Buying a socket at Lowe's - Rant

[lbperry]

Lost My 13/16" socket and thought I'd stop by Lowe's today and pick one up while I was running errands.
Circled through most of the aisles in the tool section and saw a lot of tool chests, complete tool sets, power tools, etc. You can really tell what they want to sell you. But no individual sockets.
After another lap thru the tool section, I spotted a guy stocking in another section and he pointed me back toward the tool section and said "They're in those drawers", pointing toward a set of drawers about 10' wide extending from my ankles up to my knees. After trying to bend over in the very narrow aisle and pulling several of the drawers open and noting the lack of cohesive labels on the individual compartments; I finally realized "These folks don't really want to sell me anything".
So I went home and ordered the socket on Amazon. Sure, I could have ordered it on the Lowe's web site but at that point they'd completely lost me on that sale and a lot of sales in the future.
There You Go, Rant Over. Thank You!

 

[zendriver]

"These folks don't really want to sell me anything".

Sound's more like they really don't want to sell you a $4 socket.

 

[Wamsutta]

I hate corporate home improvement stores. You really can't get the full effect of how bad they are until you've worked for one for a while.

Don't ask me how long I worked for the orange store; I'm ashamed to tell you.

 

[neophyte]

Sound's more like they really don't want to sell you a $4 socket.

The profit margin on a $4 imported socket is probably 75+%.

 

[bluedog225]

They will tell you what you need to buy. Get with the program.

 

[dchawk81]

I'm confused. You didn't buy a socket because you couldn't bend down?

 

[Andres26tnt]

Am I having déjà vu or something? I sware I've read the same rant before on here.

Yeah, Lowes is the worst of the home supply stores. Always unattended and messy. But anyway you didn't buy a socket cus you couldn't bend over . I don't blame the employes on what other costumers do. Unfortunately lowes doesn't employ enough staff to go and place everything perfectly in it's drawers.

 

[Old Donn]

Sorry to hear that. Needed a 3/4" Kobalt socket. Went to Lowes, did the drawer thing, found one, paid and left. 10 minutes. Push-pull, click-click.

 

[neophyte]

Am I having déjà vu or something? I sware I've read the same rant before on here.

Yeah, Lowes is the worst of the home supply stores. Always unattended and messy. But anyway you didn't buy a socket cus you couldn't bend over . I don't blame the employes on what other costumers do. Unfortunately lowes doesn't employ enough staff to go and place everything perfectly in it's drawers.

My local Lowes is usually way cleaner and better organized than my local Home Depot.

 

[dchawk81]

Sorry to hear that. Needed a 3/4" Kobalt socket. Went to Lowes, did the drawer thing, found one, paid and left. 10 minutes. Push-pull, click-click.

On all fours I bet.

 

[roofdweller49]

My home Depot has them, but half the drawers are empty

 

[swsman]

Next time run over to Auto
Zone or Napa if pressed for time. Home Depot sells individual sockets as well.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

TEKTON

The quality will be far superior than Lowes or Home Depot or Autozone. The price will be comparable, possibly even cheaper. The website is super clean and easy to navigate. There's ZERO bending down involved. If you need to warranty, it's much easier than Lowes or Home Depot.

The biggest downside is there's a $50 minimum for free shipping, which you could easily hit with other cool stuff they sell. Keep a wishlist of stuff you like from them but dont immediately need, and then when you need a $5 socket, add in $45 of other stuff and get free shipping.

If you are on GJ you should have no problem finding $45 worth of extra stuff to buy at Tekton. Really cool organizers. Get a few extra single sockets of ones you lose or break often or to make a car kit specific to sizes in your car. Get a handful of 4-way angle wrenches in sizes you might need. Get some US-made picks or mini pry bars.

All without having to bend down a single time.

 

[The Bean]

I prefer L over HD lately. But if I needed a single socket, I wouldn't have guessed either store had it available. I would have driven out of my way to a family owned hardware store that I admit I don't frequent as often as I should and that I know has them, and not in a drawer close to the floor. In fact, I know they have them because when I saw them at eye level, I was so impressed that I spent minutes checking them out looking for one I might need. Something about that just made me want to buy one. Sadly, I didn't, but I know where they are for future reference.

Shout out to DMI.

D.M.I. Home Supply and Renter Center - Home

DMI Home Supply Philadelphia has a vast selection of tools and hardware for any home repair project including power tools, electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, rental equipment, party tents, and more.

dmihomesupply.com

 

[Mikes61]

Amazon, you’ll have it the next day.

 

[darkzero]

When hot summer comes around, which is soon, I got to Lowes first because there's one closer to me but mainly cause they have A/C. HD has swamp coolers. But I digress.

My work supplied me with basic tools but I was missing some sockets & there were others that I wanted. HD/Husky is always my first choice cause they're the cheapest individually but most of the time they're out of stock, their inventory management *****.

I'm not a fan of SB&D Craftsman but neither am I of Apex so whatever is cheapest is what I buy. But there were some sizes that Husky did not have but Craftsman did. IMO individual sockets are much easier to find in store at HD if they have it & actually hanging in the right location (all the HDs near me are poorly organized). But I've never had a problem finding what I needed at Lowes for Craftsman in those drawers. All the Lowes in my area are organized fairly decent.

Yeah it takes more time having to bend down to those drawers & look carefully for what I need but I've never had an issue finding what I needed. The Kobalt drawers OTOH are always a complete mess.

 

[PCustoms]

I hate corporate home improvement stores. You really can't get the full effect of how bad they are until you've worked for one for a while.

Don't ask me how long I worked for the orange store; I'm ashamed to tell you.

I thought you quit after the hair in the wheel debacle?

 

[Wamsutta]

I thought you quit after the hair in the wheel debacle?

No. They fired me for breaking light bulbs in the parking lot. Customer turned me in to management.

 

[big bab bob]

Snap On for the win. Odds are you will never break it, if you do then fully warranted for life, no questions asked You likely won’t lose it either because you will be a lot more careful with that socket because of what you paid for it.

 

[Wolley]

Yeah those drawers are a real downer. You dodged a bullet there, they probably would have made you use the self checkout too

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

They have those drawers at my nearby Lowes as well. The problem is that the bank of drawers sits right down on the floor. To access the lower drawers you pretty much have to get down on all fours in the middle of the aisle. Should be on some kind of riser to bring them up to a reasonable level. Once you get down there, you find that the stockers just dump loose sockets in the drawers. Nothing is sorted to go into their nicely marked bins. So....while you're down there, you get to rummage around awhile, looking for the socket you need. Not a dealbreaker but it certainly could be done better.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

People who are on the floor a lot, crawling under cars, laying down floors, crawling in crawl spaces etc., are ready to boycott Lowes because they had to bend down to access something in a low-to-the-ground drawer. Hmmmm, whatever.

 

[zendriver]

The profit margin on a $4 imported socket is probably 75+%.

How much is the profit margin on a whole set?

 

[Skellyii]

Menards has the sockets hanging on rails at chest to eye level.

 

[nbpt100]

Menards has the sockets hanging on rails at chest to eye level.

Much easier to manage and keep organized. The draws are out of sight out of mind. They are always unorganied but I have always found what I wanted in a minute or so.

For one socket that you want today or tomorrow it is a good source. As are Autozone, Tractor Supply, Ace, True Value and HD.

 

[Sumboodie]

>iiiiiiiiiii8⁸⁸⁸⁹⁹&¹²

 

[gatewaysysop]

The only thing they have in abundance (and always easily located) is red vested muppets cavorting about and doing absolutely @#$%ing nothing. The last thing you'll ever find them doing is helping a customer or stocking an empty spot on the shelf (which, 9 times out of 10, is the thing you're looking for).

 

[southalabama]

Amazon, you’ll have it the next day.

Or the day after the next day or the day after that

 

[Damon L.]

Menards has the sockets hanging on rails at chest to eye level.

They are also lifetime warranty, no questions asked at my local store.

 

[neophyte]

How much is the profit margin on a whole set?

Probably less, but the store makes a higher $ profit, rather than percentage profit, because you bought a whole set.

 

[finn]

The only thing they have in abundance (and always easily located) is red vested muppets cavorting about and doing absolutely @#$%ing nothing. The last thing you'll ever find them doing is helping a customer or stocking an empty spot on the shelf (which, 9 times out of 10, is the thing you're looking for).

The Lowe’s in Marana (Az) has been good re finding an associate to help locate something.

Not as good as the associates at Menards in Michigan and Wisconsin, but satisfactory.

 

[nbpt100]

I have said this many times and will say it again. Box stores vary by location. It can be dramatic. It falls on a wide spectrum. In regions with low unemployment they are always understaffed and those they hire are inexperienced and usually are just shelf stockers and floor sweepers.

If you expect excellence at at Box store you are delusional. Support you local hardware store or independent auto parts store.

Amazon is easy and convenient but it just supports additional demise in the retail sector and diminishes competition..... and possibly makes it extinct for all practical purposes. Think about the near future for a moment. For some it may be hard, but try.

 

[Kent_B]

Amazon, you’ll have it the next day.

Not out here, you won't even with Prime

 

[neophyte]

Amazon, you’ll have it the next day.

Amazon routinely promises two days, or a day, then delivers in five or six days.
I live in a major city with half a dozen Amazon Warehouses within an hour or less drive away.

Sometimes items arrive quicker, but If I needed a tool item quickly, on a weekday, I would go to Grainger, since they can usually get stuff by the next business day.

 

[nbpt100]

Amazon routinely promises two days, or a day, then delivers in five or six days.
I live in a major city with half a dozen Amazon Warehouses within an hour or less drive away.

Sometimes items arrive quicker, but If I needed a tool item quickly, on a weekday, I would go to Grainger, since they can usually get stuff by the next business day.

In my experiece, McMaster Carr ships in 1 to 2 days. As competition diminishes so does service.

 

[tiredoldironworker]

Every thing that I've bought from MMC in Atlanta has arrived the next day in Knoxville, TN, This is several orders over the past decade.

 

[ATC]

I hate the Lowes around here. They are all dirty and dusty...the floor is gritty, it smells like dust (which plugs my sinuses up when I walk in), and the lights are dim (probably covered in dust).

I do go through the socket drawers if I walk by them...sometimes you'll find the yellow clearance sticker in one of the bins for $2 sockets or wrenches. I guess I'm still able bodied enough to check a drawer...

 

[AreBeeBee]

The only thing they have in abundance (and always easily located) is red vested muppets cavorting about and doing absolutely @#$%ing nothing. The last thing you'll ever find them doing is helping a customer or stocking an empty spot on the shelf (which, 9 times out of 10, is the thing you're looking for).

Depends on the store, but I have a rule of thumb never to ask the staff a question unless the person appears older than half my age. The corollary is: learn your way around the store.

And whatever it's worth, in my area (SE Wisconsin) stores rank in descending order: Menards first, Lowes second, and then Home Depot bringing up the distant rear.

 

[dscheidt]

In my experiece, McMaster Carr ships in 1 to 2 days. As competition diminishes so does service.

I get mcmaster orders next day, if it's something they say ships today. sometimes something ships from somewhere that isn't Elmhurst, and it takes another day, but they're up front about what is coming from where.

 

[bobg03]

Depends on the store, but I have a rule of thumb never to ask the staff a question unless the person appears older than half my age. The corollary is: learn your way around the store.

Learning your way around is useless, I swear the elves move stock around nightly. It's almost never in the same place twice.

As for the original question, I ain't bending over either or ever getting on the floor. I won't be able to get up..

Ace is the place, if I need an extra or unusual socket.