Seeing Rez’s posting about drywall, let me share what I saw yesterday…
Last October I bought a new dusk-to-dawn light for security lighting. It had a 65w florescent bulb and large clear reflector, but it died two nights ago… bad light sensor that not replaceable unless sent back to Cooper Lighting…. Comes with a 2yr warranty so I dug out my reciept and headed back to Lowes. That model is no longer carried…I can see why if the failure rate is like mine…
On all their outside Dusk-to-Dawn light fixtures have ZERO data on specs for lumens, savings, type of bulb…just wattage ratings. Even had the Department Manager help me find an equal or better fixture…He took his case knife and opened the one current model with the same type of 65watt bulb, but even he couldn’t find any data.
Even though I had my refund, I left and went to Home Depot. There, ALL the same type fixtures have boxes with the data and specs clearly printed on the outside. I bought the same type of 65watt fixture, but it has a new type bulb called “Fluorex”. A 65watt Fluorex bulb emitts the same brightness as a 500 watt incandecant bulb, yet lasts 10,000 hours. The drawback to this fixture was that ALL the housing covering the ballast and connection to my pipe arm is plastic where the old Lowes’ housing was cast aluminum… Priced the same, I bought the H.D. fixture and installed it before dark, yesterday. Boy, is it bright!! We’ll see if the ballast/electric eye lasts longer than the Lowe’s model…Here’s one just like it and $10 cheaper, but I needed mine before dark!!!
Sure hope Lowes’ gets their MORE data and information printed on the outside and inside of their product boxes. Their Memorial Day ad looked better than H.D.’s, but the proof is in the quality of what they sell as well as the price.
Things in their store are beginning to look like “Hobby Lobby”, “Garden Ridge”, and “Michaels” inventory: Junk from China
What are you seeing?
Bill
Edited 5/21/2009 10:49 pm ET by BilljustBill
Edited 5/21/2009 11:52 pm ET by BilljustBill
Replies
Last year when we were shopping for vinyl flooring for the kitchen we went to Lowes. They had the 2 inch sample of the special order materials, but you couldn't order any larger sample to look at, you had to order the entire kitchen based on a 2 inch sample. We left and went to a floor shop several miles away and I am much happier - it was worth the drive. This year we are doing the counter and we will not be stopping by Lowes.
Of course, this was after boycotting Lowes for almost 10 years because they screwed up my door order.
If you want to improve this situation, send that same letter to Lowes Corporate offices.
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I guess I'll be swimming upstream here, But I've been doing a lot of business with Lowes recently. (just bought a house and doing "some" remodeling) So far they've done me right. But I also keep my eyes open to what they are, and that is a large retailer with a bottom line to maintain, thus they will market what sells at a profit.
With any large retailer, you get what they can stock for the largest segment of thier target customer base. Sometimes good stuff: I got the grinder and diamond wheel to cut the stone for the fire place. Sometimes not: as stated elsewhere in this thread, I wasn't comfortable ordering a whole wall worth of custom order faux stone vaneer based on a small sample, so I bought from a local supplier for that same wall. On the other hand they did have the fridge I wanted when the big appliance store couldn't get it for me.
I will say this, In Lowes you can find floor people pretty easily, they have been friendly and helpful everytime I've asked, and they even admitted when they didn't know something. I even had the kid gathering shopping carts help load the van simply because he was there.
They also have a great policy: 10% discount for all military/veterans, all the time. One cashier gave it to me just because he saw my retiree ID in my wallet. Thanks Lowes.
Take a moment to remember those who served our country this Memorial Day Weekend. Freedom isn't Free, and many have paid the ultimate price. My Thanks to all veterans, whether they served 20 yrs or one day, the same commiment was made.
Just my way less than humble opinion
Larry
>>"I will say this, In Lowes you can find floor people pretty easily,...."I've heard that this is true at some Lowe's stores.But not the one in my town. When I needed to buy 34 boxes of ceramic tile, I told the person at the tile desk..... He directed me to where I might find a flat cart. Then he and two other employees watched from the desk as I started loading it up. T-d me off so much that when I got to about the tenth box, I walked out.When I needed 40 bags of compost for a customer (literally a ton of compost) the same thing happened -- employees watched from a distance while I loaded and pushed two carts. When I was loading the last five bags into my pickup, one of them stopped to ask if I needed help.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Won't say every time but here if the cashier sees you have a large cart she /he will page for help for you usually.
I had posted the full time veteran discount that previous poster mentioned. If you are not retired with id card recommend you take you dd214 and get in to the VA system, at least you get a id card even if not eligible for any other benefits.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
I agree with you Bill!
I went to pick up some underlayment a few weeks ago and found that all the plywood at Lowe's was made in China.
I just don't think HD is any better, at least in our area. I think HD is slipping at a faster rate. I bought a Ridgid drain cleaning machine ( made ion China of course ) from HD. The first time I used it, it broke. They would not take it back even for a store credit. The manager said no. It is marked on the box "not returnable". This is the same store I see people return custom mixed paint!
Paddy
"The manager said no. It is marked on the box "not returnable"."Something to be remembering - Most states have laws that recognize and "implied warrantee of merchantability".That means that retailers selling a product must warrantee that it is useable for what it is intended to be useable for. A couple years back, I bought a couple sump pumps at HD ( only place open on that holiday while the clients crawl was flooding) Neither one worked, but the dept manager was refusing to refund money - pointing to same kind of lable.I got the store manager and asked if he wanted a lawsuit over implied merchantability and he promptly got his key into the cash drawer for me.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks Piffin. Now that you mention it, I think I've heard that before. I think I'll remember it now!
Paddy
Good Luck.
I have never had any with LoA products and won't buy them any more.
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
I just hate to hear people ratting on Lowe's (or Home Cheepo). They are what they are. They are NOT designed to handle specials especially well. Don't go there for the best price, and then whine about the lack of service. Occasionally ... you can find helpful staff ... but they will never compete with the specialty stores. They are the "jack of all trades, master of none." If that doesn't work for you, then by all means find something better.
That said, they have revolutionized home remodeling, making everything accessible to Jack and Jill homeowners. All under one roof. That's a good thing.
>>"Don't go there for the best price, and then whine about the lack of service."Regardless of price -- when a customer has to bust his a zz to get product to the registers, and then into his vehicle --- all while employees are talking and joking not twenty feet away.....That's just poor customer service. This is not a case where the employees were not there; not a case in which they were too busy with other customers.They were standing around, watching me while I loaded (literally) more than a ton of product onto a cart.Call that revolutionary if you choose. I call it inconsiderate.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
My local Home Depot has better help for loading trucks, so on that point i agree with you. I too have stood around in the loading zone at SLowe's, waiting for help that never showed up, though I had them paged at checkout.I have found that service is not consistent -- it just depends who is working at the time, and the turnover rate is quite high. But for me, the alternative lumber yard -- 84 Lumber -- is rapidly going out of business -- so there's nothing better for lumber nearby. I doubt if any poster has spent as much time as Lowe's and Home Depot as I have, and I do know the frustrations everyone else has talked about ... just have to accept the good with the bad.
I doubt if any poster has spent as much time as Lowe's and Home Depot as I have
Maybe not - I usually order online, pull in, and they load me up within 10 minutes max.
I do "shop" sometimes though.
How many of you having issues getting help at HD or Lowes are going to the pro desk? I've never had a problem getting good service at the pro desk either place.
>>"How many of you having issues getting help at HD or Lowes are going to the pro desk? "I have gone there on a number of occasions. And stood directly across from the lazy jerk who is looking over some paperwork -- not while talking to a customer, and not while he was on the phone.One time, the jerk actually looked at me, then put his face back in the papers.As I said when I first entered this thread -- the quality of customer service at a Lowes store is greatly dependent on which store you go to. When I go to the one that is 15 miles away, I've never had a problem. When I go to the one here in town, its a joke.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Here, there is a world of difference between Lowes and HD.HD is filthy and has little stock on the shelves and teenagers with bad attitudes. The Lowes has dept people who know their products and are happy to help you.
I commented on the diff to a flooring guy at Lowes. He said that HD pays far less for employees and gives them minimal training before placing them in charge of a dept. He had thirty some years esxp in flooring, I noticed same in almost every dept there. Grey hairs, knowledge, and decent helpfull attitudes.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
It's the same here in Cincinnati. But HD started out great. some friends of mine that work there say they are trying to improve but I don't think that's going to happen when they keep hiring kids that can't even pull their pants up!
HD is filthy and has little stock on the shelves and teenagers with bad attitudes. The Lowes has dept people who know their products and are happy to help you.
Same here, except Lowes is the bad one - not to mention their higher prices.
I think it depends more on the particular area and store. Both HD and Lowes are run by the mgr - which is why you will see different pricing at different stores, expecially o clearance items.
20 years ago,
Home from th Army and not much in the way of work around...............I got a part time job at Home Depot because the amount of framing we were going to do over the winter was in question...................................
Hired by the powertool Department head..........................because my experience would be helpful as opposed to some of his people who didn't know what most of the tools there were for................................
On my first Saturday? "Hi, welcome aboard. You'll be working over here in Plumbing with Brian".
A friend of mine used to be the DURON paint sales rep who handled 12 area HD stores. When Duron consolidated, the comission and salary schedule changed and he went out on his own to seek greener pastures.
When just starting out he went to HD for a part time job...............and they put him in????????????? Paint...right? No, special order millwork.
He hasn't worked there for maybe 6 years, but things are slow and he needed a few extra bucks so he went and filled out an application.................he's one of over 20 experienced tradesmen hired....................................for $9 an hour...........because that's all the store manager is hiring anyone, at any experience level for.
Recently went to a HD in Augusta, GA and you would think it was a Lowes painted orange. Polished/sealed concrete floors, almost too much light and tool area had been re-layed just like Lowes. Even wider non stacked/piled aisles.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Probaby too new for the employees to have run into the ground yet......
just making sure ya didn't miss this....
View Image
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Actually it was a pretty old store. Just redone. Probably 15 yrs old at least. The store below was pretty much the same deal. I know it is over 12 yrs old.
On the Veterans discount thing, today I looked at a refrigerator at HD in Asheville, asked if they did the 10% all the time. First cachier did not know but went to lead gal. She said yes, you have to ask for it. Pointed out that the current promo was in computer but after today they would just call someone to override.
Ended up going to local Lowes for a price match since they would deliver. For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
They do freshen them up after ten years or so but they gotta have good sales.
You wouldn't believe how much dirt collects in just one year....
sorry for the hijack but how's the construction biz doing around the Asheville area in Buncomb county?
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
I do not have the best feel, the news says down. I do small scale remodelling and repair and am semi-retired. Friends who do larger stuff are hungry. A friend who does things several levels greater in scope than me is looking hard for work. I found him a forclosure completion that he just finished.
I am East of there in the next county. At least three of the McMansion developments on our hillsides and mountain tops have either bellied up or suspended. A ground up contractor buddy is still busy down here.For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
They were standing around, watching me while I loaded (literally) more than a ton of product onto a cart.
What did they say when you asked them to help? What did their manager say?
If you didn't ask, it's not really fair to complain. How do they know you are the guy who gets annoyed if they offer to help? THAT seems to be the norm, based on postings here.
>>"If you didn't ask, it's not really fair to complain."Horsefeathers!In the retail industry, employees exist for the purpose of helping customers. The shelves get stocked at night, the floors get swept and mopped while I sleep.And as I said, when I told the guy that I needed more than 30 boxes of ceramic tile, he pointed across the store to where I could get a flatcart. He should have seen that as his opportunity to offer, and the customer should not need to ask.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
If you are buying a ton of compost, 34 boxes of tile, or a ton of anything, purchase it at the contractor's desk, tell them to put it on a pallet and slide it into your truck.It may take them a half hour, but they'll get it done.
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.- Fyodor Dostoyevski
As I've noted in another post here, I've been to the contractors desk, and been ignored there too.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
I didn't read all the posts in this thread....My experience with 4 or 5 different stores in both flavors (incl. stores in NYC), is quite different than yours. I am very direct and clear with store personnel. I refuse to be ignored, I never whine or raise my voice, and when things don't work out I politely ask for a manager.IMHO, you need to understand the business model, Lowes and Home Depot are self serve warehouses, that is why all the inventory is on display 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. They play around the edges with providing service, but if you expect more than being pointed to the correct aisle, you'll be disappointed every time. If you want service go to a tile store, lumber yard, or a garden center and pay a small premium for the pleasure. YMMV,Jim
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.- Fyodor Dostoyevski
I have a Lowes in town here and a HD about 20 miles away.
Last time I was either of them I ran into 5-6 guys I knew either from local L.Y. who lost their jobs due to down sizing or guys who had been contractors of good reputation around here.
They all were working for the big boxes.
Seems the recession is helping the quality of the help at the big boxes around here.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I just hate to hear people ratting on Lowe's (or Home Cheepo). They are what they are. They are NOT designed to handle specials especially well.
The reason I started this thread was due to their POOR information and specs printed on the outside of the box.... When all you get is the big bold print of the wattage rating with the rest of the data being worthless, I'll look elsewhere!!!!
Don't go there for the best price, and then whine about the lack of service.
Best re-read the Original Posting........I didn't go there for the best price, I went there to RETURN their six month old dusk-to-dawn 65 watt outside light fixture that quit only to find they don't stock it anymore. It had a 2 yr. warranty, but I was not only having to re-do the work, but had to figure a new way to mount another kind of their inventory because it wouldn't be easily refitted. As an engineer, I'm sure you appreciate material specfications and "equal or better" replacements...... I did say I found one at Amazon.com for $10 cheaper, but I needed light for the coming darkness... I didn't "Whine" for the lack of service, I pointed out that the Dept. Manager couldn't find any hard data on the new version of a 65watt fixture, even when he cut open a new boxed fixture to read the instructions and data printed on the install sheet.
That said, they have revolutionized home remodeling, making everything accessible to Jack and Jill homeowners. All under one roof. That's a good thing.
Different people and different stores can be complete opposites in knowledge, behavior and inventory. When the Lowes store near Hulen Mall, in Ft. Worth opened, I went in there ONCE, then I went back to all the Home Depot stores I could find when I spent money. MOST of those Lowes' employees came across snotty, uncaring, and projected a "Don't bother ME" I get paid no matter what.... The nearest local store is a positive and polar difference. Warm, caring, helpful, and will go more than the extra mile to find an answer or solve a problem.
From what I'm seeing, I'm afraid their inventory quality is going down hill, and like Piffin offered, telling the main office might get them to fix the coming problems. As for those "Jack and Jill's", especially now with the economy so shaky, they can't afford to pay for things needing to be done and now more and more, these young adults don't have the time or skills to do it themselves. If they try, and suffer with poor quality customer care and worthless data on questionable quality of products, NOBODY wins....
Like a I sign hanging on a cafe wall said: "I do the best I know how...Martha doesn't live here,...and that's a Good Thing."
You'd think with all the big Lowes' ads to whiz by, they'll be looking a threads like this.... ;>)
Bill
yeah, so you are ragging about one item vs the other. there is literally a million other items in both stores. so what. you want to take one item and bitch about the store you got it from?
some people whine about the lack of helping hands when they are loading up. I laugh when I see some nut pushing a 1200 lb cart through the store when they could go to a lumber yard and back up to the lumber piles
like someone else said, if you dont like it dont go there. personally I'll be happy to see less people in both of those stores
yeah, so you are ragging about one item vs the other.
No, I'm ragging on Lowes about putting enough data and specs on the OUTSIDE of a box to make it clear what you are buying... ;>)
If they don't, then Lowes' Marketing has either gone South, or the quality is so pukey they don't want anybody else to know...
I'm not a big fan of the big stores like Lowes or Home Depot, I prefer to deal with a lumber yard, or a supply house.
BUT, some times they are handy for thing around the yard. I was looking for a Charcoal Grill for a change from my Webber gas grill. I still like the taste of cooking with real wood. So my son and I went to Lowes to see what they had. We found a nice grill and bought it,
While we waited for them to get a fork lift to bring or boxed grill down off the top rack we sat down at one of the outdoor table sets. My wife had been wanting a new set. So I got talkling with the store Director about the selection they had on hand. We found a tabe we liked and 6 chairs to go with it. We also bought a 10X10 outdoor room, tha has a nice steel frame with a roof, vs a umbrella. In addition we got a bug net to go with it.
I can't complain about the service we had four people helping us out, a they were flexable with their pricing. It a bit of hagelling but I got the better of the deal. We paid for everything. But because I had gone there to only buy the grill, I had taken mt wifes Jimmy instead of my pick-up. They had no problem about holding the rest for me to pick up in a couple of days.
Once the wife found out about what I had done (after she finished chewing me out about my impulse buying) she thought it would be nice to invite people over for a BBQ this weekend. Well Thursday night my son and I headed down to get the balance of my purchase. I had been told to go to the counter and give them my phone number and they would help load us up. WELL this was not to be. They couldn't find my order.
The first gal got really mouthy like I was ruinig her day, by askig her to do her job. She called the guy on duty, I showed him what we a had bought, and his reply was that you can't buy a table from one set and chairs from another. He refused to pull the order! Luckly there was one person who helped put my original order together, and the cashier remember my paying for it all, Turns out that they had sold our table to someone else. So I had to show them proof that all this was pre- arranged. He looked at my reciept and said that the pricing was wrong, and I should pay another $400.00 to make it what he thought it should be. One manager said they would honor the sale, but he was far from happy or nice about it. So he comes back and tells me I would have to drive a hundred miles to another store to get my table. We;; another manager over ruled him and said they will go fetch it for me, but that will not happen till the middle of next week, I ended up taking a table I don't want. So when they get my table in we will switch. I made them put it all in writing, that really pissed them off.
End result I'm not eager to do business with Lowes ever again. I have spent over 8 hours dealing with this so far. So the good price has been lost on lost time and my last nerve being chewed on.
Taigert
you gotta remember lowes is not a manufacturer. they are a retail distributor. if they pick up a certain line of product and it works out well they can flex their buying power to make the manufacturer provide whatever data they want
its an ongoing process. home depot operates the same way.
personally i'm sick of home depot. I've been hitting lowes more frequently. it seems like home depot carries just enough of anything to help you mickey mouse anything together and lowes generally carries what you need
Yeah, but where else can you get deals like this?
heh yeah, I've even seen the clearance price sticker the same as the original.
I'm waiting to see one that has the clearance sticker marked higher.
Someone who wanted that drill, and sees the clearance sticker may buy it because they know it will be unavailable later. But it seems pretty goofy to clearance price something at like 99.94% of the regular price.
I took those pics ten days ago. Two days ago I found an Hitachi 1/2" cordless drill/hammer drill normally priced at $270 on clearance for $111.I bought that one.
That's the kind of markdowns I'm looking for.
> I've even seen the clearance price sticker the same as the original.I'm waiting to see one that has the clearance sticker marked higher.Plenty of used stuff on Craigslist like that. <g>__________________________________________________http://tinyurl.com/ce6anmhttp://tinyurl.com/dft9ba
Snort !!
Come on now,that's a deal!
JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
I'm going to keep going back and wait til $198.89 to pull the trigger!!For those who have fought for it Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
Seven cents over the years does add up..... :o)
Bill,
Since we shop at the same Lowes here is another story. At the lake house I bought 4 ceiling fans, all the same model, over a period of a month or so. 3 had problems, cracked glass, missing parts, small light sockets instead of regular size. Same model number on all 4 fans, the only problem I couldn't fix was the light sockets. The only one in the store had small sockets (same model number!!)
I think the stuff in the store is purchased by a buyer in the home office and delivered to the store as needed. My son works in a retail chain store and a lot of the stock is "pushed" to the store, not "pulled" by the store. Then they have to sell it, even though he knows his cusomers don't want it or it's a "bad" product. Not sure how much control the local store has over what's on the shelf.
Employees are another matter. I think our Lowes has good people.
Jim
The HD near me was very busy and good when it opened. About 2 to 3 years ago Lowes opened up the street from them and HD's quality went down hill fast. Now with things doing bad they have done a 180. I can't walk through the store on a busy Saturday with out 3 or 4 people asking me if i need help. Lets see how long it lasts.
I think our Lowes has good people.
Jim,
You are right about that. I do like going to our local store, too. It's just the quality and lack of specs on the outside of the box or on the info inside the box... If I can't understand what somethings does or why it's better, I'll leave it alone...why waste money AND time re-doing something?
I do like H.D.'s inventory of Florex bulbs. I have a smaller 23 watt dusk to dawn fixture on the side of one of my out buildings. The brightness is great. The 65watt yard fixture is brighter and whiter, so I can see much better. It says it will last 10,000 hours, but one of the best things is that a replacement bulb is $9.99, if the ballast will last over 3 years....
Bill