As we drove away I turned to Z-D and said, “some blog posts just write themselves.”
HE NODDED IN AGREEMENT.
Granted we could have refused to buy what we came for, but after hauling about 500 lbs of stepping stones + bagged mulch + bagged pebbles onto a flatbed cart then pushing it from the back of the Garden Center to the checkout register by the gated entry at the front of the Garden Center, we were committed to the project.
Plus we’d intentionally parked our car near the Garden Center gate so that we’d make it easier on ourselves when it came time to load our items into our car, but the joke was on us about that, too.
Here’s what happened.
• ~ 🌼~ •
On a sunny spring Saturday morning around 9:00 a.m. Zen-Den and I went to Lowe’s to buy gardening materials and some plants. Like many other shoppers we wanted to get going on our gardening projects while the weather was with us.
The Garden Center was busy with about 20 people shopping, everyone grabbing items, putting them in a basket cart or on a flatbed cart. Then going to stand in line by the registers, waiting for an employee to ring us out. But there were no cashiers to be seen by the registers.
After waiting about 5 minutes, pleasantly chatting with other shoppers, I decided to walk through the large store to go tell Customer Service that… stick with me here… there were customers who required some service. That is, a cashier to ring us out.
Instead of being received in a positive way*, the woman in charge of Customer Service told me I was wrong, stating that at there were no customers waiting to be checked out in the Garden Center.
YES, SHE SAID I, THE PERSON STATING A VERIFIABLE FACT, WAS WRONG.
• ~ 🌼~ •
I said “yes” there were customers in the Garden Center with basket carts and flatbed carts filled with items to purchase. At least 10 when I left the area to come and politely tell her we needed some… stick with me here… customer service.
But she said “no” that can’t be. She knew she was right because the Garden Center wasn’t open. It opened at 10:00 a.m. and it was only 9:20 a.m.
Repeating myself I told her “no” it was open, that the gates were unlocked, and that about 10 people were waiting to buy stuff.
THEN SHE ASKED ME IF I’D BROKEN THE LOCK TO GET INTO THE GARDEN CENTER.
I assured her that I hadn’t broken in and that it was open when we drove up. And most importantly… stick with me here… we needed someone to ring us out. Like one of the three cashiers I could see standing at three customer-free registers in the main part of the store.
Again this woman told me I was wrong because the Garden Center wasn’t open. It was kind of a theme with her to not believe me, the teller of truth.
At which point I walked away from her heading back to the Garden Center, shouting over my shoulder, “IT’S OPEN.”
• ~ 🌼~ •
Welp, what happened next is absurd, a case study in poor retail store management. By the time I walked back to the Garden Center the customer service woman had sent an employee to… stick with me here… lock the gates. Yep, she didn’t send one of the three cashiers who was doing nothing to ring us out.
INSTEAD OF ACCOMMODATING THE CUSTOMERS SHE MADE HER VERSION OF REALITY COME TRUE BY CLOSING THE GARDEN CENTER.
But of course the story doesn’t end here. That’d be too easy.
Nope, then we the customers were directed to traipse through the store pushing are loaded carts to where the three cashiers were standing by registers ready to ring us out.
Except they weren’t really ready to ring us out.
This is because many of the garden supplies and plants didn’t have UPC codes on them so without the official Garden Center information notebook the inside cashiers had no way to know what to charge us for the items that are sold exclusively in the Garden Center.
• ~ 🌼~ •
So we waited… stick with me here… while someone from Customer Service went back into the closed Garden Center to get the information notebooks about the UPC codes for the items we wanted to buy.
Eventually our pleasant, but frazzled, cashier got the information she needed and was able to ring up our purchases. We paid. Then we pushed the flatbed cart across the large parking lot to where we’d parked our car conveniently adjacent to the Garden Center gates.
That’d be the Garden Center that was open when we arrived, but now was locked up tight on a beautiful spring Saturday morning in the suburbs.
BECAUSE CUSTOMER SERVICE MADE IT SO.
The end.
*Good Customer Service would have said something to the effect of: “Thank you for telling me what’s going on in the Garden Center. It’s not meant to be open until 10:00 a.m. I don’t have any cashiers to run those registers now BUT I’LL SEND SOME EMPLOYEES TO HELP YOU PUSH YOUR CARTS TO THIS PART OF THE STORE where we have registers open. I apologize for the inconvenience.” And that would have been the end of it. No story to tell.
None of this–NONE OF IT–surprises me. Even the fact that the store has an entire department NOT OPEN WHEN THE REST OF THE STORE IS OPEN.
The whole thing is so dumb. And the reaction of the Customer Service (!?) individual is typical in these retail environments anymore. Sigh.
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nance, you said it. I’m not thrilled by what happened, but I’m not surprised either. We bought what we came for so it’s not like I’m on my high horse about never going back. We will, just probably to a different location. Still…
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O M G! That is what we in the UK call a Jobsworth. How absolutely ridiculous. I trust you have sharpened your pencil and are penning a complaint or, at the very least, a letter informing the store’s management how their staff could do with some training in the concept of customer service.
And… relax. Are the plants lovely? 🙂
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Deb, first of all the plants are lovely, growing. Second of all the stepping stones are in place so we have a safe path now. And thirdly I’ve been worn down by poor customer service in stores so that I won’t be writing any letters. This blog post is about as far as I’ll go with this story… that didn’t have to happen but it did. *sigh*
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Put this post on social media and tag Lowe’s, at least. Or break it into a Twitter thread. Too good not to share, plus it could be a cautionary lesson in training. Plus, who doesn’t open the garden center at 7-8 AM on Saturday in the spring and summer?!
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AutumnAshbough, good idea about adding a tag to my tweet linking to this blog post. Will do. It’s definitely a cautionary lesson in how to NOT do customer service. I, too, question why the Garden Center wasn’t open early on a spring Saturday morning. That’s just plain stupid.
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Right? I mean, do they not want to make money?
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You have to wonder, don’t you? We thought we’d be *late* by getting to the Garden Center at 9:00 a.m. Ha! Joke is on us.
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First off….great post. Secondly….I have become so used to lousy service that I now think average service is exceptional…third- this is clearly a situation where the employees were calling you a bunch of Karen’s….fourth…it does make for an excellent story
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LA, we the customers were anything but Karens. We were docile little sheep who did what we had to do to buy the stuff we wanted. No shouting for the manager, just going along with the half-assed way in which we were forced to buy our purchases. Realizing, like you said, customer service is so lousy now that average is exceptional. Below average is the norm. This, I’d rate, as the norm.
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I know. But I’m betting when they tell the story on their blog…you’re all Karen’s. It’s the way of the world…mock people whose only expectation is to pay for something.
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Well said. You’re right, of course. What a stupid experience all the way around.
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Completely. Disheartening and frustrating. There are so many things I just can’t comprehend anymore, this being just another example
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Though asking you if you picked the lock is going to make me laugh for a bit…
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Yes, that surprised me. I mean, did I look like a woman who runs around on Saturday mornings picking locks on gates so that I could buy some posies? Is that my vibe?
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I’m still laughing
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In truth, so am I. I mean really…
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Hahaha I think that bit was the most absurd part. Why would someone break in to a store, and then go to all that effort to find someone to ring up their items?? Customer Service didn’t ask to search your bags and pockets for lock-picking tools and looted goods?
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Pistachios, no one asked to search me to check for lock-picking tools which is a good thing. If that had happened I’d have gone ballistic on that woman’s ass. As it was I just walked away from her, muttering, and eventually was allowed to buy the stuff. But the struggle was real.
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Typical Canadians… we try to stay polite no matter what and act like sheep. It’s annoying isn’t it.
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Writer of Words, I’m American, but a Midwestern American & we’re notoriously nice like Canadians, I guess. I was peeved but not outraged. Just kind of defeated as it happened.
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Ah… Lol
Well we seem to be a lot alike. 😉
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It;s really hard to determine the dumbest part of this mess. That the garden center would be closed while the store is open – that it would be closed on a Saturday morning – that the customer service person could be so stupid and uncaring. Ugh. I can understand how you would be tempted to leave.
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Dan, yes you said it. What is the dumbest part of this experience? No answer, a rhetorical question. The thing was we were committed to doing our garden projects on Saturday morning so we were going to buy our supplies regardless of the lousy customer service. But why Lowe’s made it difficult for us to do this… I couldn’t say.
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OMG. Hilarious and maddening, like you are in an absurdist sketch from Monty Python:
“I want to return this parrot to your pet store.”
“This parrot is dead.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“It is.”
“He’s just napping.”
My husband had the opposite experience on a Saturday at Lowe’s. Had to buy a new washer and dryer and got no help at Home Depot. Went to Lowe’s and was helped right away. They were delivered within 48 hours. I guess it comes down to the manager.
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I love Monty Python, great reference. I think you’re absolutely right: “… it comes down to the manager.” We said the same thing. IF we need Lowe’s we’ll go to a different one next time.
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Ah, nothing like skewed reality to start the day. How utterly absurd.
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Yes, a bit of skewed reality describes it. Funny, but nutty, too.
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I have no words… This has to be one of the best examples of how not to run a business ever!
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Deb, I agree. It was completely absurd from being accused of breaking into the Garden Center. And having no one to run the registers. And being forced to lug 500 lbs of stuff hither and yon through the store, across the parking lot. An experience like no other!
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I keep thinking of the keywords “Saturday” and “open at 10am”
And add to that “it’s June. Summer.”
Yeah, down here in Southeast Texas, if people were forced to wait until 10 am to shop the garden center, on a Saturday, that would mean if they had to get a flat cart full of stuff, and were lucky, they might make it back home by noon to START the yardwork and planting. And having to unload and start that kind of work when the heat index indicates it feels like 100 degrees F with 99% humidity… I’m sure there’d be a lynch mob ready to go in no time. People set their alarms to get to garden centers as close to open as possible (8am for the heavy stuff). Too damned hot to work if you wait too long.
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Goodness, that was a tale of bad service! I must commend you for remaining calm and being patient. I think I would have left the store without my purchases. Of course, then I would have to find somewhere else to get all the items I needed. Frustrating.
Glad it is done and looks nice!
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Ellen D, we discussed leaving but after getting 500 lbs of supplies collected, the idea of going elsewhere and doing it again… well, it wasn’t worth it. I was perturbed, but calm while taking in all the deets so I could write this post. I mean, what is a blog for after all?
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Oh boy. I hope those at the tippy-top of Lowe’s are jumping up and down in frustration. Definitely not a “Think yes” approach. Maybe they will flood you with free garden supplies. 🙂
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Arlene, you said it: Definitely not a “Think yes” approach. The fact that the Customer Service woman kept telling me I was *wrong* irritated me. I was *right* and no amount of denial on her part was going to change reality. Until she did, of course.
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This is crazy! I’m assuming that the cash registers in the garden centre won’t operate before 10? Yikes. As Autumn Ashbough said, reminds me of Python’s parrot sketch.
Great post, by the way.
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Lynette, yes it was crazy. We figured the same thing as you that the registers in the Garden Center were locked until 10:00 a.m. That being accepted, why didn’t they have a sign saying that so we, the customers, would know to go into the main part of the store to buy our stuff? Again, in that scenario there’d be no story to tell here.
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I laughed because our Home Depot has different hours for the garden center and they LOCK the gates. However, you can get into the garden center through the store. I already know if I go early I may have to push my stuff to the regular checkouts. This past week I was pleasantly surprised to be there around 9 and the garden center was not only open but a cashier was there waiting for me. Sometimes these stores have really dumb rules that can’t seem to be overridden by common sense.
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Kate, you’re right. This was an example of a dumb rule that makes no common sense. Apparently the gates were supposed to be locked until 10:00 a.m when I’m guessing the registers would work and there’d be a cashier to run one. HOWEVER there was no sign by the registers telling us that, so how could we know? Also, sunny spring morning = big time gardening in the suburbs. Lowe’s doesn’t know that?
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I agree. I never understand the sanity of opening a garden center in mid-morning when gardeners tend to be an early bunch of people.
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Yes, yet that’s what happens at these big box retail stores. I prefer the local garden nurseries, but we were trying to be efficient and shop in one place.
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I feel ya there. Wish we had more local nurseries, but I’m out-county, so “local” would still be about 20 miles either way. Might as well go a couple miles further to a bigger store and pick up some much-needed hardware while I’m at it and get a coffee on the way (hee hee). Besides, I can hit those smaller places on the way home…maybe. I just hate that the “local” ones tend to close so early in the afternoon, so it makes it hard to browse. At least they can generally answer questions well… unless they’re staffed last minute by family of the owner that doesn’t know anything but the prices. That gets frustrating.
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Great post. Customer service is definitely a thing of the past. If I committed to never shop again at every store that has done similar things to me, I wouldn’t have anywhere to go. But this one really should capture the attention of the honchos at Lowe’s, and if they aren’t forthcoming with at least an apology, then all is lost for that chain. I need to learn from your calm manner in dealing with it, because my reaction would have leaned more toward anger, which doesn’t help anything in the moment.
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Nina, you’re right that if we never shopped again at all the stores with poor customer service, there’d be nowhere to shop. Poor customer service is the norm, not that I like that– but I realize it. If this had happened later in the day when I was tired, I’d have been less forgiving. But I was feeling groovy, and I could see this was a blog post in the making.
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That’s crazy but too often the reality. I’ve asked for help inside Lowe’s before and was told the garden centre was owned and staffed and run by someone else, but that may just be Canada? I find their customer service poor anyway, both inside and out.
I had a bad experience last week trying to EXCHANGE a package of disposable pandemic gloves at a chain store pharmacy for a larger size. I shop there a lot as they give 20X the points on certain days and special offers for their loyal customers, so if I spent $60 I would get 20,000 points ($20). (Not hard to do here where everything is so expensive) Store manager said they would have to issue a refund and that would void the points. I said why didn’t you put a size guide on the package, a medium was way too small and I have small hands, besides I don’t want my money back just another size. We argued for about five minutes, I did not give up as it just did not make sense. Why should I lose my points when it was just an exchange. I suggested she do a refund without the receipt (which I had brought with me) and she told me that was against store policy. I finally asked to speak to the store owner, (I used to do shifts there so knew her although she was not there that day) and the manager realizing I was not going to give up, came up with the brilliant idea that she would issue me a gift card and I didn’t even have to exchange and buy anything. A brilliant solution which took ten minutes to solve! Geez…..a less stubborn person would have given up. I was not nasty to her, just persistent. I’m sure they must encounter this situation all the time as the points days are every weekend, so you’d think they’d revisit their store policy. Now I still need to find a box of gloves. I find those disposable gloves handy for gardening now too!
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Joni, maybe the Garden Centers are independent from Lowe’s here, too. I don’t know. All I can say for sure is that I didn’t break into the Garden Center, I was right that there were customers in the Garden Center, and that the Customer Service woman lacked the wherewithal to graciously help we the customers.
What a strange experience you had with your chain store pharmacy. Why should they care about your points if all you wanted to do was exchange something? That seems like a simple thing to do, to keep the customer [you] happy. I’m glad that you arrived at an acceptable solution but the fact that you had to argue for common sense is difficult to accept. I truly don’t get these stories anymore, be nice to me and I’ll spend more money. Isn’t that what they want, my money?
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I…what. There is just so much to unpack here. I just…did you break the lock to get in what even who says that. I…am without words except what even is happening. I mean. What. Even.
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Nicole, your response is close to mine. I was somewhat confused as it was happening, rather hung up on the idea that the Customer Service woman thought I’d broken into the Garden Center. And that she didn’t believe me. She just kept telling me I was *wrong* and I couldn’t figure why she thought that.
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Oh yes, How DARE you break into the garden center to load up a cart, you villain, and then have the gall to… ask for a… cashier… so you can pay…?
Methinks something was just NOT computing upstairs for Miss Customer Service. I think her logic circuit was broken.
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Sadly, this sounds like every major purchase I’ve ever made at Lowe’s. They’re always understaffed, or worse yet staffed with people who say ‘that’s not my department’ with entirely too much satisfaction.
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River, around here our Lowe’s vary. Some are accommodating while others, like this one, are a crap shoot. I don’t think I’d have minded this if the Customer Service woman hadn’t kept telling me I was *wrong* when I was clearly right. A walk into the Garden Center would have proved that.
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The last time we went we needed to order special color shingles, which for 20 years… we have done at the “pro desk”. That day there were 4 people, yes 4, standing at the pro desk doing absolutely nothing. One was on playing with his phone another was literally doodling on paper. We were told the pro desk doesn’t order anymore and to go to lumber. The man in lumber had no idea what we were talking about. He sent us back to the pro desk who sent us to mill work. Mill work had no idea what we were talking about and sent us to customer service… who did not service us at all and told us to go home and order them online.
😡
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WELL THAT’S JUST LOUSY. Four employees and none willing to help you? If what they told you had been accurate then I’d understand why they told you to go to a different department, but considering what you finally learned…how lovely of them to waste your time. Amazing story, fascinating too. Customers are nothing but trouble, I guess. 🤨
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We’re so bothersome. Always wanting something.
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Yep
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If only this was an amusing subplot dreamed up by some clever writer on a top-rated sitcom….if only!
Then we could all sit back and chuckle and say – wow, someone really has a good imagination. Instead I think most of us are reading and nodding our heads in agreement because we have experienced something quite similar.
Deb
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Deb, I like the idea of this being a subplot in a sitcom but it really happened. You’re right that everyone who reads this is going to understand how [and why] it happened. Customer Service… what is that?
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I burst out laughing at: SOME BLOG POSTS JUST WRITE THEMSELVES. Ed was eating breakfast and he asked me what was so funny.
This is truly hard to believe. How could someone at the store not have a functioning brain cell? Stands to reason. For a moment, I thought you ended up being locked inside the garden center – or your flatbed cart did – when she went back and locked the gate. Glad that was NOT the case. Let’s be thankful for the little things. I think my favorite part was when she asked you if you broke the lock. Hilarious.
So strange when a store makes it difficult for you to shop and purchase their products. I feel like this could be a skit on Saturday Night Live.
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Ernie, yep, this blog post just wrote itself. I didn’t have to stretch to find the absurdity in the situation. I can say that I wasn’t angry, just fatigued by the ridiculousness of this experience.
I agree it was hilarious that she asked me if I broke into the Garden Center. I look like the sort of person who would, I guess. At least to the Customer Service woman. We got what we came for, plus a story to tell– but one that’d have preferred to see on SNL rather than playing out in front of me.
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The first lesson I learned as a restaurant server at one of my first jobs as a teen: “The customer is ALWAYS right.”
Too bad the customer service people missed that tutorial. And so it goes . . . Yes, you got a blog post out of it, sure thing! %-D
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Marian, I learned that lesson too. I corollary being don’t tell the customer that he or she is wrong. Especially when the evidence is there in front of your eyes. But *hey* why deal with reality when you can make it go away? So ridiculous
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Considering they all are miked-up somehow with walkie talkies or headsets now, how difficult would it have been to ask someone to check on the garden center and what’s going on in there? A few seconds to get someone on the horn? And if there was no one who could do it, get a co-worker to hold down the fort in customer service and do it yourself?
As much as they love to say the word “teamwork” in retail, I’ve seen little more than “every man for himself” the past few years. Yikes.
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Good point. A fast call, a confirmation of what I told her, no problem but that’s not what happened.
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Some people have no common sense and are working above their pay grade. That woman was one of them.
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Jean, hear, hear! You said it. It was a conversation for the ages so from that point of view I am grateful.
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Well, you haven’t known me long, but poor customer service has been a featured topic in my blog. My worst experiences have been at banks, but all retail sucks these days. Back in the dinosaur age, when I was in retail management, the mantra was, ‘The customer is always right.’ So, the correct response should have been, “I’m sorry that we must have erroneously unlocked the garden center. I will send 2 cashiers over there immediately to take care of all of you!”
But it’s 2021, so nope, YOU were wrong! I’d post a nastygram on their Facebook or Twitter page. It’s Karen-like, but these businesses need to be made aware of what goes on in their stores.
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Bijoux, I worked in retail management back in the day, too. Accommodating the customer was the priority, making them happy so that they’d spend money was the goal. Not anymore.
I like your theoretical response to what happened. It is a correct one. Telling me I was *wrong* many times was not a correct one. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW, I WAS ONLY THE CUSTOMER. *meh*
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Ally, I can’t even…What has happened to customer service lately? I have had similar ridiculous experiences lately (mostly at restaurants and mostly involving my running club). It’s like these people have never had a job before, or at least not one where they had to deal with, you know, customers.
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Laurie, you might be onto something here. Maybe some people are now working with customers for the first time in their lives and haven’t been trained properly. Dealing with the public is challenging, I know that from personal experience. BUT I wasn’t being unreasonable or lying about anything. I just wanted to buy some stuff and go home. It seemed so simple in theory…
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That Customer Service person must have worked for the government at one time, because that’s the way a lot of them are….
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John, ha! I hadn’t considered that possibility but you made me laugh with it. Could be, my friend, could be…
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Oh heavens, I got the terrible feeling that she might’ve been fired from the DMV… that would explain it. Nothing’s ever done right the first time (in their eyes) when you go up to them and they have a one-track mind. Gah!
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Wow! Unbelievable!!!
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It was kind of unbelievable except that it happened. Didn’t ruin my day, but made me wonder why I bothered to try to get some… stick with me here… customer service.
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So. The way I see it, you’re at fault. You expected logic to prevail.
Ally, Ally, Ally … have you not learned yet?
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Joanne, ha! Apparently not. I am such a naive woman, aren’t I?
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hahahaha!! In spite of your sassy view of the world, you still love your rose-coloured glasses. Carry on. They look good on you. 🙂
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Yes, you understand me. I snark, but I’m an optimist deep down. 😊
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That is such a wild story. I would have been screaming my head off. Well, mostly muttering expletives under my breath, but fury would have been pouring out of my eyes. Sounds like a total nightmare, but you did make me laugh, and I so appreciate that.
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Robin, if it had happened later in the day when I was tired I would have been more upset. But as it was I muttered to some of our fellow customers in the Garden Center who agreed with me that this was ridiculous, then we all shuffled our way through the store to the registers with cashiers. I felt sorry for those cashiers because they didn’t have the right info, which wasn’t their fault. So we all just waited…
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This sounds like the Monty Python Dead Parrot skit! I can imagine that such a bad experience would ruin an otherwise good day.
If you wanted to do Lowes a favor, you’d contact their Complaints department, point them to this post and give them the details of store, date, time and the service agent’s name if you have it. Then maybe they could fix their management & training problem. I thought Lowes was a responsible & ethical company but maybe that’s changed.
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SandyL, that’s exactly what this was. “He’s not dead, he’s just resting.”
I could contact them, but I’m cynical enough to think that nothing would change. Plus my point isn’t to get one person in trouble it’s to point out the flaws in their system. Either the Garden Center is open or it isn’t. And a few signs about closed registers wouldn’t be amiss.
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The real sadness here is that this seems to be this country’s version of customer service these days. Kind of goes along with the rest of our current society’s attitude about life. I am happy for you that you stuck through it (I’m not sure I would have) and now have lovely plants and a stepping stone path.
>
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Carol, exactly. The term ‘customer service’ means almost nothing anymore. I don’t know what the deal was with this particular woman, she’s just a symptom of the disease. Better training, better employees. Better employees, happier customers. Happier customers, more buying. Seems obvious…
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Wow, what a comedy of errors, or more like ineptitude! It’s difficult to believe that the employee would stick to her unloaded guns on the facts. (but we’ve seen so much of that lately so why am I surprised?) Glad you got your stuff at least!
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Margaret, you’re right. I was amazed that the Customer Service woman kept telling me I was wrong about something that was a fact, but she was determined to be right– truth be damned.
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I can’t even. They should be thankful my husband was not in the line with you. No docile sheep he. What would have been the issue to have one of the cashiers move over to the garden center to ring you all out? I get re-locking the door perhaps but wow, just wow. I might have walked away and left my full cart standing there, gone to have a coffee or something and then come back at 10 AM because I’m pretty sure it would not have been put away in the meantime. You’re so good Ally.
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Janet, we didn’t think about leaving our cart and coming back a half hour later. You’re right no one would have put our things back on the shelves. Clever girl. I don’t know why sending one cashier to the Garden Center was an issue. It would have been the simplest thing to do, but heaven forbid shopping at Lowe’s be simple. 🙄
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Oh my. When I worked for Macys it was “the customer is always right.” I don’t think that’s the best attitude but somewhere in the middle would be nice.
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Jan, I agree. There is a middle ground between customer is always right and customer is a troublemaker. A few signs in the Garden Center would’ve gone a long way toward making sure this didn’t happen. But…
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I always figured you the type to break into a store, Ally. No, wait.. stick with me here.. I always figured you to be the type to break into a garden center. Yep, you got Former Juvenile Delinquent” written all over… well, your writing.
OMG, I give you credit for putting up with that nonsense! But, yeah, you already had what you needed. You absolutely have to edit this to add a “Lowe’s” tag so that they’ll see it. Indeed, some blog posts do write themselves. – Marty
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Marty, I knew you could see right through me! Yes I’m a suburbanite who breaks into Garden Centers so that I can have the opportunity to pay for my items.
The thing is my/our expectations are low when we go to the aptly named Lowe’s. This experience was ridiculous, but after we’d put 500 lbs on a cart we were going to buy the stuff. Going elsewhere was too much work.
I added a #Lowes tag to my tweet on Twitter about this blog post. We’ll see if anything comes of it. I doubt it.
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If nothing else, they deserve to be shamed!
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Agreed. Shine a bit of light on what passes for customer service…
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What a mess! You were far kinder than I would have been. I would have walked out. I wonder how many complaints the store received because of that incident. My guess is that the employee probably needs to get her resume in order because it probably will be needed.
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L. Marie, under normal circumstances I’d have walked out, BUT we’d placed 500 lbs of stuff on the cart and we are lazy people so the thought of going elsewhere to do that again was worse than staying in Lowe’s. That seemed reasonable at the time. And the thing is the flowers are growing, the path looks good, so all’s well [sort of] that ends with a good blog post! 😎
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We shop Lowes not because it is the closest but because my husband gets a military discount. I cannot count, but I should have, how many times I arrived to the garden center this spring when there was either not a cashier or you had to enter through the main entrance. I trucked my bags of soil and compost through the main store, but at least on a bag I had a bar code. You’d think, they’d follow the needs of the customers, nope, not so much. Back in the old days, bad customer service was unique and stuck out. Today any kind of customer service is unique. There’s another story there, but I’ll leave it alone on this nice sunny day. So, now tell us what you did with all that stone. 🙂
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Judy, if we’d entered through the main entrance I’d have expected to pay at the main registers, but the Garden Center was open and customers were streaming in. What made this even more ridiculous is that once the gates were locked customers were still coming into the store to go to the Garden Center. So we had to push our carts out of the Garden Center in a line like a parade, against the incoming customers who were anxious to get to the Garden Center. We were all in each other’s way.
The stone has been put into a 50′ x 6″ wide ribbon between the edge of the mulched planting beds and the lawn. It’s a solution that allows our sloped backyard to drain better and looks pretty in a pragmatic way.
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So, I think the whole “the customer is always right” thing is a generational marker. My kids used to think I was being “so rude” when I would just ask for something of a cashier or order-taker. Or express (just to them) that the job of the person in the Starbucks drive through is to serve us. That, you know, we aren’t friends. I am 100% sure that I am not a Karen, and I am polite, and (having once worked in the service industry) empathetic to those who serve. But the job is about serving. Not to my kids. It’s weird to me.
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Rita, that’s a fascinating observation. You’re onto something with it. I wouldn’t consider it rude to ask/require customer service to do that which they are supposed to be doing, i.e. serving me. But your kids would? This woman was not meant to be my friend, she was meant to be helpful. I agree that is weird thinking, definitely generational.
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Yeah, they pretty much do. Not for asking something like, “Can I have a Splenda?” But to express any kind of dissatisfaction, yes. Or anything that might be perceived as putting the workers out in some way. So if something’s not right with an order, say, you just take it as it is.
I am not this way, and I would’ve been pretty hot if I had been you. I would have left the cart there. Which would likely be an example of cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I’ve been known to do that.
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We considered leaving, but with so much stuff that we needed that morning we stayed. On the one hand I realize that we contributed to the problem of bad customer service by buying our stuff in spite of what happened. On the other hand, we got what we needed + a good story out of the experience.
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Wow! Crazy!! She actually asked you if you broke the lock! I am laughing and shaking my head at the aame time! Or I should say “smacking my head!”
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Mona, yes she said that. I didn’t get angry because obviously I didn’t break in. Who’d break into a Garden Center then demand to pay for things? Among the many illogical threads of thought in this conversation that one was a standout.
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LOL! Exactly!
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Well, what did you expect . . . after you BROKE into the meant-to-be-closed Garden Center on a Saturday morning?!!! 😆
Next time, smile at the Customer Service rep and say: “Repeat after me: The Customer is ALWAYS right.”
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Nancy, yes obviously this was all my fault. I caused the trouble by wanting to buy things at a convenient register rather than trudging through half the store– and to demand this indulgence after I broke into the Garden Center. The nerve of me. 🙄
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Life just makes no sense at times.
Or to quote you: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I’d forgotten about that character. I need to use it more often. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Imagine my shock and surprise (not)! I really think you need to write Lowes corporate (maybe cc the store manager, or the other way around) and tell them your tale. They are lucky the whole bunch of you didn’t just walk out with your items (after all, they were closed so you must have not been able to shop in the center, so, obviously, there was nothing on your carts).
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Janis, your reasoning about how there was nothing on our carts is sound. Obviously. If the Garden Center wasn’t open, then we weren’t there.
No one that I know of walked out during this little adventure in shopping. We’ve all been trained to have such low expectations that this was just more of the same. Bad/indifferent service. It’s sad that it has come to this point, but there you go.
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Sheesh, the garden center doesn’t open til 10? We’re 7 or 8 over here (probably because it gets so damned hot). Of course, you can go there, just not through the gates sooner. But that was so freaking stupid of them to just lock the gate. Uh, what? Dumb decisions all around–when the gates are opened, there’s a cashier there, or supposed to be. Plain and simple. Otherwise, too easy to steal. They could’ve lost thousands of dollars had folks just walked right out since no one was there to ring up.
Whoever the manager is at that place–and customer service–need to be fired big time. I’ve had issues with big box stores before, messing things up occasionally, but not like THAT! There were half a dozen things they could’ve done differently and they did all the wrong stuff to “rectify the situation.”
I think things like this is why I don’t wanna work retail ever again… it would take a lot out of me NOT to scream at management when they did something dumb. I don’t even do that as a customer, but when you tie your employees hands? Oh yeah, they messed up all around where you went. That stupidity would’ve made me quit if I was working there.
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The Chatty Introvert, I hadn’t thought of that but you’re right. With the gates open and no cashier around lots of merchandise could have walked out the door. Maybe that’s why the Customer Service woman was so focused on how the Garden Center got open, refusing to attend to my puny problem.
I don’t know how much training anyone gets when they work at Lowe’s so they may not be ready to handle probs. I realize that when you shop in a big box store, you’re tacitly acknowledging that you’ll be shopping on your own most of the time. But it wasn’t like I was asking a very specific question about a very small item. I just wanted to pay for stuff.
And I/we did eventually. Plus I got a story to tell so I shall not complain [too loudly] about the experience.
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No worries. Helluva story, and can’t complain about that (hee hee).
The idea that someone could get in trouble because of theft makes me cringe (and if someone up high screwed up, you know it’s the little fish that get in trouble. That always makes my hackles raise in defense). Still, it’s maddening that they didn’t have someone over in the garden center anyway, helping or otherwise, especially because the pricing is tricky over there. Hell, the fact no cashiers were there is just weird as all hell. I was at Home Depot one day and witnessed a couple of guys hauling ass with weed eaters and a mower trying to steal them in broad daylight and throw them in a buddy’s truck.
I’m sure somebody in management is throwing a fit somewhere, but just from a service standpoint, you’d think they’d make up for the gaff by apologizing and opening a register, not make everyone haul their stuff across the store to check out over there… considering how heavy most of it is already.
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Opening a register would have been my solution to the problem. But then I’m not part of Lowe’s, only a customer– so what do I know?
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but you’re always right, aren’t you? (yes, sarcasm, but oh well)
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Is that REALLY Lowe’s policy? How awful if so!! I agree with Janis corporate should hear about that horrible customer service. You’re a more patient person than I would have been in that situation. Imagine accusing you…YOU of breaking in the fricking place!!! Not acceptable at. all!
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Deborah, a few commenters have suggested that the reason the registers weren’t available until 10:00 a.m. was that they’re locked by corporate and stores cannot use them until then. [That used to be a thing at McDonalds if you tried to buy an Egg McMuffin after a certain time in the morning.]
I didn’t really care where I paid for the stuff, I just wanted to do so quickly because the weather was with us, as in favorable after days of rain. But that wasn’t meant to be. Crazy experience all around.
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Wow, sheesh…no words..just..wow
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Yes, Matt, you said it by not saying it.
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Holy. Hell. In. A. Handbasket. As you know, I worked in retail for many years, so this bothers me on many levels, but it doesn’t surprise me. You summed it up nicely in the final paragraph. That is exactly how it should have been handled, but alas it was not I can’t believe the garden center didn’t open until 10! I feel like most home improvement stores open much earlier. Beside the point, but still.
I can’t wait to see your project. 🙂
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Kari, I haven’t heard that saying in years so thanks for the smile. I worked in retail management for years so on the one hand I’m very forgiving of mistakes, but also acutely aware of how a manager makes or breaks a store.
The thing is that this ridiculous experience won’t stop us from shopping at Lowe’s because we have a house, they have the things we need to maintain the house. HOWEVER we live equidistance from two stores, so we’ll go to the other one now. That’ll be my revenge, such as it is.
I’ll take some photos of what we did, should the sun shine again here. So soggy
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You’re right, it’s like they wanted to gift you with this blog post.
What in the actual hell? Who EVER thought it was bright to NOT open the garden center at the same time as the store, or say EARLIER because it is spring and it is Saturday. Do you think they’re getting too much business and making too much money?
Oh my.
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Suz, I’m sure that’s what Lowe’s wanted for me, a story that makes for a great blog post. Considerate of them, really.
I cannot begin to explain why any of what happened happened. I suppose Lowe’s could be making too much money so they wanted to slow down sales. At this point that’d make as much sense as anything regarding Lowe’s, their Garden Center, the Customer Service woman– and that darned gate I did not break into.
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This is all so wrong but it doesn’t surprise me a bit. I have no idea what ever happened to real customer service but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore. I would get this story out all over social media and tell which store it happened at as well, and if you happened to get that lady’s name I’d call and complain. On the bright side, you got a blog post that wrote itself out of it al least!
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Martha, I had to smile as we left the parking lot because I knew this was destined to be a blog post. The thing about this is I understand/accept that customer service is not what it once was and I realize that we were in a Lowe’s, so to have any expectations whatsoever about getting in and out quickly… well, I was crazy to think it could happen. Still a girl on a Saturday morning in spring can dream.
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Egad! That’s the worst customer service I’ve heard of … to date ;-). You and Z-D are made of stronger stuff than my husband and I. I do believe once those gates came down, we would have left. But then I would not have had a blog post 😉
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Marie, once we’d put 500 lbs of stuff on the cart we were going to buy that stuff. The thing that baffles me is why instead of saying “thanks for letting me know about a problem” she kept saying I was “wrong.” This was her mantra. Still we bought what we came for so Lowe’s got the sale, despite bad customer service. There’s a sad reality in that admission.
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That’s the part that stuck in my craw right there. Now, I’m definitely NOT one of those “the customer is always right” folks (especially when you got the entitled brats of the world making it worse for everyone), but when a customer is telling you there’s something going on, you might wanna get on the headset or walkie talkie–whatever they’ve got–and get someone to verify. If anything, it tells whoever’s in front of you that you’re going to do something and that you’re actually listening to them.
Still, I wonder now if they’re understaffed or something to not have the garden center open for checkouts. Maybe that’s why there was no cashier yet. Either way, someone dropped the ball, and it was NOT the customers, so Miss Customer Service should’ve taken that into account and not punished the customers for this mistake.
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hahahaha. Wait for it. hahahahaha. Sorry, hard to type when I’m snickering and chuckling. Wait for it – I have to tell my guy about this. hahahaha. We go to Garden Centers like yours every weekend. I could see your scenario. It’s hard to believe, and yet it’s so easy to believe. It’s called “getting into a rut and not knowing how to move forward (ie, the “customer service” person). Really, I should not be laughing because it’s sad. The human race, not wanting to THINK and BE KIND and PROACTIVE, but instead just working on the premise that “the shop’s not open;” I’m amazed that the Garden Center didn’t lose customers. Maybe they did. Hope your yard looks fannnntastic!
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Pam, you’re right in that it’s hard to believe, but so completely believable. Thus is the state of customer service in general. I think we’ve all been worn down by mediocrity. I was peeved, but polite, in the moment but by the time we drove away I was composing this post in my head. That’d be a post about the Garden Center that was open– and not because I broke into it. As if.
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Uh, you can still access the garden center through the main store, right? I can understand not being able to go in straight through the garden entrance from the parking lot because the gate’s still closed, but can’t you still go in there to look around or get stuff through the main store? And if that’s the case, how the hell would you have “broken in” in the first place? That sliding door opens to welcome you out there, after all… or do you guys have a different setup where your store’s at where the automatic doors aren’t supposed to open until 10am, either?
This is just so weird. I usually go to Home Depot, and if it’s a weekday, the store opens at 6am, and the auto doors open about the same time to let you into the garden center. But the garden center gate doesn’t usually open til either 7am or 8am. Then again, diff regions have diff rules, I guess.
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🙂 We will never run out of posts to write because of good ole human nature….
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Ain’t it the truth!
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Ally, I’m also glad to see you were able to create a great blog post including the manager’s accusation of breaking the gate lock which had me laughing! Yes you two are very kind humans of the good, smart, weighing the scale to leave for elsewhere with no guarantee that supplies would be available or services any better.
I empathize with the work force as it seems to me business understaffs and over work employees rewarding the double shift work force. I have greatly noted business trend development of a self service online implementation initiatives to create higher profit margins with lower costs. I’m worn out of hearing from the work force to “go online”. Does this employee know that they or placing themselves out of a job jeopardizeing their own livelihood. I suspect theses are requirement scripts to tell purchasers (not even considered a customer anymore).
I foresee that American economy will eventually be do your own customer service online as the 21st century American trend. I agree with those comments that “The customer is always right” is generation. A generation I am. I don’t agree that this trend is the best for all of society, but this trend will create more financial wealth for the already extreme wealthy and even more powerful in our future.
I will love to see your post of the landscaping project! My little baby chicks graduated from flying school on Sunday and now they are off to discover the world from their unique perspective! Enjoy your garden!
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TD, if it hadn’t been for the weight of what we wanted to buy I imagine we’d have gone elsewhere, but we were too lazy to want to reload another cart even IF we could find what we needed. I empathize with workers, too. I worked in retail a long time ago and people were difficult back then. No doubt customers today are worse, more demanding. However I was not one of those customers on Saturday. I just wanted to buy the stuff and go home.
You make a good point about where the future of retail is headed. By not being helpful in stores, employees are guaranteeing that I’ll shop online more. Fewer customers mean fewer retail jobs. Hadn’t thought of that before. I cannot stop the trend but I’m certainly aware of it.
When we get a sunny day I’ll take a few pics of what we did. It’s been rainy here lately and our backyard is soggy. Good news about the baby chicks. Fly my little ones, fly!
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Yes fly!
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Things going right never make for good blog posts. Thank goodness for having a blog to make use of these frustrating experiences!
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Betsy, when I started blogging it wasn’t my intention to talk about frustrations, but occasionally I do. Would rather that this not have happened, but once it did… must write about it and share it here.
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It’s good to have an outlet so the frustration can turn into funny. That was the nexus of my blog. 🙂
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Good point about personal blogs. I didn’t know why you started your blog but you’ve nailed the funny part. 😄
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Somewhere in the “About” or whatever, I say you can either laugh or cry, but laughing is much more fun. 🙂
Glad you at least got your gardening stuff! I hope you’re having a good time putting it all together!
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Yes most of the things we bought have been placed. Eventually I’ll take some pics, but I’m not sure how exciting they’ll be. Photos of rocks? And stepping stones? Could I be more suburban!
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Haha. More suburban. 🙂 Could be cool to see.
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Hi, Ally – I desperately hope that someone from SAID STORE is reading this post. It’s incredibly how such a simple situation could be so badly botched by store employees.
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Donna, the idea of customer service was lost on this woman. I hold Lowe’s accountable for poor training but doubt that anyone in corporate cares. Still I wrote this to remember what happened– and to start what has turned out to be an interesting conversation.
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I never, ever use this form BUT in this case…Oh.My.Goodness. Lowe’s on Saturday morning made me cringe just to read that far but the truth was so very much worse. Customer non-service, customer disservice, customers not wanting to come back service. Sigh.
janet
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Janet, I like your term ‘customer disservice.’ That explains what happened. Oddly enough I’m not angry, just tired thinking about it.
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What an awful employee!!!
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Anne, she did seem to be missing the point of what I was telling her, didn’t she?
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She was more dense than a boulder.
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Nicely said. Accurate
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IF you had not had such a frustrating experience, this would be absolutely hilarious! You were a saint, really. My temper would have gotten the best of me in that situation. And it would not have gotten me the desired outcome, either.
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Eilene, in retrospect this is funny, in an absurd way. I don’t know why the Customer Service woman was obsessed with telling me I was *wrong* even though I wasn’t. Nonetheless we persevered and got our stuff. We won’t be going back to that particular Lowe’s.
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Rotten publicity for Lowe’s caused by one employee. I wonder what that woman would do if a guest showed up 40 minutes early for her dinner party. You don’t have to learn courtesy at an office seminar. You should have learned it long before you took the job.
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Nicki, you’re right on two counts. This is rotten publicity for Lowe’s and courtesy is something you learn long before you start working. Or at least you should have learned it. 🤷♀️
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i was right there with you with the way you explained the experience
and i agree this was handled so poorly
and side note –
there are certain locations of home improvement stores that my spouse refuses to go to because he is so fed up with the poor service there.
like we will drive out of our way for a different store
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Yvette, now that you mention it we’ll be going to a different Lowe’s location in the future. Geographically it’s about the same mileage away, but the roads to get there are more convoluted & crowded. Nonetheless that’s the one we’ll go to when we have to go to Lowe’s. So I’m with your spouse.
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okay, so for us – the location he REFUSES to go to is actually one that I like and do not mind – an then the location he prefers – I cannot stand for a different reason — so if we go together – we drive to this third alternative location
—
and side note about Lowes down in Florida – went there with my mom earlier this year and the staff was amazing – they made a key for her and the young lad making the key was helpful
She also bought a drill and a different young lad (I use that term specially because so many of these Lowes workers seem to be just out of puberty – lol )
but they were exceptional in helping her and the entire experience was great. The parking lot had their tribute to Vets for upcoming Memorial Day and I Love when the Lowes locations do that
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Apparently you two have to plan your visits to Lowe’s carefully! I’m laughing at that, btw.
I’m convinced that each Lowe’s is only has good as the manager. I’m pleased to read about your experiences with your mother in FL. I’m sure she liked the help she got– as did you.
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ally – it really did make our day
and getting to back to what you wrote here
– you are right – some posts really do write themselves (so to speak)
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I love that you thought about a blog post at a time of confounded frustration. A sign of a dedicated WordPresser. Customer service or lack thereof is always a great subject to write about!
The picking the lock comment takes the cake!
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Amanda, I sometimes say that blogging is a lifestyle, meaning that everything that happens to you could end up in your blog. Case in point. 🙂
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I hear ya!!!
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An earlier commenter coined the term ‘skewed reality’…that’s what we are having to deal with as a society in these “un-United States” (my skewed reality?) these days…in all facets of life. I’m not surprised at the lack of decent customer service, but to deny truth while it stares one in the face (ie-the ‘there’s noone there waiting to be checked out’ response) is absurd – but am I surprised? I guess we just better get used to dealing with managing life in others’ skewed reality – I don’t want to get political, but does this at all sound familiar?
Sooo glad you guys got your gardening supplies, though.
😉
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Laura, this sounded political to me, as it was happening, and afterward when we discussed it in the car. This woman denied reality, pure and simple. It was a trippy insight into how some people do not think. She wouldn’t give in to me, the teller of truth, because she was right– then went and changed things to make her reality a fact. As a customer and sentient human being it was frustrating, disturbing– and decidedly skewed. Thanks for noticing that aspect of this conversation.
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Wow Ally. The days of the “customer is always right” are long gone in most establishments. That’s why I appreciate it so much when I do get exceptional service…or even average, but friendly service. I am glad you got what you needed and are now enjoying your yard.
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Christie, I admit that I have low expectations about customer service anywhere, especially at big box retail stores. But this experience went beyond bad customer service, this went into denying reality and not being courteous to a person [me] who was trying to help you. I, too, am glad we finally got what we needed and the yard is looking better because of it, so there’s that.
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Ally, You’re a true Pinto bean 🙂 I’m glad you got the garden supplies you need for your yard and left that store. You didn’t let a “ruin-your-day” experience to ruin your day. Brava!
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Natalie, I hadn’t thought of my Pinto Bean nature. Fun of you to remember. You’re right we left the store and went on with our day. I didn’t think much about what happened until I sat down to write this post a few days later.
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The simple solution evaded her small pea size brain. Send one cashier outside. Story over. But then you wouldn’t have had such good fodder for a post!
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BernieLynne, yes that’s the solution I was thinking of when I told her about the problem outside and saw that there were cashiers inside with no customers. What can I say? Some people lack common sense…
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But to change the reality?? So weird. I actually thought she had you all locked inside until it opened when you said she locked the gates! So at least she didn’t do that.
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I didn’t think of that possibility! It was just weird all around and the antithesis of customer service. Obviously.
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Your experience clearly was at the farthest end of some spectrum, but talk to anyone in the restaurant industry and you’ll find exceptions to the “customer is always right” rule: e.g., the one who orders prime rib, eats 3/4, and then sends it back because it was improperly cooked or refuses to pay.
Anyway: here’s an amusing sidenote to your post. I’ve never been inside a Lowe’s, and I’ve never ordered anything from Lowe’s. For that matter, I’ve never checked them out online while researching a purchase. Now, mysteriously, every ad on my pages — gmail, WordPress, etc — are for Lowes. We know that kind of in-depth tracking is taking place, but such obvious evidence is a little disturbing.
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shoreacres, I agree that the customer is not always right, but in this case the customer was right. Why this Customer Service woman kept saying I was *wrong* is anyone’s guess.
Interesting that you’re now getting ads for Lowe’s, but not altogether surprising. I suppose the question is: will these ads make you curious enough to check out Lowe’s? My unsolicited advice is… just say NO.
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After hearing your tale, “No” seems the entirely appropriate response~!
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It really is backwards world now: “The customer is always wrong.”
How dare you try to buy something from them….and ask them to take your money politely (I know you. You are always polite)
Sad that Lowe’s here always has better pants than many places here. We often don’t bother with the 1 cashier (who is waiting for a code or price check) in the always huge line (even if you tel them inside as you leave – we end up going inside at one Lowe’s almost every time. UGH)
How about this at one Lowe’s visit pre-COVID. There was this little Mexican lady going around inside the store with a basket asking in broken English if you wanted to buy homemade tamales. ???? On the way out we mentioned this to Customer Service as we didn’t know if the store was selling dinner now, had a lovely patio seating in their garden area, or restaurant/health dept. license….they were surprised and hurried to find her. Said they understood this was a common thing in Mexico, but frowned on here ( and they were afraid of being reported. as she kept showing up) She left…sort of…stood by door “selling” to people as they walked in and out. Was it foreshadowing for COVID find a way to stay in business by selling something? Perhaps they should start a patio by the palms and pretty fountains… curbside? – it’s getting pretty hot here for patio dining
You could get mulch and dinner at the same place!
Glad your supplies and stones (without being stoned for a break-in…how weird you were accused. People’s reality varies these days, I guess)
Thanks for the laugh. Hoping to rock out a bit this weekend, too
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philmouse, you said it. I was presumptuous to want to buy things in a store! Yet that’s exactly what I did. Go figure.
Weird story about the little lady selling tamales inside the store. I like your idea of Lowe’s adding a snack area where one could sit, eat, and get enough energy to go inside the store to struggle to buy something. You’d enter refreshed and reinvigorated, ready to rise above whatever situation customer service threw your way.
Happy Weekend. Rock on
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Hopefully this has gone viral while I’ve been camping in the deep woods. If not, you can skip all that and just send it to Lowe’s headquarters.
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Dawn, it’s been a popular post for sure. Seems I’m not alone in having difficulties when attempting to shop in a Lowe’s. 🤨
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Which is why executives at that company should know.
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I have a love/hate relationship with Lowe’s, only there’s no love anymore. We had a very bad customer service experience with them when spending all kinds of money in their store for our newly purchased home in 2019. Nowadays, I stick with Menard’s instead, because MIDWEST NICE.
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Swinged Cat, I can understand why you don’t go to Lowe’s. Sounds like you had a messy situation. I’m not in love with the company, but when you have a house, they have the stuff you need. We have Menard’s but it is awkward to get to, so we don’t go to it. Location is often our motivating factor about where we shop. And it certainly makes me feel old to admit that.
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Well that’s a new low in so-called “customer service!” It’s amazing how some people don’t have the ability, or inclination, to do one single thing beyond what they see as their job. And sadly, I think we’ll be seeing more of this as the nation-wide labor shortage continues. Stores are so desperate for workers that they’ll keep their employees, no matter how awful they are.
Once my husband and I were in a restaurant (which we went to often) and the young waitress came up to take our drink order. My husband order a cab, I ordered a glass of rose. We sat there and waited twenty minutes for our drinks, watching while this same waitress served other customers (some of whom came in after us) their drinks and their meals. Finally, she came up to our table with my husband’s wine and plunked it down on the table, then turned to me and said triumphantly, “We’re out of the rose that you wanted!” My husband didn’t miss a beat. He said, “We’re leaving now, give me the bill for this glass of wine, now.” Only then did she apologize for our wait, for not asking me what else I’d like to drink, or for her snarky attitude. Too late…we left.
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Ann, you said it well: “some people don’t have the ability, or inclination, to do one single thing beyond what they see as their job.” Therein is the reality of this situation. I was being nice, she was not. Not part of her job description, I guess.
What a lousy thing to happen in a restaurant you liked and frequented. Good for your husband for ending the [almost] meal the way he did. I worked as a waitress when I was in college. Difficult to please people, but getting their beverages to them stat was priority one. Food could arrive a little late IF your table was happily imbibing. Hope you got your glass of wine elsewhere that night.
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I would have steam coming out of my ears for sure! You were calmer than I would have been Ally. My pet peeve as to customer service is that somehow the motto of “the customer is always right” has become obsolete as it just grinds me when I need to ask a question and I stand there like a fool waiting while the stock person scrolls/reads/sometimes smiles at their smartphone. I’m sure they’re not reading where they are to pile up the sale items on what end cap. If you clear your throat, they’d don’t look up. I’m an inconvenience in their day it seems, so I just walk away while SMH.
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Linda, yes as a customer we’re all now inconveniences. We’re just a bunch of troublemakers intent on asking questions, as if we deserve to have answers. Clearly we’ve overstepped, as the woman in Customer Service would no doubt say about me. Fascinating and frustrating at the same time.
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This post made me smile. I love when the world gets chaotic, and people can’t deal with it 🙂
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Jonathan, an absurd story but one that in the end has made me laugh– and decide to shop at a different Lowe’s location.
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Adored this story, Aly!
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Thanks, Pam. It was a tale that needed to be told.
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😂😂😂
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Pingback: The week gone by — June 13 – A Silly Place
I’m sorry, but your version of how the story should have ended is far too complicated to have happened. First, it would have required a verifiable miracle then there’s a whole mess of stuff requiring popes and other people who probably have never heard of Lowes….
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Zazzy, you made me laugh. Thank you. So you don’t think my narrative would ever happen! Sadly I think you may be right.
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Actually, I still don’t understand why a store would have a whole section of the store – a large section – open at a different time than the rest of the store. The world is a very odd place. I think I will remain hiding in my living room.
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Yes, hiding in your living room makes more sense than this shopping experience did. We got what we came for, but why it had to be problematic is beyond me. It’s spring, in suburbia, on a Saturday morning. Show me the flowers!
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You’re right, some blog posts really do write themselves. I had fun reading this one to my husband. Some people are so focused on what “should” be that they fail to see what is actually so. Glad you survived your frustrating encounter with the post-quarantine world, and with a measure of grace.
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Barbara, you said it. This Customer Service woman was soooo sure that the Garden Center was closed that she wasn’t hearing what I was saying. I realized that as the conversation happened, but the experience did peeve me. There may have been some muttering under my breath as we were trudging around the store. 😒
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Whooo boy! What a way to start a nice sunny day! It would have been tempting to leave everything on a cart in an inconvenient place (somewhere the CUSTOMER SERVICE lady would trip over) and walk out but then you wouldn’t have what you needed. No win win for this one.
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Anna, you’re right. It was a no win-no win situation. To my dying day I’ll wonder how this Customer Service woman *reasoned* I looked like someone who’d break into a store, but to her I did. 😕
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Wow that’s just nuts! I don’t think our Lowe’s garden center has different hours than the store. I could be wrong though, but I’m sure we have been there at opening for gardening supplies. I also have never heard ‘ring us out.’ It’s ‘check out’ or ‘ring up’ down south! Glad you finally got what you needed though.
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Melanie, nuts it was. Well said. The Lowe’s we went to opens at 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. so I thought that by getting there at 9:00 a.m. we’d be late! Little did I know, eh?
I bet that ‘ring us out’ is strictly midwestern. The English major side of my brain knows it’s not perfect grammar, but the chit-chat side of my brain says things like that. I’ve said ‘check out’ but never ‘ring up’. 🤔
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I’m shaking my head, I swear (not out loud too often) that the ability to think in an excellent customer service model has been written out of handbooks everywhere or the chapter is missing. Your rewrite of the situation is perfect. And you’re right, some blog posts just write themselves! 🙂 I hope your garden is looking as you dreamed it would.
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Shelley, ha! I agree with you that the Customer Service handbook could use some revisions. Or additions, I guess. I wasn’t being difficult I was actually trying to help this woman make some sales. But she was having none of that. I was *wrong* I tell you, WRONG! Too weird
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LOL – you’ve hit on another key factor there!
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What kind of store doesn’t open its garden center at the same time it opens the rest of the store? On a Saturday morning in spring, no less? That’s just crazy. Guess I’m sticking with Home Depot and Menards…
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The Travel Architect, you ask the question that seems to me to be at the center of this story. Why the heck was the Garden Nursery closed? I also wonder how it is that I give out the vibe of someone who breaks into stores? Another question I’m left pondering.
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Having never met you in person, I can’t answer the second pondering, but the first? They must not like money.
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So true. That’s what I thought, too. In the spring. In the suburbs. We all start working on our yards and flower beds, so why not be open when we need you, Lowe’s?
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Wow this actually made me angry… Lowe’s head office definitely would have received an angry email from me with pictures too (of the open sign, the line up, the idle cashiers)!! 🤬🤬🤬
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BossyBabe, I think if this would’ve happened later in the day I’d have been less forgiving, but it was our first stop of the day and I was still grooving on possibility. Still, I. was. not. wrong. 🤨
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Pingback: The week gone by — June 20 – A Silly Place
That was crazy and messed up, and they need a new customer service person who actually provides customer service.
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Mary, yes this woman didn’t understand how to be a customer service representative. She was so intent on telling me I was *wrong* that it was almost comical.
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Oh. My. Gosh. You are right. Some blogs write them selves. I do love the Ally Bean spin though.
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Thanks, Crystal. This was one of the goofiest shopping experiences I’ve had in years. I was not *wrong* about anything I said, as if that mattered. 🙄
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