LOWE'S... How in the Fortnight is this place still in business?

[Greatscott]

Lowe's is like K-Mart, it is the last place I go to look for something because it is such an annoying shopping experience. Unlike K-Mart, I do not feel the need to take a shower afterwards.

So, I am looking for a large dog kennel or fence panels, and it seems like people are hording them like TP, because I cannot find anyone that has any at a reasonable price.

I break down and look at the Lowe's website, they have a kennel listed, it is the style I want, it is at a reasonable price, and they have three in stock... PERFECT...! 15 minutes before I leave work I check the website, they still have three... Off I go!!! 45 minutes later I am at Lowe's... Happy... Smiling... At peace with the world... and all of it died 15 minutes later...

Two things I dislike about this store. One, the layout of their product makes no since. How about putting the paint brushes next to the frigging paint?!? How about not have the plumbing department between the stoves and microwaves? How about have all of the fencing in one spot, instead of having it scattered in five different locations?

If you work a Lowe's, take what I am about to say as constructive criticism...

How in the hell can one company hire up all of the retards and dip-shits in one area? It just doesn't seem possible, but Lowe's excels at it. This is the second reason I dislike this store. Not only to you have to track down someone, like a lioness tracking her kill on the Serengeti Plains, but once you finally corner an employee, it seems like its the very first day on earth, and words like "fence", "kennel", and "bathroom" have no meaning.

Without getting in the the ratty details, I spent almost an hour in the store, was flat out ignored by too many employees, their computer system seems to be dumber than the people operating it, and in spite of the website saying they had three of these kennels in stock, and their computer saying they had six in stock, the store was completely out of them.

Don't get me wrong here, things happen, technology isn't always up to day, helpful, or useful; being in electronics I understand this more than most. But, being treated very rudely when I have cash in hand, and ready to drop over $400 on a kennel, I expect a marginal amount of customer service. If the first guy would not have blown me off and would have at least looked at his computer, then at is physical product and realized they were out, I would have left disappointed, but not totally pissed. But after getting the brush-off from the forth guy and having been there over 45 minutes... yup... not happy.

The last guy was actually helpful, and certainly the odd man out in Lowe's employee pool. And he did apologize for the website not being up to date.

In perspective, I understand that this is an upper-tear first-world problem. And I understand that right now, even in the first world, a lot of people have a lot bigger and deeper problems than misadventures at Lowe's and the inability to find a 115lbs 10-month old puppy a kennel... But, it is still aggravating. It is no wonder that Lowe's is teetering on the ragged edge of bankruptcy.

[/endith_rant]

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

... and in spite of the website saying they had three of these kennels in stock, and their computer saying they had six in stock, the store was completely out of them. [/endith_rant]

This is EXACTLY why I'll never even step foot into another blows.. They're the wally-word of DIY stores. Website says 'in-stock ,yeah!" A call to the store will get you " we show it in stock..."

You waste your time going to the wally world-esque place, can't find the item. A stop at the customer dis-service desk will get you a: " oh, well it looked like we had one. We can order it for you."

[JatoTheRipper]

I haven't been in a K-Mart since I was a kid. They were awesome back then. Our local K-Mart, which eventually turned ghetto long after I stopped going, closed. I didn't know an of them were still around, but I can imagine none of them are that great anymore.

The layout of Lowe's is idiotic, but I could say that about most hardware stores I've been in.

[Xx Losungen xX]

I had this exact thought this morning looking for a couple things in that god forsaken place, it reminded me why I buy wood from mills and I buy tools from reputable dealers, better prices, better service and much higher quality.

Side note, I had to drive 100km round trip to an Ace Hardware in a neighboring town just to find some hasps that none of the Walmart hardware stores carry.

I sure do miss those little hardware stores that carry a little bit of everything! Not just a warehouse full of absolute crap.

[OSRC]

I hear you. Our local Lowes used to be great. I've spent a lot of money there over the years.... the biggest problem I had was sometimes the people were too helpful! Literally I felt like they followed me around the store and asked if I needed help every 30 seconds while I was trying to concentrate on my list.

However, that was then, this is now and our local store has fallen into the abyss. The last few trips have been absolutely dismal.

I went in to order some custom windows, and waited for quite a while in the window area and no one came around. Finally I hit the little call button, and a few minutes later some dude shows up semi-annoyed that I interrupted his workday. Asked me what I wanted, then explained that the "normal" window guy was out today, he was a manager and could help. Fine. He starts going through the system, and after about 5 minutes I realize he has NO idea whatsoever about windows. I needed replacement windows, I had the dimensions and wanted Anderson double hung which is usually enough but he's asking me every little detail, most of which I don't know. Finally I see him pull up google and start looking up definitions! I ask if the windows are returnable - he says no! I had to walk away....I can't order $500 worth of product based on a google search and a guess that I can't return if they are not correct. Utter waste of 1 hour of my life.

Last trip I went in flush with x-mas gift cards to order myself a large tool box for the garage. Always wanted one, finally decided to man up and get one. Went in early February, store is pretty quiet. Knew what I wanted, checked the website, saw they were in stock...Should be easy, right? Took me a few minutes to find someone in the tool section who was helping someone, patiently waited my turn, and got a nice 70 year old guy. Double checked stock, said we were good and he'd have them for me in about 90 minutes. Maybe. What?? 90 minutes? Says they keep tool box stock on the upper shelves wherever they have room and they are all over the store..he needs to find a hi reach and some helpers since they are so heavy, and he'd have to search in a few places to find it. He suggested that if I couldn't wait 90 minutes, that I order it online, the staff would pick the stock overnight and it could be picked up immediately when I was ready from customer service. I got the impression he REALLY, REALLY wanted me to do that..... Why we just couldn't order it THERE IN THE STORE I have no idea.

So I said ok, left, ordered it online and it was ready the next morning. I run back and sure enough there are 2 giant boxes right next to the customer service desk. I show them my paperwork, all goes well, and they hunt down a couple of guys to help me get it in the truck. About 5 minutes later 2 guys show up with less than optimal people skills, and we start rolling it out. On getting the big box with the lower cabinet away from the wall, I happen to notice an enormous hole in the cardboard. I look and sure enough the cabinet has a HUGE dent in the side, scratched to hell, and surely is not going to work as the drawer slides are along that wall. This is a HUGE hole and dent, very obvious and no one noticed this when pulling stock last night? They still though it was ok to sell?

Immediately told the guys I'm not taking this one, and take 5. They scatter into the nether, and I go back to the service desk and tell the dude I can't accept this as it's damaged...guy goes over, looks at it and says, ok, sorry about that. We'll get another one. Might takes us a while, maybe a 60-90 minutes to track it down. AYFKM??? I boiled over, and let him know it.

At this point, what could I do. Already paid for it. So I sat in the hard bench and glared at the service guy. Literally the Terminator death stare. Must have worked as I had it in 25 minutes and the service guy, who was clearly uncomfortable with me telling him the facts of life, got the hell out of there. I haven't been back since.

Now I'm normally a patient guy, polite and customer service oriented in my transactions, good tipper, etc. but when customer service is sub par or I have to deal with abject idiocy I let them have it with both barrels. I have zero patience when people can't do the basics of customer service and it's not just Lowes. It's everywhere. Customer service is fast becoming a lost art and I don't understand why. It's the simplest thing and for some reason most people can't or won't do it. It's a huge issue for me as someone who's worked in the service industry.

OK, end rant.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by OSRC

I hear you. Our local Lowes used to be great. I've spent a lot of money there over the years.... the biggest problem I had was sometimes the people were too helpful! Literally I felt like they followed me around the store and asked if I needed help every 30 seconds while I was trying to concentrate on my list.

However, that was then, this is now and our local store has fallen into the abyss. The last few trips have been absolutely dismal.

I went in to order some custom windows, and waited for quite a while in the window area and no one came around. Finally I hit the little call button, and a few minutes later some dude shows up semi-annoyed that I interrupted his workday. Asked me what I wanted, then explained that the "normal" window guy was out today, he was a manager and could help. Fine. He starts going through the system, and after about 5 minutes I realize he has NO idea whatsoever about windows. I needed replacement windows, I had the dimensions and wanted Anderson double hung which is usually enough but he's asking me every little detail, most of which I don't know. Finally I see him pull up google and start looking up definitions! I ask if the windows are returnable - he says no! I had to walk away....I can't order $500 worth of product based on a google search and a guess that I can't return if they are not correct. Utter waste of 1 hour of my life.

Last trip I went in flush with x-mas gift cards to order myself a large tool box for the garage. Always wanted one, finally decided to man up and get one. Went in early February, store is pretty quiet. Knew what I wanted, checked the website, saw they were in stock...Should be easy, right? Took me a few minutes to find someone in the tool section who was helping someone, patiently waited my turn, and got a nice 70 year old guy. Double checked stock, said we were good and he'd have them for me in about 90 minutes. Maybe. What?? 90 minutes? Says they keep tool box stock on the upper shelves wherever they have room and they are all over the store..he needs to find a hi reach and some helpers since they are so heavy, and he'd have to search in a few places to find it. He suggested that if I couldn't wait 90 minutes, that I order it online, the staff would pick the stock overnight and it could be picked up immediately when I was ready from customer service. I got the impression he REALLY, REALLY wanted me to do that..... Why we just couldn't order it THERE IN THE STORE I have no idea.

So I said ok, left, ordered it online and it was ready the next morning. I run back and sure enough there are 2 giant boxes right next to the customer service desk. I show them my paperwork, all goes well, and they hunt down a couple of guys to help me get it in the truck. About 5 minutes later 2 guys show up with less than optimal people skills, and we start rolling it out. On getting the big box with the lower cabinet away from the wall, I happen to notice an enormous hole in the cardboard. I look and sure enough the cabinet has a HUGE dent in the side, scratched to hell, and surely is not going to work as the drawer slides are along that wall. This is a HUGE hole and dent, very obvious and no one noticed this when pulling stock last night? They still though it was ok to sell?

Immediately told the guys I'm not taking this one, and take 5. They scatter into the nether, and I go back to the service desk and tell the dude I can't accept this as it's damaged...guy goes over, looks at it and says, ok, sorry about that. We'll get another one. Might takes us a while, maybe a 60-90 minutes to track it down. AYFKM??? I boiled over, and let him know it.

At this point, what could I do. Already paid for it. So I sat in the hard bench and glared at the service guy. Literally the Terminator death stare. Must have worked as I had it in 25 minutes and the service guy, who was clearly uncomfortable with me telling him the facts of life, got the hell out of there. I haven't been back since.

Now I'm normally a patient guy, polite and customer service oriented in my transactions, good tipper, etc. but when customer service is sub par or I have to deal with abject idiocy I let them have it with both barrels. I have zero patience when people can't do the basics of customer service and it's not just Lowes. It's everywhere. Customer service is fast becoming a lost art and I don't understand why. It's the simplest thing and for some reason most people can't or won't do it. It's a huge issue for me as someone who's worked in the service industry.

OK, end rant.

Doesn't this describe 99% of modern auto/hardware/any other specialty store though? The employees are paid near minimum wage so they don't care nor are they taught anything. You can't force people to learn, but it's sure as hell tough for them to learn when nobody gives them job training.

[GA Dawg]

You should have ordered it for in store pickup. It would have saved you the time of driving over there and finding out that they didn't have it.

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Doesn't this describe 99% of modern auto/hardware/any other specialty store though? The employees are paid near minimum wage so they don't care nor are they taught anything. You can't force people to learn, but it's sure as hell tough for them to learn when nobody gives them job training.

That's basically true. I get that poorly trained minimum wage employees may not be up to speed on the computer system, or exactly where everything is. Basic customer service is an attitude though, the lack of that I blame on poor parenting and the current FB society mentality.

The Lowes here where I live is exactly as the OP and OS described, pathetically horrible, and if it weren't for the fact that the place effectively shuttered all the small hardware stores in town I would never darken their doorway. Fortunately, the Lowes near where I work is the exact opposite...there are actually people in pretty much every department who actually know something about their AOR. The main guy in plumbing is a retired plumber!

But yeah, it's a rare occurrence to find anyone in any store who gives a shit about anything but whether anyone liked their last fking FB post or their next break.

Maybe this should be in the rant thread?

[skinnyj]

Where I am, my experience has been the opposite. My Lowe's is decent and my Home Depot is full of dolts. I remember when I was trying to troubleshoot the steam heat system in my house and I was talking to a 'Depot employee in the P&H section, I was depressed to find out I knew more about steam heat than he did.

That being said, I do have a couple of local hardware stores here I like to hit. As a bonus, the employees generally have decent knowledge.

[Inspector86]

I have two Lowe's and two Home Depots within a 30 minute drive of my house. I have never had a bad experience with any of them. My neighbor across the street from me works at one of the Lowe's and I would not call him lacking in any way. I would add that he is constantly telling me about some of the really stupid stuff customers do and say on a daily basis not to mention the stuff that customers just flat out steal. Just because you don't know your way around a store does not mean it is arranged poorly. I have no idea what parameters they use to layout their stores but it would be counter productive to purposely make items hard to find. I would also add that the operation of a particular store is more of a reflection of that manager. The only criticism I do have with Lowe's is their overly lenient return policy. I have seen people buy a tool like a saw or grinder, go do a job, then return the tool for a refund. First off it is a scumbag of a customer that would do that, and second Lowe's should not allow them to get away with it and I have told my neighbor exactly that. I have also seen people like that order paint then not pick it up. At the end of the day they mark it down and put it on a sale rack. The customer comes back the next day and buys his paint off the sale rack. At least Lowe's has caught on to that scam and will now slightly change the color before reducing the price.

Bottom line here is that stupid runs on both the retailer and customer sides and anyone can have a bad experience or a good experience. Just because you know what a dog run is does not mean that the next person does. Everything is relative.

That said, things like fence panels I generally buy from Tractor Supply or other similar farm supply stores.

[Levi]

I can feel your pain. I've been into both home depot and lowes and have had both good and really bad service. Either place I always have to hunt down someone for help. When you get help you have the ones that actually know what they are talking about or the ones that really dont have a clue. I hate when you ask for something and they point in the direction and say isle # whatever. Even when I've already looked. And when you ask them to show you it's like your really bothering me and roll their eyes.

[TheLetterJ]

I guess my complaints are more petty. I'm not as able bodied as I used to be and it sucks that I have to plan a day or 2 in advance for a trip to the hardware store because of the amount of walking involved. I try to avoid giant stores and giant parking lots.

Lowe's is relatively new in my town so everybody wanted to shop there at first. Home Depot is literally across the street. My biggest complaint at Lowes is the parking situation. There are easily 100 parking spaces dedicated to electric vehicle charging, hybrid only parking (wtf, really?), vanpool, and yes, even expected mother parking. All of these are directly in front of the store, and 98% empty. Everyone else gets to park in a different zip code, just about dead center between the actual buildings of Lowes and Home Depot. Now, last time I checked, the guys picking up 2000' of lumber, a couple pallets of block/drywall/etc, or even just a toilet or the like, ARE NOT driving a Tesla, Prius, or commuter van, nor are they 8 months pregnant. Totally out of line for their customer base. Asking an employee for even a general thing usually gets me a glazed over look, followed by them wasting my time looking up who knows what on their phone, then sending me on a goose chase to an aisle that doesn't exist or at least has nothing even remotely similar to the item you're looking for. When you turn back to verify, they've already faded into the shadows.

My go-to store for HARDWARE had been Orchard Supply Hardware for the last decade or better as it was a much smaller store and had by far the widest selection of fasteners and the employees always seemed to be helpful and knowledgeable, much more of a small town feel to that store. As it turns out, OSH was owned by Lowes, so Lowes shut them down immediately after opening their own doors.


I'm not a big fan of the Depot either, but at least I can park reasonably close, and I know the store's layout so it's usually an in-out affair. I guess others have come to the same conclusion because now that the new store smell is wearing off of Lowes, HD is busy as ever and the Lowes parking lot still has that one Tesla charging, and one expecting mother picking out paint for the baby's room. If I don't already know where something is, I try to find it's aisle/bay number on their website before going in. That can be a beyond frustrating act in itself as HD's website SUCKS! Often times you'll get zero results no matter what specific terms you search, but you'll go in the store and walk right to it on the shelf.

It seems ridiculous to mail order a couple screws/bolts, but I find myself doing so more and more regularly. We made our first online order from HD a couple weeks ago and may take to doing that more often. We ordered about 3 pallets of block, brick, mortar, and rebar on a Saturday and had it all delivered to my side yard Monday morning. Didn't have to touch a single brick, well worth the $79 delivery charge!

Meh, I guess I should be more concerned about other things in the world like.... GET OFF MY LAWN!

[hpiguy]

It isn't just Lowe's, it's any big box store that relies on an online inventory system. I've had issues everywhere from sLowes, to Best Buy with that shit. I learned years ago to always call to confirm they actually have it and can put their hands on it. Not just look it up in the computer and "yep, we have it."

[Greatscott]

Originally Posted by hpiguy

It isn't just Lowe's, it's any big box store that relies on an online inventory system. I've had issues everywhere from sLowes, to Best Buy with that shit. I learned years ago to always call to confirm they actually have it and can put their hands on it. Not just look it up in the computer and "yep, we have it."

Best Buy is another box of messed up color crayons that is not fun to open up and play with. I have a good number of stories about the chuckle-heads that work there... Most of those idiots can't even spell "PC", to say nothing about fixing one, Geek Squad my ass.

The last time I was in there I was looking for a SSD, naturally, they did not have one. The conversation...

Me- Do you guys have any solid state drives.

The geek- Yes.

Me- Great! Where?

Geek- We carry those online, I can order it for you!!! (the geek seemed to be overly proud of himself)

Me- Why would I want you to order it? I am here, now. If I didn't want it now, I would have ordered it myself, from somewhere else, for a lot less money.

Geek- I am sorry (looked like he genuinely was), would you like to speak to my manager?

Me- Yes please...

Never saw the geek again, and the manager never appeared...

[BUBBA069]

The local Best Buy was ok until Micro Center moved in. It went downhill quick.

I was happy for it. Have not stepped into a Best Buy in close to 10 years.

Oh shit or I need it today type purchases, Micro Center. If I can wait a couple days, Newegg or Amazon. Its hard to beat Micro Centers "in store only" CPU bundles sometimes.

[hpiguy]

Yeah, all the big box stores suck. I mostly quit using them barring need it now or big sale items and turned to online many years ago. Sadly, that's taken a huge quality hit the past year as well, at least for me. I think it's just a sign of the times. Everybody wants EVERYTHING cheaper, from TVs to labor, to the programming that runs their POS and inventory systems. This is your end result.

[WhiskeyThrottle]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

Where I am, my experience has been the opposite. My Lowe's is decent and my Home Depot is full of dolts. I remember when I was trying to troubleshoot the steam heat system in my house and I was talking to a 'Depot employee in the P&H section, I was depressed to find out I knew more about steam heat than he did.

That being said, I do have a couple of local hardware stores here I like to hit. As a bonus, the employees generally have decent knowledge.

I was reading this thinking the same thing. My local Home Depot is my second least favorite place close behind Wallymarket.

[JatoTheRipper]

Y'all are complaining about Best Buy...ours closed! WTH?! When does a Best Buy close? Now the closest one is about 45 minutes away.

Originally Posted by WhiskeyThrottle

I was reading this thinking the same thing. My local Home Depot is my second least favorite place close behind Wallymarket.

Our Walmart used to be great until the city trash moved in. Nothing like building overpriced developments and low income housing at the same time.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyThrottle

I was reading this thinking the same thing. My local Home Depot is my second least favorite place close behind Wallymarket.

I haven't been in a Wal-Mart in years. Thankfully, I live in a small city, so I have lots of shopping options.

[GA Dawg]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

I haven't been in a Wal-Mart in years. Thankfully, I live in a small city, so I have lots of shopping options.

One day Wal-Mart will move into your town and those options will be gone.