They do move things but when that's happened to me, I can usually find an older person who looks like they're worked there for a while and ask. And I agree about Ace — but it needs to be a big one, and well lit. With older guys on staff....
Buying a socket at Lowe's - Rant
- Thread starter lbperry
- Start date
They do move things but when that's happened to me, I can usually find an older person who looks like they're worked there for a while and ask. And I agree about Ace — but it needs to be a big one, and well lit. With older guys on staff....
Maxcustody
Well-known member
I can bend down but every time I do at HD or Lowes the part is never where it is supposed to be............................. 
WillyBoy
Well-known member
For what precious little difference this opinion makes, I've found the people at the local Lowes are more helpful than at the Home depot a few miles further away. Their name tags are legible, right side up, and facing the right direction. They always thank me for my military service and are helpful when asked where an item is.
At HD, the names are scrawled on an apron with a sharpie and hard to read. And since I'm not a contractor spending thousands every month, they don't feel the need to talk to me at all.
YMMV. Meaning where you are and where you shop may make all the difference in the way the employees are trained.
At HD, the names are scrawled on an apron with a sharpie and hard to read. And since I'm not a contractor spending thousands every month, they don't feel the need to talk to me at all.
YMMV. Meaning where you are and where you shop may make all the difference in the way the employees are trained.
MovingAlong
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2013
- Messages
- 1,192
MovingAlong
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2013
- Messages
- 1,192
All comes down to that local store's manager and where they set the priorities for their employees, what behaviors they tolerate...
bwringer
Well-known member
I really hate drawer stock fasteners, sockets, etc. wherever they appear, even at the supposedly wonderfully wonderful local hardware stores.
Several times, I've seen people ignoring their kids playing with the stuff and moving it around. And supposed adults move stuff around at random too, and even the employees just throw stuff back in the bins anywhere instead of putting things where they belong.
Oh, and let's not leave out the ol' empty plastic bag trick, where someone pokes the fastener out of the bag and steals it. It's always fun to find a drawer stuffed with tiny empty plastic bags.
As noted above, there's a tremendous range of general store shittiness, especially at bLowes. The location nearest me is legendarily, epically filthy, and they have an amazing talent for Not Having Stuff. And I've been in some fairly nice bLowes stores.
Several times, I've seen people ignoring their kids playing with the stuff and moving it around. And supposed adults move stuff around at random too, and even the employees just throw stuff back in the bins anywhere instead of putting things where they belong.
Oh, and let's not leave out the ol' empty plastic bag trick, where someone pokes the fastener out of the bag and steals it. It's always fun to find a drawer stuffed with tiny empty plastic bags.
As noted above, there's a tremendous range of general store shittiness, especially at bLowes. The location nearest me is legendarily, epically filthy, and they have an amazing talent for Not Having Stuff. And I've been in some fairly nice bLowes stores.
BombShelter
Well-known member
My Lowes is spit-shine clean and has great deals on plants. I needed something like a T-50 on a Sunday Night a few years ago, working on an idler pully. The Made in USA Lisle, bought as an expensive set, stripped immediately using a breaker bar, it's not fun when it snaps back at your head. Lowes was the only store that had them a-la-carte and I still have it and use it regularly.
Willie Makeit
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2013
- Messages
- 906
same for me in North Alabama. NEVER had an order take 2 days to arrive from ATL. That's hundreds of orders for me.
neophyte
Well-known member
To be fair, sometimes people push the end of a screw thru the bag to check the fastener and threading size to insure the correct size when replacing a fastener.
If the whole in the bag is smaller than the fastener head size then whoever poked the hole was likely not trying to steal fasteners.
The problem is independent hardware stores used to, and still sometimes do, have the fasteners loose in drawers, so sizes can be easily checked, but HD and Lowes only sell bagged hardware.
HD and Lowes usually gave size checkers for screws and bolts, but those are only partially useful with certain hardware and sizes.
bwringer
Well-known member
Ehhhhh... there is such a thing as too old. Or at least too set in one's ways and willfully ignorant.
A friend of mine once rode his Suzuki motorcycle to an Ace hardware seeking an M6 screw for a cosmetic panel. For his Suzuki. Which is a Japanese motorcycle, made in Japan, where they have these things called millimeters.
The ancient doddering git presiding over the fastener section knew nothing about such newfangled foolishment as "metric", and didn't want to hear anything about those damn made-up commie "milly-meters". In the end he sold my friend a couple of 1/4" fine thread screws. With a thread pitch of 25 TPI, these do indeed look a lot like M6x1.0 threads (an inch is 25.4mm). If you're persistent, you can even thread them in, a little, and when you remove them again, the threads in the machine will be nicely hogged out and unable to retain anything.
That all took an unreasonable amount of time to figure out, and a fair bit of effort to correct.
I know they're trying to be helpful, but when I'm looking for nuts and bolts I'm generally one of those "I know exactly where to look, thanks" (AKA, the polite phrasing of "stay the hell out of my way") guys.
Am I supposed to twist this in my mind because that's what I'm doing.I can bend down but every time I do at HD or Lowes the part is never where it is supposed to be.............................
NoahG
Well-known member
If I’m buying to for myself and can wait: HJE
For myself and can wait for tomorrow morning: Mickey Carr
Sockets for general shop tool stock: Home Depot
Absolutely need it right now: I know which local ACE’s to hit up.
Wish I had a Farm n Fleet closer, their socket isle is nice.
For myself and can wait for tomorrow morning: Mickey Carr
Sockets for general shop tool stock: Home Depot
Absolutely need it right now: I know which local ACE’s to hit up.
Wish I had a Farm n Fleet closer, their socket isle is nice.
Great selection, true, but they’re all 12 point.
Lowe’s has curbside pickup for no cost. No bending over, or even walking. Load it right into your trunk. Home Depot too. Pretty convenient . Ace too. They will even drop it off at your house, sometimes the same day, sometimes for free.
Last edited:
Imagine popping the hatch of your SUV to have someone toss in a single socket.
It's 1/4-28, but yeah it's just close enough that someone not paying attention can force M6x1.0 in a few turns and really F things up! I've run into this more than once.
4xdog
Well-known member
I needed a 1/4” drive long 5mm hex bit socket a few months ago.
Stopped by Lowe’s, pulled open a drawer filled with all kinds of Craftsman socketry, found exactly what I needed (there were probably five copies in that slot), took it home and did the job.
Truly, I could have been shopping forty years ago in a Sears Craftsman section but for the Taiwanese- or Chinese-made socket (can’t remember COO but it’s perfectly good quality)
It was à surprisingly efficient and successful visit to Lowe’s.
Stopped by Lowe’s, pulled open a drawer filled with all kinds of Craftsman socketry, found exactly what I needed (there were probably five copies in that slot), took it home and did the job.
Truly, I could have been shopping forty years ago in a Sears Craftsman section but for the Taiwanese- or Chinese-made socket (can’t remember COO but it’s perfectly good quality)
It was à surprisingly efficient and successful visit to Lowe’s.
Last edited:
In the old days you could go into Sears and easily buy that one missing socket. Now you can basically only buy sets in the store. However, when you look at how much cheaper the sets are after accounting for inflation, perhaps the issue is fewer and fewer people are buying 1 off sockets. It's possible that some MBA figured out that we can extract more money from a buyer if we make it harder to buy one off sockets, its also possible that consumer demand has made it harder to justify selling one offs, hence they put less effort into selling them.
Black300zx
Well-known member
.....and here I am simply being happy that I can (once again) buy acceptable quality single sockets from those drawers on the day that I need them instead of waiting a day, which I haven't been able to do since the Sears near me closed
gfd_703
Well-known member
We fuss at Harbor Freight for not having singles and Lowes for having them but in drawers that are to close to the ground, I personally choose Lowes for at least offering singles.
RalphInCA
Well-known member
Personally, I am very happy with my Lowes. They much more often than not have what I need, they are convenient to me, quality is acceptable to this homeowner, people are pleasant, checkout process is easy and I actually enjoy walking around seeing all stuff they have.
I guess I’m not normal.
I guess I’m not normal.
The Bean
Well-known member
Just went to my local Lowe's looking for a particular router bit. No luck. Hit HD on the way back. Nada.
I'll be on AMZ later for window sill router bit.
I'll be on AMZ later for window sill router bit.
neophyte
Well-known member
I would never expect Home Depot or Lowes to have good selections of touter bits, other than basic styles like dome straight and round over bits.
For anything mire specialized, I would figure on going to Woodcraft, or Rockler, or mail order from a specialty supplier.
The Bean
Well-known member
I'll try those. Thx.
We have a distribution center in Tucson. If I ordered before 1:00 there was a slew of items I can have by 6:00 or 7:00 p.m.
Why would anyone go to a store and get pissed off walking up and down the aisles and not finding what you want?
RTM
Well-known member
Yeah, good advise, good choice. I think that's a pretty esoteric bit. I'm not sure Woodcraft locally would have it in stock, not worth the gamble to drive 40 minutes each way. Would only plan on them if I was going to be nearby.
niget2002
Well-known member
How much fuel did it cost to drive to the store for a single socket?
O'Reilly sells indivual sockets too. It's where I usually get mine.
O'Reilly sells indivual sockets too. It's where I usually get mine.
Good to know. Menards is closer to me — walking distance even — but O'Reilly's is national.
O'Reilly's is barely national. Nearest one to me is 90 miles.
Meursault74
Well-known member
What Does Mapping the Largest Auto Parts Stores Across America Reveal?
Largest auto parts stores in the US: Detailed insights into the top players, their market share, and geographic distribution.
www.scrapehero.com
They analyze everything now.
Map or O'reilly locations. Using green dots was a nice touch don't you think? I have 3 close by. It's the closest one to my home too.
We have AutoZone and Advance and NAPA in just about every town, but not O'Reilly's. Don't just look at where the O'Reilly's are, also look at where they aren't.What Does Mapping the Largest Auto Parts Stores Across America Reveal?
Largest auto parts stores in the US: Detailed insights into the top players, their market share, and geographic distribution.
They analyze everything now.
Map or O'reilly locations. Using green dots was a nice touch don't you think? I have 3 close by. It's the closest one to my home too.
I can't count the number of times I've gone to the store (box, Ace, otherwise), not found what I was looking for, opened the Amazon app and ordered what I needed....right there while standing in the aisle.
Last edited:
neophyte
Well-known member
I wonder what the deal is with the lack of locations in PA, NY, NJ, etc.What Does Mapping the Largest Auto Parts Stores Across America Reveal?
Largest auto parts stores in the US: Detailed insights into the top players, their market share, and geographic distribution.
They analyze everything now.
Map or O'reilly locations. Using green dots was a nice touch don't you think? I have 3 close by. It's the closest one to my home too.
Pep Boys?
Black300zx
Well-known member
What's interesting is that we still get O'Reilly ads on the radio despite not having one within 50-100 miles of the radio station range
They have a website anyone can order for shipment to your home.
Also may be a national ad, most radio stations aren’t locally owned and operated anymore.
Homebody
Well-known member
Here's hoping your underwear drawer is the TOP ONE of a tall dresser!! 
finn
Well-known member
We have Advance (actually 2 of them), O’Reilly’s, Autozone, and a couple of Auto Value stores. NAPA took a hike several years ago, and I think the closest one is 120 miles away now.
The map suggests that the only area underserved by O’Reilly’s is Pa, NY, and the like. I suspect there’s a different regional chain with a strong presence that can fill in if you don’t have a local O’Reilly’s.