(Next week, I'll have an equally irritated bitch about Home Depot. I swear, it's like Verizon and Comcast - a constant battle to see who can suck more...)

Yes, I'd go to ACE instead, but I can't because they don't have what I need.

One gallon of a particular pre-mixed MAPEI grout. Lowe's carries it, HD doesn't.

Lowe's has it at a D.C. store, probably about 30 minutes out of my way on any given day, for $55. If I want to have it sent to a store a little closer (three options within 20 minutes or less), it will take them 2 weeks to get it there and they'll charge me $92 for the same product.

So when they say "Free store pickup", what they really mean is not that. Confirmed with customer service that price is determined by the location of purchase, which in the case of "Free store pickup" is the pickup location.

So, I can drive about an hour (round-trip) for my grout at $55 or wait nearly 2 weeks to pick it up closer (30-40 minutes round-trip) at a cost of $92. Hmmm...

I wish they'd both go out of business. (Lowe's & HD, that is.)

-Rob

I know it's irritating at times, but as a homeowner who does most of his own maintenance, I absolutely need both of them, and Home Depot the most.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:... I'd go to ACE instead, but I can't because they don't have what I need....

"I can get the grout from Bristol. It'll take two weeks..."

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:... I'd go to ACE instead, but I can't because they don't have what I need....

"I can get the grout from Bristol. It'll take two weeks..."

I turned from HD early in the plandemic when confronted by their cashiers insisting there was a 'national coin shortage'. I asked one why none of the other merchants in town (or anywhere else) had heard of such a thing. The little bitch couldn't be bothered to even answer short of a shitty, sideways look.
My personal number of trips there was reduced by 100% for the duration. I have been once now in 3 years. They didn't have what I needed.

I am going to apply at Lowes. Once employed, I can then stroll casually all over the store without actually doing anything.

Home Depot is great around here.. it is my pick for a lot of things.

There is an app called Roadie which is like Uber/Lyft but picks up and delivers orders from retail stores. Might check them out. I doubt they would cost anything near $92 and it won’t be 2 weeks.

Location really does determine cost. We get people all the time wanting to know why X product is more expensive than in Y location. Transportation, volume, lots of things go into it.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

Yes, I'd go to ACE instead, but I can't because they don't have what I need.

The Ace stores that I deal with are very accommodating in terms of special orders. They will do a search and if they can source what I need, they will order it and email me when they have it. If it's something that the Ace warehouse has, but the store does not stock, they can usually get it delivered the next Wednesday or Saturday (regular warehouse delivery days).

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I am going to apply at Lowes. Once employed, I can then stroll casually all over the store without actually doing anything.

I worked there for about 8 months in 2003. You can make it anything you want. I worked electrical but also paint, hardware, and plumbing.

After a while, you had a fan club so to speak. People wanted to talk to you only and some days there was a line waiting to get help.

Then there were the ones that came back and gave you a hug in appreciation.

It was an enjoyable job but the pay was bad. You made $6/hour and worked 55 to 60 hours with no time and half after 40 hours which is illegal. The AG in NY stopped the rip off and from then on, everybody worked 40 hours.

At that time, the Store Manager made $110k/year and worked 60 hours a week. After I started, over half the people had quite after 3-4 months.

Lowes and HD shipping is weird. I wanted a Dewalt 20v tool that was on sale. Not available locally. OK let's ship it. The only shipping option is freight shipping and about $250 which is more than the tool. This isn't some huge tool it's a 20-volt sander in a box about the size of a shoe box.

Other times I get free shipping to the store or my house. This is for items not in stock at a store. Shipping to my house is always quicker than to the store.

quote:

I wish they'd both go out of business. (Lowe's & HD, that is.)

So then where will you go?

Explain the logic here. You love Ace, but they don’t have what you need at all, near or close. Lowe’s has it, but you wish their demise because it isn’t close enough. What am I missing?

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Explain the logic here. You love Ace, but they don’t have what you need at all, near or close. Lowe’s has it, but you wish their demise because it isn’t close enough. What am I missing?

The ability to unravel convoluted logic.

quote:

I am going to apply at Lowes. Once employed, I can then stroll casually all over the store without actually doing anything.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Made me laugh. A friend of mine is a retired Navy Seabee and is a handyman. The local Lowe's is full of retired Navy. He knows all of them and gets great service. He explained that the best workers go home before three and not to go after then because the smurfs are quasi working.

That is not always true. We had trade people come in at 6PM and work until closing at 11PM Monday through Friday.

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
That is not always true. We had trade people come in at 6PM and work until closing at 11PM Monday through Friday.

That was the case when I worked at Home Depot in the early 00’s before that son of bitch Bob Nardelli slashed payroll and got rid of those people. Instead, he brought in people for cheap and “trained” them. Service went to shit. Anyone can recite the shit off the back of a box but that doesn’t replace years of applicable knowledge and experience.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Explain the logic here. You love Ace, but they don’t have what you need at all, near or close. Lowe’s has it, but you wish their demise because it isn’t close enough. What am I missing?

Didn't read the whole post? Or maybe I was unclear.

My ill feelings towards Lowes are not because the product I need isn't in stock in my local stores, but because they give me "free in-store pickup" as an option without mentioning that they're charging $40 to drive it 20 minutes to the store where I can pick it up for "free".

If it were $92 in both locations, my bitch would be nullified.

-Rob

Nobody reads threads anymore lol. Your rant makes perfect sense. I didn’t know they did what you described. It’s kind of crazy.

Do you have a flooring store in the area, we have Floor and Decor, large retail with multiple locations around the state, stores are as big as HD or Lowes and they carry everything from the tile to the grout.

We bought ours there and it was always in stock and less $ than lowes, think I had to go to one other location to get a few pieces of tile we needed when the store near us was out.

Check MAPEI's store locator for alternatives

https://www.mapei.com/us/en-us/where-to-buy