The Lowe's(t) Expectations

Well, I'd tell you how the Lowe's encounter ended, but I'll just let you see the letter I sent to their corporate office. It's all you need to know:

I’ve had a number of bad experiences with major purchases, deliveries and installations by Home Depot, so, when I decided to replace the flooring in my home, I went to Lowe’s. I’d noticed that your merchandise seems to be of a higher quality, and your sales help is much more friendly and helpful, so this seemed a safe bet.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to discover that the administrative side of your business and the way a large purchase is handled are no better than those of Home Depot. In some ways, they’re even worse.

At your [nearby] location, salesperson [name removed -- let's call her Doris] helped me. After she arranged my home measurements and provided an estimate, I needed some time to make a decision. During that time, Doris phoned me to let me know that Lowe’s was running a limited-time promotion of interest-free financing for 12 months, in addition to the $199 installation special we’d already known about.

I told Doris I would go ahead with an order for carpeting two bedrooms, and she said she would adjust my order and that I should come in to finalize the transaction. When I visited the store to do so, Doris was not there; however, one of her colleagues showed me the adjusted estimate. A $300 charge had been added for “large furniture moving.”

According to the promotional signs, your $199 installation special included “normal furniture moving.” Each of my two bedrooms has standard furniture: a bed, a dresser and nightstands -- nothing unusual or oversized. What does Lowe’s consider normal furniture? Card tables and folding chairs?

I left the store, and later spoke with Doris later by telephone. I told her that the extra charge was unacceptable and that I’d felt swindled. After checking with a manager, Doris said Lowe’s would honor the $199 pricing without the extra surcharge. All I had to do to formalize the order, she explained, was come back to the store and open a Lowe’s credit card account, so I could be billed.

The following Sunday, March 16, I returned to Lowe’s. Doris was out, but she had prepared a new sales order for me. One of her colleagues directed me to the customer service desk, where I submitted a credit application. It is important to note that, when I submitted this application, I absolutely made a point of showing the “12-months interest free” form to the customer service representative, and I also told her I was interested in taking advantage of this promotion.

I was immediately approved for a $10,000 line of credit, and, when Doris returned to work a couple of days later, I phoned to tell her my credit account had been opened and that my order should be processed.

She later phoned me to say that the charge was “not going through,” and that perhaps I needed to activate the card. When I phoned the number she provided, I was told that my records were not in the system and my account could not be found. I then had to phone two other numbers before someone finally told me, “Okay, your account is active.” (By that time, I’d spent an hour on the telephone.)

I phoned Doris again to tell her my account should be active. Later that day, Doris phoned me back with some upsetting news:

The customer service rep at the store had opened the wrong kind of account for me: I had a Lowe’s Project Card, not a Lowe’s Credit Card. She also told me that the Project Card allowed only six months of interest-free financing. When I asked if the account could be adjusted for 12 months, I was told that it is not possible, and I would have to open a standard Lowe’s Credit Card account.

I told Doris that I did not want another inquiry to be posted to my credit report, as I have flawless credit and want to keep it that way; multiple inquiries within a short time could be construed by credit bureaus as negative. Lowe’s made the mistake, so why should my credit possibly suffer from it?

Doris said Lowe’s could offer me 10 percent off the cost of my carpeting; this would amount to approximately 80 dollars. I told Doris that I appreciated this courtesy, and that there was one other thing I felt Lowe’s should do, if I were expected to open a second charge account: A letter should be provided to the three major credit-reporting agencies that specified my Project Card account as closed and that it had been opened erroneously. I even offered to provide the specific names and addresses for the letters that should be sent on behalf of my joint account holder and myself.

A few days later, Doris told me that this was something Lowe’s “can’t do,” and “the 10 percent discount would have been enough to make up for the problem.”

Obviously I do not agree with this, and, therefore, am writing this letter to you. It is unacceptable that Lowe’s would make this many errors in a transaction – first overcharging for the installation, then mishandling my credit – and not be willing to accommodate my request. What should have been a simple sale was actually a huge inconvenience and source of stress.

I cannot deny that Doris was pleasant and tried her best; she is an asset to Lowe’s, I feel. Unfortunately, she lost a sale because of Lowe’s clerical incompetence and poor administrative decisions, and, in turn, Lowe’s lost a customer who is not only a consumer advocate but also someone with a lot of home improvements planned over the next several years.

By the way, my Lowe’s Project Cards arrived in the mail just two days ago — and my last name is misspelled. It’s an almost humorous ending to a ridiculous saga.

Sincerely,

Steven Klapow

So, there you have it. Let's see if I get any sort of satisfaction.