I visit this Lowe’s location pretty often, especially the garden section. As a mom who works a lot and doesn’t have many hobbies, one thing I genuinely enjoy is trying to revive the clearance plants that need a little extra care. It may sound silly to some people, but it’s something I really enjoy.
On a previous visit, I found a plant in the clearance section that was clearly dying but wasn’t marked down yet. I brought it to customer service, and a very kind woman helped me immediately with no issue because she could clearly see the plant was distressed. She was actually there again today and was just as kind, patient, and professional as before. I truly appreciated her attitude and willingness to help.
Unfortunately, the management experience completely changed the tone of my visit.
The customer service associate called over the walkie-talkie to ask a manager (I believe her name was Amy) what to do about plants found on the clearance rack that weren’t marked down. Over the walkie-talkie, the manager responded something along the lines of, “Customers put plants there all the time, so the customer probably placed it there.”
That response immediately made me uncomfortable because I absolutely did not place those plants there, and they were very obviously distressed and dying. It felt rude, dismissive, and unprofessional to assume a customer was trying to be dishonest instead of simply listening.
The customer service associate still continued trying to help me and remained incredibly polite. Another associate also stepped in and did his best to help, and I really wish I had gotten their names because they both handled the situation professionally and kindly.
Later, I saw the same manager at the register working on a computer. I politely tried to ask a quick question about another plant that WAS marked down but had unclear writing on the tag. I didn’t even walk up close to her — I simply held my phone up from a respectful distance to show her the photo and started to say, “Excuse me ma’am, I just had a—” before she cut me off and said, very rudely, “I’m in the middle of something.”
I completely understand people get busy, especially managers. But there’s a huge difference between being busy and being rude. A simple “Give me one moment and I’ll help you” would have been perfectly understandable.
Instead, I felt like an inconvenience for asking a basic question while shopping in a store I visit often and spend money in regularly. Because of that interaction, I ended up putting most of my items back and only purchasing the few things I originally came in for.
Again, I really want to recognize the customer service associate and the other employee who tried helping me because they were wonderful. But the management attitude — especially from the manager I believe was named Amy — was disappointing enough that I honestly do not know if I’ll return to this location.
Drew's Customer Service Experience at Lowe's Waxhaw
I could feel myself become agitated and overwhelmed as I watched the total costs exceed my expectations, with the total of the 4 out of 5 items my wife had sent me to purchase being more than $14,000 in total costs. In the end, Doug showed me that he had saved me a 20% discount, which was impressive. And the final number I ended up paying with Doug's perceived impressive work for the 4 items was $12378.67.
"Point":
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Why was I overwhelmed? My base price online for a "package" was a total of $10,394.95, as shown in the Lowe's link previously, and we were already at $14,000. Later, I proved that with 5 items I specifically requested, not the 4 that Doug pulled out of the air, with the warranties $839.85, and additional parts $57.46, taxes were $857.90, I ended up paying $12459. So, for an additional cost of $80.33, I got the 5 items exactly as I wanted. Later in my conversations with appliance experts, customer service, and management, I got so many differing stories regarding any additional discounts, like Pro or multiple discounts.
On the evening of the 20th, I talked to my wife while she was traveling. I told her what happened. I told her I failed to get what we wanted, and that I didn't stand up for myself or us, and that I overpaid for 1 less item. She told me to go in the next day and explain that Doug had not heard me, and that there are packages, they're just not discounted, they're just appliance packages Lowe's puts together that are inviting to online viewers. As she put it, Doug, instead of listening and hearing me, showed no patience or interest in finding out what I was most interested in, which was a certain set of appliances and item numbers that matched the online listed "package" price. Just a little understanding would have gone a long way.
The next day, I felt defeated and deeply depressed. I had no confidence to go in and face someone and challenge them about my failed experience. So on March 21st, I called in and spoke to a customer service agent. She was wonderful, understanding, willing to do some research before ruling me out, and she was very supportive. She found the "package I stated. She said she would make some calls and that I would end the day very satisfied because there should have been a discount for buying multiple items, and I should get my PRO discount.
Later, a manager called me, Sebastian. He helped me cancel the original order and put the correct item numbers in, and got me the price that was listed. I told him that the order that had been placed was flat out at higher prices. I asked about the two discounts, and he told me no problem, he'd call me back shortly with some answers. He did call back, but stated I was not going to receive any additional discounts. Sebastian told me that there is no volume purchase discount and that the PRO discount could not be applied, as I had used up a majority of my available credit with my first purchase. I simply stated that I am being punished for the failure of his team member for not listening to the customer and delivering on that experience. I could not hear anything else over the phone except for the "NO" that kept repeating in my head. I got off the phone and was very disappointed. Again, I felt like a failure. One team member lifted me up with promises of a brighter experience and the other let the air out of the balloon. In the end, I was sitting with $25,000 in expenses, and I still did not get what I wanted and felt I deserved based on the long-term customer service agent's feedback. Not much I could do about that. Sebastian did state that he was able to cancel all of the items that had been ordered except for the stove. He said he would get back to me to confirm the credit. He never did.