Jeramie Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I know there have always been worthless people but anymore the sense of entitlement has made people just dang near worthless. Three weeks ago my wife went to Lowes to pick out carpet for our new addition. When she got there she found nice carpet on sale for $.67 a sqft. She was thrilled. It allowed us to change the carpet in our the addition and our room so it matched. The salesman asked if she wanted to purchase the install. We didn’t... we did everything from the groundwork up and in the scheme of things carpet is minimal. They then pitched it to her for $98 for the entire house... that changed our minds. So she agreed to 750 square foot of carpet and instillation for around $600. They told her they would call later with an invoice. Three weeks later we finally get a call from Lowes. They want $1,000.00 or they will not hold the carpet for us any longer. The sales woman told my wife she was on her way out the door and my wife needed to make the decision on the spot or they would put the carpet back out for sale. My wife went sideways on her and called me in a panic. I of course called the manager. The manager was out so I talked with the assistant.... Come to find out they were trying to force us into buying carpet pad. I had bought carpet pad previously from a carpet store (back when I planned on laying my own carpet). Lowes was refusing to sale us carpet or instillation unless I bought their pad. The assistant manager was a nice guy and started his spill about warranty, margins, the bottom line.... bla, bla, bla... at said point I had to get sideways. I told him I worked for a 34-billion dollar corporation; I receive PO's and contracts daily for jobs ranging from $1,000.00 to 2-million. I understood contract terms he probably had never heard of and that our warranty business for my company alone was in the millions annually. I also had to unload and tell him I understood margins as our business is driven by margin and that the reason we were being hammered on carpet pad was the instillation was likely more than $98 and that any extra labor associated with the install would cut into their margins and that being the carpet was on sale for $.67 they would likely break even or get very close to doing so. I understand were they are coming from but you do not tell someone you can do something and then backtrack after you look at the margin... its just bad business. I also went off about the threat of putting the carpet out for sale.... After mention of the better business bureau and a professional, formal complaint citing the store number and employee ID's with Lowes corporate he decided he should call me back. He told me he would see what they could do, hung up... So I get a call today to a different tune. The installer is happy using my pad. For the money he would probably just lay it in the yard if I asked. The assistant manager asked me if they would cut me a deal on the pad if I would purchase it from them. I reminded him the pad I bought was already cut and glued down... I was not buying three more rolls of pad. That angle didn’t work so he took it to the warranty and told me they would do it if I waved the warranty, and then asked what I would do if the carpet had problems in a year? I told him if the carpet is that junky that its worn in a year I don’t want it anyway and I appreciate his being so up front with me about their crappy carpet.... he stuttered. I told him bottom line, carpet is .67 a foot. If its worn in 3-years ill simply buy new carpet. Being that most carpet is pushing $2 a square foot I was getting a good price and if it only lasted 2-4 years I was OK with that.... They are currently working up a new price for me.. we will see how this works out. So far I have had to chew the place a new one and leave them no angles to get what was promised to me in the first place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbarcheryhunter Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Wow. That's just ridiculous. Wen i give out a price in my furniture shop I will stick to that price no matter if I messed up on the price. The only time I will change it if they start changing the order then i will but not without letting them know Wat its going to cost. It just crazy Wat people will try to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter97 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Crazy! I know Walgreens will advertise deals on pepsi products but certain ones will be excluded. And they wont tell you that until your at the register Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 From one extreme to the next.. the quote came in $100 cheaper than it should have so now I have to call and see what they left off.... sheesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKstate Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Sounds like you need to try and find the carpet at a different lowes with a higher IQ level!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Tell me about it.... I called and asked them to read off what I’m buying. Everything adds up only the carpet is cheaper per SQFT. For some reason they dropped the price to $.53 a square foot. My guess is because they took the warranty portion out of the cost. Almost all items sold have Warranty contingency money associated with the sale to cover the cost of those that actually use warranty... Because I waved the warranty they likely took that portion of the cost out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 that's why they aren't as skill at this stuff with their business on the line as a real contractor and instead work at Lowe's. it's like asking someone who does residential work/houses on the side, to take on full blown work as a prime in a commercial setting with all the paper work. life for them can get complicated real quick. ... i hope it all gets straightened out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Sorry to hear the problems with them Jeramie. Sounds like a bad apple and maybe also bad local management. Our local lowes store here is great from the management down to pretty well everyone you meet at the store, that said I would probably not buy carpet from them unless I was going to install it myself and it was a stocked in store color. I did check on some prices on stainmaster carpet with them for the kids rooms when we were building our house and they had good prices only on what was in stock in the store, everything special order was comparable to the prices of the local small carpet store and the small store used their regular installers. Hope you get it all straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yes sir I had a go around with Lowes back in July. Took me nearly two months to get twelve gallons of paint from them. I learned the folks out on the floor know absolutely nothing and those in charge only know a tad more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckrich Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Man, that is rough. Anybody else miss the downtown hardware store? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbarcheryhunter Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yea I do miss those mom and pop stores where u walk in and they know u by name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 My business woulda went elsewhere when they told me buy it or else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 My business woulda went elsewhere when they told me buy it or else. If it wasnt for price I would have... its hard to beat $.53 a sqft for carpet... thats CHEAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 I feel for you Jeramie....went through all that when buying my Kia from a dealer...never want to go to a dealer again - tried charging me for all this extra stuff I didn't need or want....the manger guy was a real PITA..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yea I hear ya on the price Jeramie. Ya know, contrary to what my parents taught me growing up, I have learned that the old saying " you catch more flies with honey." to be false. If your nice to people when it comes to business, they'll walk all over you. If you get a little crazy, throw in a curse word or two, the issue usually gets solved much faster. Sad to say, but I fully believe it to be true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Why do you have to be a jerk to get things done sometimes? ( Lowes ) Yea I hear ya on the price Jeramie. Ya know, contrary to what my parents taught me growing up, I have learned that the old saying " you catch more flies with honey." to be false. If your nice to people when it comes to business, they'll walk all over you. If you get a little crazy, throw in a curse word or two, the issue usually gets solved much faster. Sad to say, but I fully believe it to be true. Fully agree as sad as it is. I seem to have problems with sears more than anyone and my old lady works there and is a manager. Hope it all gets worked out and you get it done. That last price sounds good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Thats crazy Jeramie...You have a lot of patience. Big box stores have no interest with maintaining clientele because who you gonna go to? They practically eliminated mom and pop stores. I had a carpet experience with Lowes also 3 months ago. They came and measured my basement and gave my wife a price. She was about to make the purchase. Called me for approval. I asked if she went elsewhere for a price. She said no. That afternoon we went to a local carpet guy and they measured 80sq/ft less than what Lowes measured. I told Lowes to take a walk...Went with the local small guy...got a better deal because I was paying cash too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yea I hear ya on the price Jeramie. Ya know, contrary to what my parents taught me growing up, I have learned that the old saying " you catch more flies with honey." to be false. If your nice to people when it comes to business, they'll walk all over you. If you get a little crazy, throw in a curse word or two, the issue usually gets solved much faster. Sad to say, but I fully believe it to be true. Sad but true... We went last night, signed the paperwork, and paid. They kept the price down and didnt charge tax so its a done deal. My wife said she hoped she hadn't gotten the guy, who gave us the cheap install, in trouble. The woman we wer working with said, "Oh... no, no. We would have to blow up the store to get in trouble. Dont worry about it. He did sale it too cheap but no one will care." I dont believe a company owns you but by all means, if you make mistakes someone should be paying attention. *climbs up on soapbox* Thats whats wrong with this country... no one is held accountable anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yes sir I had a go around with Lowes back in July. Took me nearly two months to get twelve gallons of paint from them. I learned the folks out on the floor know absolutely nothing and those in charge only know a tad more. Guess we are lucky at the local store here to have some real knowledgeable people. Don't know how they do it at our store, but they do have a few plumbers and electricians that work part time for them, never had them steer me wrong. Management has done a good job at putting the right people where they need to be and they have kept them. Yea I hear ya on the price Jeramie. Ya know, contrary to what my parents taught me growing up, I have learned that the old saying " you catch more flies with honey." to be false. If your nice to people when it comes to business, they'll walk all over you. If you get a little crazy, throw in a curse word or two, the issue usually gets solved much faster. Sad to say, but I fully believe it to be true. Pretty sad it is that way a lot these days with a lot of people in general and not just big businesses. No doubt some jerks out there will try to walk all over you. Getting ugly can backfire too though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrown Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 LOL, you say no one that works at Lowes usually know ANYTHING, well I can confirm. I worked at a Lowes for 3 months, and I couldn't answer half the questions that where given to me. The difference was, I told em, I really don't know the answer to it, but I'll sure get you one. Luckily we had a couple of guys that did, so I could get a good answer. I've also had ALOT people tell me that the customer service was pretty bad too. Sounds like I need to take you with me when I get a new vehicle, between you and my wife I could get a heck of deal!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted October 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 LOL, you say no one that works at Lowes usually know ANYTHING, well I can confirm. I worked at a Lowes for 3 months, and I couldn't answer half the questions that where given to me. The difference was, I told em, I really don't know the answer to it, but I'll sure get you one. Luckily we had a couple of guys that did, so I could get a good answer. I've also had ALOT people tell me that the customer service was pretty bad too. Sounds like I need to take you with me when I get a new vehicle, between you and my wife I could get a heck of deal!!! Im pretty sure I have voodoo dolls in most of the car places... Their salesmen hate me by the time I walk out. I bought a truck once and didnt sign the papers on it until after 11:00pm because I wouldnt bend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i'm your huckleberry Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 (edited) sorry to here of the problems you had with lowes, but is'nt that typical of large retailers, pull your pants down and bend you over the barrel. the wife and i are battling with our house insuance right now after a labor day fire in a different condo, we got smoke damage and they just take their sweet time with everything. (wawanesa for you canadian members) i heard state farm settled out in 30 days. Edited October 27, 2012 by i'm your huckleberry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 you did right not backing down. they wanted you to cancel so they could sell the carpet for more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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