Complaint Review: Lowes - Bluefield Virginia

I was not trying to be either arrogant or demeaning to this customer. I have been in the same boat. In fact, there has been many times I have went to a store looking for something in their ad only to find out it was sold out. I guess I am used to retail environments, I know this out of their control. I just accept that I should have been their sooner, or that I will have to wait, if I can, to get it later. I was not implying she was "wrong" for not getting to the store earlier, I was simply stating that on Black Friday, of all days, it is expected that the early bird gets the worm. We had only a limited quanitity of said product at our store, and I can imagine other stores were in the same boat. We had about 100, we sold out in the hours between 6-9am. I love giving customer service. I pride myself on the fact I go above and beyond in a lot of cases for someone who is shopping in the store I work at. However, I can't understand how explaining that the product she was looking for and her response was in anyway less arrogant than mine. She expected the store to have a Crockpot sitting there waiting for her when she got there. Okay, maybe that is the point of retail--to purchase goods at your will, with the store expected to have them there when you want them. However, it is not a perfect world. Stores do try their best to keep the customer happy, but we can't please everyone. She got the crockpot, so why come here and talk about getting ripped off? Lowes didn't steal money from her, she didn't get crap product or mistreated. They sold out of a crockpot that was on a one-time sale. I don't think I am arrogant. I think I am realistic. There were several customers looking for that exact crockpot and I couldn't sell them one, because we ran out. I showed them the other ones, and they either bought on or didn't. That is their choice. But, why should the store get a black mark on their reputation for something that is out of their control? We don't control what they send us for an ad. We help where we can, but like I said before, we can't please everyone.

I was not trying to be either arrogant or demeaning to this customer. I have been in the same boat. In fact, there has been many times I have went to a store looking for something in their ad only to find out it was sold out. I guess I am used to retail environments, I know this out of their control. I just accept that I should have been their sooner, or that I will have to wait, if I can, to get it later. I was not implying she was "wrong" for not getting to the store earlier, I was simply stating that on Black Friday, of all days, it is expected that the early bird gets the worm. We had only a limited quanitity of said product at our store, and I can imagine other stores were in the same boat. We had about 100, we sold out in the hours between 6-9am. I love giving customer service. I pride myself on the fact I go above and beyond in a lot of cases for someone who is shopping in the store I work at. However, I can't understand how explaining that the product she was looking for and her response was in anyway less arrogant than mine. She expected the store to have a Crockpot sitting there waiting for her when she got there. Okay, maybe that is the point of retail--to purchase goods at your will, with the store expected to have them there when you want them. However, it is not a perfect world. Stores do try their best to keep the customer happy, but we can't please everyone. She got the crockpot, so why come here and talk about getting ripped off? Lowes didn't steal money from her, she didn't get crap product or mistreated. They sold out of a crockpot that was on a one-time sale. I don't think I am arrogant. I think I am realistic. There were several customers looking for that exact crockpot and I couldn't sell them one, because we ran out. I showed them the other ones, and they either bought on or didn't. That is their choice. But, why should the store get a black mark on their reputation for something that is out of their control? We don't control what they send us for an ad. We help where we can, but like I said before, we can't please everyone.

I was not trying to be either arrogant or demeaning to this customer. I have been in the same boat. In fact, there has been many times I have went to a store looking for something in their ad only to find out it was sold out. I guess I am used to retail environments, I know this out of their control. I just accept that I should have been their sooner, or that I will have to wait, if I can, to get it later. I was not implying she was "wrong" for not getting to the store earlier, I was simply stating that on Black Friday, of all days, it is expected that the early bird gets the worm. We had only a limited quanitity of said product at our store, and I can imagine other stores were in the same boat. We had about 100, we sold out in the hours between 6-9am. I love giving customer service. I pride myself on the fact I go above and beyond in a lot of cases for someone who is shopping in the store I work at. However, I can't understand how explaining that the product she was looking for and her response was in anyway less arrogant than mine. She expected the store to have a Crockpot sitting there waiting for her when she got there. Okay, maybe that is the point of retail--to purchase goods at your will, with the store expected to have them there when you want them. However, it is not a perfect world. Stores do try their best to keep the customer happy, but we can't please everyone. She got the crockpot, so why come here and talk about getting ripped off? Lowes didn't steal money from her, she didn't get crap product or mistreated. They sold out of a crockpot that was on a one-time sale. I don't think I am arrogant. I think I am realistic. There were several customers looking for that exact crockpot and I couldn't sell them one, because we ran out. I showed them the other ones, and they either bought on or didn't. That is their choice. But, why should the store get a black mark on their reputation for something that is out of their control? We don't control what they send us for an ad. We help where we can, but like I said before, we can't please everyone.

It's not that you speak the truth, Elizabeth, that I have a problem with. It's the arrogance you exhibit that I have a problem with. To say that if someone really wanted something, they would have been there at a specific time implies error on the CUSTOMER'S part. How did she err?? Why is it HER fault? There are a 1000 ways you could've written your response without making the customer seem to be in the wrong. She wasn't wrong. She didn't do anything wrong. It is clear that she did, indeed, really want the crockpot since she drove to another store where she was told she could get it. Having to prove you really want an item - is that your requirement for respectful customer service responses? You could've said what you did, about the ad being printed months in advance, and being one day only, plus it being Black Friday, without implying THE CUSTOMER did something wrong. That kind of knowledge, not treating people with arrogance, is a valuable LIFE SKILL, not just a work skill. No, the customer isn't always right, but looking down on them because they didn't get there early enough is not quality customer service behavior. Also, she says she has emailed Lowes multiple times with no response. Again, I don't qualify that as stellar customer service. She had received NO response, at the time of the posting. Even an unsatisfactory email response is appreciated by customers, in that at least they are being acknowledged. I do have to say, though, that at least YOU responded to the Original Poster's concerns. I am sorry to be so cranky, but arrogance is just so demeaning and disrespectful to anyone on the receiving end. Arrogance is defined as an offensive display of superiority. I'm not wild about displays of superiority, under normal circumstances, but when one is an employee, versus a customer, who does not have access to inside knowledge that is second nature to employees, treating the customer as though they are ignorant for not knowing what they have no reason to know - that's when I get my back up. Even if something IS the customer's fault, I bend over backwards to make sure I never give that impression because it won't get me, or the customer, anywhere regarding a satisfactory resolution. I work hard to offer suggestions on how they can avoid the situation in the future. Yes, you did do that, offered ways the customer can avoid this problem, but disclaiming responsibility on Lowes part, while insulting the customer, that just grates on me. Thank you for responding, that truly is appreciated, and I hope the OP finds her crockpot!

It's not that you speak the truth, Elizabeth, that I have a problem with. It's the arrogance you exhibit that I have a problem with. To say that if someone really wanted something, they would have been there at a specific time implies error on the CUSTOMER'S part. How did she err?? Why is it HER fault? There are a 1000 ways you could've written your response without making the customer seem to be in the wrong. She wasn't wrong. She didn't do anything wrong. It is clear that she did, indeed, really want the crockpot since she drove to another store where she was told she could get it. Having to prove you really want an item - is that your requirement for respectful customer service responses? You could've said what you did, about the ad being printed months in advance, and being one day only, plus it being Black Friday, without implying THE CUSTOMER did something wrong. That kind of knowledge, not treating people with arrogance, is a valuable LIFE SKILL, not just a work skill. No, the customer isn't always right, but looking down on them because they didn't get there early enough is not quality customer service behavior. Also, she says she has emailed Lowes multiple times with no response. Again, I don't qualify that as stellar customer service. She had received NO response, at the time of the posting. Even an unsatisfactory email response is appreciated by customers, in that at least they are being acknowledged. I do have to say, though, that at least YOU responded to the Original Poster's concerns. I am sorry to be so cranky, but arrogance is just so demeaning and disrespectful to anyone on the receiving end. Arrogance is defined as an offensive display of superiority. I'm not wild about displays of superiority, under normal circumstances, but when one is an employee, versus a customer, who does not have access to inside knowledge that is second nature to employees, treating the customer as though they are ignorant for not knowing what they have no reason to know - that's when I get my back up. Even if something IS the customer's fault, I bend over backwards to make sure I never give that impression because it won't get me, or the customer, anywhere regarding a satisfactory resolution. I work hard to offer suggestions on how they can avoid the situation in the future. Yes, you did do that, offered ways the customer can avoid this problem, but disclaiming responsibility on Lowes part, while insulting the customer, that just grates on me. Thank you for responding, that truly is appreciated, and I hope the OP finds her crockpot!

I am sorry you feel that I am such a terrible employee because I speak the truth. The truth is at the store I work at, we sold out of that crockpot and many other items in our ad within a few hours. We had customers at the door at 5:30, and we opened early to serve them. I am sorry you feel that I am so terrible for stating that someone should be there early to get something. That is how Black Friday is, most stores have a limited quantity, and that is just the way retail works. We had many items that we sold out in a few hours because we were super busy and it was the Friday after Thanksgiving. Each store receives only a limited quantity of all items, sometimes we sell out of them, its not a perfect world. We do try to do our best to help all customers, but in the real world things go out of stock.

Wow, I am overwhelmed by the consumer-friendly response of Elizabeth, a Lowes employee - NOT!!! She writes: ?It is not our fault we ran out, sounds like if you really wanted the crock pot you would have been there at open.? The arrogance of that response!!! No, I don't expect to have to be at the store, at opening time, FOR A CROCKPOT. Holey moley, I sure hope she doesn't work in Customer Service! Thanks heavens I'm not in Elkhart, Indiana!

We don't normally carry this item in stock. That would explain the reason there was no spot on the shelf for it. As for Lowe's "lying", this is just false. The ads are printed months in advance, so there is no way of assuring all stores will have a significant amount of stock of these items, or that certain stores will even carry the items. As for that being in a 4 day ad, if you would have read the whole ad, you would have seen that was on the FRIDAY ONLY page, with the statement "while quantities last." It is not our fault we ran out, sounds like if you really wanted the crock pot you would have been there at open. I know the stores around me sold out of them in about 2 hours.