Lowes, Klein tools, a tropical storm and a WTF

[bobg03]

I needed two pieces of Hardware for a little project I want to do while it rains today and tomorrow,and the ACE near the house didn't have them. Off to Lowea three miles away. The First thing I noticed was the front of the store outside was devoid of all the grills and lawn tractors that are outside year round , they have been replaced with piles, many piles of 4X8s to be used for window covering. We're having a mild tropical storm later today, tonight and tomorrow...not a f'n hurricane.

I wandered around a bit an near the pro register I found more Klein tools than I had ever seen on display anywhere, and everything was locked with a cable thru the packaging or an alarm on the hook. Most of the tools including meters were packaged in blister packs with a cable also running thru the packaging.

Most of the Craftsman tools were locked too.

I should have looked at the tools and packages to see if they were different, but I didn't....

 

[Wamsutta]

The underlying message here is: "We have them locked up because YOU cannot have them!"

 

[Vwpower]

Damn. The tools are locked up? I’ll try a different store then. Thanks.

 

[3baygarage]

They probably unlock it and send the customer off to the self checkout.

 

[AJHD]

They probably unlock it and send the customer off to the self checkout.

I'd be lying if I said that never happened. Both on the being a customer side and as an HD employee.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Locked up here too

 

[qqzj]

One of the many reasons that HD kicked Klein out is probably thieves like them too much. On Craiglist, Klein tools command a good premium. Lowe's is not dumb. That is the way they will handle it, I guess.

 

[redwrench60]

Am I missing something? My Lowe’s has the same display with the same racks and you just turn the knob and it spins the tool into your hand like a snack machine. Are the knobs locked? They aren’t at my local store.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I didn’t check

 

[AJHD]

Am I missing something? My Lowe’s has the same display with the same racks and you just turn the knob and it spins the tool into your hand like a snack machine. Are the knobs locked? They aren’t at my local store.

Correct, those are not meant to lock. HD uses the mostly for power tool batteries that don't get locked up. The point of them, I was told by LP, is they make noise and draw attention.

They are annoying and break/jam constantly.

 

[Wamsutta]

They have all the tools locked to each peg hook, but I'm pretty sure the whole peg hook unhooks quite easily.

Lift up on the front of the peg hook, pull down on the back of the peg hook and off you go.

 

[southalabama]

Anti shoplifting tag on the label on a spool of $4 fishing line. If $4 fishing line gets a security tag Kleins will be protected several ways.

 

[PCustoms]

Locked up here too

Those don't look like locks.

Anti shoplifting tag on the label on a spool of $4 fishing line. If $4 fishing line gets a security tag Kleins will be protected several ways.

That's an RFID passive tag, used for lots of things. More likely inventory then security.


Man some of you are paranoid/need more hobbies.

 

[JeepYJ]

That's an RFID passive tag, used for lots of things. More likely inventory then security.


Man some of you are paranoid/need more hobbies.

So now they know the location of your secret fishing hole.

 

[PCustoms]

So now they know the location of your secret fishing hole.

It's a conspiracy, controlled by Big Fish.

 

[JeepYJ]

It's a conspiracy, controlled by Big Fish.

It’s hilarious- rants about shoplifting and how it’s out of control and costs everyone more money. Followed by rants about the stores attempts to curtail shoplifting making it inconvenient to shop there so they’re going somewhere else.
Now the fish know.

 

[PCustoms]

It’s hilarious- rants about shoplifting and how it’s out of control and costs everyone more money. Followed by rants about the stores attempts to curtail shoplifting making it inconvenient to shop there so they’re going somewhere else.
Now the fish know.

 

[WAID]

They probably unlock it and send the customer off to the self checkout.

Here they are all increasingly locked up and they walk you up with the tool to a register. Thats assuming they even have anything in stock. Retail theft here has gotten to the point its near impossible to shop at times. Plenty of NIB Milwaukee tools on craigslist and offer up though.

 

[dwasifar]

The wife works at Lowe's, and informs me that as soon as the Klein tools came in, they immediately became the store's #1 theft items. So I don't blame Lowe's for securing them.

I hope corporate America changes their lackadaisical attitude toward theft soon. We won't see a change in prosecutorial response until the one percenters demand it.

 

[neophyte]

Stores used to have display items out for customers to fiddle with, and then have a clerk right behind the counter to grab the item for the customer, or take it to the register.
At pharmacies, there are cards for things like Pseudoephedrine, which you take to the pharmacist to retrieve for purchase.
Unfortunately, this would actually require having employees to retrieve the stuff, but apparently, store chains don’t want to spend the money hiring the extra staff, or it costs more than the theft losses.
I remember a couple decades ago when iPods were sold from vending machines in Macy’s.
I’m not sure why, but maybe employee theft was an issue.
I don’t think it was this vending machine model, but a similar idea.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I was just at Lowe’s this evening, they are not locks.

 

[bb29510]

they ought to make whiffle bats legal

 

[BrandonV]

I was just at Lowe’s this evening, they are not locks.

They're frustrating that's for sure. When Ideal went to China they put the new stock of Ideal pliers over the old stock and the only way to get to the pliers in the back is to turn the knob a million times.