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Yesterday I returned from to my car after buying a few items at Lowes Hardware. I found that one of their huge carts (the type for hauling lumber, not the shopping cart type) had been pushed into the back of my car. I spoke with the assistant manager, the only "authority" on duty about the problem and he suggested I turn it into my insurance company and let it procede from there. After considering that I had a $500 deductible and would end up paying for the damages myself, then trying to fight Lowes by myself, I returned to speak to the manager. He said it was a "public lot' and didn't even bother to look at my car - which, by the way was less than a month old! He said it was the customer who had created the problem by pushing the cart into my car (which is an assumption since all I know is that when I returned to my car it was rammed into the back so it could have rolled there on its own). I asked if anyone was assigned the duty of collecting the carts and he said there was, but he was also assigned to shipping. Since these carts far excede the average shopping cart (they're made of steel tubing and have 6 wheels - the center pair being the highest so they can tip one way or the other which means that they are unstable by design) it would seem that Lowes should take a bit more precaution with controlling them. I spent an hour in the lot and never saw any employee collection carts, although I did notice customers collecting them and returning them to the store. After an hour, an employee finally came out and collected a few carts - perhaps because I was noticed photographing this fiasco. The manager did offer to look at the video in the hopes of finding the customer who had pushed (assumed) the cart into my car, but although I have spent thousands of dollars there on carpeting, appliances, etc. they were more than willing to throw a customer under the bus rather than accept responsibility for allowing these heavy pieces of equipment to roll around in their lot with no control. DON'T SHOP AT LOWE'S HARDWARE - THEY COULD CARE LESS AB OUT YOU!
are you kidding me, the employees are not the ones shopping and leaving them in the parking lot, there are cart corrals all over the parking lot, its your fellow shoppers who are too lazy to walk the cart to the corral and place it in when they are done with it. And the big blue carts do fit in those cart corrals. It is a public lot, every retailer's parking lot is public, and they are all park at your own risk. So Lowes is not at falt, so don't bash them
I would guess it would be a different story to these people that say it is anyone's fault but the store's if this had happened to their car. I guess you have to walk in "our" shoes for a little while before you understand the Stores are liable for their carts. There are thousands of complaints just on the internet about shopping carts doing damage to a car and all of the comments I read are saying that the store is NOT liable, then who is. The consumer who spends thousands of dollars in their store? On my incident the cart was corralled and the wind was so strong that it pulled the cart out and hit my car going a speed of around 20-30 mph! It did huge damage to my car, my family thought I had been hit by another car it was that bad. The insurance company said they would not cover it because it was an "Act of God". I say no an act of God is when a tree blows over and does damage etc. This could have been prevented if the cart collector did his job. Also if the store is aware of storms make sure the carts are brought back inside. This store also refused to let me see the tape and advised I had to get a court order to see it. I work for an insurance company and they will do anything they can to avoid paying and if they have to pay they will prolong it as long as they can. I will be taking this store to court.
Once you park in the parking lot on the large red coralls there is a warning that says all carts not pushed in coral are not lowes responsibility if they damage your car, plain and simple.
The business is 100% at fault! Their property (the carts) caused damage to your vehicle. Regardless of who was controlling it (customer, employee, or no one). It's still their property causing damage. They put up signs in parking lots to ensure that people do not lodge complaints. It's a deterrent. An effective one too, who can argue with a sign, right?
For every 10 people who get turned away, there are persistent ones that fight and win.
The businesses have insurance for this and it happens all the time.
Should have mentioned small claims court in your complaint, and watch them turn around.
I agree with Timboo93, he is totally right. I worked for the court system for over 20 yrs. and Cereberuso47 no sure where you are from but no there are NO signs posted anywhere in the parking lots. I took several pictures of different walmart stores in my area and there are buggies left everywhere all over the lots. What if one of these buggies were to be blown into a small child, it could cause a death or broken arm at the rate of speed the one that hit my car was going. Think about it during spring storm season the winds get pretty high during a storm, would you want your car damaged or a child of yours ran down by a cart that was blown out of the corrals?
Had kitchen remodeled & ordered dishwasher through Lowes. Was told it would arrive a week later. Received call that it did not arrive at store yet, they would call me. A week later I called store & was told it would arrive by that Monday. I took off work, they never showed. I called store & rep told me dishwasher never came in yet. Waited another week. Called back store, rep told me it would definitley arrive by Tues of following week. I called that Monday & was told it did not arrive in store. Then next day I receive phone call telling me appliance I ordered which was a fridge still has not arrived. I never ordered a fridge. Finally I called Home Depot, talked to a rep, he placed order for me as we were talking. I received my new dishwasher 4 days later. UNBIELIEVABLE. Threw away a $50.00 gift certificate that I received from Lowes & will NEVER do business with them at all.
How about you take your lazy ### back to the store with the cart when you are done using it. I am tired of people wanting to blame others for things. Come on, unless someone intentionally pushed the cart into your car...stuff happens. Grow a set and handle your business loser! I guess you want to blame someone when your late to work because of road work. You are the same person who would complain about the pot holes not being repaired fast enough also.
I agree with the negligence of these stores. I just had $1200 damage to my car from the same heavy duty lumber cart at a negligently run, slummy dump called Menards. They gave me an incident number and told me their insurance would pay for the damage. The next day, their insurance claim outsource company employee, from Gallagher-Bassett, who couldn't have been any more condescending or arrogant basically told me to go screw myself. She said the cart corrals explain that they are not responsible for any cart damage. However, I did NOT have a cart nor was I anywhere near a cart corral when I parked. I was parked at the first spot closest to the store. There was no wind that day, and I double checked the weather report to prove that. The management at the Menards is worse than anywhere else on the planet. They claim they will take care of the damages when you enter the store. The person I dealt with, Erik, even told me who their insurance company was in the event I did not hear back in 48 hours. Now, I get a totally different story...I'm not done here...I'm filing a complaint in small claims court. Their management told me they would cover the damages. What kind of management is this that LIES to their customers? MENARDS should be out of business...customer service is non-existent, with incompetent, untrained idiots running the store.