Lowe's review: horrible customer service & management! 10

I've worked a management position in a retail store for two years and would like to make a few comments:

"My husband did not like the attitude of the person on the phone"
...and I'm sure your husband spoke to him in a perfectly polite tone of voice? Working in retail you take so much **** from customers day in and day out, you can't help but give a little attitude back when you're attacked, especially when it's over something that's not even remotely your fault.

"and asked to have the sale canceled as he was going to Home Depot to buy a grill. The ###'t store manager said fine, good, go to Home Depot, etc. and hung up."
I remember it would just make me laugh when people said this to me. While all retail employees know the saying, 'the customer pays your salary', the truth is most big retail stores like lowes can average $250,000 in sales A DAY. It's foolish for customers to expect management to get down on their knees and beg for you to remain their customer. You spending your couple hundred bucks at a competitor will do nothing to impact the store's bottom line, especially when there are just as many customers storming out of home depot shouting "I'm going to shop at Lowes!"

"The store manager said that the ###'t store manager had never talked like that so in reality he was believing his employee over my husband, a customer."
There's a very good reason for a store manager to believe his assistant manager over a customer: When customers become irritated they tend to not tell the whole story, and the parts they do tell tend to be greatly exaggerated. If a trend in complaints about an employee begins to emerge, then most managers WILL take action, but for single, isolated events it's near impossible to find out what actually happened.

"We are now going to take this matter up the food chain"
Honestly, is it really worth your time? Some part-timer screwed up your delivery (very likely the result of a simple miscommunication) and now you want heads to roll? Most people don't seem to understand that the people working in retail are human beings just like yourself. Mistakes happen.
I'm sure the workers involved could have been a little more apologetic, but I just wish that people like you could realize that working in retail management is much more stressful and complicated than it seems.

I also read this complaint, and there were a few things that made me scratch my head. First of all, DMan, I love your breakdown of the complaint. I'll go one further about customers not telling the whole story and exaggerating. Customers flat out LIE! As a retail manager myself, I've come across many people who will say and do anything to get what they want from my store. Its disgusting, but its part of retail life. So yes, I absolutely take the word of my assistant store manager over any customer's.

Now, I will admit that Lowe's needs to work to improve on their in-store communication. Rescheduling a delivery is not a difficult task if the employees executed properly. I can guarantee that there is a manager in that store that can handle a simple delivery change that takes at most 2 minutes.

Now I always have found it foolish that customers think their complaint is going to pull strings within the corporate office of any company. The executive management team is responcible for managing the operations of the company, and while I'm sure they're sorry that you're unhappy, they have much, much higher responcibilities and priorities than to worry much about one customer's problem. Lowe's has 1,300 some odd stores, does anyone think that the executives have time to personally adress every complaint that hits their stores? Don't be ridiculous. If you aren't pleased with them, thats you're opinion and you have every right to shop elsewhere if you have an issue with a given retailer. Like DMan says, there are just as many customers in Home Depot that walk out of their stores vowing to shop at Lowe's.

I think you as a Retail Manager are the biggest reason retail sales are down all over this Country. You are an idiot! Calling Customers disgusting is a ###ic statement to make and you should see the results of your "Management" abilities reflected in your next paycheck! There may be some who would do anything including LIE, but that is not the point. Deal with them. If you can't deal honestly and professionally with the rest then find another profession. Dealing with the public isn't for you.
If you want to go through life with a chip oin your shoulder about your Customers then get a job as a Security Guard in a Prison.
I see poor behaviour constantly by sales people at Lowes, but nothing like in an exclusive way. It is all over. People like the putz who claimed to be a retail Manager are working all over in every capacity or retail sales. It's a dam shame and I thank the Lord that the US Government in it's wizdom had Universities create the Internet!

Live off of 0 percent comission if you can "Sales Person". If I could get the sheeple in some sort of solidarity movement that is just what you deserve and would get. Meanwhile it's just me and a few others who refuse to help support you or your ilk.

I can say with certainty that a right thinking sales person or sales manager will work with a dissatisfied customer and hope that things can be worked out for everyone. Repete sales and word of mouth acount for lots of sales.

Calling Customers names is an indicator of how little you care about what you sell and ultimately how little you care for yourself.

The Grill people in this scenario could have been dealt with, with little of no effort. They would have been happy and then guess where the charcoal would come from? Replacement parts? Eventually the Replacement Grill? Lawn Mower, rake and bags?

You are a real putz. A disgrace to sales people everywhere to infer that because you find it difficult to deal with some people that most or all are difficult.

As I said earlier, you are in the wrong profession. Quit! That is good advise to you. Quit and do something else and do it in a hurry.
You make others feel as bad as you do so long as you remain in your job. Go back to school and get an education. Guide fishermen on weekends. Anything except sales.

I am sorry Will, but you are simply ignorant of how retail management actually works.

Do you know the reason retail management is so stressful? Largely because of people like YOU, who have no idea what we have to actually go through on a daily basis.

"Deal with them." ? That honestly had me laughing out loud. I wish it could be that simple. I agree, it's really not that hard the first, maybe, couple hundred times. However, when you have to put up with such insane amounts of crap 50+ hours a week, there comes a point where it's damn near impossible to just simply "deal with them."

"I can say with certainty that a right thinking sales person or sales manager will work with a dissatisfied customer and hope that things can be worked out for everyone."

What you don't understand is that there's a difference between a dissatisfied customer and a belligerent, rude, disrespectful customer.

The vast majority retail managers are managers for a reason. They're good, hardworking, smart, professional people. If a customer has a question about something, they'll answer it. If a customer needs help with something, they'll gladly assist. However, when you repeatedly have customers that display the type of attitude you demonstrate in your above post, it becomes increasingly difficult to give your full 100% customer service.

The fact that you're even bringing personal insults into this is pitiful. Please, grow up and do not spout off on topics you clearly know very little about.

Actually Will, I would like to know what you do for a living, just out of curiosity. Now of course, I don't know whether you're smart or stupid. If you're stupid, then I'm going to have as much success here as trying to pee up a rain pipe. I'm going to take the high road though, and say that you are reasonably intelligent. I did not call customers disgusting, I said its disgusting when they lie to me in order to get what they want. That is incredibly frustrating to a retail manager, but I also acknowledged the fact that it is a part of retail life. I've been dealing with the public for a number of years, and while I would say a majority of them are good, honest citizens, I inevitably come across people in every community that seem to believe that the rules and policies don't apply to them or shouldn't apply to them. While I usually don't like to bore people with my retail stories, I feel it appropriate to share one. I had a customer a while back who purchased a refrigerator from my store, and he wanted it delivered. However, he somehow came to believe that we should waive the delivery fee for him, for no reason other than he thought it was too expensive. I told him politely that I could not do that, and he proceeded to contact the corporate office and inform them that he was mistreated, and I ended up having to refund the fee he paid. Now last time I checked, I have to pay a delivery driver to deliver that appliance, and the delivery truck he drives burns diesel, which also costs money. So I ask you why this man thinks we were not entitled to receive payment for a service we provided him? So you see, these are the kinds of things a retail manager goes through. Trust me dude, its not as easy as it looks.

Yeah, why do the customers feel they can disrespect , yell , curse and sarcastically belittle any retail sales associate and sometimes even management? And then take it even further to a corporate level, its like a grown taddletale . You have many options to buy your oh so important grill. This Will guy also has no idea. And I would believe my assistant manager over a customer unless it has happened before. To the original poster GET A LIFE!

Dear Sirs:

I will not be building somthing with Lowes anymore, until you stop the imoral and disgusting attitute of not allowing CHRISTMAS in your advertizing agenda. I have built a lot of projects through our church and convention. I have recomended Lowe's many times in the past 10 to 15 years, rest assured that has come to an abrupt end.
Happy Holidays.

Ex customer.

So on feb 15 we go to lowes to purchase a upright freezer, great the guy found the one we wanted and it was actually on sale, Yeah! we waited for him to enter the information on the computer and off we go to pay for it.

My husband used his debit card put in his pin number and voila... oh wait, the receipt did not come up, an error message come up instead.

so the cashier tries to reprint receipt and nothing, she tried several times and nothing, she said she was going to call who ever it was to find out if the payment had gone thru or not, while she was on the phone i called my bank from my cell phone, after all if the bank said nothing went thru, we could just re pay the transaction and be on our way... right?

The bank said the transaction went thru automatically since, we used pin number at the register.

meanwhile the cashier finally got someone on the phone, and after 20 minutes later they told her to do the transaction again as cash, until they could figure out what happened.. This was on a Saturday, our freezer was supposed to be delivered on sunday, .. she gave us a receipt.. and we left.

Next day, on sunday, she called us and said that we had to go back to the store and pay for the freezer again because it was not showing on their system or else we would not get the freezer delivered on sunday. later that day we drove by lowes again with the receipt we had, we explained the whole story to another cashier, *head Cashier* she checked out on the computer and her answer was, I am not sure what they are talking about, It shows this transaction is completed and you are fine, they should be calling you later on to schedule your delivery. We came back home again, by the time we got home the delivery team actually called us and tell us that they were going to deliver our freezer on monday between 9-1pm. a little after they called the cashier that actually did the original transaction called us back and said that the freezer would not be delivered until we went there to make a payment, We went online printed out the transactions from our bank including the particular purchase so they could see that it was actually paid for. We drove by lowe one more time, with receipt, print out from the bank, and talk to them again, they called someone again, i assume their 3rd party billing ppl, or whoever process they transactions, this time the girl was put on hold for 40 minutes, after all that time they tell her that they couldnt do anything until tuesday morning, since it was presidents day, we did not pay for the freezer again because as it was ... from our side of the fence, we had already paid for something we have not received.

tuesday comes around I called them and they said that they were working on it, and that they would call me back that day, tuesday went by no phone call, wednesday i called again spoke to peggy on cash office, she said that she would check it out and let me know, she never called me, i called again today, she said that some one named Dora, was taking care of that and that they would call me... I have called them again and again and for them it shows that the transaction is not there, shows as pending, I called my bank and asked them if by any chance that particular transaction could be pending, they said it had been paid on the 2/15 the money has left my account and that the store has it.. Now is thursday, i have no freezer or money back, I DONT want the freezer anymore, I am now fighting just to get my money back, and every time you call No one seem to have a Freaking clue on what the heck they are doing, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing and so on...

How the hell a store like that still in business.. I am at the end of my patience, Tomorrow i am going to go back there with my lawyer this time, I am not waiting another day...

Heh I could post on these things all day. As a former Lowe's employee I've have a lot of experience with all the things mentioned here.

1. Cheap people - they are everywhere and they piss me off, but Lowe's is SUPPOSED to do anything and everything they can to make even these people happy, unfortunately even if it means refunding money for an item they didn't even buy at Lowe's or waiving a fee. This is considered "service excellence"

2. Rude people - some customers have short fuses, even if everything goes fine. A bad experience at Lowe's or any retailer sticks in your side like a thorn because as a consumer you expect the system to work. The sad truth is that the system does not work for anyone but the top executives, who make money no matter what happens (reverse stocks, severance pays, insider trades, etc.).

3. Management - every position at Lowe's requires you to be a certain type of person. This is how they can legally advertise that it is a great place to build a career. IF you agree to what they ask you to agree to then you can "move up". Moving up isn't for everyone though because the only hook they have is more money. Everyone wants more money right? Wrong. Aspiring for money like this locks you into a system you soon realize you do not want to be a part of, i.e. working 15 hour days and getting paid for 8 because you took a salary position, or being called in for a 3rd shift on your day off, or being the fall guy when complaints come roaring up the ladder. A Lowe's manager ends up being a washed up 35-year-old basket case that relieves their frustration with their life decisions by drinking and cackling over who's getting written up or fired the next day (it really is that way), and THIS is the root of why they tell customers to go sit and spin, they just don't care.

4. Business - Lowe's prides themselves in great service. This is their marketing drive, "Great people with great service" Customer service, however, is far from great and rarely excellent. This stems from the General Office making decisions based on where they can save more money (like they need it