Lowe's in San Bruno, CA

Lowe's Hardware Store in San Bruno, CA

I spent 2 hours in Lowe’s on Friday, January 12, 2007 to purchase a washer, dryer, stack kit and dryer cord. They had a promotion during Martin Luther King holiday weekend, 10% off in-stock washer and dryers. Fred, a sales rep, explained to me that they did not have the washer, dryer and stack kit in stock but he will honor the 10% off anyways. He placed a special order for all my items but he forgot to include the 10% off. I did not realize he did not give me the discount until after the cashier rang the entire order. Apparently, Fred went on his lunch break and none of the customer service reps could locate Fred to honor the discount. Another sales rep, Bryan, was able to honor the 10% without Fred being there and he explained to us that Fred placed the wrong order for our washer and dryer. The washer is available in-stock but not the dryer. Bryan placed a special order for my dryer and delivery was scheduled for Saturday, January 27, 2007.

Friday, January 26, 2007 – I called Lowe’s to confirm my delivery for Saturday. The operator that picked up the phone explained to me that they do not have the stack kit. I asked her why because I placed the order two weeks ago. She read the comments on my order and told me the stack kit was received by the receiving department. My delivery will go out on Saturday as scheduled.

Saturday, January 27, 2007 – I received a phone call from Lowe’s delivery department at 8:30AM. The delivery guy explained to me that he realized the washer is defective as he was loading the washer onto his truck. He also told me that was the one and only washer they had available in the store. I asked him why did they not inspect my washer when I first placed my order and wait until delivery day to inspect my washer. He said they do not pull merchandise until delivery day. I asked him what can he do for me now? He could not answer my question. I asked him if other Lowe’s have the washer I ordered. He said yes, one of the Lowe’s store have 3 in stock. I asked him if he can have the store transfer the washer over to him and have him deliver it to me. He said no, that is not how things work. If we want the merchandise, we have to go get it from them. He asked me if I wanted my dryer and stack kit. I told him no, there is no point of him delivering the dryer and stack kit when they do not have the entire order. He asked me if I wanted my merchandise today. I said yes because I was expecting it today. I want it today or ASAP. He tells me his manager is not working and will have to call his manager to see what he can do for me. Told me he’d call me back, never called me back….

2 hours later on Saturday, January 27, 2007 – I called Lowe’s and the operator picked up. I asked the operator to verify my delivery. The operator tells me they do not have the stack kit but they have the washer and dryer available. I then explained to him that I called on Friday and the operator told me the stack kit was received. AND I received a phone call from the delivery guy telling me my washer is defective. I asked him to read the comments on my order to see if my stack kit was received. He said he didn’t see anywhere on my order that a stack kit was received and I am not on the delivery list for the day!! He transferred me to the operations manager, Terri. I explained the whole situation to Terri and she said she’d look into it and call me back. Never called me back…

Another 2 hours later on Saturday, January 27, 2007 – Fred called me back and apologized profusely for their mistake. He explained to me that they had placed an emergency order for my washer and it will arrive on Tuesday, January 30, 2007. However, he is not scheduled to work on Tuesday. He said he would check on my washer on Wednesday and have it delivered Thursday morning. I asked him why can’t they pick up my washer from another Lowe’s location and he said although the system shows other stores have some in stock, they are defective. I then told him I didn’t expect this kind of customer service from them because my coworker had exceptional customer service and was very pleased with them. He again, apologized profusely and told me this rarely happens.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 – I decided to call Fred at 3:00PM because I have not heard from him yet. I was told by another sales rep he was not in that day. I asked him why because Fred told me he was going to be in. He tells me Fred got into a car accident Tuesday night. However he came in at 2PM briefly and explained my washer/dryer situation to another sales rep by the name of Santiago. I asked to speak to Santiago but he was gone for the day. The sales rep told me Fred will be back at work Saturday or Sunday. I told him my delivery is scheduled for Thursday morning. He asked me to call Santiago Thursday morning at 7AM because he gets in at 6AM. He was not able to assist me because he knew nothing about my order.

Thursday, February 1, 2007 – I called Santiago at 7AM and he seemed clueless when I asked him about my washer. He said he thinks they did not receive my washer and he’d call me back in 15 mins to confirm. He called me back 15 mins later to tell me my washer was not received on Tuesday as planned and they will not receive the washer until later on this week. I asked him to cancel my order and I will come in for a refund. He was stunned for a second because he didn’t expect me to cancel my order. He then said OK OK we’ll have it delivered today. I’ll talk to my manager and call you back. We’ll have it delivered today. I told him if I didn’t get my merchandise today, I will cancel my order and get my refund. He called me back and left a message on my voicemail saying they will pick up my washer from the Fremont store and have it delivered today. I called him back and explained to him that Fred told me although other stores have my washer, they are defective. I told him I do not want a defective washer. Santiago insisted that he spoke to a manager and it is not defective. He said he’d call me as soon as the washer comes in so we can arrange a delivery time.

Afternoon on Thursday, February 1, 2007 - My husband took the entire day off for this delivery. The delivery guys called my husband at 12:30PM to tell him they have both the washer and dryer and will be there in half an hour. BUT they called him back a second later to ask if the washer and dryer needs to be stacked. My husband told them yes and the delivery guys told him they did not know how to stack a washer and dryer. The guy that does the stacking is gone for the day. I called Santiago and explained the situation to him. He told me he does not know anything about it and can not do anything about it. He transferred me to Terri, the operations manager. I asked Terri what was going on? She told me I should be receiving my washer and dryer today. I explained to her the delivery guys do not know how to stack a washer and dryer and that the one guy that knows how is gone for the day. She was just as shocked as I was and told me she’d call the district manager and have the delivery guys deliver the items today. I told her this is the final straw; if I do not get my merchandise today I will cancel my order. She insisted that no matter what, they will deliver it today. 2:15PM – Terri calls me and asks me if I’m sitting down. I told her yes and asked her what is going on? She tells me the washer was STOLEN from the truck right outside their store and it just so happen the security camera was not pointing at that direction so they could not see who took the washer. Apparently the delivery guys left the trunk and truck running while they went into the warehouse to grab the dryer. (Do you see a time conflict here? Delivery guys calls my husband at 12:30PM to tell him they have the washer/dryer and ready to deliver in half an hour. Terri calls me at 2:15PM to tell me the washer is stolen while the guys went in the warehouse to pick up my dryer) I was just flabbergasted at the whole situation and I am STILL flabbergasted. I asked her how it is possible that a washer can be stolen right outside their store. She couldn’t explain why and said probably several guys picked it up and drove off with it. This is not a lightweight item and it is not that easy to steal a washer off a truck!! Terri apologized profusely and insisted on compensating me for my time. She did not want me to cancel my order. She asked me if I wanted another washer and dryer. I told her No. She asked if she can have it delivered Friday, February 2, 2007 and I told her No because nobody will be home. She asked for Saturday morning and I said fine but I was so in shock I didn’t know what other answer I can give her. She said she’d call me Friday to confirm the delivery HOWEVER she will not be in on Saturday, the day of the delivery, and I’d have to call her on Sunday to get a partial refund for their compensation to me. My mom purchased the washer and dryer for me as a housewarming gift and she insisted on talking to Terri herself. She called Terri at 3:00PM to find out she’s at lunch and she’s off at 4:30PM. She called at 4:00PM to find out she was still at lunch and will be off at 5:00PM instead of 4:30PM. She called once again at 4:15PM to find out she’s back from lunch but will not take any phone calls and she’d have to leave a message. She talked to Chris, assistant manager to Terri, and explained the stolen washer situation to him and he said ‘Well, its San Francisco you know’ and asked him how much we will be compensated for our time. He said he does not know until they receive the washer in the store.

At the end, we ended up purchasing a washer and dryer at Best Buys. They were able to match Lowe’s price. They had a lot of the washer and dryer in stock and were able to deliver it the next day!! We went to Lowe’s and Chris helped us in returning our merchandise. However, he made a comment about how the delivery guys were out to LUNCH when the washer was stolen. So I said to him ‘Now you’re giving me a different story from what I was told’. He threw his hands in the air and said he don’t know what really happened with the stolen washer, he was just ‘assuming’ what happened.

This is my first and last time shopping at Lowe’s. I did not bother to go to Home Depot or Best Buy in the first place to compare prices. I went straight to Lowe’s because my coworkers said their customer service is great. Lowe’s customer service has proven them wrong. Their customer service is the worse. They are LIARS as you can tell from the conflicting time and information they’ve given me. The employees there are incompetent and they are not very knowledgeable of the merchandise.

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