Never buy from Lowe's Ever.

[Vraille Darkfang]

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.

 

[EricNoah]

EEEEEEEEEK!

Blech!

Ugh!

 

[rom90125]

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.

 

[mojo1701]

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.

 

[Harmon]

Dude, that so sucks.

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

 

[The_lurkeR]

wow... you have my sympathies.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

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.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

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.

 

[Darthjaye]

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...........

 

[Darthjaye]

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.