That's pretty bad managing when a customer is forced to seek out the same store but at a more distant location.
Don't ask me how or why but as of right now that tool at Lowes is now available again through free shipping. Can't guarantee how long it will last or that the order will go through or won't eventually get cancelled but if you want to give it a go here is the link again....
http://www.lowes.com/pd_371432-54602-RK5107K_0__?productId=3497420
Thanks for the information on the deal sites. I was not aware of them.Regarding customer service, it definitely varies by management. I used to live a half mile from Lowes and the customer service at that store was atrocious. I actually started going to another Lowe's for big purchases just to avoid that store.I believe, overall, both Lowes and Home Depot showed customer service improvements in recent years, as they competed for business in a very lean economy. Competition is good for the customer.BobSubject: Re: [DIY] Home Stores and DealsDate: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:53:06 -0600Agreed. Those deals do not last long (only an hour in many instances) thanks to the many independent forum deal sites that share the deals online. The motto is pretty much, "buy now and think later" (cancel or return the item if you don't want it). The only downside are those people who buy simply to flip the items on ebay.
I'm not affiliated with these sites but I do recommend the following sites if you ever need to bargain shop.
Slickdeals.net is pretty much the king of sites. You can set up "deal alerts". Enter a term(s) such as "hard drive" (or socks or peanut butter or wrench) and you'll be notified via email as soon as somebody posts a deal with whatever term you inputed.
Fatwallet.com is another of the original deal sites.
If you do a lot of Amazon shopping, you can hit up camelcamelcamel.com and the site will track the price of an item for you. It even displays a history of prices for each item (both the amazon and vendor prices).
bt3central.com is a forum with Ryobi table saw owners in mind. However it's a pretty broad tools and woodworking forum and they have a nice thread dedicated to woodworking/tools bargains.
I have not tried to download that program. I do know that some posters use it to share stock levels. The Lowes website must be a bit trickier than the other stores and perhaps that's why they had to create a program for that store instead of the online checkers as with the others.
Competitors. I'm pretty much a Lowes and Home Depot person because they are close by. Also, they have a big selection, tend to have good deals and have a pretty much no-questions-asked and hassle-free return policy. When I first started visiting the box/home stores years ago, I remember that the difference between customer service between Lowes and Home Depot was night and day. These stores are 5 minutes apart (as they usually are in most locations) but there was a stark difference in general managers at each store. I could tell that Lowes had a greeting policy....if you were to walk past an associate (or vice versa) they immediately acknowledged you in some capacity or another ("Hi" or "finding everything alright?"). Home Depot, on the other hand, was a complete train wreck. You could literally see the associates turn their heads away from you if you were to walk past them.....or sigh or huff if you asked them a question.
Since then I have been able to tell when a new manager has been transferred to each store based on customer service. Home Depot has improved drastically but the Lowes location is still the preferable store all the way around.
I do have to say that I'm always very respectful of all of the associates whether they are incredibly nice and helpful or whether they are not. I believe in the long run there is a benefit to that.
On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 10:38 AM, Bob Davis <bob@wrobertdavis.com> wrote:
The telephone agent was very diligent and polite. She found the items in the main online fulfillment center were all damaged returns. Then she searched the entire United States. It took about 15 minutes. She came back and apologized, saying it was no longer available anywhere.
When Lowe's has these killer sales and they show unavailable on the website, there is a high probability they sold out quickly. I did purchase a Porter Cable planer from them a while back that was on sale for less than half price. I remember I was out of town and discovered it from my hotel room and placed a call to a local lowes to reserve it on my credit card. That item was sold out in three days everywhere.
Bob
From: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob Davis
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 10:16 AM
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [DIY] Harbor Freight oscillating thing
I downloaded the lowes checker. It is missing some .dll files. They website offers the .dlls for separate download and a program to add them to the registry. I'm too squeamish to do that in these days of security concerns.
I did contact customer service by email and they said the rockwell sale was still available from their main online fulfillment center and I needed to place the order by telephone. So I am trying that route. The agent understood the issue and is presently searching the entire united states for me. I will be elated if she is successful, but expect disappointment. I will post what happens.
Bob
From: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of subprong
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 1:58 AM
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [DIY] Harbor Freight oscillating thing
There are online inventory checkers for places like Home Depot, Target, Staples and Wal-Mart. You plug in a store number and item/model/product number and it spits out the surrounding stores along with the stock for each store.
http://checkinventory.home.comcast.net/~checkinventory/
http://sd.site88.net/homedepot.html
I believe the only available inventory search for Lowes (outside of their site) is via this downloadable program which I have not tried. You can generate stock for up to 50 store locations.
http://site-check.site88.net/lowescheck.htmlOn Sun, Feb 10, 2013 at 9:06 PM, <bob@wrobertdavis.com> wrote:
what is the 3rd party inventory checker?
----- Original message -----
From: subprong <subprong@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [DIY] Harbor Freight oscillating thing
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:38:18 -0600
I ordered this for shipment a few weeks ago and received it soon after. A few days ago I don't believe i t was available for shipment but was available for in-store pick up (at least according to their stock in this area).
As for Lowes advertising something that is not available....I guess you could download the 3rd party Lowes inventory checker (I wish there were an online checker like the Home Depot one) to see if there are any available in-store nationally for confirmation on that. It would not surprise me if there very few (if any) left as I thought their stock would have been wiped out weeks ago at that price.
On Sat, Feb 9, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Bob Davis <bob@wrobertdavis.com> wrote:
Lowe's is advertis ing something that is not available. I tried to order one and it showed zero availability.
From: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of subprong
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2013 7:03 PM
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [DIY] Harbor Freight oscillating thing
Not a Harbor Freight store but.....$50... comes with a plethora of accessories and a case...
ROCKWELL 73-Piece 2.3-Amp Oscillating Tool Kit
Item #: 371432 | Model #: RK5107K
http://www.lowes.com/pd_371432-54602-RK5107K_0__?productId=3497420&Ntt
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