So as promised... What's your beef with Lowes?

[optimistspencer]

I honestly agree that HD is better, but I live in SC, and I have to drive thirty minutes to get there, vs about five for Lowes. I have never really had a bad experience at my blue flavored store, so I'm genuinely curious- what makes TIA/some of you dislike it? I know that TIA has had some issues with Lowes in the past, but what happened?

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[jbw55]

I have no beef with Lowe's......comparing HD to Lowes, HD has a better selection of tools I buy and its 5 minutes from my home but other than that there very simular regarding everything else. One thing that does erk me about HD is every morning the I don't give a crap contractors picking up materials seem to make a mess in the lumber dept.....they go through every piece of lumber finding what they need but the stuff they don't want is just thrown back where ever, makes it tough for the next person trying to find stuff.....the plumbing dept is the same way, always a bitch trying to find different fittings as there all mixed together. People just don't give a shit. Honestly I think HD has more issues but HD has more of what I shop for so I put up with the BS.....My beef for this morning if that's what this thread is regarding

[optimistspencer]

I have no beef with Lowe's......comparing HD to Lowes, HD has a better selection of tools I buy and its 5 minutes from my home but other than that there very simular regarding everything else. One thing that does erk me about HD is every morning the I don't give a crap contractors picking up materials seem to make a mess in the lumber dept.....they go through every piece of lumber finding what they need but the stuff they don't want is just thrown back where ever, makes it tough for the next person trying to find stuff.....the plumbing dept is the same way, always a bitch trying to find different fittings as there all mixed together. People just don't give a shit. Honestly I think HD has more issues but HD has more of what I shop for so I put up with the BS.....My beef for this morning if that's what this thread is regarding

Ha. I don't like driving out to the HD, but I do like TTI! On the bright side, I have friends at the local true value, so I at least have Milwaukee.

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[Poisonfangs85]

I was born and raised on Builders Square. HD has the same feel to it for me, I believe they bought several BS locations when they went under. HD has the products and brands I prefer. Other than that I don't know why I don't prefer Lowes, I guess it's a blonde vs brunette vs redhead kinda thing.

[BMack37]

I've had online orders on deals disappear to only find the product stashed...though I haven't always found them. I've had online orders disappear, get charged for the item. Sometimes the online order gets cancelled but with no notification or reason. Ask for help locating something, look in computer and go to the aisle I was looking in...10 minutes later they get someone else, who does the same process, 10 mins later someone else...at this point I start wondering and find a display for hand tools myself in the lumber section or something where it does make sense. Complain to corporate about any issue and they tell me to contact the store manager because "it's not our problem." contact store manager and they basically tell me to screw off. BTW, these are from just THIS YEAR.

 

If Home Depot had a greeter that punched me in the face every time I walked in the front door, I'd still prefer Home Depot to Lowe's. I ONLY buy items at Lowe's if they are at least 50% off.

 

About a month ago I did have a little faith restored in Lowe's. I was looking at some sale items and noticed two employees messing with wrenches that were on sale. They pulled all of the remaining sets off the rack and opened them, started moving wrenches around. After a few mins one pulls out a cell phone and calls someone. They called the customer and explained that they didn't have a complete set left but they could offer a further discount on the item because one piece was missing. That's above and beyond in my book, that was the first time in over 10 years that I've seen anyone at Lowe's try to be helpful. We have several stores in our area, more than HD so it's not like one bad apple spoiling the bunch.

[Nordraw]

There isn't much difference between the two if you ask me. Many times I've had to go between the two of them to find what I needed. Sometimes it was HD and sometimes it was Lowe's, nice to have both to chose from.

[JimboS1ice]

I've had online orders on deals disappear to only find the product stashed...though I haven't always found them. I've had online orders disappear, get charged for the item. Sometimes the online order gets cancelled but with no notification or reason. Ask for help locating something, look in computer and go to the aisle I was looking in...10 minutes later they get someone else, who does the same process, 10 mins later someone else...at this point I start wondering and find a display for hand tools myself in the lumber section or something where it does make sense. Complain to corporate about any issue and they tell me to contact the store manager because "it's not our problem." contact store manager and they basically tell me to screw off. BTW, these are from just THIS YEAR.

If Home Depot had a greeter that punched me in the face every time I walked in the front door, I'd still prefer Home Depot to Lowe's. I ONLY buy items at Lowe's if they are at least 50% off.

About a month ago I did have a little faith restored in Lowe's. I was looking at some sale items and noticed two employees messing with wrenches that were on sale. They pulled all of the remaining sets off the rack and opened them, started moving wrenches around. After a few mins one pulls out a cell phone and calls someone. They called the customer and explained that they didn't have a complete set left but they could offer a further discount on the item because one piece was missing. That's above and beyond in my book, that was the first time in over 10 years that I've seen anyone at Lowe's try to be helpful. We have several stores in our area, more than HD so it's not like one bad apple spoiling the bunch.

Kruton recently had that happen to him, they cancelled his order for the $40 Bosch power boxes, that's just bad customer service.

It depends for me sometimes I do better at lowes sometimes better at HD. The HD close to my fiancée shouldn't even exist, they piss me off consistently with horrible service and never stocking properly. Other HDs around me are great though.

Jimbo

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[jbw55]

Really comes down to how well the managers run thier stores and who they hire.....I was buying some tile last month and they needed to get a fork lift and the idiot fork lift dude decided to use the front wheels of the fork lift to move boxes of tile out the way, unfortunately it was what I was planning to buy before he smashed the shit out of it, got the manager over and told him WTF you should fire this guy as he didn't care that he ruined the tile, both just stood there and laughed and went on there merry way.....Went to another HD and bought the same tile, got the fork lift dude and he got the tile and loaded it my truck, he pointed out a few broken one's and went back and got me replacements....this guy gave a shit!!

[Bigmikez]

I just feel that the peeps at HD give more attention to there customers and really give some good advice if u ask them as to where on the other hand lowes is just ghost town when I walk in there it took me about 15-20 min for someone to come help me one time.

[ChrisK]

Better lumber at Lowes. Customer service.......meh.

[JimboS1ice]

I just feel that the peeps at HD give more attention to there customers and really give some good advice if u ask them as to where on the other hand lowes is just ghost town when I walk in there it took me about 15-20 min for someone to come help me one time.

I was in HD last night and was probably approached by 5 different people if I needed help or anything.

Jimbo

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[JimboS1ice]

Better lumber at Lowes. Customer service.......meh.

I do like lowes lumber selection, they have a very nice selection of smaller cut panels for projects where I don't need a large sheet.

Jimbo

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[Shuutr]

Lowes has some good stuff (Bosch).  I've bought a lot from them.  I think HD has more of the stuff I buy (Milwaukee and Ridgid).  

 

I like that lowes allows you to search products at the locations in your area and the prices online matched the price in store.  I have ordered a discounted item online only to have the order cancelled when they couldn't find it.  I did find the item at a store nearby but the online inventory showed out of stock.  Outside of those instances, the inventory has been spot on and saved me some drive around time.  

 

What I don't like about lowes is the online order pickup can take a long time. Their response to people in line is slower than I'd like.  A lot of times people will come in and out of the service area with people in line >3 deep and nobody addresses it.  I would rather have a hybrid Sears/Lowes system where you could go to the self check lanes have a feature allowing you to request your online order and that signals the self checkout watcher to retrieve your online purchase.  No more signing papers.  And while we are on it, quit calling me after every purchase to know if the process went okay (HD I'm looking at you on this one).  

 

I recently saw that Lowes is ending its partnership with Realtors and investing in SoloPro so that may ruffle some feathers.  

 

I have noticed that the cycle for old product appears to be longer for Lowes.  They have models that don't discount as quickly as they do at HD.  Also, the HD special buys seem to come along just when I have extra cash laying around.  

[jdlx277]

Other then tools.Menards has them all beat.

[rrich1]

Have no beef. I have a Lowes, HD, and Menard's all within a mile of each other. I hop back and forth knowing what each one has a better selection in.

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[99_XC600]

Lowes is more of a designer store that also sells hardware,lumber and tools. Just compare the appliance as well as the lawn and garden section and there is no comparison. However, go into the plumbing and electrical aisle and good luck finding what you need.

[EEtwidget]

Only real difference besides the brands they carry, contractors go to HD, weekend warriors go to Lows. At least around my neck of the woods. I think it's all about branding, meaning Lows puts more effort into being approachable to the common folk.

[ankur]

i can usually relate my experiences at lowes to my walmart visits, while going to HD is more like going to Target. they both get the job done, but damn it's nice when people actually smile and are interested in helping you or just saying hi, which happens consistently at HD and rarely at lowes. price wise there's hardly a difference, and both are eager to price match to keep your business. i will say that even if HD wasn't a nicer place to visit, I would still choose them over lowes simply because their tool selection is way superior to lowes.

[EEtwidget]

I should add, can't buy Milwaukee @ lows and I'm red team.

[WigWagWorkshop]

Back home in Wisconsin, it was always Menards. Now, Lowes only for lumber, Home Depot, various other locally owned stores, and on-line retailers.

 

-Steven

[Conductor562]

I'm 20 minutes from HD versus 25-30 from Lowe's, so it isn't a big difference. My problem with Lowe's is that they either don't carry or stopped carrying all my preferred brands.

I loved the original Kobalt line made by Williams, but the degraded it and eventually off shored it. That's a no go for my hand tools.

They no longer carry Milwaukee

The dropped Klein and Greenlee and decided to go with the Southwire house brand

The don't carry Frued blades

The pretty much dropped Channellock in favor of shitty Kobalt equivalents

They just don't have anything I like

[jbw55]

I'm 20 minutes from HD versus 25-30 from Lowe's, so it isn't a big difference. My problem with Lowe's is that they either don't carry or stopped carrying all my preferred brands.

I loved the original Kobalt line made by Williams, but the degraded it and eventually off shored it. That's a no go for my hand tools.

They no longer carry Milwaukee

The dropped Klein and Greenlee and decided to go with the Southwire house brand

The don't carry Frued blades

The pretty much dropped Channellock in favor of shitty Kobalt equivalents

They just don't have anything I like

They most likely have plenty of parking though  

[Conductor562]

Yea, I can always park close to the door.

In 2003 or so when they switched Kobalt from J.H. Williams to Danher made tools, I was disappointed. The original Kobalt line was the best value in tools bar none. The sockets were Snap-On, ratchets and wrenches were Blue Point, all from the Snap-On family. After the Danher switch, most items were genetically identical to Craftsman or Allen tools. Kobalt lost the unique identity and the tools were continually cheapened to meet price point. They lost me around 2006 and by the end of the Danaher run around 2012, the Taiwan made stuff they have now is actually an improvement.

Shit happens I guess. I still preferred Lowe's at that point. Then in a short few months they lost or dropped Milwaukee, dropped Klein and bought the rights to use the Southwire name on an exclusive electrical/telecom line, and then dropped both Channellock and Knipex in favor of their Kobalt shit, again an exclusively grab.

My experience is that anything available exclusively at either HD or Lowe's automatically translates to pure, unfiltered, SHIT.

HD has exclusive brands too, but at least they give me a higher quality option on all but mechanics tools.

Fuck Lowe's and their shitty tools

[rrich1]

Yea, I can always park close to the door.

In 2003 or so when they switched Kobalt from J.H. Williams to Danher made tools, I was disappointed. The original Kobalt line was the best value in tools bar none. The sockets were Snap-On, ratchets and wrenches were Blue Point, all from the Snap-On family. After the Danher switch, most items were genetically identical to Craftsman or Allen tools. Kobalt lost the unique identity and the tools were continually cheapened to meet price point. They lost me around 2006 and by the end of the Danaher run around 2012, the Taiwan made stuff they have now is actually an improvement.

Shit happens I guess. I still preferred Lowe's at that point. Then in a short few months they lost or dropped Milwaukee, dropped Klein and bought the rights to use the Southwire name on an exclusive electrical/telecom line, and then dropped both Channellock and Knipex in favor of their Kobalt shit, again an exclusively grab.

My experience is that anything available exclusively at either HD or Lowe's automatically translates to pure, unfiltered, SHIT.

HD has exclusive brands too, but at least they give me a higher quality option on all but mechanics tools.

Fuck Lowe's and their shitty tools

Channelock is still available at my Lowes.

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[kruton]

I don't mind Lowe's too much. They pissed me off though when they cancelled my $40 Bosch 360 radio though. Sumbitches!

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