Anybody Hate Lowes?

SourwoodTom

SourwoodTom

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Venting. Customer service at Lowes is terrible. Trying to get anyone to answer on the phone is impossible. When they do connect you to someone, that person just forwards it on.

Go to the Pro Desk, and no one knows anything. All week I've been trying to get a job site delivery in Rutherford County, but can't get anyone at all at the Forest City store to tell me about schedules. Wish there was a Home Depot in Rutherford.
 
Somewhere on here thereā€™s a screen shot of my phone showing the ~8 hours I was on hold one day. Yes, they suck.
 
Our last trip to Lowes was to buy a washing machine. 3 "sales associates" standing around a cash register and not one of them would make eye contact or come over and talk to us. I pulled up the washer my wife wanted on my phone on their website, put in shopping cart, added extended warranty and delivery and walked out the door.
 
I prefer Home depot....


But Lowes has certain brands and items that HD doesn't carry.

I've had terrible customer service at both....AND I've had WONDERFUL customer service at both.

They don't have the retired knowledge based that just wanted something to do....they are just putting people with a pulse and (hopefully) no criminal record in there.

DS
 
SourwoodTom said:
Venting. Customer service at Lowes is terrible. Trying to get anyone to answer on the phone is impossible. When they do connect you to someone, that person just forwards it on.

Go to the Pro Desk, and no one knows anything. All week I've been trying to get a job site delivery in Rutherford County, but can't get anyone at all at the Forest City store to tell me about schedules. Wish there was a Home Depot in Rutherford.
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The people at that Lowes in FC knew me by name at the pickup desk. They were always helpful in the store but were hard to get a hold of them on the phone. From what I understand all the Lowes stores across the board are understaffed
 
Went to my local Lowes yesterday. I conceded years ago there's no actual help there, you're on your own. What had me boiling upon entry was the 40 empty parking spots up front for law enforcement, pregnant people, first responders, handicap, military and online order pickup. No offense to any that fall into these categories, but damn, there were 8 other guys like me circling the lot looking for a parking space amongst the sea of bagged mulch pallets.

My local Lowes is full of yankees too, working and shopping which makes the experience even more enjoyable.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
Our last trip to Lowes was to buy a washing machine. 3 "sales associates" standing around a cash register and not one of them would make eye contact or come over and talk to us. I pulled up the washer my wife wanted on my phone on their website, put in shopping cart, added extended warranty and delivery and walked out the door.
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Shoulda ordered it from Home Depot and showed them the receipt on the way out.
 
DirtySCREW said:
I've had terrible customer service at both....AND I've had WONDERFUL customer service at both.
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This has been my experience as well. It depends on the day & the person you get to help (or not).

On one hand, I like some aspects of turning the building materials business into a retail store*. On the other, I hate some aspects of turning the building materials business into a retail store!**

Lowe's & HD have gathered so much of the market they've gotten too big for their britches. They can't satisfy both the housewife/weekend handyman crowd AND the professional builder/tradesman crowd with the (human) resources they have available.

_______________________________
*No gatekeeper. You go to the stacks, pick out what you want, adapt & overcome if that item isn't available, then go pay for it. No waiting for Clerky McChatterbox to finish discussing Leona's gall bladder with John Builder, who spends 100x a day what you spend in a month.

**NO-ONE really knows what's going on! And I usually know far more about products and applications than all 3 of the CSR's on staff. I admit I know nothing about Leona's gall bladder though. I hope she's ok.

EDIT: TL;DR: Johnson-Chandley had a Hank Hill of lumber. Lowe's ain't go no Hank Hill in it.

And Elvis eats boats.
 
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Yes I do. I used to use HD when I was a maintenance guy because the boss had a card for there. Just less bs generally.
 
My local Loweā€™s seems to be twice the size of the HD but carries half the stuff. I had to go to three stores just to find landscape timbers, and when I found them, it looked like a beaver was living under them.
 
Home Depot is no better. I ordered a door last March 4, finally installed November 1. I had no problem with the six week delivery. Communication with everyone involved was not good. At the Hickory location I found the best thing to do was to go to the Pro desk and hand them the paperwork with the order number for updates. But you absolutely have to make that trip to the store. And sometimes that was iffy depending on who was working.

I actually started with Lowes. They were to send someone out to measure and quote in 24-48 hours. A week later I go to the store to ask where the quote guy was, so far a no show. Excuse was they were busy, he should be there tomorrow. Another week goes by, I go to the store for an update, same excuse, he should be there tomorrow. 13 months later I'm beginning to think he's not coming.

.

.
 
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They can be annoying. I got a Kobalt skill saw for Christmas one year and before the warranty was up it crapped out. I went to Lowes in Tarboro and got them to pull up the sale. It showed still under warranty. Tried to get it replaced and they said I had to call Kobalt. Went ahead and bought another while I was there because I needed it. Figured they could just reimburse me later.

Called Kobalt and they said the store should just replace it. Back to the store and they said I had to call Kobalt and gave me a different number. Call Kobalt and stayed on the phone over an hour waiting to be told again it should be a simple take it to the store and get it replaced.

This is my third trip to the store at 30 miles one way. Same story, "You have to call Kobalt". I said NO! I have called them twice and they say you should just replace it and someone is going to do something right now. By then people in the store were starting to look at me kinda funny. Manager came over and I explained that I was getting shifted from one to the other and back again and got louder this time when I said someone was going to do something now. He told them to refund my money and I was out the door.

Real pain in the butt.
 
SimpleMan said:
Went to my local Lowes yesterday. I conceded years ago there's no actual help there, you're on your own. What had me boiling upon entry was the 40 empty parking spots up front for law enforcement, pregnant people, first responders, handicap, military and online order pickup. No offense to any that fall into these categories, but damn, there were 8 other guys like me circling the lot looking for a parking space amongst the sea of bagged mulch pallets.

My local Lowes is full of yankees too, working and shopping which makes the experience even more enjoyable.
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Those signs hold no weight of the law, unlike a handicap sign. They are a nicety. Park where ever you want. If someone complains about you not being pregnant berate them for assuming your gender.
 
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Iā€™ve been to Loweā€™s a couple of times recently. 2 employees gossiping at the self checkout (no open registers) and was told I HAD to use self checkout. I said there is no discount for this and left all items in the cart. Told them the manager could put his lost sale items back on the shelf. Lowes is all corporate and bean counter operated now, a far cry from decades ago.

I always buy lumber at the local lumber company as the quality far exceeds Lowes or HD. I now buy everything there and donā€™t mind paying a buck or 2 more if I need to.
 
At HD we also have issues with poor quality associates. They have their face buried in their personal phone and new hires with earbuds. We stop it when we see it, not just the young pups.
If anyone gives you poor service note their name and 'Button Pusher' I need you to take me to the tool I need. Once they realize you know who they are you'll get what you want, unless it was stolen.

Our #3 left to JC Penney then to Lowe's as CEO.
Marvin is cleaning up, got rid of a lot of dead wood at corporate.
 
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Havenā€™t most businesses had their customer service drop big time (especially since the COVID PC-BS)? A few (very few) businesses have worked on hiring and keeping good employees (and fitting the ones who suck) but the employment pool is so shallow for people to fill those type positions unless the business really is devoted they just think the customer base will ā€œdeal with itā€. I am guilty of supporting businesses with crappy service because they are close or cheap ā€¦ and accepting the crap ā€¦ as many others which allows places like Lowes to continue. Sadly I donā€™t see things changing and it has become the norm.
 
Button Pusher said:
At HD we also have issues with poor quality associates. They have their face buried in their personal phone and new hires with earbuds. We stop it when we see it, not just the young pups.
If anyone gives you poor service note their name and 'Button Pusher' I need you to take me to the tool I need. Once they realize you know who they are you'll get what you want, unless it was stolen.

Our #3 left to JC Penney then to Lowe's as CEO.
Marvin is cleaning up, got rid of a lot of dead wood at corporate.
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Marvin is bringing some much needed calm to the chaos that had been terrible planning since 2008-2018.
The problem is the talent pool has not been mentored by their predecessors because Lowe's ran them all off. Employees at HQ are constantly being switched, so now, it is strictly transactional relationship, unless you are a Kohler.
 
NCFubar said:
Havenā€™t most businesses had their customer service drop big time (especially since the COVID PC-BS)?
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It was like this pre-covid with lowes and HD. at HD you can count on 10 minutes before you see an employee that can help you. At lowes even that is not guaranteed.

Gator said:
Home Depot is no better. I ordered a door last March 4, finally installed November 1. ...

I actually started with Lowes. ... 13 months later I'm beginning to think he's not coming.
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I would argue that you just supported the idea that HD is significantly better
 
Just picked up 30 bags of mulch in VA. Took longer to check out my online order than load the 30 bags. Will take a lot longer getting them out of the truck at home by my self.
 
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Both kinda suck. Seems as though Lowe's caters more to Mrs interior decorator and HD more towards the DIYer and "contractor".

Both sell crappy low quality chinesium. Lumber is good for boat building as it's already curved. Need 8' of trim? Buy a 12 footer and hope you can get your 8 out of it.

Lowe's is 10 miles, HD is 17 miles for me. The local hardware store is 2 miles.
 
1075tech said:
Both kinda suck. Seems as though Lowe's caters more to Mrs interior decorator and HD more towards the DIYer and "contractor".

Both sell crappy low quality chinesium. Lumber is good for boat building as it's already curved. Need 8' of trim? Buy a 12 footer and hope you can get your 8 out of it.

Lowe's is 10 miles, HD is 17 miles for me. The local hardware store is 2 miles.
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In my new town I have been using the local Ace a lot more for smaller stuff. Good selection people who know what they are talking about and competitive prices but for some of the stuff like $2 bags of mulch Lowes and HD still can't be beat.
 
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I'll add to your Lowe's venting.
I am a loner and unsocial so when I need to pick something up at Lowe's, I will look it up on the interwebs and write down aisle and bay; more often than not what I am looking for is not in that aisle/bay so I am forced to interact with one of their associate that usually is no help.
 
Never had bad service at either one. Mainly because I don't talk to anyone in them as I know what I need/want.

However, I was at Perry's Gun Shop one day. Not very busy, a day before mothers day. There must have been 13 people working. I was looking at the scopes for a solid 10-20 minutes. Several employees walked by, I could hear all their conversations. Not a single one even bothered to ask if I would like to see anything. I was going to buy a $500 scope. When I glanced around and made eye contact with 3 separate employees with zero interest in me, I just walked out. That alone lost a customer for a while unless I absolutely have to go there.
 
Where I came from, Lowe's was across the street from HD. But if I wanted good lumber and usually for less, it was the local lumber yard.

In neither store could you find anyone working. No one could help.

Here? I've had employees come up to me and ask if I needed any help. Of course, I've asked where to find something and get sent to an aisle only to find it not there.
 
I miss the local hardware stores!
...not the same but close: I was in an ACE Hardware in SC over the weekend, how refreshing! Friendly hometown folk that were "able" and "willing" to help.
 
Chriselalto said:
Never had bad service at either one. Mainly because I don't talk to anyone in them as I know what I need/want.

However, I was at Perry's Gun Shop one day. Not very busy, a day before mothers day. There must have been 13 people working. I was looking at the scopes for a solid 10-20 minutes. Several employees walked by, I could hear all their conversations. Not a single one even bothered to ask if I would like to see anything. I was going to buy a $500 scope. When I glanced around and made eye contact with 3 separate employees with zero interest in me, I just walked out. That alone lost a customer for a while unless I absolutely have to go there.
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Lowes and Home depot both suck, they seldom have the thing(s) you're looking for or if they do the quality is less than desirable to put it mildly. Have had very similar experiences at Perry's, they have terrible customer service and typically are condescending Aholes. Haven't been back there for years because of it.
 
The "local lumber yard" here is a decent operation, they have excellent customer service, however they have less than the hardware store for tools,blades, eccetera and their lumber is more bent and twisted than Lowes and HD combined. Needed two 2x8x12' PT to complete a deck, literally went through the entire pallet to find the two, and one had a foot of bark edge on it. I have found Capital City Lumber stocks everything one might need but prices are high on most of their inventory and it's not "local" for me. Lucky for me I don't have to deal with any of it daily.
 
hp468 said:
Those signs hold no weight of the law, unlike a handicap sign. They are a nicety. Park where ever you want. If someone complains about you not being pregnant berate them for assuming your gender.
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Well, I do look pregnant, with Miller Lite!
 
Ace opened up a store in the same location that was closed due in 1998 when HD and LOW was expanding. They tend to be more expensive on the same stuff even though they have more stores then us. They are a coop.
 
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