Comments about the Lowes on the strip in Selinsgrove. (Harrisburg: sales, appliances)

[Toxxic]

Just looking to get some feedback on somethings you may feel need improved upon in this store, or if you've had a problem there before...

if you've been there let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance.

[susquehannock]

Originally Posted by Toxxic

Just looking to get some feedback on somethings you may feel need improved upon in this store, or if you've had a problem there before...

if you've been there let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance.

Ok

Several years ago I bought a push mower...It blew up in ten minutes. I returned it for a new one that lasted two years.

We bought two ceiling fans, a Harbor Breeze and a Hunter-Douglas. The Hunter-Douglas burned out in 6 months with very little use.

I bought a four foot shop light...it lasted 4 months before it burned out.

I paid almost $800.00 for a Troy Bilt snow blower. It works, but will only start if I use the the electric starter.

I bought pressure treated wood to do some repairs on my shed. That about 6 years ago and it is starting to rot again.

We did buy a Maytag dryer that still works well.

I've found that Lowes is good for some items and the house brand paint is great. (I think it's Valspar) But, as long as the items have moving parts or are electric in nature, I now try to avoid those items. The exception was the dryer.

They used to sell Acoustic Research interconnects for stereos and TV hook-ups. They are the best and a bit expensive but they are my preference. I haven't seen that brand there in years. They were replaced with cheap and shoddy brands. (at least the last time I checked)

It's can also be very difficult to find assistance when it is needed. Several times, it has taken me thirty minutes to find an item.

Now, I generally go to Cole's first when I need hardware. They seem to have a lot of things that Lowes don't carry.

[Dawne]

I like Lowe's in Selinsgrove, but I do have a pet peeve that they never seem to have enough checkout lines open. We've bought numerous things there over the years, from appliances (huge refrigerator) to paint.

Oh, one other pet peeve. We bought the coated metal ClosetMaid shelving units for our closets and one of the hanging brackets for the hanging rod broke. We went to Lowe's for a replacement and they no longer stock that particular type of closet organizer. I tried the ClosetMaid website but couldn't find it at first, and when I eventually did they wouldn't sell it to me. I even tried calling and they just told me to check with Lowe's or Home Depot. Duh! I tried that! I finally just did a Google search with the part number and bought it somewhere independent.

I agree that Cole's is a nice little hardware store. I and my husband miss Carter's outside Northumberland. We used to go there a LOT!

[Toxxic]

Well i work for said Lowe's so i'll try and shed some light from an employee's perspective on your thoughts.

Originally Posted by susquehannock

Ok

Several years ago I bought a push mower...It blew up in ten minutes. I returned it for a new one that lasted two years.

We bought two ceiling fans, a Harbor Breeze and a Hunter-Douglas. The Hunter-Douglas burned out in 6 months with very little use.

I bought a four foot shop light...it lasted 4 months before it burned out.

I paid almost $800.00 for a Troy Bilt snow blower. It works, but will only start if I use the the electric starter.

I bought pressure treated wood to do some repairs on my shed. That about 6 years ago and it is starting to rot again.

We did buy a Maytag dryer that still works well.

I've found that Lowes is good for some items and the house brand paint is great. (I think it's Valspar) But, as long as the items have moving parts or are electric in nature, I now try to avoid those items. The exception was the dryer.

They used to sell Acoustic Research interconnects for stereos and TV hook-ups. They are the best and a bit expensive but they are my preference. I haven't seen that brand there in years. They were replaced with cheap and shoddy brands. (at least the last time I checked)

It's can also be very difficult to find assistance when it is needed. Several times, it has taken me thirty minutes to find an item.

Now, I generally go to Cole's first when I need hardware. They seem to have a lot of things that Lowes don't carry.

I have noticed we go through product suppliers rather regularly. Its very apparent to us there that some of the products we sell are not of the best quality. I work in the Lumber dept. so i dont have a huge grasp on the pricing or management aspect. For the most part i've noticed they try to get the lowest prices possible for the customer, but it comes at a price of quality. I have a huge problem with this, because in my eyes it would be money better spent buying quality products in the first place & making the customer happy the first time... rather than having a 100% return policy and giving you a new one if and when it breaks.

Sounds to me like you've had a bunch of bad experiences though that could have been avoided by us doing what i mentioned above. but unfortunately its more of a corporate decision on what we stock than the associates who actually sell the merch. & deal with the complaints.

As for the lack of help. For the most part, from august till about May we are typically understaffed. this is mostly due to all the seasonal help being let go for the season. Its more cost effective to them to have the bare minimum and push 2 workers in a dept. to do the job of what normally would be a 3-4 person work load.

Just recently we started a new work policy we call Impact hours. Employee's are not permitted to be doing normal stocking and power equipment use between the hours of 10-2pm. & 5-7pm. Only to use the equipment if a customers needs require us to do so. We are only allowed to be walking around our depts. greeting and assisting customers otherwise.

This in theory is a great idea. but i as a customer would get rather aggitated walking around getting greeted about 20 times durring my visit, being greeted by every employee. I try not to push this policy, if a customer makes eye contact or seems in need, then i will ask if help is needed. For the most part people shopping in the lumber & building materials dept. know what they're looking for.

The hours they set over the whole store for these impact hours doesnt apply to every dept. though. which is the main downside to this whole plan they have. My dept. is typically busy right as we open, from the times of 7 till about 10. Im constantly working with someone and i dont have time for the necessary stocking needed so the product is available w/o wait on the customers end. & then when we die down it hits the 10-2 time & we arent permitted to do anything. So when closing time comes we are stuffed and i find myself working twice as hard to stock everything in a 2-3hours period that i normally would have all day to do. It's just not enough time & we end up falling behind. Empty shelves dont help customers get what they need, which is a big part of what theyre trying to prevent by having the impact hours. So we gain customer focus, but i get a lot of complaints about ppl having to wait for products.

I've been working for this lowes for 3 years and had 3 years at another so i've had time to see what works and what doesnt. The management here has improved greatly but some of the ideas are just not working. the problem is with ppl in corporate making decisions to change things and they arent the ones noticing what works in the first place and what isnt.

Originally Posted by Dawne

I like Lowe's in Selinsgrove, but I do have a pet peeve that they never seem to have enough checkout lines open. We've bought numerous things there over the years, from appliances (huge refrigerator) to paint.

Oh, one other pet peeve. We bought the coated metal ClosetMaid shelving units for our closets and one of the hanging brackets for the hanging rod broke. We went to Lowe's for a replacement and they no longer stock that particular type of closet organizer. I tried the ClosetMaid website but couldn't find it at first, and when I eventually did they wouldn't sell it to me. I even tried calling and they just told me to check with Lowe's or Home Depot. Duh! I tried that! I finally just did a Google search with the part number and bought it somewhere independent.

I agree that Cole's is a nice little hardware store. I and my husband miss Carter's outside Northumberland. We used to go there a LOT!

I have a problem with the lack of checkouts aswell. It is both a staffing and employee problem. In a nut shell its hard to keep cashier on & getting them to come in when scheduled. A lot of them just cant deal with the arrogant customers who take out their issues with the store on them at the registers before they leave. I've seen some customers flip out on cashiers for no reason and make the women cry. These associates end up hating their job & either quitting shortly after being hired or just constantly calling out "sick".

It is especially a problem getting in and out in the lumber end at times, with only one cashier almost all day i find myself jumping on and getting the lines going to get everyone out faster so the customers aren't pissed at us. Some of the issue is the older women running register, feeling they need to have a conversation with every customer that comes through their line. it's ok to you if your that customer, but when your 5 ppl back and shes asking someone about their life story and what they had for breakfast it can get rather annoying.


Carters was a nice store and yeah their prices were lower. I shopped there a few times as i live only 2 minutes from there, but i wasnt pleased with the customer service. It may be due to the fact that im a younger person but everyone in there was either ignoring me walking around, or when i did talk with them they were really short and snappy with me.

[susquehannock]

I have noticed we go through product suppliers rather regularly. Its very apparent to us there that some of the products we sell are not of the best quality.

I've really noticed that. They're always changing the brand of driveway sealer. I've always considered Lowes the Wal Mart of home centers. They may do as Wal Mart and get their suppliers to manufacture items to their specs so they can sell cheaper and increase the bottom line. I won't buy any electronics or things with moving parts from Wal-Mart either. I have a friend who works at a repair shop. When some one brings in TV to fix, they always ask where they bought it. If it's Wal-Mart they turn them away because they can't the parts because they normally aren't standard and are inferior. I'm talking about name brands.

Here's an interesting article on how Wal Mart does business with its suppliers;

[url="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html"/url]

In a nut shell its hard to keep cashier on & getting them to come in when scheduled. A lot of them just cant deal with the arrogant customers who take out their issues with the store on them at the registers before they leave.

I worked in several grocery stores when I was in high school and the customers could be very rude and abusive. That's is why I'm never rude to cashiers or salespeople. I know how it is because I've walked in their shoes.

[ki0eh]

I waited over 20 minutes with only one in front of me in line to check out with one block from the Selinsgrove Lowe's lumber end. As suggested, there may be some issues there.

But in the Harrisburg area where I am most of the time Lowe's seems to be half a click up from Home Depot. In Hbg I can't even get all the fittings for a simple plastic plumbing job from HD. Last plumbing job I specifically went to a local store that also sells to the trade. All was fine except a 1" brass ball valve that wouldn't hold at all. It was Watts, formerly a respected name, but very subtly under the operator was the dreaded word "CHINA". The Lowe's in Hbg had two 1" brass ball valves to choose from, both branded "American Valve," one was something like $8 and the tag said "Made in China", the other "industrial" valve was $20, the tag didn't say where it was made but the valve body had "USA" on the casting. Guess which one I got... (it works fine so there's your answer )

[Toxxic]

yeah cheaper products come at an obvious price of quality. pay a little more now for a little less money spent in the long run.

[ScranBarre]

It's so refreshing to have had the pleasure of stumbling into this thread. From early-2005 until two months ago I was employed by Lowe's at two different locations, #0652 (Wilkes-Barre Township) and #2412 (Edwardsville) before high-tailing it out of NEPA after college graduation. I, like toxxic, genuinely cared about my customers and generally went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that their needs were well-attended whenever possible. However, I concur WHOLEHEARTEDLY with many of your astute observations.

I was employed most recently in the inside seasonal department at #2412, and I was practically the sales specialist (I didn't have the title, but I often times did much more work than the one we had). It was emotionally draining to have to run up to the returns desk several times per day to hear customers vent, gripe, and, in some cases, unleash their fury towards me, even though I, personally, had no direct effect upon quality control. I helped unload the truck and put the freight away, but I don't personally open up every Troy-Bilt push mower box or every John Deere pressure washer box and try everything out for two valid reasons:

1.) It is the responsibility of the MANUFACTURER to test their products to ensure that they are in proper working condition before shipping them to retailers. It is the responsibility of the RETAILER to sell that item, ensure that the customer is well-informed about their purchasing decision (along with being reminded to mail in their registration card and become familiarized with warranty coverage), and to serve as the intermediary for the customer to return the item to for any valid reason if they are displeased with their purchase. We then receive credit (in most circumstances) from the manufacurer for providing us with defectve items, and the customer is entitled to a refund. It is NOT the responsibility of Lowe's to serve as a repair shop (even though I constantly had people who expected me to tinker around with their lawn tractors to repair them). Often times I'd tell people I had no clue how to "fix" tractors with various mechanical issues, and they'd give me the "but you work here" reply. It doesn't take a college degree to understand that you have to go through the proper designated channels for warranty repair services (but apparently it just might judging by some of the less savory clientele I was subjected to from time to time).

2.) If I were to open the box to test each machine I'd undoubtedly have to argue with people who'd demand steep discounts on the items because the boxes were opened. While attempting to start each and every machine I myself would open the store up to liability if I were to cut myself or another individual with a mower blade, for example, and I'd risk causing additional store shrinkage if I had damaged the product in the process.

Unfortunately many Americans are lemmings who shop at big-box stores like Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Home Depot because they'd prefer to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity. Who cares if the item breaks after six months? Just return it to the store, throw a fit, cause a scene, and receive a gift card for your troubles. I only earn a salary of $41,000, and if there's something I really desire and crave I save and budget appropriately until I can afford to purchase a GOOD QUALITY version of that good. Why do you think so little is made in the United States anymore? People love to shop at Wal-Mart, which is probably our nation's largest importer of defective goods from China. That's why. I'm glad to be out of the big-box-store rat-race and make it an extra effort to patronize "the little guy" whenever I possibly can.

[ki0eh]

A problem now is when the "little guy" to compete is selling Chinese made crap too. True Value and Ace stores all have offshore sources. Even going to places that cater to the "trade" won't get you back to reasonably made stuff anymore. Like the ball valve I mentioned before. A ball valve is supposed to be open, or shut. I never realized that was so difficult a concept.

[susquehannock]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Unfortunately many Americans are lemmings who shop at big-box stores like Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Home Depot because they'd prefer to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity. Who cares if the item breaks after six months? Just return it to the store, throw a fit, cause a scene, and receive a gift card for your troubles. I only earn a salary of $41,000, and if there's something I really desire and crave I save and budget appropriately until I can afford to purchase a GOOD QUALITY version of that good. Why do you think so little is made in the United States anymore? People love to shop at Wal-Mart, which is probably our nation's largest importer of defective goods from China. That's why. I'm glad to be out of the big-box-store rat-race and make it an extra effort to patronize "the little guy" whenever I possibly can.

I 100% agree. Good post.