How I saved Thousands at Lowes

[Robert Parrish]

Two weeks ago I decided that I needed to replace the three entry doors in my home due to dry rotting of the frames. I went to Lowes to look at their selection of Pella and Therma Tru doors and paid $35 to have someone come out and measure all the doors. An installer came out and did the measuring and said that the salesperson would call me the next day. Well after waiting several days I called the store and was told the person was off that day and that he would call me when he returned. He called me three days later and we made an appointment to meet and order my doors. I had selected a Therma Tru front entry door from their website using their door selector software which had 2 sidelights and a transom. When I got to the store they had this exact door on display for $4600.10. I gave my print out to the sales person and he entered it into the computer and told me that the door would be $7800.00. Now I’m standing there looking at the $4600.10 sign on the door, so I ask him why the $3200 difference in price and he looks at me and says: Well sir you ordered the door pre-finished!! That’s when I lost it and asked him was he serious that he would think finishing a door would cost $3200! I looked at his terminal and saw that the finishing was only $178. At that point he told me all he could do was input the data into the computer and accept what came out. He said he would check out the error and call me Monday. I don’t know if he was that stupid or trying to rip me off. Well I guess I should thank him for saving me several thousand dollars, because last night I was thinking that HEY! I’m a woodworker and I can rebuild the door frames and rehang the doors and save thousands! I will never buy anything from Lowes that requires them to install or service!

[Brian Effinger]

I don’t know if he was that stupid or trying to rip me off.

My guess would be just plain stupid. These places will hire any idiot off the street.

[Matt Walton]

My guess would be just plain stupid. These places will hire any idiot off the street.
that seems quite ironic, considering your signature :D

[David G Baker]

Had a similar experience when I went to Lowe's for floor covering for my kitchen. I gave the sales person the measurements, selected the material and he came up with an installed price. The installer came out, did the measurements, they were exactly like mine but the difference was that the salesman's price was under $1000 installed and the installers price was around $1500. The installer was an independent installer that Lowe's used. I called the salesman and canceled the order. I contacted a local small flooring business and got the same material installed for under $800.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It's not just Lowes....it's HD and a lot of the others too. First, they hire inexperienced people because they can hire them cheaper. Secondly, they don't train them well. They may take a quick MBA superficial training class but it's not a really technically filled class...that takes too much time and time is money.

Often it pays to check with the local businesses and the Borg. We just had a frameless tub shower door installed. It was cheaper the local Borg's offering and much better quality. Add to that it was professionally installed.

[glenn bradley]

I use the BORG format stores for quick-n-dirty forgotten items during a project and the occasional sale price on a known quality item. I also like their Sunday blowout tables. Have them re-do my kitchen or custom order me some drapes . .. nah. Glad you saved a ton. You'll enjoy the door more too ;-)

[Robert Parrish]

Your right Ken, I had a bad experience with HD several years ago. The guy I was dealing with at Lowes was the manager of the door and windows department. I just assumed he knew what he was talking about! Here is part of the problem: Robert Niblock Lowes CEO saw his income go UP 11% at the same time Lowe's income fell by 22%.

[jerry nazard]

Several years back, I decided to order some kitchen cabinets at HD. I went into the store to place the order, and the only salesperson in the Home Improvement area was heavy into a personal phone call. When she finely asked me if I needed help, I explained that I was there ready to place an order for a complete set of kitchen cabinets. She asked me what my budget was. I told her that I had no set budget, and I just wanted to place an order. She told me to go home, figure out how much I could afford to spend, and then come back to see her. The next thing she did was pick up the phone and say, "I'm back, girlfriend." So much for Home Depot and the $10,000.00 phone call....

I'll buy sheetrock and 2 x 4's from them, but not much else.

[Matt Meiser]

I tried to buy about 12 Andersen windows at our local Home Depot. Its a size they stock in the store, but the shelf only has space for 4. They wanted to charge me say $200 for the 4, then say $600 for the other six since they had to "special order" them.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Matt,

That's the same thing I found with bathtubs. If you got it from their shelf stock.... one price. If they had to order it in, the price went up by a huge factor....2x-3x times the price for the one on the shelf.

[Matt Meiser]

Yeah, but in this case I wanted quantity 10 of part number xxxxx. They only stock 4 xxxxx at once. So they wanted me to pay $200 for the first 4 and $600 for the other 6. Our one window that was an actual special order was almost 3x the price of the others, which I expected.

In the end a manager straightened out the issue by adding additional xxxxx's to their next order. Of course there were a multitude of problems that ensued after that.

[Dave Johnson29]

Not wishing to dampen the spirit of this thread, :D but I have had the opposite experience with HD.

I wanted a sliding glass door set for my bathroom and HD did not have it in stock. The guy called someone and it was going to 3 to 4 weeks before that model would be back in stock. I asked about the next model up the line, the guy called the store Manager and they let me have it for the same price.

To be fair, Lowes had just opened their store directly across the road about two weeks earlier though. :)

Life is all about timing.

[Eric DeSilva]

Just don't have 'em install it for you. I did that many, many years ago--needed a new front door, had no tools to really deal with it. So, called HD, they sent a measurer, ordered the door, set up the install.

So, this particular door was on the right hand side of the front of the townhouse, and opened so you were facing a closet directly across from you. I was there for the install, upstairs working away. I finally came down, started looking at the door, scratching my head wondering what was bothering me. Then I realized. They had a left hinged door. If you actually opened the door inwards, it left you standing in a small square area bounded by the door itself to the left, the closet dead ahead, and the side wall of the house to the right. You would have had to have gotten in the closet to close the door and get into the house.

Odd thing was that the installer--who was the guy who measured and spec'd the door, was really irate that I demanded that he take the door out and get a right hinged door.

Oddly, I probably have him to thank for a large number of the DIY projects I've taken on. At this point I start everything by thinking... "well, I can't do a worse job than they would..."

[Robert Parrish]

Eric, now that you mentioned it, the guy that did the measuring never checked the handing of the doors (3). When I went back to the store the salesman ask me which way the doors opened! I told him he needed to check with his installer. If you Google door handing you will find a dozen different ways to determine this.

[Robert Parrish]

I forgot to mention that the salesman called me yesterday on Labor Day to tell me that he had made a mistake inputting the data into the computer and that staining the front door was only $795. What a deal!

[Matt Meiser]

Eric, now that you mentioned it, the guy that did the measuring never checked the handing of the doors (3). When I went back to the store the salesman ask me which way the doors opened! I told him he needed to check with his installer. If you Google door handing you will find a dozen different ways to determine this.

That's why we got a deal on our front door. Fiberglass door, leaded glass panel, sidelight, etc. Originally something like $2800 and we got it for $300. Had our choice of swing and sidelight position. We were told that it took 5 tries to get the right door in.

[David G Baker]

Took me three months to get the correct special order windows from HD when I lived in California. The man that wrote up the order did it correctly. HD ate at least three sets of windows if not four. I saw the windows later on the rack for marked down items. Sure glad I wasn't using HD in a remodeling business.