Did I ever tell y’all how much I hate Lowe’s?

Lowe's is all we got here in Rutherford county unless you want to go with Henson (way smaller than they used to be) or want to drive 45+ minutes. And Lowe's sucks here too. I guess they are allowed to, not having much real competition.
 
I hate Lowes and HD on the north side of Winston Salem ..... employees run and hide at both.
I go to my local hardware store for anything first ...... Lowes and HD are both last resort for me.

Matt
 
Well, Lowe’s in Greenville sucks a little less now. After a ton of calls and complaining that my doors that were scheduled to deliver in the 19th had not been delivered and they couldn’t tell me a delivery date, the Lowe’s in Goldsboro transferred the order to Greenville. The lady in Goldsboro was a, uh, well I’ll just say that she is worthless.

The lady in the Lowe’s in Greenville was great and got me what I needed in a timely manner.


As a consumer, it’s a real pain when I order online from the Greenville store and the order is sent to an out of town store to be fulfilled where this out of town store doesn’t care and will deliver at their convenience rather than the scheduled delivery date. Their online system really needs some major help.
 
RatLabGuy said:
this has been the principle difference I've seen between the Lowes and HD here.
At the blue store, I can expect I'm on my own, and never to get any eye contact. I was once talking to a guy at the tile desk about ordering some marble wallboards for a shower (that in itself took forever to pin him down) and mid-discussion he cut me off and said, "sorry, my shift just ended, can you come back tomorrow?" and walked off.
Meanwhile at the orange store, just last weekend I was in the plumbing section digging for a part, and a guy walked up to me and said, "Hey, you look like you're looking for something, can I help?" and when they didn't have it, he went and found out where they were on a pallet, got the forklift, unloaded it and everything right while I waited. Oh and that guy is a retired plumber and actually knows his shit. Has told me before what does and doesn't meet code here etc.

I'd be curious to know what the difference is in how they operate at a corporate level.
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I’m on an advisory board for WCU with the head HR person for Lowe’s in the south east..... he doesn’t have a clue and there is a huge discount.
I don’t know how a 30 something hipster is the head HR person for a construction supply store. But I guess they are marketing the average Joe now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Loganwayne said:
I’m on an advisory board for WCU with the head HR person for Lowe’s in the south east..... he doesn’t have a clue and there is a huge discount.
I don’t know how a 30 something hipster is the head HR person for a construction supply store. But I guess they are marketing the average Joe now
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HR at the corporate level usually doesn't have anything to do with hiring; they usually work on benefits, insurance, pay, mandatory diversity, employee handbook stuff, etc. Basically things that try to attract candidates and try to retain the existing employees. Usually the smaller the company, the more the HR people know about what the company does. The bigger the company, the less they know. The people that do the recruiting and hiring are usually not the same people as 30-something hipster.

We do complain a lot about people like 30-something hipster in the technical fields (science, engineering, etc.) if they are actually involved in hiring, because they don't know what they're looking at on a resume. If the HR person has no clue what they're looking at, lots of excellent candidates never make it into the interview phase. Or the lovely database keyword filters just reject everything that doesn't fit exactly. It really is a breakdown of your business when the people doing the first-line hiring are the people who know the least about the what the business does.
 
Fabrik8 said:
It really is a breakdown of your business when the people doing the first-line hiring are the people who know the least about the what the business does.
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My wife is HR for IBM (they acquired Truven, who acquired her consulting firm) and most of what you said applies and is right along the lines of what she complains about. Though managers usually do the request for positions, and do the interviews and final selection, and leaves the legality of "hiring" to her.

But this (the above quote) struck a chord with me.....as I've never understood the hiring at motorcycle dealerships (this was back when I rode sportbikes, was part of NESBA and frequented many tracks along the east coast)
How they could hire ANYONE to try and SELL motorcycles, or powersports of ANY kind that didn't know DICK about what they were selling?!?!

Same goes for car dealerships. I've never walked into a dealership (of ANY kind) and been educated on something about their product that I didn't already know.

[/unrelated rant over]
 
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^^^ the only thing I’ve been educated on at a dealership is some of the fancy gadgets on a vehicle I was purchasing. But, it was from the sales guy continuing to sell me on the vehicle even though I came in and said I want that specific vehicle and had already said “yes”. He kept selling me on the vehicle to the point I nearly walked out. But, it was somewhat useful but the info could have been much better placed after the sale as more of a customer service discussion, showing us about all the neat gadgets.

Off track but kind of related.
 
rockcity said:
^^^ the only thing I’ve been educated on at a dealership is some of the fancy gadgets on a vehicle I was purchasing. But, it was from the sales guy continuing to sell me on the vehicle even though I came in and said I want that specific vehicle and had already said “yes”. He kept selling me on the vehicle to the point I nearly walked out. But, it was somewhat useful but the info could have been much better placed after the sale as more of a customer service discussion, showing us about all the neat gadgets.

Off track but kind of related.
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People buy cars based on gadgets though. That Honda Civic commercial a while back summed it up; there was nothing about any mechanical aspect of the car, only the ability to connect with Facebook, etc. They were selling the infotainment system and attaching a car to transport it.
 
I generally have good luck with Lowes. You guys nailed it (no pun intended) on the ordering dumbassery though. We ordered a new washing machine from Lowes back in February. No problem, they delivered a few days later when they said they would. But then in September I get an email saying “congratulations, your item has arrived.”

Some of their guys in plumbing though don’t know shit.
 
Fabrik8 said:
People buy cars based on gadgets though. That Honda Civic commercial a while back summed it up; there was nothing about any mechanical aspect of the car, only the ability to connect with Facebook, etc. They were selling the infotainment system and attaching a car to transport it.
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Your right, I do like the gadgets. But it’s like this dude was trying to convince me to buy this Yukon instead of a Navigator when I had in fact came there specifically to buy the Yukon. I was already sold on the vehicle, I just needed to get the price that was reasonable.

Damn junior salesman didn’t know when to stop selling and close the deal.
 
The Lowe’s I frequent isn’t bad. I enjoy the military discount. I did have an issue a few days ago. I was looking for a 1/2” x 6” all thread hex head bolt. To my surprise none of the big box stores carry those. It’s considered a “specialty” item. I ghetto’d my project together with threaded rod but damn.
 
Only thing we have within an hour plus drive is Lowe’s. They aren’t horrible but you better know what you want cause the ijits surely can’t help. We have the downtown hardware store but damn their prices are outrageous. The only other reason I shop at Lowe’s is the military discount almost covers the state/parish/city combined sales tax that’s 11.5% :eek: There was one dude who was decent but I hadn’t seen him in a while until I ran into him at Walmart. Asked what he’d been up to and he had quit cause he couldn’t stand it anymore.
 
Wes said:
The Lowe’s I frequent isn’t bad. I enjoy the military discount. I did have an issue a few days ago. I was looking for a 1/2” x 6” all thread hex head bolt. To my surprise none of the big box stores carry those. It’s considered a “specialty” item. I ghetto’d my project together with threaded rod but damn.
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Tractor Supply for the win, when it comes to big bolts.
 
I go into Lowe’s and HD with the same attitude as Walmart. I know what I’m after and don’t bother trying to ask one of the idiots that work there these days. Ace hardware on the other hand around here is all about customer service. Sometimes it gets annoying when you don’t need help and 10 of them ask you if you need help.
 
awheelterd said:
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the Ron meme---this is how I feel going into a craft store...or LOWE'S..

so they are based out of Wilkesboro (I think, hence why they don't have a lot if any competition in those areas). But they have had a lot of change over as a company with their growth and that is what has hurt them.

k-vegas only has a Lowes, so I got to when when and only when, I check online and see that multiple of the item is in stock and what isle bin they are in. (which every single time I have done that, the item is always there). When we first moved back we did buy a washer and dryer from there and on day 29, the washer stopped working, I call customer service to arrange an exchange, as I didn't want it fixed, I wanted a new one, since I was with in the 30 day returns. Customer service tell me no, that they have to have a service person come out (the following week and service it) I could just return and exchange....hellllllllllll nahhhhhhhhhhhh…. I took my receipt, drove the 1/2 mile to the store, went to customer service, had a new washer the next day.

Every time I go to home depot, it is for my fridge filters (for whatever reason it is the only place I can get them) ..other than that HD, for me, I don't like the lay out, and I can never find the basic items I need (plus hate driving in WS and only stop in HD if I have forgotten something and i'm on that side of the road)..other wise...across the street 9/10 to lowes I go...then Costco...then home.
 
So I work for the company that used to supply Lowes with all of their door jambs, sills, etc for their prehung door units. Earlier this year (Marchish) they abruptly ended a 64 year partnership with us for another supplier who was able to come in a dollar or so cheaper. This hurt our business significantly since they were our biggest customer and we always kept 1-2 orders stocked for them with a 24 hour turn around if things were needed ASAP. The partnership was ended via email. No phone call or heads up. Just suddenly ended. Since then, I've had a different view of Lowes. It's one thing to end a partnership with an email stating "On this date, XX/XX, we will no longer be buying your products" but to send an email that just says effective immediately really put us down.

Oh, and about a month after the ended partnership, they called wanting to order with the 24 hour turnaround because their new supplier couldn't make good on the deadlines they promised for shipments. Guess who had to deal with a massive mark up on prices? lol
 
I have to admit, I was at Lowe's this afternoon looking in their specialty hardware and was a bit impressed. They have a whole selection of elevator bolts. I have no clue what the average Joe would do with them but I use them to attach the buckets to the belts in our grain elevators. I can't imagine there are more than a handful of people in the county that even have grain elevators, much less who would look in Lowes for elevator bolts. I was half impressed and half perplexed.
 
Couple years back when this same basic thread was up, I had Trouble, trying to find 8 grade 8 shackle bolts, between 4 Lowe's stores. Yes, inventory said they were they, but the Associates couldn't find them. I decided to complain to the Head CEO, & Lowe's HQ, Mooresville. After some searching on-line, & ran across an "opinion" line, or something of that nature. Clicked on & found, litterly, Thousands of complaints! No point in leaving my thoughts!
But I feel like it's more the Store itself, than the brand. My 3 reasonably close Lowe's to me, which are all fairly New. I usually hit the Belmont store. HD in Gastonia, is an old store, & was just in there 2 days ago, getting a broken Huskey tool replaced. Dang, that store just Doesn't present a Good image! It's dark, small cluttered isles, & 0 registers open. Use the Self-Check out. Which I Hate! I've priced any major items & hard to fine items, between the 2, & find near identical prices. My Lowe's card gives me 5% off.
Same day heading home, I stopped at Belmont Lowe's, to check out the Craftsman selection. It's Not there yet, but they are in the middle of doing the change over. I was looking for a Craftsman specific item, & asked the Lowe's tool rep [who was actually there]. He just happened to Have experience in My needs, & discussed it with me. Sold me a "Grabit" screw extractor, made by Alden/China. And if it doesn't work or I don't like it, Refund it! O, & Lowe's still keeps 1 or 2 non self service registers open.
 
awheelterd said:
I have to admit, I was at Lowe's this afternoon looking in their specialty hardware and was a bit impressed. They have a whole selection of elevator bolts. I have no clue what the average Joe would do with them but I use them to attach the buckets to the belts in our grain elevators. I can't imagine there are more than a handful of people in the county that even have grain elevators, much less who would look in Lowes for elevator bolts. I was half impressed and half perplexed.
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I saw those in there too and wondered the same thing. I mean, really, what is the average joe going to use that for? I’m 99% positive like 150 people in the state of NC know what those are. :lol:

I’d be even more surprised if they had fanged elevator bolts.
 
rockcity said:
I saw those in there too and wondered the same thing. I mean, really, what is the average joe going to use that for? I’m 99% positive like 150 people in the state of NC know what those are. :lol:

I’d be even more surprised if they had fanged elevator bolts.
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Ha, I had to go look this up b/c I'd never even heard of them.
So an elevator bolt is basically a carriage bolt wit ha flat head instead of round? I can see a lot of uses outside of the described application.
 
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