Promised Rant

[legion]

Copy of a letter I sent to Lowe's corporate offices. I think it explains the situation pretty well.

To Whom It May Concern:

On January 13, 2005, due to heavy rain and an erratic freeze/thaw cycle I awoke to discover that my basement had flooded. As my house is a tri-level, the basement is a fully-finished living area that includes my family room, computer room, a small hallway, a bathroom, and the laundry room. The family room, computer room, and hallway were carpeted areas and are approximately 500 square feet—or roughly 1/3 of the living area of my 1600 square foot house. The carpeting had to be removed and thrown away as it was too old and fragile to salvage. We had to move all of the furniture from the carpeted rooms upstairs to our living room and garage. As the living room is roughly 300 square feet, this has left us effectively with half of our house usable.

The following Saturday, I visited our local Lowe’s here in Bloomington, IL and viewed carpet samples with my wife. The following Tuesday (January 18th), we committed to buying the carpeting and put down a $30 deposit for a detail. The contractor arrived on Friday, January 21st and took measurements for the estimate and submitted the paperwork to Lowe’s that day.

The process for ordering carpeting had not been clearly explained to me by the salesperson, and I was under the impression that the carpeting would be ordered when the detail was submitted by the contractor to Lowe’s. (I was also told that the whole process, from paying for the detail to having the carpeting installed, would take 3-4 weeks.) After waiting two weeks, Lowe’s finally called me with the estimate on Thursday, February 3rd. I was surprised to find out that my carpeting had not been ordered and would not be until I paid in full.

At this point, I was irritated that Lowe’s had sat on my estimate for two full weeks before calling me with the total. I was expecting to be able to use the other half of my house, not to wait more. When I went in to Lowe’s to pay for the carpeting, I expressed this to the flooring manager. He offered to give me an additional 5% off of the price of the carpeting. This came to $15. I appreciated this gesture, but I felt it did little to compensate me for the loss of the use of half of my house for two weeks because of that store’s Installation Department’s incompetence. I was promised that the order would be rushed.

The order was anything but rushed. From what I gather, the order did not fully arrive until Wednesday, February 16th. (I had been calling everyday to get a status on the arrival of my carpeting.) The Installation Department’s incompetence showed through again, as they did not bother calling the carpeting contractor until Friday, February 18th, despite having promised that they would call the contractor that Wednesday. By the time I spoke to the contractor, he was booked solid until Monday, February 28th. I made an appointment with him for 9:00 that morning.

The morning of February 28th I realized that I had gone 7 weeks without the use of half of my house. I was excited about finally getting to put my life back together, finally having a place to sit and watch television, finally being able to use my computer again, and finally being able to park in the garage. It was not to be.

The appointed hour of 9:00 a.m. on February 28th came and went with no sign of the contractor. Finally at 10:00, I decided to call him and see what was going on. He explained that he had hurt his back over the weekend and he went to see his chiropractor that morning. A phone call to let me know would have been nice. He said that he will be in at 11:30. Once again, 11:30 came and went with no sign of the contractor. Finally, at around noon, I got a phone call from Lowe’s Installation Department. The person on the phone, who I have on record as “Randy”, explained that they had ordered the wrong carpeting and they would have to re-order. Did it not occur to them to check this in the two weeks that it had been sitting there in the store while I was waiting for my installation date? This is the third, and by far the most severe, time that an employee at Lowe’s has screwed up causing a delay of weeks in me being able to make my house whole again. Further, I wasted a day of vacation from work to stay home during an installation which never occurred.

I was (and still am) livid. I decided to go to the store myself and speak to the store manager in person. If nothing else than to let him know about the incompetent fools in his employ. As it turns out, the store manager is on vacation. The district manager “Tim” is subbing for him. I relayed this whole story to “Tim” and his response was: “What do you want me to do about it?” He told me that he would take some money off after the carpeting was installed. Considering the other promises that Lowe’s has made to me (and been broken), this promise is essentially meaningless to me. I asked to be let out of the contract. “Tim” explained that this was not possible.

The bottom line is that I have paid over $1,000 for new carpeting, and a month after paying for it in full, I have nothing to show for the money I paid. If past performance is any indicator of future performance (and I believe it is in this case), it will be another 3 to 4 weeks before another installation date. I have little confidence that an actual installation will occur on that date either. Even assuming that Lowe’s actually delivers on the next installation date, I will have gone 10 to 11 weeks without the use of half of my house.

At this point, there are only two remedies to this situation that would satisfy me. The first would be to be released from my contract with Lowe’s and all money paid (including the detail fee) be refunded to me. This would allow me to get new carpeting installed by a competent company in a timely manner. The second remedy would be for Lowe’s to install the carpeting completely free of charge, refunding all money paid (including the detail fee). This would be minimum compensation for the gross incompetence that has caused me to fruitlessly waste a day of vacation and to lose the use of half of my house for seven weeks and counting. As I am very familiar with how long a “prompt” response can take from Lowe’s, I will be seeking legal advice immediately.

I spoke with a lawyer last night. He basically said that I had approached everything in the right manner. He also said that I should wait for a response from Lowe's corporate before moving forward with any sort of lawsuit. I agree. As the contract was not dated, he explained that I would have to establish what a "reasonable" amount of time for the installation was to prove they are in breach of contract. The longer Lowe's takes, the easier this is to prove...

[Jeff Higgins]

"Less Of What Eagle Stocked" strikes again.

[tabs]

Ohhh Stop yur whining....SNAFU....

[Moneyguy1]

It's the disconnect between corporate management and the customer.

I had purchased a Campbell Hausfeld compressor a year ago through Lowes. It tanked recently and, just out of curiosity I went to Lowes and asked for advice, since C-H did not have the courtesy of answering my inquiry. The Lowes representative stated that a number of this style had failed after a short time and told me to bring it back, and I could pay the difference and upgrade to another brand. I brought it back and the service dept told me I had been misinfirmed and they would not honor what the associate had told me. I wrote a lotter to the CEO of the company as well as the store manager. Wow. Apologies up the wazoo. I now have a Porter-Cable "Job Boss" style which is many times the compressor the other was. However, I heard that the individual at the store was going to be "let go" for trying to satisfy a customer. Another letter. I told the management that it was poor judgement to fire an individual for showing initiative. ANother apology. LEsson: As much as it pains me to say, go as high up the food chain as you possibly can, registered mail if necessary. Staff does not want the big boss to see real world complaints or issues. Lowes is no better or worse than any other large company. The upper management should get off their duffs once in a while and visit the real world. Without us, the customer, they would be unemployed, and who would really miss them?

Qwest was another. Repeated outages, always blamed on a problem inside our home. So, when it happened last, I totally disconnected the system, contacted Qwest by cell and had them check the line. "We are sorry, sir, but you will be charged. Our test shows the system is inside the residence". Contacted Qwest CEO. Received call from VP. The problem was fixed at Qwest's expense, and it was water infiltration four blocks away in a junction box. Don't accept poor service. Threaten, in as nice a way as possible to tear the company a new bunghole. I have found, over the years, this gets results. And, I am on a first name basis with a number of VPs if future problems raise their ugly heads.

[RickM]

Just curious. Seems like the #s aren't adding up.

5% on over a $1000 is not $15.

The carpet was only $2 per square foot....a bargain in my book.

[RickM]

Bob, was it an "oil less" type compressor?

[Oh Haha]

WOW! That sucks.I have to say though,that Lowe's got a bunch of my money two years ago. New wood flooring and carpeting. Excellent results. I have since purchased nearly everything for the house from them. They used local contractors for the install but the sales dept. was very helpful and everything went according to plan.
I think that you are at least owed something for your trouble.
As they say, you tell two friends,and they tell two friends, etc.
Good luck.

[legion]

Originally posted by RickM
Just curious. Seems like the #s aren't adding up.

5% or over a $1000 is not $15.

The carpet was only $2 per square foot....a bargain in my book.

I knew someone would bring that up. The 5% off was just off the price of the carpeting, not the padding or labor. Further, that was off of Lowe's cost for the carpeting, not mine.

It was a bargain, but I would have avoided it had I known it would take longer than 4 weeks. We went with berber, which is apparently cheaper than standard carpeting (I always thought it was more expensive). My wife and I made this decision before setting foot in a store. The second reason was I got a big discount on the labor, as they don't have to move any furniture nor pull up the old carpeting. The third reason was that they were having a carpet sale in January, which would normally be a very slow month for them.

[Moneyguy1]

Rick:

Yes. Used mainly for dusting off furniture prior to refinishing and spraying urethane, lacquer and other finishes (very light duty). I estimate that the unit had seen less than 8 hours actual running time in the year I had it. Apparently, the problem with the C-H is a built in circuit braker that is supposed to reset and does not. Removing the cover and resetting it manually negates the waranty, according to Lowes. BTW, the Porter Cable is far quieter and a lot easier to move from place to place. Fits under the workbench. Only drawback is the connector face up so I keep a piece of plastic over the unit to keep out dust etc.

[legion]

Got a call from a new contractor last night, I have the installation scheduled for next Tuesday (March 8th). We'll see what happens.

I'm still unclear whether or not my letter to their headquarters had anything to do with this. As I was speaking to the contractor, he wouldn't have any idea. I plan on stopping by the store tonight to ensure that they do, in fact, have the right carpeting. I don't want a repeat of this week.

[RickM]

Legion,

I learned a similar lesson with Home Depot two years ago.
I purchased 15 Emerald Green Aborvites to border a corner of my pool. Great deal at HD @ $35 a pop for 6' trees. This is less than half of what local nurseries would charge. Plus HD has a one year money back guarantee!! How can I lose?

Well, $525 for the trees, another $75+ for delivery (IIRC) and $200 to hire two laborers (Landscapers during the week) to plant.

Things were great until the particularly wet spring led to the "failure" of 13 of the trees.

Go to HD and ask if a rep could go to my house and evaluate the condition and issue me a refund for the 13 tress. "Nope, dig them up and bring them in.....root ball and all". $hit! I argue that I paid for shipping and installation and now will have to do the same to get a refund. They couldn't care less.

End up in the store with 13 tress on 3 flat bed carts, receipt in hand...before one year was up. They WOULDN'T refund my money....only a store credit!!!!! After telling them that they were sold to me with a MBG they still refused and said they only refunded money within 90 days. According to them a credit is getting my money back. Bull$--T....it's them getting my money back.

They apparently changed their plant/tree policy because they were losing their shirts on returns.

I refused the credit and after a failed attempt with their regional (NJ) and main (Atlanta) headquarters I decided to go to small claims court.

The day before I go down to file I get a call from some guy at the HD Contractors desk.....Mr. M, we have a check here for a refund that you have coming to you. Those Mofos! I end up getting a check after all that grief.

Lesson learned? Go to where they specialize!
I've heard horror stories of the contractors they sub out. IMO, if a contractor is worth their salt they don't need HD to get them work.

[RickM]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Rick:

Yes. Used mainly for dusting off furniture prior to refinishing and spraying urethane, lacquer and other finishes (very light duty).

Just curious, Bob. The Craftsman Oil-less compressors used to have a problem with the heads "exploding" internally. Thought it might be a problem inherent in this type of compressor.

[billwagnon]

I sent a nastygram like that to Home Depot. They gave me the $80 kitchen sink I was waiting 3 weeks for, while their custom cut countertop was sitting on my front porch.

Within 1/2 mile of my house I now have a Lowe's and a Home Depot. I think competition is a good thing for the consumer!

[RickM]

I'll take Lowes over HD anyday of the week. Too bad none are local.

[legion]

Thankfully they are about to build a Home Depot in our town. The Menard's is a joke. It's so disorganized you can't find anything. I think the competition from a credible competitor will bring Lowe's in line.

I will also add, that up until now, I have had nothing but excellent experiences with Lowe's.

About a year ago, my Dremel's motor died. I had purchased it a year earlier from Lowe's. They let me exchange it for an identical model without a receipt. I was happy. I also learned not to cut 1/8 inch steel plate with my Dremel.

[Moneyguy1]

Dremel: most of the time the wire to one of the brushes becomes unsoldered. Fixed mine twice. Too cheap to buy another...(kidding)

[juanbenae]

if a train leaves chicago headed west at 68 mph, and a train leaves denver heading east at 59 mph, where and when will they meet?

[legion]

Another install date...another promise broken.

Today I was supposed to have my carpeting at 9:30. I get a call at 9:15 from the installer telling me that his partner was in a car accident that morning and can't make it...but he can reschedule for Friday.

I'm furious. I seriously sat and stared at the wall for an hour because I didn't want to start yelling at my wife. When I felt I was calm enough to speak (I was seriously shaking with anger), I asked my wife what she wanted to do. We decided to go to Lowe's and speak with the store manager.

At the customer service desk we were informed that the store manager was in a meeting...and told we could speak with "Tim" the zone manager (see above). I explained that "Tim" was the guy who did jacksh!+ for us last time. She told me she would get the assistant manager. (Why couldn't she get him first?)

We explained the situation to the assistant manager. We stated that our carpet needed to be installed today, as promised. He said that he would go back and speak with all of the installers and try to get us someone today.

The assistant manager returns. He explains that the first available time for an installer is tomorrow at 10:30. (Funny how it took two weeks to book an installer for the first install date...) He also says that the guy who was in a car accident this morning was really in an ATV accident over the weekend. (Meaning he had time to make other arrangements and chose to jerk me around instead.) My wife and I agree...but we state that this is the absolute last chance. If the installer shows up at 10:31, the deal is off and we expect a full refund.

The assistant manager was competent and seemed genuinely surprised about our situation. It turns out the guy I referred to as the "district manager" was really a "zone manager"--meaning he managed a zone of the store. No surprise none of the people I talked to didn't want their management to find out how badly they had screwed up. It also seems that my letter to their corporate offices did exactly nothing.

[Overpaid Slacker]

legion -- for the sake of those you love, make sure they're all outside minimum safe distance at 10:31 tomorrow morning. Also, have plenty of soft stuff around to punch so you don't break a hand, and don't let yourself near a phone until 11:00am tomorrow.

Good luck.

JP

[tabascobobcat]

Sorry for your misfurtune, but this is better than what my wife is watching on the tube right now. I had to subscribe to this thread to hear how it plays out. Good luck and go get 'em.