Why Augie and I Will Continue to Shop at Lowe's

Today, I'd like to share a story about a business that "gets it." It just so happens that it's my favorite business (and Augie's, too): Lowe's. I'll start from the beginning. As you might remember, last week I stained/sealed the rest of the fencing in the backyard.

I was going to hold off on doing the work, but when I saw last week's Lowe's ad, I decided to go ahead and buy the last can gallon of stain/sealant that I needed.

I was happy to see that all stain and sealant in one was "on sale." It wasn't really on sale, but if you filled out a rebate form you could get $5 back on your purchase (presumably in 6-8 weeks).

Expecting to see a long list of exclusions, I turned to page 10 for details. The details weren't any more in depth than the front of the ad. So I went to Lowe's, grabbed my stain/sealant and checked out. And that's when things went awry.

I was handed my receipt and wished a good day. I asked the cashier where my rebate form was. He looked at the ad, saw what I saw and asked someone in the paint department about the stain. He was told that, of the Olympic brand stain/sealant, only the Olympic Maximum line qualified for a rebate. I was mad, but I left with my purchase because I needed it to match the back fence.

When I got home, I sent an email to the people at Lowe's:
I was in Lowe's this morning to buy a gallon of your Olympic Wood Protector stain and sealant in one because I saw in the weekly ad that I could get $5 off via mail-in rebate. The ad I received said it was off of "all stain and sealant in one." So I picked up my can and checked out, only to find out my stain/sealant didn't qualify because it wasn't the Olympic Maximum variety. I fail to see how the can I bought doesn't qualify for a $5 rebate. The ad did not say "all stain and sealant in one pictured on this page." It said "ALL stain and sealant in one." Unless you've changed the definition of "all" I'll be expecting my $5 rebate in the mail. Next time, I would recommend you use the advertising language featured in this week's Home Depot ad: "$5 off 1 gallon cans of our best brands of interior and exterior paints and stains." At least it implies that some brands might not qualify for the rebate.
And I tweeted about my bad experience:



Here is the Home Depot ad from last week that I mentioned in my email to Lowe's.

Its language was clear that not all paints and stains would qualify for the manufacturer's rebate.

The next morning, I awoke to this email from Lowe's:
Greetings Andy,

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns. If at any time a customer does not feel they received the service they deserve it concerns me. I apologize for the issues that occurred regarding your paint and want to make sure they are addressed.

I have shared your comments with the Benton Harbor, MI senior store management and you should be contacted within 24 hours.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to respond to my email or call us at Customer Care, toll free 800-44-LOWES.

Best regards,

Mark, CSR
Lowe s Customer Care
It was a holiday weekend, so I figured that would be the end of it. But later that day I received a call from the store manager, Rickey Ward. I reiterated my problem to him and he understood. He told me to ask for him the next time I was in Lowe's and he would "take care of the problem." I didn't have a trip to Lowe's planned (shocking I know), but I figured I'd stop by customer service the next time I was in. I was interested to see what he'd have to say.

That same day, Lowe's also put out an email blast reminding everyone to shop its Fourth of July sales. I was most interested by this portion of the email. Lowe's actually followed my advice! It reworded its advertisement to more clearly explain it's sale.

This morning, I walked into Lowe's and talked to the manager. He remembered our conversation and offered me $5 off my purchase or a $5 gift card. Since Augie and I were just out killing time, I asked for the gift card. In an age of fine-print, backpedaling and loopholes, I commend Lowe's for standing by its ad. This is just the sort of reason why I do my home improvement shopping at Lowe's. That and the race car shopping carts.
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