I want to wish my sister-in-law, Lyn – (Caden’s mommy) -

a VERY HAPPY, PEACEFUL,

and HEALTHY Birthday and beyond!

And to everyone else – a Safe, Happy, and Blessed New Year!

© 2008, Visit with the Queen Mommy. All rights reserved. 2006-2010.

Yesterday, a new washer & dryer was supposed to arrive at my house from Lowe’s.  But they didn’t.

Roy & I have been happy Lowe’s customers for years.  When our dryer died (and our washer sounds like a dragster taking off), we decided to shop at Lowe’s for something new.  The salespeople were friendly and answered our questions – guiding us to a really awesome set -  They were ordered one week ago after we were assured each item was in stock, we were given 2 rebates (YAY!) and got a confirmation call Sunday night about the delivery.

The delivery man called yesterday morning at 7:00 a.m. – to inform me that “unfortunately, the washer is NOT in stock” but that he could go ahead and deliver the dryer.  Okay. So my dryer is completely out of commission, and I could manage to DO laundry, but the washer was supposed to be super efficient and have a phenomenal spin cycle to help reduce drying time – and it’d be NICE to have both of them.  The floor model was all they had.  He took a few minutes to check it out, came back and said it was okay – but he was just the delivery guy and couldn’t offer a discount or anything.  So I asked when the next washers were coming in?  He said he’d check and call back.

I woke up Roy and told him.

In the meantime, I called the store and asked to speak to someone in Appliances.  Steve  said they only had the floor model, and they could get that to us for a “small” discount – if we wanted to come look at it.   Wait, he said, he needed to check something and would call me back in FIVE minutes.

Roy is telling me what to say in the background, but I’m waiting.  I’m trying to give them a chance to prove that they haven’t just completely fouled this order up.  When I get upset – REALLY upset – I tend to start crying and then I can’t talk – and that just makes me mad.  So I’m letting them build their case and see if they can come through.  Seriously.  This is Lowe’s, right?

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, we still have no call back.  So Roy is mad – he calls and asks for Steve – and wants to know what’s going on.  It’s been more than 5 minutes.  NO IT HASN’T, says Steve (SERIOUSLY? You’re going to ARGUE about this?)  Roy says – Uh, yeah it’s been over 15 minutes.  Steve says, “Well, it felt like 5.”

Okay – here’s where I am starting to get really upset, too. But Roy, while being very precise and upset, demands to know what’s going on.  We’ve ordered a service – paid for 2 major appliances – were told they were in stock – they’d both be delivered – and at the very last minute – we’re informed otherwise.  What are they going to do about it?

Steve laughs.

Now, I don’t know about you – but isn’t the American economy suffering across the board?  Aren’t companies going out of business for loss of customers and lack of sales?  And we’re spending some serious bucks and you’re going to LAUGH when we demand that you actually provide the service you promised?

Okay then – let’s just cancel our order, says Roy.  Steve – still laughing and being rude – says okay.  Roy asks how it’s going to work since we weren’t in the store and this had been put on a credit card.  Well, says Steve, he’ll credit it back – maybe this morning, maybe this afternoon.

Meanwhile – I’m facing several loads of laundry DESPERATE to be washed (and in the meantime, Queen Mamaw has been helping with the laundry and THAT has been a blessing).  And I’m crying because we are NOT getting a washer & dryer, and now we have to start over after finding a really great deal on some appliances with a store we trust trustED.

So, SEARS to the rescue.  After looking at several models, we settled on the Kenmore 800 series Washer & Dryer – Energy star rated, super large capacity, and even a dryer rack for shoes or sweaters. New Washer & Dryer with 5 year warranties & service plan to be delivered this afternoon (confirmed twice already!) and I will be a laundry washing Mama!

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

So Roy calls me a few minutes ago and says he called Lowe’s this morning to speak with Steve’s manager.  He introduces himself and starts talking, and is interrupted with “I know who you are and I already know your story.”  Roy says, “Oh really – so you know Steve’s story or my story? “  And he proceeds to tell this manager that Steve was rude and laughed at our request / demand for reasonable service and went through the deal.  “Oh.”  So you DON’T know the whole story, but you’re just gonna be rude about it?

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?  Without being rude, we are consumers who expect a promise be kept, and a paid service to be delivered.  It wasn’t.

So you lost out.  You lost out on our business now and in the future.

And we aren’t going to be afraid to tell people our experience, either, since it seems to be a problem at the STORE, and not just with one particular worker. The floor salespeople were helpful, but their work pales in comparison with your apparent disregard for customer satisfaction.

I wonder what – if anything – Corporate has to say about this.  In the meantime, we’ll be shopping elsewhere for our future home needs – and with our lengthy list of home repairs needed, Lowe’s you have lost some SERIOUS business!

© 2008, Visit with the Queen Mommy. All rights reserved. 2006-2010.

The Secret is in the Sauce: Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups

What a great way to start the new year, huh???  How fantastic to have a BRAND NEW brewer ($199.99 value) , WITH an assortment of coffee, tea, hot chocolate &/or chai pods worth $50.  All you have to do is visit the link above, visit the site and leave a comment!

© 2008, Visit with the Queen Mommy. All rights reserved. 2006-2010.