Thread regarding Lowe's Cos. layoffs

My story of buying a appliance as an employee.

10 yr Lowe's veteran here. From plant waterer at $9.50 an hour, to ASM. My promotions are all from hard work, punctuality, and never on "favoritism" or being friends.

I transferred from a Lowes 2 miles from my house for a promotion to a store an hour away. I transferred because the H.R. rep at the time had wrongfully blackballed me / pigeon-holed me because he didnt like me for subjective and unprofessional reasons. Most likely because I didnt kiss arse, and act unethically with all the other management there. The last store manager was FIRED for giving friends free products. Nice store to work in eh?

So I needed a new appliance. No sense driving an hour with it in my SUV so I went back to my local Lowe's. WHAT A DUMP! I walk in on a Saturday through the lumber door and one cashier is working at noon, and 7 people are lined up down the lumber aisle with thousands on carts screaming for service. And many more were walking up to form a bigger line. The Pro Csa was sitting at the desk, on his phone doing NOTHING! He didnt even jump up or look up when people were screaming to be checked out. The last 3 times I went into this store on Saturdays the same exact thing happened and the same slob of a CSA was sitting at desk, doing nothing.

I walked the store for 15 minutes. Going to specialist desk, to desk. The millwork specialist had 4 customers standing there as he was helping another, all with angry scowls of impatience. The flooring specialist was on the phone with CPO as an angry customer was yelling at him, and he had 11 folders out and open that needed to have estimates done or worked up. No one was in all of kitchens. In appliances was a CSA from plumbing trying to help 3 customers, all angry.

I went to front end. ONE person was running all of front end with customers lined up at returns, and at the front awaiting help. They couldnt even pay their bill!

I got so annoyed that I went to the slob PRO CSA and asked him to log into Genesis. It was the easist sale ever. I had the item #, didnt need EPP, haul away, or connectors. I was going to pick up the stock unit in 3 days! Plenty of time to stage it. Right? Wrong!
It then took me another 30 minutes on line waiting to pay. I asked PRO CSA slob to open up, he said he doesnt know how to run register and "its not his job!"

Ove the next 3 days, I emailed everyone at the store after trying to call countless times, and been placed on hold, hung up on, and transferred aimlessly a dozen times. Never once did the store manager, any asm, or manager even reply to a single email and guess what? The appliance was never staged or ready.

I arrive on a weekday at 4 pm. NO ONE in the entire store knows anything. Same scenario - I go to front end, 1 person there with 10 customers. I circle the store, and the few associates there are all busy with customers doing the best they can, with Marvins cuts and limited rersources. After 45 minutes of NO HELP at all. I said fkk it! I wont say who pulled it because using P.E. off the clock is prob a fireable offense these days, but guess who?
I had my installer waiting now for 30 minutes and it cost me an extra $50 bucks for Lowe's incompetence. Three days to simply stage a small appliance is pretty damn agreeable!!

Now, I finally have the goddddamn thing on a cart (no help at all from anyone) and I see a manager and tell him what happened and he says, "no one could help you?" OMG.
I walk the cart to lumber checkout and guess what? Slobs sitting at desk doing nothing. I see a young man outside loading block and ask him to come in when hes done and he does. He logs into Genesis for me, and 2 managers show up and ask what hes doing. I tell them I need the Load Ticket printed so I can exit. They tell me they never heard of that and none of them know how.
I then show them all how to pull up the order, place a "P" next to the sale, and print the ticket. Then match the item and model #'s to the unit and sign me out.

The irony is, this store and Corporation made it clear they didnt want me, nor want me back. They would rather have these employees there. They can have them!

The flooring aisle was LITTERED with bags all over the aisles, and it was a disgrace.

My mother needs aprox 4k in flooring, and installation. She said she went to Lowe's and knows what she wants. I told her NO! I took her elsewhere, and am doing the installation myself.

THIS, is Marvins Lowe's. THIS is how employees are treated, so guess how customers feel?

This story is not embellished, nor bias in any way. Its factual and accurate. THIS is how Lowe's treats people - both employee and customer -and they simply DO NOT care.

My resume is together. My friend just quit, and Ill be right behind him. The entire corporation is busch league, insulting, and nothing more than run by Home Depot rejects copying H.D. to a TEE! They even put up the exact same picture display at Pro that Home Depot has! Customers ask if Home Depot bought out Lowe's. We say, yup. Gotta call a spade a spade. Right Marv?

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| 2111 views | | 12 replies (last October 15, 2019) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+11ujsW9n

12 replies (most recent on top)

I can definitely relate to this post. What I see happening to the company that I spent over 20 years of my life helping to build and promote is very sad. It’s as if the company is bound and determined to run off as many good, tenured, store-level employees as they can, while providing as many corporate do-nothing jobs that pay six figure salaries as possible. They forget that in this business that everything starts in the aisles of our stores—and experience in the aisles is EVERYTHING. We are NOT a self-service store, like Walmart or Target, our customers require a high level of service and engagement in order to take care of their needs. College kids and new part-timers are not going to be able to do that. They simply don’t’ have the knowledge and experience. I would argue that what the company is saving by getting rid of tenured employees is being lost 5 times over and then some through lost sales and complaint settlement payouts.

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Post ID: @3jgg+11ujsW9n

“Fake. If you didn't pay for it. It won't be ready in 3 days.”

YES HE DID. Therefore, the need to print the loading ticket. When you pay for product as a Pick-Up later (load indicator as PL), the loading ticket must be printed, validated, and signed off on before it can leave the store. You show your ignorance with that statement.

“Besides. There's no seats behind the counters at Pro Services.”

There are seats behind the Pro desk in my nearest store in Orlando. Are you omniscient? Have you been to ALL the stores? How could you use that baseless statement as an argument?

This man is an ASM, and close to being a former ASM. I made my exit. This story is accurate. Many associates do care (unlike the Pro CSA stated in this post), but are overwhelmed by lack of staffing and support. Many are leaving because of it.

Have you read the latest from Business Insider about Lowes’ morale now at its worst? Copy & paste the link below to read and then share.

https://www.businessinsider.com/lowes-employees-morale-store-restructures-2019-10

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Post ID: @3gff+11ujsW9n

Speaking as yet another employee.....ALL of these comments are TRUE no matter what Lowes store you talk about. Marvin and crew are causing exactly the opposite of what they claim they are looking for. Instead of driving and improving customer service they "driving" it right into the ground! Computerized scheduling is pushing good, knowledgeable long term employees right out the door! (If they don't just plain eliminate their jobs first!) What is left to help customers is new hire employees with NO knowledge of the Department, subject, or store. Standard answer is "I don't know, I'm new". Morale of remaining employees is so low the they have no incentive to provide excellent customer service because they know Marvin and crew DO NOT CARE about the employees. They consider employees simply pawns and "property of Lowes" to be USED and thrown out as Marvin and crew see fit. Lowes is on a "DOWNWARD SPIRAL" under Marvin's leadership!

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Post ID: @2qvv+11ujsW9n

Gotta say Marvin has taken all of the professionalism and drive right out of me. Most days I could GAF, and these days are becoming the rule not the exception.

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Post ID: @2ynr+11ujsW9n

i needed a new refrigerator, so I priced around and got a much better deal at Sear's. Got 15% off for opening a credit card, free delivery, and additional 10 dollars off when paying the bill. Removal was $30, but saved so much more money than purchasing at Blowes with my whopping employee discount. I can't understand why people that work for Blowes continue to spend money at a place that screw's them on a daily basis. I stopped patronizing them year's ago.

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Post ID: @1dtm+11ujsW9n

Fake. If you didn't pay for it. It won't be ready in 3 days.

Besides. There's no seats behind the counters at Pro Services. Being an ASM, you should know they're removing all desks and seats by now.

Why didn't you just order online??? It's ready in 20 minutes.

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Post ID: @1haz+11ujsW9n

Enough is enough,marvin is a f–k up and has got to go.No morale,no help,stretched thin, do more,and have 6 weekends off all year? How many weekends off does he and all investors get?Who in the hell said this was a good idea? Stepping on good people with most managers talking down to employees.I hope no one goes postal.

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Post ID: @1ecz+11ujsW9n

Former FSA. I was with Lowe's almost 15 years and let-go with no notice and 2 weeks pay. Quickly found a better job at a family operated local home-improvement chain, wow! what a difference. Still stop in to my old store to see friends and the place is filthy and morale is horrible. The Marvelous Marvin scheduling is a joke, a sick joke. The broken promises made to Specialists with their SPIF allowances has decimated the Appliance Department. The store equipment including every single blue power-stocker lift and the floor scrubber is out-of-service and nobody has a clue what they're doing. Friends on the Delivery Team are just waiting for the 3rd Party axe to fall on them too. The ASM's shopping experience at his local store is real and even worse for the poor clueless customer.

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Post ID: @pup+11ujsW9n

Welcome to Marvin's Lowe's Experience of the Future.

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Post ID: @ate+11ujsW9n

This could be my store!

Last weekend we, again, had the same 5 cashiers call off; how these 5 still have jobs is beyond me. I guess because they do show up through the week, it’s all good. I had to be on the register until the store closed then I could take of my returns and do what I could in my department before leaving.

About 9:30 the appliance specialist rolls up with a cart full of Halloween decorations; I asked if she was on break and was told her work was done (she doesn’t empty the trash or sweep), there were no customers and they could use the call box if they needed help. So she was shopping on company time and without a vest on. After paying for her purchase she took it to her car. The head cashier on duty at the returns desk told me she was loitering up aisle 1 waiting to leave and then ran up, clocked out at returns, and out the front door before it was locked.

We have a young kid in electrical that won’t help out either; he has made it a game to help as few customers as possible, he just wanders the store aimlessly for his entire shift, goes to the break room before the end of his shift to wait to clock out.

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Post ID: @rgl+11ujsW9n

As a partime associate in the largest deparment, appliances, it seems that NO ONE CARES. Customer service, cleanliness and product knowledge are not important. At times I have 5 or more customers waiting for service . No help from management.

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Post ID: @vqs+11ujsW9n

Sorry to say, this gentleman's description is VERY accurate. I work at Lowe's as an Associate. No idea what store he worked at, it doesn't matter. Marvin and company are in La_La land. Core values of good business. Honesty Integrity and Accountability. Non that I can see.
Basic principle of business: Systems drive businesses, people drive systems. The inventory control system is totally out of control. Can not trust the inventory count.
The "zebra" phone update is nice, but the product app software is despicable. Most product has no home location so when a customer asks about something, no idea where it is in the store and how to direct the customer to a "good experience".
Scheduling of hours for associates is a Joke. Another corporate la-la land program. It creates exactly what the other gentleman described, Lack of employee, associate support in key areas.
Continuing on, I do not think Marvin knows of the iceberg model of business. 20 percent of a good customer experience is the employees in front of the customer. which is true. Management pushes this as 100 percent of the reason why things are not going right. A definite Lack of Accountability.
The 80 percent below the surface, the inventory control, scheduling etc. is the disaster and is not addressed.
I hope this reaches someone with core values. Lowes will continue to spiral downward without correction. Sears here we come right behind you the way things are now

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Post ID: @idc+11ujsW9n

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