Reddit is a very interesting place, with communities where you can learn a lot and share about specific hobbies and interests, or waste a whole lot of time. They’ve got subreddits on all kinds of topics, from Apple products to Pareidolia.
Somewhere between all that, they have quite a few subreddits, or topic communities, about tools, including one focused on all things related to Lowe’s.
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I discovered the Lowe’s subreddit recently, and while it’s not specific to customer or employee-related topics, there are a lot of different threads started by past and present employees.
And, just about every single one of those Lowe’s employee posts is very upsetting.
I understand that the Lowe’s associates on the Reddit board represent a small fraction of all the very many associates they have around the country, and that people tend to be more vocal when they’re displeased about something, there are still quite a few unhappy workers.
One of the biggest frustrations right now seems to be that stores seem to be very understaffed, and it’s affecting everyone.
A lot of retailers and other types of businesses are going through labor shortages right now, and so this isn’t a situation unique to Lowe’s. Still, it’s one thing to read about labor shortages, and another to read stories from workers that are miserable because of it.
There are other types of posts that also color in parts of the same picture. In one recent post, a new worker expressed surprise that they were being paid considerably better than existing workers at the same store. Others have also complained about raise rejections and an increased awareness about salary discrepancies.
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It makes sense that there would be pay incentives right now, as Lowe’s tries to improving staffing levels at their stores.
In some of the other posts, a lot of Lowe’s workers seem unhappy about a lot of very different things, such as an emphasis on self-checkout at their store.
Shown here is what one of the hand tool bays looked like at my local Lowe’s store last week, with a sloppy mess of tools just sitting on the floor. Other parts of the store felt like this too.
I’ve walked out of my Lowe’s store before, before the pandemic closures and current labor shortage, when I stopped in briefly to pick up a particular brand of air filter. They had one register open, and I didn’t have time to wait in line behind what seemed like more than dozen other people.
I have also walked out empty-handed a few other times, because products the website reported as being in-stock were nowhere to be found.
Some Lowe’s stores have are very well-run, and others not so much. Unfortunately, my favorite Lowe’s store is more than 45 minutes away, and I typically only go there once a year to scout out the holiday season deals that none of my local stores ever seem to put out on display.
While working in retail is rarely a cakewalk, many of the stories I’ve been reading have alerted me to many associates’ current realities.
Is there anything we can do about it? Probably not. But if associates are miserable with some even quitting due to stores being understaffed, customers are going to notice as it impacts their shopping experience.
When a customer takes a tool from one display and places it in another, it’ll remain there until an associate can reset things. But placing overflow on the floor is not a customer action, it’s an associate action.
I don’t know what’s going on at my store, but maybe it’s as understaffed as the stores being talked about on Reddit, with workers tasked with much more beyond their regular responsibilities.
If that’s the case, this is not a good situation for anyone.
I’m hoping that the discontent I’ve read on the Lowe’s subreddit does not fairly represent too many of their associates’ current sentiments and experiences.
But at the same time, maybe my local Lowe’s store is also understaffed, for product overflow to be be dumped on the floor like that. Most of the other parts of the tool department were fairly tidy.
I really hope that conditions at Lowe’s stores aren’t as difficult as the stories on Reddit suggest.
Adam
I don’t think I’ve read a single story about someone liking working at Lowes. The last big internal revolt I recall was due to their new scheduling system, that was supposed to benefit employee scheduling did the exact opposite.
The only thing I like about Lowes is it is much brighter in the store than HD, but with merchandising as shown in your pictures, perhaps they should dim the lights a bit.
B
My hubby & I have both an HD & Lowe’s card. Ordering online from HD is a dream, even when they make a mistake.
HD calls before I pick up a large item that has been damaged. They let me know that they’ve ordered a new one then expedite it to the store.
Lowe’s, however, sends me an hour or more to a store to pick up when they could’ve as easily sent it to the store in my town. And when we get there, they offer us the damaged items, as if they couldn’t tell the side was broken in.
Kevin
U pick the store it ships to that’s your fault not lowes
Sara
This does happen at Lowes Kevin coming from someone that works there.
ScratchDIYnotinGolf
The variances in pay between experienced workers and new hires will lead to higher turnover, lower customer service and overall resentment.
I can’t imagine what morale is like for the employees.
It reminds me of two articles. The First said that younger workers job hop more than earlier generations. The Second said that companies are paying external hires more than internal promotions or transfers. These two are related.
Lowes will likely loose their experienced staff to places willing to pay more for new hires or in general.
dstblj 52
lots of my college friends over four years job hop ever 6-12 months out of boredom or someone offering a few bucks more an hour
Stuart
There are quite a few stories of that happening too.
One associate mentioned having a job offer somewhere else. They applied to another position at their Lowe’s store but haven’t heard back, and others encouraged them to take the guaranteed advancement.
If Lowe’s offers newcomers higher pay, those with more tenure might take advantage of the current job market and head elsewhere, taking their experience with them. Having many higher-paid new colleagues that also don’t yet know the ropes might not remedy anything for associates already stressed and unhappy.
On top of everything, many customer experiences can hinge on their interactions with store associates. If morale is low, that’s certainly going to affect things. Some customers of course will blame any and all associates for anything and everything, and that’s not going to help things one bit.
This of course depends on the Reddit conversations closely representing conditions at other stores, but there’s no basis by which to make any assumptions.
Roger
The Lowes in my town has been understaffed for several years before the pandemic. The other Lowes around me has suffered likewise and the employees are blaming upper management for this as a way to increase profits and reduce cost. By the way there are very few full time positions in the stores
A-A-Ron
That was a classic tactic. Hardly any full-time workers compared with part-time and seasonal workers to reduce benefits and maintain larger profits. Said part-timers would sometimes get a pittance in scheduling (sometimes as little as 4 hours a week) and other times go weeks and even months without a weekend day off.
The more comments I’ve read here on this topic the happier I am I moved on from there and retail in general.
Josh
At the local store, many of the associates have been stating that the surveys they give you at the register are tied directly to their progress/performance reviews. If I talk to “Cindy” in blinds, “Steve” in hardware and “John ” in lumber and don’t remember their names, but “Marcy” at the register asks me to fill out a survey and tells me her name….I can’t give feedback about any other associate. No one in customer service/returns area ever says anything, but the checkout people hit me with it every single time. Am I supposed to take a notebook with me to write down all of these people’s names? How are we as customers supposed to justify even taking the time to do that? Oh I could win $500, I’ll give her a review on my checkout experience?
MM
A few months back I noticed that some of the Lowe’s cashiers started being very pushy about the surveys. One would even go so far as to write her name on the receipt with a fancy colored marker and handed out some kind of sticker or something with it. I can only assume that management found out because the next week there was none of that.
CC
Really?
I’m sure they are not being pushy just letting customers knows there is a survey along with a chance to win $500. I always love to do surveys. They work hard. I thank them for doing their job and beyond. You try being a cashier at a big store like Lowe’s!!
BleedingBlue
We are constantly being “pushed” to get surveys, not to mention credit apps. LTR (likely to recommend) is a big deal with the suits. The thing is, if we get anything less than a nine, it doesn’t count. The understaffing issue has gotten ridiculous at my store. At any given time I may be covering two or three other depts, all while being expected to make my sales quota as a specialist and train whatever newbies they throw out on the floor with little to no training. The expectation is impossible to achieve and the customers are taking it out on us, the CSA’s.
Emilio Gonzalez
More experienced workers? Working at Lowes or HD is not rocket science.
Stuart
No, but a lot of people visit these stores not knowing exactly what they need or want for a task or project.
With Home Depot’s slogan being “How Doers Get More Done,” https://toolguyd.com/home-depot-new-slogan-how-doers-get-more-done/ it’s a valid expectation for associates to be able to help with certain questions.
Barry
Not rocket science for sure, but customers expect associates to know plenty more than what we are paid or trained to know. We learn on the job. Don’t criticize what you know nothing about!
BleedingBlue
Not rocket science lol Okay. I’ll tell my next customer that doesn’t know how to replace a p-trap it’s not rocket science. SMH
Derek
I had this happen at a job I had back in high school. They wanted me to recruit my friends for more money than I was making. When I asked for the same amount I was told no so I immediately gave my notice. Somehow they were surprised.
Melissa
So true! I have been with Lowe’s for 19 years and this is the worst l seen it yet!
John
I worked for Lowes in many different positions from 2003 to 2011. I was the happiest while in the delivery department because it meant I could get out of the store most of the day, followed by being one of the PSA staff which all you did was set up the promotions and do all the “resets” as they called them. These guys had the beige vests on back when different vest colors were prevalent. In this role you had to help customers too but you only reported to the highest managers and could do what you wanted most of the time. If you got your job done and without any safety incidents you were left alone all the time. You weren’t being pestered by managers. Now I understand this is all hired out and no longer done in house. Next would be when I worked in the receiving department out back unloading the truck deliveries and placing pallets out. I spent some time in loss prevention and that was fun but I hated how you were suddenly in the “in” crowd with the managers while everyone else at the store was just a lowly worker. When you got into that role you were suddenly treated much differently.
Of all the jobs at the store being a cashier sucks the most. I only helped out when it came over the intercom for a code 3 to whatever area for check out. This means basically they are calling in for back ups. They thought by giving it some code instead of saying “back up needed on registers” it would keep more people in the store if they didn’t realize it was under staffed or busy at check out. Code 50 if I recall is someone needs assistance loading something into their vehicle.
Back in days I worked the management structure was complex and I would say definitely top heavy. You had a store manager, assistant store manager, operations manager (at the bigger stores), zone managers who switched off holding manager on duty title everyday, then department managers, followed by all the other workers. There was also an hr manager and loss prevention officer / manager for several stores. In those times department managers had it the worst relative to the small pay increase they got for being just a little higher than someone on the floor. They had to deal with customers happy or not, keep the department up to standards, keep the lower employees happy / trained / up to date while getting them to drink all the kool-aid thrown down from the higher managers.
I quit because of the corporate bs, the attitudes of the numerous managers, and how clique things were when I ended my time in loss prevention. It was fun while it lasted but on to bigger and better things.
Jason
I did 8 months at HD with the same experience. They really are all the same at the core.
Rob
You basically just described operations at every large retail chain . A small retail store you’d be doing all of the above except no call codes and less paperwork.
Brenda J Robertazzi
I work for lowes for 5 years and have see alot. People come and go because they are promised hours and then hours get cut no one can work for 10hrs. Associated get very frustrated because they are doing the job of three people. Also, everyday there usually about 3 to 5 call outs. Then you have new people making more money then you. Raises especially at this time should be more then just 20 cent for the people that have work all through this pandemic. Then there is always associate applying for a position in the store and turn down that are qualified and they bring people in from other stores for the position. Yes, we are frustrated and so are our customers. We also need training in the department so we know about the products and how to services the customer with there needs. We have customers alway saying that the associate sold them the wrong product for what the need. The end!!!
Sean Redacted
This comment is right on. Currently an employee. As far as pay goes new hires are paid the same as me. I have been working there for 3 years and while all the new hires come and go. Even the new hires were getting more training than I was when I first started. They got trained on all the equipment before I did. Now I’m there senior of my team and it took them almost two years to train me. I work nights and majority of the work nights usually quit with in a month. I’ve even applied for supervisor position 3 different times and still can’t get out of nights. I was even encouraged by my managers to apply. But again nothing. I’m about ready to ask for a raise at the beginning of year and if they say no. I’m going to start looking elsewhere.
Albert
I wonder if Menards is like this. Some of the cashiers and people who help customers in the various departments have been there for years. The younger people tend to come and go (to be expected) but some of the older people stay. I live in a well populated area so there are other jobs if they wanted to change.
Rob
I don’t know what it’s like for people working there but I do understand that they have some really whacky propaganda videos and whatnot that they’re forced to sit through.
David
Having worked at Lowe’s and HD, I can say they are largely birds of a feather. These businesses have so much inherent need and product demand they literally make money in spite of themselves. The only real requirement they have is to unlock the doors every day. I don’t have other retail experience so I can only assume this is not completely unique in retail. But, my experience at the big box home improvement places was lax managerial oversight, and a general culture of taking the path of least resistance — with rare negative consequences. There were certainly many dedicated people who took pride in their work, but far too many were only cashing checks — hourly and management. The managers simply had to hit their prescribed numbers, and the staff simply had to show up most days, and never steal anything. If the store was in chaos, it wasn’t that big of a deal as long as the previously mentioned criteria was being met. I left both businesses because I had the luxury of not needing the jobs and a lack of willingness to accept the daily frustrations. These were my experiences and may not be in sync with others.
Greg
As a GC i have waited countless hours for lowes to pull something a customer ordered. As soon as a customer tells me its at lowes i will block out 2 hours to go get the item.
My last bathroom 2 weeks ago lowes delivered a damaged tub to a customer where the exterior of the box was OBVIOUSLY smashed and dented. Dropped it and ran. I had to pack it up and return it because they bent all the corners.
I had a conversation with the return girl about how they just must not give a crap to even drop something like this off to a paying customer. I asked her if they just don’t care? She just apologized like they all do. Just a cog in the wheel.
I never recommend my clients to Lowes ever.
MichaelHammer
Lowe’s and Home Depot are DYI stores, therefore I will not allow my clients to shop there. Provide them with alternatives and you will see how easy it is to guide your clients to higher quality products with higher quality service. Most GC’s don’t realize that clients need to be lead, never forget that you are the expert, not them. I sincerely hope you charge the client for your extra two hours. With the extra money you have to charge for the hassles before and after the sale , they will quickly learn the value of going to a higher quality store and paying more for the product. Also your markups will be better because they don’t pay the same price as you.
Ben
What higher-quality stores or alternatives would you recommend?
MM
Specialist ones dedicated to whatever trade covers the parts you need; they will usually be independent stores or specialist chains. In my experience, these are usually local and I’d find them in the phone book or now with an online search under the broad category names.
Need electrical stuff? Find a shop which advertises as an “electrical supply”. Need plumbing parts? Plumbing supply store. Grinding discs, sandpaper, wire wheels, carbide burrs? Welding supply shop. Lumber? A dedicated lumberyard that doesn’t sell anything else. Nuts and bolts? A fastener store like Ace Bolt and Screw or Fastenal. They often overlap with places that sell metals (steel rod, bar, pipe, I-beams, channel, angle, etc.), and hydraulic fittings. MRO shops are good for hand and power tools and usually carry a lot higher quality tools than the average home store; they also stock common jobsite consumables. There are dedicated paint stores which are miles better than the paint counter at lowes or HD, my favorite is Benjamin Moore. There are also a whole different series for shops dedicated to auto paints. Even if you don’t paint cars (I never have) they are great sources for quality sandpaper, sanding/grinding discs, solvents, respirators & cartridges, etc. fine woodworking or cabinetmaking? There are chains like Woodcraft.
Tom D
Look for stores that open early and close early – and are NOT open Sunday (maybe even Saturday). They’re focused on business customers and not retail
MM
@Tom D
Bingo, the good stores tend to target contractors or professionals rather than the big home improvement stores which target homeowners.
As a rule they’re open early and are almost never open on weekends, except perhaps for a few hours Sat. AM.
Mg
I like to use the good stuff too but jobs will often be undercut severely in my area without bargain shopping.
Another note for how you know it’s a contractor supply, you walk in and everyone treats you like crap. This goes on until they realize you’re spending money or fking off. Most home owners are floored when they see the price of quality materials.
Greg
Its convenient for customers to shop there.
My plumbing supply store closes at 4:30.
Avalon carpet and tile gives me 25% off retail they charge customers.
I use peter lumber for all my building materials 2×4 and drywall.
Yes i get better service from local business but sometimes the more convenient route wins out.
Tony R
Not just in GC work, but also personal work, I have found that a lot of items carried at HD and Lowe’s can be ordered through your local shops. A lot of times at a better price. They just won’t have it on hand right away. This is where Proper Planning Prevents P Poor Performance.
Charles
yep. Lowes hates Pros
Tom D
Lowe’s only has value to me on clearance – their normal prices are consistently higher than Menards or Home Depot, but when they clear stuff out they really drop the price.
Troy Bataille
I agree with this and noticed it just this week. HD clearance is a joke, but Lowe’s clearance seems to be some real bargains.
PETE
I’ve found that it depends- At the HD by my work, which is the central store that has the most volume anywhere in town. The clearance items are WEAK! Like $1 off LOL.
BUT in the HD’s near the edges of town where they have less volume- the clearance is way higher.
Tom D
In general I’ve found clearance at “overpriced” stores to be a better deal than clearance at more value-oriented places.
As the more expensive ones just want to clear the shelf space for more profitable items, the value places are trying to still profit.
Aaron s
Also they have more frequent pricing mistakes and aftertaste honor them. I’ve ended up with thousands of dollars worth of stuff at 20-30% of the prices they most likely intended.
Mg
This is a fact. On average for the things i require, Lowes is 5% more. But the people at my local Lowes make up for it. Several knowledgeable people and the cashier’s are very friendly.
My local hd, everyone knows everything that’s ever been known. Lots of attitude. I used to ask where things were, got sick of hearing “we dont carry that” and then i find it myself, or a combination of things that achieve the same goal. You know it all and yet here you are running the plumbing isle of a home depot getting schooled on the products you’re paid to manage.
Chris
Seeing similar things though perhaps not as extreme here in OH. Unfortunately around my area, it’s become common for people to apply for a job, take a couple of days training, then quit immediately and go back on extended unemployment. It’s been affecting restaurants, the box stores, HD & Lowe’s, you name it. I don’t doubt it’s similar elsewhere, but as the improved unemployment benefits wind down finally it will be interesting to see what happens.
I did notice tonight at my Lowe’s that they are actually putting in self-checkout finally, they have been lagging all the other locations in the area for years in that area. I’m sympathetic to folks who’s jobs might be affected by that but I have to admit they had to do something when they can’t keep staff right now, even with signing bonuses. Home Depot around here went that route several years ago, and now you have a hard time finding a cashier or front of store assistant, which is really annoying after they started cable locking all the power tools up front…
Matt F
I just ordered two doors from Lowes, online for instore pickup. Both listed two in stock. I got a call saying one is out of stock and there was only one of the other, but it was damaged. Okay, go ahead and cancel the order.
One week later, both items still list two of each in stock! They failed to update the inventory or didn’t feel like dealing with a door for an in store pickup.
Still better than the Maytag/Whirlpool logistics delivery company I am dealing with on a fridge order from Home Depot. First delivery attempt, they leave the fridge in my garage, saying one of the guys in injured and will come back later with another helper. No show. Fridge is turns out to be damaged. So attempt two, driver calls eta 5 mins. They pull up and then just drive off two minutes later. Call the driver back to ask what is up and he hangs up and blocks my number. I guess they just didn’t feel like delivering. Third attempt, the guys are decent and get the new fridge in. They don’t have room for both the damaged fridge and the old one though, so I still have an old fridge in my driveway where I convinced them to put it.
Tom D
Delivery is getting worse and worse especially with all the subcontracting they do. I’ve taken to order appliances from smaller locations that have their own delivery staff if I need delivery.
Rob
With Lowes and HD, outside of store services are outsourced to the lowest bidder almost always. Apply Murphy’s law and imagine all of the possibilities.
MT
I really like the Craftsman VersaStack system of toolboxes, so I get those at Lowe’s. Everything else is Home Depot, occasionally Menards. Both are better lit, better organized, list more correct inventory on their websites, have better selections, and cost less than Lowe’s.
Jim Felt
I’ll fall back on my long held idea of Lowe’s being for “housewives” and HD being for (lower end) contractors. At least in the market areas I consistently frequent.
As for the present staffing issues HD seems to have a better handle on that too compared to the generally harried to nonexistent “staff” I’ve searched for at Lowe’s.
Lowe’s kinda reminds me of the hollowing out of Sears and Kmart by fast Eddie the Destroyer.
Matt
homedepot has similarly frustrated employees and staffing “issues.” these are a combination of the company cutting back available hours because this is their slow season, which causes people getting like 14 hours a week to quit, them paying less starting than MANY other retailers despite showing sales of $41.1 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of $3.1 billion, or 8.1 percent from the second quarter of fiscal 2020, which was in it’s self a record breaking growth from 2019. Heck even in my local the GAP pays more starting than homedepot. In addition too all of that when they DID increase starting pay they merely bumped up existing employees to match it, so you will have 8 year veteran associates making 50 cents more than a new person. I genuinely believe that the only reason they have not had a store unionize is because of the high turnover rate.
Michael Sexton
I work freight for HD. I’ve been there 4 months. Starting pay is 19.00. I’m scheduled 28 hrs a week but am able to work 40 or more consistently. We’re under staffed and over stressed but, at least it’s consistent. One benifit is being certified on 5 different types of lift equipment. Something I can take with me to make more money.
METallurgy
Would you like to hear about how safety and Covid are being handled? Very badly!! Every day we start our meetings with the whole safety schpeel. I applaud the effort but am disgusted by the reality in practice. Safety is often looked the other way when reported and while all employees recieved an email stating the new mandate to mask up regardless of vaccination status, it’s not enforced at all, which of course is technically a safety concern. There have been Covid cases internally that have not been properly disclosed, despite round the clock reminders that confirmed cases are to be disclosed and any potential exposures identified and persons potentially affected to be informed. There are those that will mask up as they should but many just wear it around the neck and more than a few don’t carry one at all, including Management. Again, corporate policy is that we all must mask up while in the store, including vendors. I would call it a joke but the stakes are too high and the results can be deadly, especially for those on the team that have expressed no desire to be vaccinated. And yet the safety meetings continue to stress the importance thereof, the overhead announcements at regular intervals messaged and nothing changes. Long intervals of safety are profitable for Management so the incentive to bend rules are strong but the inconsistency is nothing short of hypocrisy. As for favoritism and cliquishness in the ranks, you betcha, it’s a serious problem as well. In theory HD does all the right things, unlimited resources allocated to career growth and employee development but the follow-up is the Achilles heal that will eventually undo much of the perception of progress HD has experienced during the pandemic. Their stock has certainly been doing well, their sales increase phenomenal, but artificial gains caused by unique circumstances that will eventually be controlled have created a sense of accomplishment that will be short lived once markets correct and people start becoming more aware of shortcomings in service and value, which I predict will blindside HD and cause a downturn leaving those that thought things were going great and will continue to do so to be very much surprised by the reality that they let their guard down and got too comfortable as their house of cards collapsed. As such there will be the usual finger pointing and denials by those that really weren’t as qualified as they thought to deal with the problems they could have avoided in the first place had everyone stuck to core values and did their jobs as the founders would have and one would have expected given the intense weight of their management structure. We all want HD to succeed but greed is never the winning piece of the equation. But hey, I’m just a new 16$ employee with no formal education, what do I know?
A-A-Ron
If I were you, new employee or not, I would reach out to HD’s confidential employee phone #. They had one at Lowe’s and I’d guarantee you’ll be able to find one for HD with a little research. I’d voice the concerns you brought up re: masks and safety. That needs to change ASAP.
A-A-Ron
I feel for these employees because I was one of them, and their stories are indeed true. We’d be habitually understaffed and it didn’t go unnoticed by us rank-and-file employees. Meanwhile our store manager would boast about his latest bonuses to various assistant store managers and once that trickled down pieces fell into place.
They’d shuffle us around departments without us getting a say in the matter with minimal training, then we’d be by ourselves and hope we wouldn’t get many customers due to our inexperience at where management plopped us on a whim. All so our store could cut corners to keep the bigwigs fat and happy as morale plummeted. Every time I’ve returned there (basically to get some Metabo HPT and Kobalt stuff) I hear from former coworkers about how it’s just getting worse. Don’t even get me started on the horrid website and inventory issues. I left in the midst of the Craftsman mess and am thankful I ended up in a much better place that rewards employees based on performance and not who you’ve been buddying up to.
Hon Cho
The consolidation of a huge swath of hardware/home improvement into Lowe’s and Home Depot has destroyed any incentive for them (and other mega retailers) to treat employees or customers as anything other than real costs and potential revenue. I am constantly amazed how business leaders tolerate the kind of treatment their organizations hand out. Would they want themselves or their family members treated the way they treat their employees and customers? I doubt it.
As consumers we like convenience , choice and supposedly low prices but the hidden costs are very real in the form of poor working conditions as just one example. I’m no fan of government regulation but I’m not sure there’s a real alternative to more regulation to make life more tolerable for employees given how business emphasizes revenue growth and profitability above all else. As long as the revenue flows nothing will change. Business is not anyone’s friend.
Jason
So true. There’s no incentive to treat people better so they don’t.
Toolfreak
Firstly, despite all the bad stuff at Lowe’s, and whatever is going on with them personally, I have to say most of my interactions with Lowe’s employees have been positive, and that’s even when they were subjected to verbal threats and abuse from customers throughout the day. These underpaid people deal with a lot of stuff they should not have to, and really, it is a shame the workers and customers together do not take more drastic action that forces a change in how Lowe’s treats it’s employees.
That said, I’ve heard about understaffing at Lowe’s for many years, not just as a recent thing, at least since the CEO change and likely even before that. It’s the same thing lots of corporations like to try, cut worker hours, cut the number of workers, saddle the existing workers with the work of the others, then blame the workers when the plan doesn’t result in massive profits and instead causes lots of complaints and a loss in overall business.
I’ve also been disappointed in their lack of sensible store policies during the pandemic, having masks/face coverings be “suggested” rather than required, although, to be fair, even though masks are “required” at Home Depot they haven’t been actually enforcing it, nor social distancing. Lowe’s does have those amazingly Orwellian announcements about social distancing and coughing into your elbow, but really it’s a free for all.
Maybe a good start is not working at Lowe’s or shopping at Lowe’s. I limit what I buy from them these days to sales too good to pass up and some stuff only they carry locally, but that’s also since I just go into store and get what I need quickly and get out anyway. It’s also good to constantly have them called out online until their image is so bad they might have such an applicant shortage they decide to do something about it.
Joe
Lowe’s recently hired my colleagues husband to oversee/manage their tool department. This is a guy who’s wife bought a cheap IKEA tool kit shortly after they were married and put all of their furniture together herself because he didn’t know what to do.
Stacey Jones
That is hilarious😂😂😂
Franco
Thanks for the laugh Joe. I know ‘that guy’. So many out there now.
Gage
Thank you for that lovely multi hour long reddit trip your link on pareidolia sent me on. Lol
Stuart
hehe. I did give fair warning in the preceding sentence!
Troy
My experience has been very poor lately at my Lowe’s in central Connecticut, assumedly because of understaffing. I had to go to the store 4 (!) times to order windows from the millwork section because that employee wasn’t working and her schedule was not easily determined. The pro desk would not take my order. They offered to have the millwork employee call or email me, which never happened. I finally threatened to get a manager involved and – all of a sudden – someone who could take my order materialized from the back.
I’ve also found the Lowe’s employees to be much quicker to say “not my department” and offer essentially no assistance.
The above, coupled with the fact that their website is pretty awful, makes me lean towards HD or other suppliers 90% of the time. That is too bad, because I like the variety of offerings at Lowes, but the experience is just terrible.
MM
“I’ve also found the Lowe’s employees to be much quicker to say “not my department” and offer essentially no assistance. ”
Back when I worked at Ace Hardware many years ago the owner would have fired the employee on the spot for telling a customer that. I saw it happen twice.
I must say that I’ve never had a Lowes or HD employee tell me that, they always at least try to help. What puzzles me is why the employees never seem to call or page someone who may be more experienced whenever they are asked to help in areas outside their expertise though. It’s odd to watch an employee who clearly is outside their element frantically trying to help when it seems the easier option is to page someone with more expertise over. Does Lowes/HD not train employees to do this? Or do they actively discourage it? Because my first thought is that if I can’t help I will find you someone who can.
Troy
To be fair, I’m not sure the exact words come out of their mouths. Its things like attitude, inattention, or a cursory look around with a shoulder shrug that suggest they are trying to help, when they don’t or can’t. The paging idea also fails all the time; nobody responds to it in a reasonable timeframe.
Will
Often there isn’t anyone else who knows much more than they do, or the person/s who does/do know are already stretched out trying to help two or three other customers. Eventually you just quit trying to radio for help because you know it isn’t coming.
Source: I worked at HD for several years.
Alberto
I live – literally – half a mile from a Lowe’s store; when the leaves are off the trees I can see their parking lot lights. I rarely go there because it’s so poorly managed and staffed. Inventory shows “18 on hand” but – if you can find an employee – none know where they are or can find them. Sold out items abound, usually taking 1-2 months to re-stock; I ordered a 20″ 1/2 drive extension online (Lowe’s had the cheapest one) after waiting 5 weeks for re-stock. If I need something from Lowe’s – and that’s a desperation move because it means ONLY Lowe’s has that item – I’ll drive 12 miles to a different Lowe’s store because I can be pretty sure “12 on hand” means at least 2-3 available.
The Home Depot 1/4 mile from that lousy Lowe’s store isn’t much better, so maybe incompetence is contagious.
Locally, there are some good independent outfits, although COVID killed the 2 of them closest to me. And, as much as I detest Amazon’s politics, between them, Zoro and Apex, I can get what I need light-years faster than Lowe’s can re-stock. When the Democrats kill the internet I’m screwed.
Jim Felt
“When the Democrats kill the internet”…
What on earth does that even attempt to actually mean?
I thought all the biggest internet/tech companies were basically founded by “Democrats” or those functionally indistinguishable from same?
Well?
MM
I can’t speak for Alberto, but I have noticed that many of those “big tech companies” seem to be doing their best to attack freedom of speech on the internet by inconsistently choosing whom or what to censor from social media platforms or search results. Google, Facebook, Youtube, etc, are rapidly becoming “big brother”.
I will refrain from posting specific examples because I know Stuart doesn’t like to involve politics here, but suffice it to say that it happens.
Mainstream media does this as well, on both sides of the political fence.
Mike (the other one)
Those big tech companies are private corporations. Google, Facebook, etc. are not part of the government. It’s a private industry. When you create an account with them, you have to agree to the terms and conditions. That is a contract to allow you to use their product. If you violate that contract, then they can end the contract at any time, by suspending deleting your account. In most cases, they do not even need a reason to suspend or delete your account.
Any material you post technically belongs to them, so they have a right to do as they want. If you taped some fliers on a store window, they can remove it, because it is their property. You are letting them borrow that material until you delete it, and even then, they have backups. That’s also in the Terms and Conditions.
The first amendment does not apply. It only covers government censorship. If the Federal government had a publicly funded social media platform, and removed content from it, then censorship could be argued.
BTW, most of these corporations made very large donations to Republican candidates and/or PACs.
MM
Obviously it is not the same, legally speaking, as true “Free speech”. As you said, it’s all in the fine print of the license agreements and private companies have the right do censor as they please. That fine print is why I never signed up for Facebook and never will.
But the problem is that even though these are privately owned platforms they have become the de facto public forum. And then the situation becomes a lot more complicated, because if the concept of free speech does not apply to the defacto public forum, where does it apply? I don’t claim to have the answer, but I realize it’s a problem. And it doesn’t matter which political side a forum’s management is biased towards, the fact that they may be biased at all is the problem. I don’t care if they donate money, but the moment they start silencing people’s voices inconsitently that is a different story.
Stuart
Speaking as someone who occasionally has to moderate and even remove comments, I try to be as hands-off as possible, but sometimes intervention is necessary for the good of the community.
This is the first amendment in the Bill of Rights:
The freedom of speech gives us the right to express opinions, but there is a difference between private and public platforms.
Let’s say you’re a NY Yankees fan and you find yourself at a friend’s house where they are all Boston Red Sox fans. Sure, you can open your mouth to express your opinions about the Red Sox, but take it too far and they might kick you out of the party.
The Freedom of Speech doesn’t guarantee you a soapbox on private platforms.
Now, even though ToolGuyd is in my full control, I am still subject to the terms and conditions of my web hosts.
The good thing about social media platforms is that it’s not usually one person making the rules or moderation decisions, you have teams of people. Let’s not get into that, though.
Here, I try to give commentors enough stretch to dip half a toe into no-go territories, such as politics. Many frequent readers and commentors know where the line is, and I can sometimes watch closely without having to visibly wave a finger. But, I will enforce my no-politics rule if need be, and without warning.
On the rare occasion I have to moderate comments, I go to great lengths to ensure I’m being as impartial as possible. I have to put on a moderator hat, it’s for the good of the community, not because of opposing views.
I have banned people for making repeated personal attacks, maliciousness, and habitually toxic attitudes.
Consider the “milk crate challenge” issue, where Tik Tok recently banned any related content from appearing in their search results. This “challenge” involves attempting to walk up and down stacks of milk creates, and it has led to a high number of falls and injuries, with many even requiring hospitalizations.
No matter how transparent the reasoning, different opinions and arguments are going to come into play.
Different perceptions arise because platform censors might have objective terms and guidelines, but if and whether they apply can sometimes appear to be a subjective determination. That’s not very different than what I do here.
Completely separately, you also have a lot of algorithm-based visibility determinations, and that’s not at all related to censorship. With respect to comments, ToolGuyd shows them in chronological order, but other platforms might show them based on interest, relevance, or other weighting.
All first-time, name-changed, or anonymous comments have to go through manual moderation where I have to approve or deny them. This is an anti-spam measure, but it also helps me keep the comments section clean from very off-topic agendas. When someone leaves a political comment, and it’s automatically posted due to the commentor already having at least one published or manually-approved comment, there will be a huge surge in first-time commentor rants, diatribes, and politically-focused arguments that veer completely off-topic.
So, if someone toes the line and it doesn’t seem too problematic, I might give a warning if needed. But sometimes a reply will be slightly more problematic and I’ll watch things closely. If things spiral way out of control in the moderation panel, I might have to intervene more than I anticipated.
I mention all this because you say:
I do appreciate your adherence to my no-politics policy, but I also feel a little bad about it.
I don’t like the idea of censorship, but sometimes it does contribute to the greater good. For every one person who has told me they wish I allowed more politics in the comments section, at least twenty have said something along the lines of “it’s amazing how we can have such civil and friendly discussions about tools without the typical free-for-all chaos as on YouTube and elsewhere.”
MM
I don’t fault you at all, Stuart. Frankly this is a good policy, because no matter what example I or someone else might give it could easily sidetrack the discussion to that particular issue rather than just leaving it as an example that was not meant to be delved into.
I have never seen an issue with moderation here. The issue is when the corporation behind the muzzling appears to have an agenda. That very much appears to be the case with the likes of Google, Facebook, or Youtube but I’ve seen none of that here. No politics is a fair and reasonable rule here. I was going after the big tech giants in my post, not Toolguyd.
Stuart
I know, but I wanted to share a bit from “the other side” of things, speaking as someone that sometimes (but thankfully rarely) has to censor comments or commentors.
I would hope that large corporations have policies and teams in place to remove or average out any individual or corporate bias. The problem is that impartial moderation might still be met with a perception of bias no matter what. Maybe greater transparency would help. But, beyond reactive censorship where any account or content is found to violate terms, visibility is largely algorithm-based, where the sorting and ranking of content is completely hands-off and automatic.
Steven
How about we keep Democrats & Republicans out of this one. I am confident no Democrat or Republican wants to prevent you from being able to order tools online.
Dcl
My local Lowes always has a “Now Hiring” sign up, with starting pay $3 an hour less than almost every other store and fast food place around. You get what you pay for, and that goes for employees too.
Tyler
I just read about this fun tax trick where Lowe’s has they city reassess their property taxes compared to abandoned big box warehouses which have almost no value and then sue for back taxes. I’ve started buying from the local hardware store whenever possible.
https://ilsr.org/dark-store-tax-tactic-makes-big-box-stores-terrible-deal-for-cities/
By the way, we don’t have a labor shortage, we have a salary shortage. Supply and demand works both ways.
Jason
“By the way, we don’t have a labor shortage, we have a salary shortage.”
This. Corporate profits and quarterly returns above all else.
King duck
This has been goi g on in Michigan for a long time unfortunately no party wants to change the laws so hey keep goi g back and forth with tax tribunals.
Stacey Jones
I have not read these employee comments but I am not surprised. Nothing but miserable shopping experiences at Lowes. I’d prefer to shop there over big orange due to their political beliefs, but it’s not happening.
I hate to say it, but HD is much better managed, gotta give the devil his due. In the meantime, I’ll shop online for everything that can wait, for the small slice that can’t, I shop big orange, ace, or true value. Over time, hopefully Lowes will go out of business.
MM
I tend to shop at Lowes more often than HD simply because where I live Lowes has the much more convenient location, though I do visit both.
Frankly I find it’s “6 of one, half a dozen of the other”.
My lowes has somewhat better inventory than HD. Lowes has 6″ pipe, HD doesn’t. Lowes has more large lumber sizes and a better selection of hardwood. Lowes has more blacktop and cement patching products, a better screw/bolt selection, etc. Of course, HD has Milwaukee and Diablo, Lowe’s doesn’t.
Most of the Lowe’s employees are useless, assuming you can find one.
Many of the HD employees are useless though it’s not as bad as lowes. There’s nearly always one standing right by the entrance, but otherwise good luck finding one. The problem of the computer saying the store has X many products but in reality they are missing or nobody can find them? I rarely have that problem at Lowe’s, I have it like clockwork at HD.
What I find extremely puzzling about Lowes is their outsourcing of rearranging merchandise to the “MSI team” wearing those odd blue vests. Back when I worked at a hardware store we, the normal employees, were responsible for checking inventory, ordering restock merchandise, unloading the trucks, double-checking the merchandise against the order manifest, applying price tags, and putting the merchandise on the shelf. If the owner wanted shelves rearranged or a new promo set up on an end cap or something…we did that, the normal workers. A side-effect of this is that all the employees very quickly learned where everything was located in the store. Lowes choosing to have a 3rd-party crew do this work goes a long way to explaining why nearly every Lowes employee seems clueless as to where merchandise is located.
Stuart
This could be tied to what they did two years ago in 2019. Lowe’s laid off thousands of workers, replacing them with contracted 3rd party companies to handle maintenance and assembly tasks.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/01/lowes-lays-off-thousands-of-workers.html
MM
It could be. I haven’t seen those people assemble things like grills or wheelbarrows, I just see them stocking merchandise and re-arranging the displays at the store.
I just find it mindboggling. Lowes is obviously paying those people for their time, so why not pay your normal employees to do the work instead, then you can reap the benefits of your employees becoming much more familiar with the merchandise and thus better able to serve customers?
Jim Felt
I’m curious why your area doesn’t support strong locally based vendors in addition to the two big box chains?
I’ve dozens of specialty store choices in our local midsize market area.
MM
There are excellent plumbing and electrical supply houses here which I shop at often, I just didn’t bother to mention in a Lowe’s thread. Fine woodworking? Nope, gotta drive an hour for that. There is one good paint store I know of and one lumberyard, but honestly I rarely go because they are so out of the way compared to where most of my work is.
mikedt
I can remember multiple times during the hight of the covid shutdowns just dropping my product off in the isle because I wasn’t going to stand in the single checkout line of 30 customers. Either staff more checkout clerks or open more self serve, but if you think I’m going to stand in line for 1/2 hour you must not realize there’s a Home Depot across the street.
MtnRanch
Having been through business school where I was taught that the first objective is to get the customer’s money, why do they build a huge store, stock it, spend a fortune on advertising, and then have no one there to take your money?
Right now they think they are doing the right thing because the demand is high, free government money is flowing, and they are doing well in spite of themselves. This will change.
When I see a long line at Home Depot/Lowes and I don’t need the item right away, I just pull out my phone, make an Amazon order, put the merchandise down and walk away. Product shows up in one or two days. Even more often I don’t bother with the trip to the store. Adding up the time saved, and often the money, I’m much better off not adding the Lowes/Home Depot aggravation to my day.
Of course there are some items where you can’t do that but, for me, they are few.
A good part of why they can’t get people, besides the government out-bidding them, is they pay crappy wages even back in normal times
DC
We try to avoid Lowes as much as we can. Their employees are unfriendly and when you approach them with a question and see you coming, they’ll walk away. Even if there’s no one in say the power tools section and there’s a salesman there, he won’t approach you and ask if you need help. It’s quite the opposite at HD where you just walk down the aisle they’ll ask if you need help.
Vards Uzvards
At my local Lowe’s store (Rio Rancho, NM) my experience fully matches your HD description.
Gregg
Anyone here have any luck when calling a HD or Lowe’s and getting someone to say hello? I was at Lowe’s last week (at the pro desk) trying to find an item in stock at another store. The guy found a store in Ventura Ca (Im in LA county) that had 3 in stock. First thing manager told me is we could call and see if we can get someone to indeed verify that 3 were in stock and not damaged then he tells me good luck with that. No one ever answers the phone. I just laughed and replied you to huh. Even if you do get someone when they transfer you to a particular department good luck getting someone to pick up. Then the whole automated feature starts. I gave up years ago calling these big box stores.
MM
It’s very much hit and miss for me. With few exceptions the only thing I ever call for is the garden department at Lowes. There are two Lowes in my area, one is very convenient, the other not so much. The convenient one almost never picks up the garden extension. The inconvenient one answers reliably, though whether or not the person answering the phone is competent or not is another question entirely.
There’s been a few times when I’ve called to verify stock on a power tool before going to pick one up or to double-check the status of a millwork order and I have rarely had a problem calling for that.
Wayne
I don’t know how it works across the country, but, they built a new Lowe’s literally 5 miles away from the old store. Home Depot came in and placed a store exactly In between the two. The newly built Lowe’s hired retired or older general contractors to run Pro desk, lumber, etc. They also hired people under them.
Once the $12 per hour people were “trained” and KINDA knew what was going on…. They let the experienced $25 an HR people go. They would just cut their hours down to nothing, or give them such a screwed up schedule they would leave. Many of these guy are friends of mine. Now we’re seeing those $12 an hour helpers (who now make $15) being replaced by new kids at $11 an hour. It was bad enough dealing with the interns, I refuse to deal with the rookies. They F’ every order up! Mom and pop lumber stores cost more…. But, I get what I ordered and in the long run, cost less.
Danny
As a career manager in manufacturing I found myself w/o a job one day. I went to work for Lowes and here are my thoughts:
There are good people struggling to make a living several of which are working two jobs to make ends meat.
Lowes did not care about its employees through this whole COVID bit. It was always a reaction to complaints of what they were putting the employees through to make a sale.
The change in work schedules meant you had no planned schedule. They owned you. No planning trips unless you had vacation and even then many times they would deny. Part of that was again they had one to cover (lack of people). Oh they did have favorites who could take time off without getting points for attendance.
Many nights, I watched the whole back half of the store by myself. Very difficult! Some days up to 26, 000 steps. Customers would come in and make comments as to why they had no help.
Safety is what brought me to quit as to the way they do things changing their merchandising in an unorganized manner not even thinking ergonomics for their employees or customers. Look at their flooring department, everything is crammed into the shelves with no spacing. If you want to buy — go to Menards or Home Depot, where stock is ergonomically friendly. Had even shifts working on ice in the garden center.
Lowes is an old fasion warehouse trying to display merchandise. It has not spent capital money to display merchandise orderly and appropriately for its customers like its competitors have. Seriously, go get on the floor at Lowes to buy light bulbs . See how their competitors are doing it amongst other merchandise displayed
Marvin made alot of money for Lowes with covid this past year. He did so taking alot away from employees and risking employees health!!
Tad
You’re not over exaggerating at all. They went to a customer-centric scheduling which basically leaves departments without anyone working at certain times. Then they’re pushing employees to do three people’s jobs over three departments and people are just calling off because it’s miserable to be there. When all management will say is “no excuses”, you would not believe the employees that are quitting without notice. Very long-term employee and this has been the worst I have ever seen it.
Susie
It was a great job until we got a different manager then everything went to hell. They say the customer is always right, but that does not apply like it use it. They think they are entitled because they are the customer. It’s bad when they come in and take it out on the poor cashier and we just the messenger. You treat people with respect if you want respect. You dont need to assistant store managers treat you like a dog. This also goes when some of the department managers that threaten you and nobody listens to you. I worked there a long time and loved it. Then I started hating the job especially during then covid. If you dont do this or that you’ll get fired. The HR Department what hr, they got rid of all the the hr’s in the entire company. Dont trust them at all.
Skyy
Reddit is a very liberal site with many people who try to bark loud enough to get attention. They make stories up and make several accounts to create their own dialog. I do use the site for my own hobbies, but I’m aware not to believe nearly any negativity that comes from the site. Too many fakers.
Maps Bam
There are a lot of terrible companies out there, but there is also a lot of senseless whining from people that just don’t want to work hard. If they don’t like the pay or hours or environment or whatever they are free to go elsewhere. I don’t feel bad for people that have this freedom.
Wyatt
I worked for Lowe’s for 10 years. We were ALWAYS understaffed. Period!
Nathan
is there a reddit for HD workers? I would imagine there are similarities. Everything described here sounds like all the other retail jobs I’ve heard about before when not working for a family business.
Or big corporate retail. So I’m not that surprised. ALso I think if you polled anyone working in the food industry they would have the same complaints about understaffed is making it tough etc.
But – still while not surprising it could be better.
Frank
I agree with many of the posts here about customer service and quality of delivered products. As a contractor Lowe’s or HD are usually my last resort.
When I do have the occasion to visit one of the two (preferably Lowe’s) I look for an older worker, someone in their 60s plus. They are usually friendly, knowledgeable and generally seem to care about their job and you as a customer.
Not these millennial types who were probably told by their parents to get a job and hate every minute they are there and pass the hating on to you.
Celeste
I worked for Lowe’s for 21 years she hurt herself at home and even though Lowe’s has short time disability she was not granted her disability neither was she granted her long-term disability because if you have to have short term in order to get the long-term after 5 months of appealing this with an outside Lowes company she was not granted her Leave and she needed a procedure she was told she didn’t have insurance although she was paying the insurance to Lowe’s every month as they had just terminated her after 21 years without any notice no calling no email what kind of company leaves you like that
apperently this is how they treat a person that has worked for a company open
alot of new stores for them. She work there 21 years what a disrespectful thing. They just don’t care unless it’s for them why have benefits and can’t use them My guess is Marvin would even treat his mother this way no income no help with anything no hr in store to talk to just a outside management group wow. They just terminated me why because I’m old hurt I always was on time and love my customers
Marie
I worked at Lowe’s I loved my job and was the only one who they would call when they call outs I worked my ass off i never complained about anything i went where they told me to go. I was part time working full time hours. Someone hacked my Facebook page and posted something stupid and wanted to stay Anonymous. I got fired for what ever they posted. It took me 3 weeks to find out why I was fired. I have been fighting corporate for 6 months. I was treated like a criminal I was told to Take off my vest and leave the store now and not tell anyone I was fired. The reason the Bitch gave me was. I GOT A E-MAIL. That was it. All I can say is that they DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES AT ALL. And everyone is Quitting.
Daniel L.
Judging by what I see at Home Depot and Lowes here in the silicon valley, neither company really seems to care much for customer experience.
Like the shrieking horns connected to motion detectors on fake CCTV screens with pre-recorded video of employees monitoring the cameras and making phone calls in a screen-in-screen shot…gimmie a break. I realize that they lose a ton of money from shrinkage, but all this theater in an attempt to make customers feel like they’re being watched makes me want to NEVER walk down those isles…and thus, NEVER buy a power tool from HD.
If you ask me, these places are reaping the consequences for decades of sidelining labor in favor of deeper discounts and higher profits above all else. I feel for the people working there…but I hope their labor shortage wakes some folks up, or at least opens a space in the market for someone else to displace them.
Mg
I’m going to quote a user from another site, i wish i had said this.
“Why would you buy tools from Home Depot anyways?!? You might as well do you work with toilet paper soaked in koolaid”
-My Hero
MichaelHammer
Oh my word! Thank you for bringing up those stupid cameras. They are utterly insulting. What I hear in my head is “we’re watching you, we’re watching you” over and over. Here’s an idea HD, staff your freaking stores! They’re very bit as bad as the alarms at the exits that everyone ignores.
Mg
I know I’ll get a reply saying something like “pay your employees more and you’ll have employees”.
The government has priced me out of the market. I was forced to increase prices this year already, that price hike didn’t even cover the increase on my cost of doing business through the pandemic. It is LITERALLY impossible for me to pay my workers more and stay in business.
Sad part is, working for me does mean making more than unemployment, unlike a lot of other companies. But it doesn’t even matter, honest 40 hours for X, or sit at home for X×.7?
JoeM
Hey Stuart? Still think I need to “Get Over My Lowes Bias” after all this? Appears they treat everyone disrespectfully, and never deserved my patronage, regardless of the deals going on.
Stuart
Yes, I do. Injecting unrelated bias into anything Lowe’s related, while disregarding actual topics at hand, doesn’t make for productive discussion.
bobad
I live right between 1 Lowes, each 20 miles away. The town A Lowes is poorly run. Stocking is sketchy, help is poor, the employees know nothing. Town B is great, and I have no problems there. So yeah, management makes the store.
bobad
2 Lowes, not 1 😁
Charles
yep. Lowes hates Pros.
I have to go there a gazillion times a week. I far prefer Home Depot if I can.
Supply houses are the best, but I’m not running all over town for one part when there is a Lowes a block away. Though I often rethink that theory when I’m in Lowes
Gerald
I havent been to a Lowes in 20 years, for all the reasons above. Home Depot is better, but only marginally so. They get my business largely because they have run all the mom and pops I used to deal with out of business.
James Davis
I think the two Lowe’s in the city of Bristol ( Tn / Va ) are clean and stocked well. Staff are visible. The thing that gets me is that both stores have self checkouts that are almost never open. The cashiers at either store are pretty good at moving traffic. We have a Lowe’s in Abingdon, Va that is also quite clean and well stocked. On the other hand, we have Lowe’s in Kingsport, Tn that have the power tools locked up, and are generally less attractive to shop at. We have one Home Depot in Bristol that is perhaps not quite as clean as the Lowe’s are, but is equally usable. Perhaps it’s because I live in a smaller market. I also rarely actively look for help. Save for a few items here and there, I know where I want to go and do not want help at all. I know service has been reduced at Lowe’s. It is visible. However, I almost always leave Lowe’s and HD in Bristol happy. Johnson City and Kingsport Tennessee are different stories, and I can see where some of these stories come from. I do believe results vary.
Juan
I worked at Lowe’s from 2005 to 2011. Worked my way up from a night stocker to what now would be called assistant store manager.
It was a miserable place to work. And once I became salaried, my time off suffered immensely.
In fact it was this work experience that made me vow, that I would never, ever work for another company ever again, but instead be self employed.
I only shop there cause I like power detect and Xtreme Dewalt stuff.
Joe W
I frequent two Lowes stores in town, at least once per week. I’ve noticed a substantial change for the worse over the past few months. Definite lack of staffing, often the same one register open issue you noted. Today I was in around 6:30pm and there were NO registers open, only self checkout. Many times I’ve been in for items that say they’re in stock on the website, but then they’re not where they’re supposed to be. No associates around to help either. On one occasion I went to the service desk to ask and had a manager tell me (without looking or offering to have someone look) that it’s probably not actually there and I should try Home Depot. I continued looking and found the items in a completely unrelated department. On another occasion recently I couldn’t find two different items that were supposedly in stock, the spots on the shelves were empty. Went home and ordered for store pickup and they mysteriously found them. Pro tip- these big retail stores have a performance metric for order pick rate, they get dinged for every one they don’t fill. If you really want someone to track something down, this is the way.
Anyway, as far as the labor shortage, I know there’s a narrative that “no one wants to work.” From personal experience I can tell you a lot of these places took COVID as an opportunity to cut staffing without taking the negative publicity, and never staff back up. Everyone is pushing the online order and pickup model because it saves on labor costs, rent, etc. Get used to it, this is the way things are going to stay. Lowes made a ton of money during the pandemic, there’s no reason they can’t afford staffing or competitive pay. It’s strictly about the bottom line. Everyone else is doing it too, Target and Walmart are pushing curbside hard, and whenever I’m in Target now it seems that most employees I see are picking orders and can’t be bothered. Try going to Best Buy, if you can find one they didn’t close in the past year. You have to put your name on a list when you walk in the door and wait your turn for someone to speak to you. It’s not that they can’t find workers, in many cases it’s because they canned all their workers last year when there was a convenient excuse. Oh, but stock prices are at all time highs, so I guess there’s that.
Mg
You’re out of touch with reality. My local hd and Lowes are hurting for staff so bad they employees that have pointed out by double and triple and can’t find staff to replace.
You’re basically rambling about stuff you think is true but not. There IS. A labor shortage like crazy. It IS from handing out free money to the biggest piece of crap in the country.
Facts.
bobad
What should we expect? Lowes is an entry-level job, 1’st rung on the ladder. They don’t charge you a penny for preparing you for the 2nd and 3rd rung jobs that will support your family. They have to put up with green, self-centered employees that know nothing until they teach them.
Do you think 1st rung workers get a lot of pushing, shoving, backbiting, and have to kiss a lot of keesters? You should see what executives have to go through!
T
I worked at home depot. Started fresh with little knowledge except running phone lines so I was placed in electrical. It’s all about the local store management—they either are happy to be there, they care for you and do what they can to help you enjoy the job…or they don’t give a shit at all except for a few employees they like and manage by numbers (hopefully they at least try to keep numbers up…if not it takes a while for corporate to notice and the store really goes to shit).
But yea at our Lowe’s, we’re lucky to have a real person for a cashier. It blows my mind how they expect any contractors or big DIY jobs to make a purchase. It’s been several occasions where I’ve seen someone with a cart full of material see that there’s only self checkout, then walk out the store and leave the cart there.
What’s worse is all the BS about social distancing while there are stacks and stacks and wing stacks and special buys all over the front of the store that keeps you from being able to social distance while they blab it over the intercom. I fell like the world is run by emotionless robots. End rant…
Mg
Very disappointing that my comment about work ethic was removed. Why on earth would you remove something that desperately needs to be said?!?
I’ll never come back to this worthless site again. A site called “toolguyd” removes a comment about laziness. That’s extremely rich….
I detailed the exact reason why you’re crying about Lowes and you delete it… You’re an idiot.
Anselmo (Robert) Sarabia
I work at Lowes,been there 6 years and yes Management Sucks!
New hires make more than me.
The scheduling is awful.
My advice would be quit and look for another job.
God bless, my ass Marvin, you don’t care about your so called Family you care about your Profits,so stick that God bless up yours.
Poor Lowes Employee
Most of the employees in the Lowes store are payed less then poverty wage! Lowes just cares about upper management greed. Careless about community and employees they hide truth. No honor and have no shame! Shame on Marvin what kind of CEO and or godly person pay most of his employees poverty wages but he ends up with more then 20mil in his pocket. Lowes management is not informing employees of covid cases of other coworkers. Not even one time in 2 almost years. Shameful
HD Employee
Have y’all thought about well maybe…idk we’re in a pandemic? The way some customers treat the employees is wrong. You argue with them about corporate policies they have to enforce and overall give the employees present a hard time while you acknowledge the fact that they are understaffed. They’re not paid nearly enough to deal with ridiculous management teams and asshole customers.
LB
I quit Lowes because after a change in CEO they demanded I ‘gamify’ my customers that I had known for nearly a decade, cheese them up, demand them to sign up for credit cards to ‘save my job’ and that I should be HAPPY to do this because it saved the store money in the long run for every swipe of their credit card vs the customer paying cash or check. It was absurd – get them to spend money they don’t have, get them to spend the most every day for things you recommend that they don’t need – bigger numbers every single month etc. And at the same time they were cutting quality, services and cutting us right and left so all we were left with newbies and people stressed out they were next. We lost so many customers – ‘I came here because you were better than this.. until now, you’ve just lost my business. Is this Circuit City? Is this Home Depot?’ Plus, yes we were understaffed, going out of stock of basic merchandise for days to a week at a time, covering up unsafe working conditions only when it ‘mattered’ ie: management was having an upper level visitor – otherwise we were scrambling every day to cover everywhere and then they sprung the metrics beast and gamification or face the ‘cut’ every month.
6longYrs@Lowes
As a former retail store slave that’s now a retail corporate goon I can say without doubt the pay structure throughout retail is extremely unbalanced. Store level employees are very underpaid. Someone who is motivated, doesn’t call out of shifts, wont avoid manual labor or dealing with customers deserves to be paid fairly.
The biggest issue is with customers, it doesn’t take long working in retail to develope a hatred for humanity. Employees in charge of inventory get set up to fail by customers who cant put things back and make messes. Also have the people that refuse to put in effort locating something and use employees are their personal shoppers. Just read the aisle headers and section markers or use a app if available. Theres also the people that expect employees in certain departments to have knowledge well above their pay grade. Guy in plumbing isn’t a plumber if he was he wouldn’t be working at lowes for 12/hour. Guy in stocking cant investigate the supply chain. Really if your not handicap and ask for help more than 3x a year your prob a moron.
zerofaith
The only focus the executive team has is to earn wall street respect. They don’t care about the customers or their employees. Look up the lawsuits filed, lawsuits they have settled and ones they have lost. The SEARS crew Marvin and McFarland brought in is a total joke. Associate Relations is there to protect District Managers and above – that is it.