to the corporate office.  Three days later I come home and find I have a phone message from the store manager apologizing for the fact that I had a less than perfect shopping experience, that it is not how they do business, and that he hopes I will continue to shop at Lowes.  Yeah, right.

Of course my Home Depot experiences have not been any better.  Now I pretty much shop only at my local True Value, where the owner of the store lives in town, and the service is usually very good.  I know I pay a little more than I would at Lowes or Home Depot, but I figure the money I am saving on medical bills by keeping my blood pressure down makes up the difference.


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## gideonpepys (Aug 15, 2019)

I wish we had Lowe’s in the UK, just so I could boycott them.


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## Ovinomancer (Aug 15, 2019)

Nice of the spam bot to resurrect this 14 year old thread.  My experience with Lowe's matches the OP, so I guess some things are eternal.


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## CapnZapp (Aug 15, 2019)

renilein said:


> Lowes offering excellent services.
> 
> MyLowesLife



Good bot


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## Scott DeWar (Aug 15, 2019)

The problem is real. I bought and paid for a small chest freezer here in Nashville, Tennessee, with a debit card, on sunday before Memorial day. It just got delivered 3 weeks ago. I had to uber twice to check on it. Delivery guys claim I gave the wrong phone number. BS. I looked it up on my fon, new number and not memorized yet, and got it exactly right. I missed so many meat sales and that did not make for a happy me.

By the way, @*Vraille Darkfang, *I use to live on Leeway drive near Brown station Road*.* As an Electrician I loathed going into Lowes for parts.


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## Deset Gled (Aug 15, 2019)

I had problems getting kitchen work done through Home Depot.  My takeaway is: The only thing you ever want to buy from a hardware store is hardware.

My Kobalt ratcheting screwdriver is my favorite tool for rapidly removing a lot of screws in electronics.  I have a Husky wrench in my kit that's gotten regular light use for the last ~6 years.  But my high quality hand tools are Wera.


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## Sacrosanct (Aug 15, 2019)

Since it's a necro'd thread anyway...

I'm sorry for people's experiences, but mine are the opposite.  I only go to Lowes.  Never had any problems that weren't quickly resolved, and I've probably spent $50,000 there over the last decade on various things.  

Now home depot, that's a store I won't go to.  For moral reasons.  The founder is a grade A movie villain, and I refuse to support anything he created or profited from.


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## Ryujin (Aug 15, 2019)

The only issue that I've ever had with Lowe's is the same one I've had with Home Depot....


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## drl2 (Aug 16, 2019)

Sacrosanct said:


> Now home depot, that's a store I won't go to.  For moral reasons.  The founder is a grade A movie villain, and I refuse to support anything he created or profited from.




I _want_ to avoid HD for that very reason, but it's hard to do!  Lowe's and HD are pretty much the only places left to go if I need appliances, hardware, etc. and don't want to buy sight-unseen (or with shipping costs and delays) online.  The HD and Lowe's in my town are just about next door to one another so it's easy to check both when I'm shopping for something... and HD is far better than Lowe's in actually having what I'm looking for in stock, often at better prices.

I had to quickly replace a failing refrigerator a couple of years ago.  Would have bought from Lowe's but they couldn't get it to me without a wait of nearly a month, while HD would get the same model to me for a few $ less in under a week, and going without refrigeration for most of July just wasn't an option.  While I was in the process of ordering one of the employees bragged about how HD had recently signed some sort of exclusivity agreement with a number of shippers and/or manufacturers - essentially contractually locking Lowe's out of the market for people who need an appliance on short notice.

Which made me want to buy from HD even less, but still... July.  Ice cubes.

In HD's defense, though, I will say that an old friend worked at Lowe's for years and switched to HD, and she claims that HD is a vast improvement from the employee's viewpoint.


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## Deset Gled (Aug 16, 2019)

drl2 said:


> In HD's defense, though, I will say that an old friend worked at Lowe's for years and switched to HD, and she claims that HD is a vast improvement from the employee's viewpoint.




I was going to talk about HD's program to support Olympic athletes (basically, letting them work flex hours or part time for standard full time pay), but a quick search shows they actually ended the practice around 2009.  Looks like a similar program has been picked up by Dick's sporting goods.


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## Beleriphon (Aug 17, 2019)

Darthjaye said:


> Take this story and all your evidence and hand it over to the equivalent of the better business bureau.  Then take it all and post it over a few places on




The BBB I useless, all it does is measure if a company responded in a timely fashion. If you complain and they respond same day that as a AAA rating. Doesn't matter what the actual outcome is to them at all.


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## MNblockhead (Aug 18, 2019)

I shop at Home Depot a lot. Only had two mistakes on their parts over the years. One was in my favor (delivered double amount ordered of some trek decking material, they didn't want to bother picking it up so I sold it on Craig's List, which helped defray my deck costs), the second was getting some parts wrong but they were professional about correcting it, even giving me a discount on the total cost to make up for the hassle.  Now, I suspect that my experience have something to do with the large amounts of money I've spent there in a short period of time and I'm usually dealing with the Pro desk. 

For appliances, I only buy from Costco now, unless I really want a brand/model they don't care. The prices are very competitive and the service has been excellent.  Most recently I ordered a refrigerator online and within a few days had a new one and the old one taken away. 

For services, though, I tend to go with smaller family owned local places with excellent references.


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