![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
You better believe I am still pissed
Sep. 1st, 2005 04:28 pmLowe’s, while great for hardware and power tools, decent for lumber and construction materials, and good for plumbing, is downright lousy for customer service.
Without re-hashing the story of how I was trying to buy a new grill, only to have it paid for then bought out from under me, I will simply say this: make sure when you pay for a high ticket item that it is in your hands/cart/dolly/etc. before actually paying for it. My failure to do so last night cost me 2.5 hours of my time, $750 charged to my card then refunded (only the refund doesn’t go through right away like the charge does), and another trip 20 miles away to the Lowe’s in San Clemente that supposedly has the same grill that I bought, but was not allowed to take home because it was being held for another customer…. Who, I might add, had not yet PAID for said grill.
Regardless, I will be driving down to San Clemente after work to buy my new grill, which looks something like this:
(link to the larger image: http://images.lowes.com/product/044376/044376275297.jpg )
Then I am coming home and hooking it up and never buying a big ticket item from Lowe’s again.
Yes, I “spoke” with the manager at Lowe’s last night. When all was said and done, I walked away without my grill, but with $100 on a gift card to off-set their mistake. But do not be fooled. I will not be “bought off” by the store manager. Yes, I will keep and use the gift card, but my silence and patronage can not be bought. From here on out, my business goes elsewhere. Ace Hardware for the small stuff, and Home Depot for the larger items.
I am not only pissed about how difficult they make life for their customers when there is an issue (because of their processes, etc. I couldn’t just go to the Lowe’s in San Clemente and pickup the grill, I had to have my money refunded so I could buy it again. THAT does not make for a good customer experience), but I am also pissed that store management these days think that throwing money at me is going to solve the problem. I am more offended by that than anything. Not to mention I wasn’t given an option, he just did it. It seems to me that better customer service would cost them a lot LESS money than giving out $100 gift cards to cover their mistakes. What the hell has happened to this country?
Without re-hashing the story of how I was trying to buy a new grill, only to have it paid for then bought out from under me, I will simply say this: make sure when you pay for a high ticket item that it is in your hands/cart/dolly/etc. before actually paying for it. My failure to do so last night cost me 2.5 hours of my time, $750 charged to my card then refunded (only the refund doesn’t go through right away like the charge does), and another trip 20 miles away to the Lowe’s in San Clemente that supposedly has the same grill that I bought, but was not allowed to take home because it was being held for another customer…. Who, I might add, had not yet PAID for said grill.
Regardless, I will be driving down to San Clemente after work to buy my new grill, which looks something like this:
(link to the larger image: http://images.lowes.com/product/044376/044376275297.jpg )
Then I am coming home and hooking it up and never buying a big ticket item from Lowe’s again.
Yes, I “spoke” with the manager at Lowe’s last night. When all was said and done, I walked away without my grill, but with $100 on a gift card to off-set their mistake. But do not be fooled. I will not be “bought off” by the store manager. Yes, I will keep and use the gift card, but my silence and patronage can not be bought. From here on out, my business goes elsewhere. Ace Hardware for the small stuff, and Home Depot for the larger items.
I am not only pissed about how difficult they make life for their customers when there is an issue (because of their processes, etc. I couldn’t just go to the Lowe’s in San Clemente and pickup the grill, I had to have my money refunded so I could buy it again. THAT does not make for a good customer experience), but I am also pissed that store management these days think that throwing money at me is going to solve the problem. I am more offended by that than anything. Not to mention I wasn’t given an option, he just did it. It seems to me that better customer service would cost them a lot LESS money than giving out $100 gift cards to cover their mistakes. What the hell has happened to this country?
