Now, all the guys that I talked to, and I think I did talk to all of them, doing the drive-up pickup loading were great. Nice, steady guys.

I ordered 4 different SKUs in different quantities. I drove to the store 3 1/2 hours after the email said the order is ready for pickup.

20 minutes after talking to three of the curbside pickup guys they come with my stuff. 1 of 4 item sets correct.

They disappear for another 20 minutes and come back almost empty handed.

After another 15 minutes I go into the store with one of them, and pick replacement items, even though their handheld says they have many of each item on the order.

I go to the customer service desk to change out the order. Talk to four of them. Finally, 75 minutes after I pulled up I leave with "sort of" what I ordered.

Oh, and the plywood isn't only green (treated) it's also green.... wood still wet, stamped April 2020 (must've been April 30th)....

Sorry to say that is typical. Local lumberyards where they let you pick the lumber is best. Home Depot is the same.

If you have buddies at the store, you have a better outcome.

They’re getting slammed with internet orders and the inventory system is often horribly wrong.

^^^^^^^^^^
My experience with the big box stores goes back ten years. They have better prices, but their lumber is awful. The gradings system is way off.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^^
My experience with the big box stores goes back ten years. They have better prices, but their lumber is awful. The gradings system is way off.

I agree. I did the order there trying to match some other stuff in the order... which also failed.

Yes online ordering pickup is cringeworthy. Never where they think it’s suppose to be, never any less than 3 people involved, and on average 20-25 minutes per order. I’ve done 4 orders, bricks, tile, a light...all the same.

I quit buying from Lowes when they refused to honor their warranty on a wood chipper I bought. It had about 30 minutes use & needed a new carburetor. I returned it & they sent it out for repairs & it come back w/ a bill for 1/3 the cost of the machine. After a "discussion" w/ the manager they covered 1/2. I will never enter their store again.

So I was at Lowe’s this weekend had to pickup drywall, insulation, and, plastic vapor barrier so I could replace all the stuff that got soaked when the pipe burst last week.
Also needed a bunch of paint stuff so the wife could paint the new front door that had rotted out after only 5 years.

Well I did not order online as I wanted to shop and look for what I actually needed. Well I had a lot of stuff so I needed a decent sized cart.
Easy enough there are usually tons in the lumber section. There were tons except they were all in use with people’s online pick up orders lining the isle just waiting until who knows when they might get picked up.

Employee could sense my disgust he went to the far end of the lot to fetch one some had had just finished up with.
I was close to unloading one of the online pick up carts.

Lowes did the same to us, placed an online order the night before.

Worked with the contractor to select all the bits he needed to complete a bathroom remodel. According to the Lowes inventory, everything was in stock at high enough levels to be reasonably expected to fill the order ie 10 and up inventory, no 1-2 items which are generally zero.

After several hours passed, almost noon the next day the orders not filled. Drove over, and since one item wasn't in stock they delayed the entire order. 21 of 22 items were in stock, 2x4's, Cement board, tile, mastick, etc etc.

So instead of contacting me to change the one item to a similar item they had 40 of in stock, they just shelved it. Got it going by driving over, and my contractor was there, we pulled the order, got 100% of all items and I cancelled the online order.

Seriously poor service, what should have been ready no later than 9am was now done, by us, at 1....

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

Well I did not order online as I wanted to shop and look for what I actually needed. Well I had a lot of stuff so I needed a decent sized cart.
Easy enough there are usually tons in the lumber section. There were tons except they were all in use with people’s online pick up orders lining the isle just waiting until who knows when they might get picked up.

Employee could sense my disgust he went to the far end of the lot to fetch one some had had just finished up with.
I was close to unloading one of the online pick up carts.

This has been my experience at Lowes and HD as of late. I built a gravel pad for a shed last week and had an employee help me move about a dozen carts of online orders to get to the 6x6s that I needed. Such a pain in the ass. They were littered everywhere, some with as few as two or three 2x4's, some with enough wood and supplies to build a garage.

Yeah, HD same issues. It's sometimes more convenient that wandering through store, but be prepared to spend longer than needed while they hunt for items.

Last time dude brings one bag over and says here it is. Ummmm, no, there is no way the tubes of caulk I ordered are in there. He wanders off looking and during the ensuing 2 minutes looking for my GIANT NAME slapped all over the package I realize their name labels have package count. So I'm looking at "2 of 3" and he brings back "3 of 3" about time I realize other items are missing in package number 1.

He looked too confused - as he pointed out that he was holding the final bag of items since it was marked number 3.

O
M
G!!!

It has been my experience that independently owned stores such as Ace Hardware and True Value Hardware generally provide much better service than Lowe's or Home Depot.

Store owners and managers are much closer to the action in the independently owned stores; they have much more incentive to see that their customers are taken care of.

Sounds like the company is going through a learning curve.

Around here, on Saturday Home Depot is packed and Lowe’s isn’t. Enough said.

I've had great service of late from HD.
The one thing we got at Lowe's--none available at HD--is a freezer. Oh yeah, it should be delivered in September.

Figuring it would be quick and convenient, I placed an online order for two items at Lowes three days ago. Supposed to get an email when it's ready. So much for quick. I could have got the same stuff at Tractor Supply by shopping in store.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
It has been my experience that independently owned stores such as Ace Hardware and True Value Hardware generally provide much better service than Lowe's or Home Depot.

Store owners and managers are much closer to the action in the independently owned stores; they have much more incentive to see that their customers are taken care of.

It's been my experience that if I want to pay almost to the penny double for what I want I can go to Ace hardware.That has maybe 10% of the selection.

Never ordered anything online from a big box store but around here I much prefer Home Depot over Lowes. We have a Menards but I never shop there. Higher prices and if something is on "sale" it is only a coupon discount that is only good in their store. What a rip-off.

Went on line a few years back an found that my local Lowes had a roll of the concrete rebar fencing stuff... which is perfect for making tomato cages.... so I just went ahead and ordered it so I could run by and pick up... right... show up... wait in line... they call to the back .. young guy finally shows up they hand him the ticket and he disappears for 30 minutes... comes back can't find it.... they call someone else up... he goes and 15 minutes later slowly comes up with the roll of wire on a cart.... probably weighs in at a hundred pounds.... seems no one really wanted to deal with it....so much for fast....