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George Bokros
09-23-2013, 11:16 AM
I had purchased some Scotts Winterizer fertilized at Lowes 8 days ago and now Home Depot is offering 25% off if you purchase two or more bags. I went to Lowes and asked if they would match the price. Lowes said the Home Depot sales was a promotional sale and they could not match the price. I told the clerk at Lowes I would just go out and get it and return it which I did. Interesting, aren't all sales promotional?? Went to HD and saved $23 and change.

George

Art Mann
09-23-2013, 12:14 PM
What is your point?

David Weaver
09-23-2013, 12:54 PM
It seems unfair to the store to criticize them in this case unless their policy states that they will retroactively match lower prices that you find later.

Stephen Cherry
09-23-2013, 5:06 PM
I very very rarely use fertilizer for environmental reasons. I live near the Chesapeake bay, and most of the fertilizer you put down will end up further destroying the bay.

George Bokros
09-23-2013, 5:07 PM
It has been discussed on this forum that Lowes does do price matching of competitors as does Home Depot. I have personal experience that the chain stores have in the past matched sales prices, theirs and competitors, as long as it was within a 30 day window of your purchase.

David C. Roseman
09-24-2013, 9:12 AM
It has been discussed on this forum that Lowes does do price matching of competitors as does Home Depot. I have personal experience that the chain stores have in the past matched sales prices, theirs and competitors, as long as it was within a 30 day window of your purchase.

George, if your prior experience was at Lowes, perhaps this was something best taken up with the Lowes manager-on-duty, rather than the clerk. JMO.

David

Duane Meadows
09-24-2013, 9:21 AM
If your time and gasoline spent hauling fertilizer around was worth less than $23, guess you got a good deal?

Art Mann
09-24-2013, 7:25 PM
Suppose I hired someone to build me a cabinet. They built and delivered it. It looked good for the price and I happily paid for it. Then suppose a second woodworker comes along 8 days after I paid the first guy and told me they would have been willing to build the same cabinet design from the same materials for 25% less. Would I be justified going back to the first cabinet maker and demanding a 25% rebate?

William Payer
09-26-2013, 1:31 PM
Suppose I hired someone to build me a cabinet. They built and delivered it. It looked good for the price and I happily paid for it. Then suppose a second woodworker comes along 8 days after I paid the first guy and told me they would have been willing to build the same cabinet design from the same materials for 25% less. Would I be justified going back to the first cabinet maker and demanding a 25% rebate?

__________________________________________________ ________________________________________

If the original cabinetmaker advertized he would match any other prices within a certain time frame window---yes asking for a refund of the difference would be entirely justified and fair. Lowe's and Home Depot do advertize such policies. If they did not, it is entirely a different story.

Art Mann
09-26-2013, 2:01 PM
I have never seen where either HD or Lowes would match a competitor's price 8 days after the sale. I have seen disclaimers where they will not match a "promotional" price. There is a difference between a promotional price and a regular price, whether you acknowledge it or not.

Jim Koepke
09-26-2013, 3:58 PM
Not being a big fan of Lowes, it seems they rendered exemplary service in letting you return the product after a week.

Of course, they they may have had more to lose by not accepting the return.

jtk

David Weaver
09-26-2013, 5:45 PM
I looked up their policy out of curiosity, and it looks online like they'll match sale prices that are published, and beat advertised regular prices by 10%. It doesn't say anything about giving anything within 30 days after a sale, but defers any additional details to your local store.

It does exclude non-stock items, custom order, etc. Sounds like it would have been no problem if the HD price would've been presented at the time of purchase. I can't fault them at this point, either.

Art Mann
09-26-2013, 6:24 PM
Not being a big fan of Lowes, it seems they rendered exemplary service in letting you return the product after a week.

Of course, they they may have had more to lose by not accepting the return.

jtk

Actually, I think Lowes goes too far in the other direction accepting returns for a refund. There always seems to be lightly used tillers and pressure washers for sale at reduced prices in the front of the store and they always seem to have a few pieces missing. I asked the store manager about this and he said it is usually someone who wants to do a one time job and doesn't want to pay for a rental. They simply purchase the item, take it home and complete their job and bring it back for a full refund. This abuse drives up prices for everyone else. I don't think they should accept returns that have been used/abused for a day or two and the returned for no apparent reason. Bags of unused fertilizer is a different story.

John M Bailey
09-27-2013, 9:45 PM
Instead of trying to get one store to match another store's sale price, I just go to the store with the lower price.
Sounds simple to me.

Bill Clark De
09-28-2013, 7:29 AM
While i am not prepared to write Lowes a blank check for its whole operation
.i am a comparison shopper to a fault. No i mean to a real fault-internet searches =other stores- under the desk for old sale catalogs etc.
Having said all that i have after 75 years on this earth never saw a more reasonable company to do bussiness with than lowes.
Certainly sometimes because of quality or price i've chosen to shop elsewhere.
But i have never had any unsurmountable problem with Lowes - customer service - including returning articles for any reason ..Again I have seen the returns come in from customers who use an article for a one time job fully intending to returnn it --a lawn mower and roto tillers spring to mind.... When i see this i chill to the bone that these returns will put future legitimate returns in jeopardy.
anyway rather than ramble on let me just say if someone isn't happy with Lowes and their return policy and have contacted the store management to mediate and still aren't happy they may want to re exam their expectations... or perhaps the system is broken at that Lowes store...
. Just my humble opinion and i ain't got no humble opinions..

Stephen Cherry
09-28-2013, 7:39 AM
Although the Lowes experience is fun, I prefer the Jimi Hendrix Experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY

Chris Rosenberger
09-28-2013, 8:21 AM
If your time and gasoline spent hauling fertilizer around was worth less than $23, guess you got a good deal?

This reminds me of people that I know that will make a 28 miles round trip, to a town across the state line, to save 10 cents a gallon on gas.
They make the trip just to fill up their car with gas. Any way you look at it, the trip costs them more in gas to drive there than they save with the lower price gas.
But by making the drive, they can buy more of the lower price gas, save more money & can brag on how they saved 10 cents a gallon on gas.

A lot of people only look at the dollars they can see, not at the dollars it cost them to save to save the dollars they can see. Including some companies I have worked for.

At one company there was a saying that the boss would spend a dollar to try to save a dime. He kept on trying to save those dimes until he went out of business.

Rich Engelhardt
09-28-2013, 8:23 AM
I have never seen where either HD or Lowes would match a competitor's price 8 days after the sale. I have seen disclaimers where they will not match a "promotional" price. There is a difference between a promotional price and a regular price, whether you acknowledge it or not.
There's always, in retail, the unwritten policy of :

"A satisfied customer will tell 10 people. An unsatisfied customer will complain to 100 people."

(plus one - oh fudge, erases 1000 atta boys)

Not to pick on the OP here, but, this is a perfect example. Had Lowes simply matched the price to begin with, would we have heard about it?
My guess here would be no.
However, by not matching the price, the OP felt obliged to offer up his solution to the problem that Lowes created for him.

paul cottingham
09-28-2013, 11:40 AM
Although the Lowes experience is fun, I prefer the Jimi Hendrix Experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY
Nicely played indeed.

Art Mann
09-28-2013, 1:59 PM
However, by not matching the price, the OP felt obliged to offer up his solution to the problem that Lowes created for him.

Lowes didn't create a problem for the OP. They just sold him some bags of fertilizer at a price he found acceptable. The fact that some other company had the same stuff on sale 8 days later was a problem that existed only in his mind. The majority of replies in this particular thread do not agree with his assessment that Lowes was somehow being unfair when they didn't issue him a cash rebate for the difference. On the contrary, I would say he inadvertently advertised their excellent return policy.

Jim Koepke
09-28-2013, 4:57 PM
Actually, I think Lowes goes too far in the other direction accepting returns for a refund. There always seems to be lightly used tillers and pressure washers for sale at reduced prices in the front of the store and they always seem to have a few pieces missing. I asked the store manager about this and he said it is usually someone who wants to do a one time job and doesn't want to pay for a rental. They simply purchase the item, take it home and complete their job and bring it back for a full refund. This abuse drives up prices for everyone else. I don't think they should accept returns that have been used/abused for a day or two and the returned for no apparent reason. Bags of unused fertilizer is a different story.

This practice is an affront to civilized society. By my reasoning stores would be fully within their rights to charge a restocking fee of twice their rental charges.

Costco used to have a very generous return policy. Two many people "buying" a big screen TV to be returned after Super Bowl or just returning a TV once a year to upgrade to a new TV ended up costing all of us great warrantee coverage on our purchases.

Sadly, there are too many who do not feel honesty is the best policy.

jtk

Rich Engelhardt
09-28-2013, 5:04 PM
Lowes didn't create a problem for the OP. They just sold him some bags of fertilizer at a price he found acceptable.
I disagree - with all due respects. Lowes had the opportunity to avoid an issue and they chose not to. Therefor, Lowes created the problem.
The OP solved the problem - he didn't create it.

Jason Beam
09-28-2013, 5:39 PM
I disagree - with all due respects. Lowes had the opportunity to avoid an issue and they chose not to. Therefor, Lowes created the problem.
The OP solved the problem - he didn't create it.

Lowes had an opportunity to avoid an issue that the OP created. It's the OP's problem, not Lowes'. He took advantage of their generous return policy because he had sour grapes.

Jim Koepke
09-28-2013, 6:05 PM
Maybe we could use a bucket of cold water here.

One thing to consider is no matter what is the right response for the person(s) at the local Lowes store, the matter is directed by corporate policy.

If the Lowes empire doesn't have a "refund the difference if you find the item on sale a week later" policy, the local employee knows their job may be on the line if they decide to make one up on the spot.

They do have the policy of a customer being able to return a consumable item a week later.

In all my years there have been less than a hand full of businesses offering price protection and making up the difference if a product can be found at a lower price in a stated future period.

jtk

Brian Elfert
09-28-2013, 8:49 PM
A lot of people only look at the dollars they can see, not at the dollars it cost them to save to save the dollars they can see. Including some companies I have worked for.


I have started to realize that sometimes trying to get the best price on something costs more in time and gas than just buying the item at the first place. I recently needed some wheel seals and they aren't sold at your average auto parts place. I decided rather than spend $5 or more on gas and an hour plus of time to pick them up I would just have them shipped to me instead. The shipping seemed steep at $15 to send 3 lbs across town, but I didn't have to stay late at work to make up for the missed hour or more of work.

Rich Engelhardt
09-29-2013, 8:10 AM
Lowes had an opportunity to avoid an issue that the OP created. It's the OP's problem, not Lowes'. He took advantage of their generous return policy because he had sour grapes.
Ok - let's define the "problem".

The "problem" that I see is that Lowes has lost a customer.
Lowes had the chance to retain a customer and they didn't make enough of an effort.

I see that problem as being created by Lowes, not the OP.

Also - FWIW - please tell me how returning good saleable normal stock after only 8 days is taking advantage of a generous return policy?
I frequently return materials to both Lowes and Home Depot a month or two after I'm done with a job.

I should mention here in regards to that - I spent a lot of years in retail & I appreciate what goes on behind the counter(s). When I return materials, I make sure they are in the same condition they were when they left the store - ie: not all beat up, no open packages, not all dirty and nasty, etc.



In all my years there have been less than a hand full of businesses offering price protection and making up the difference if a product can be found at a lower price in a stated future period.
To a point - I agree...
The way I read the OP here though is that:
He bought Scotts @ Lowes.
8 days later, Home Depot ran a sale on the same item.
He contacted Lowes - told them he would just go buy it at Home Depot and return it to Lowes if Lowes didn't match the price.
Lowes told him no - so - he went to HD, bought the bags and returned them to Lowes.

Had Lowes just refunded 25%, they would have had 75% of something.
Now Lowes has 100% of nothing - in the form of no sale - plus one unhappy customer.

And BTW - based on the number of years I spent in retail:

If the Lowes empire doesn't have a "refund the difference if you find the item on sale a week later" policy, the local employee knows their job may be on the line if they decide to make one up on the spot.

Managers have a very wide latitude to work with when it comes to policy.
You're 100% right though - a regular "floor walker" can't make up policy.
Where this went incident went bad is where the employee didn't get a manager involved.

Steve Meliza
09-29-2013, 11:27 AM
Lowe's return policy allowed the returning of the product, effectively giving the discount that they refused to give and pushing a customer to a competitor. At the end of the day the customer got the discounted price and Lowes lost a sale, a customer, and harmed their reputation. I seriously doubt they would have lost money on a 25% discount so why not refund a customer the difference if refusing to do so means they return the product? If I want to stop at Lowe's on my way home from work I pass two Home Depot stores to get there so not all of us have to waste any gas to make the return and purchase elsewhere.

It is obvious that Lowe's lost out big time which is what happens when business is run by pencil heads at corporate desks instead of run by a local owner with in interest in serving the people and having to ability to ignore standard policy on the fly.