i have planted 4 80lb trees so far today so this post will have to be short. my fingers are red and gnarled and barely connected to my central nervous system. but i must relay the experience i just had at lowe's. now we have only had infrequent interactions with this home improvement store because until a few months ago, there was no lowe's near us. and what experience we did have the bf can moan and groan about it for hours. but i chalked up our poor experiences in the past to stores located in less than affluent locations leading to lower levels of expected customer service. now this may be un-pc. but it is true.

so ever since the new store opened in rocky river, we've been getting coupons galore. so we figure hey let's give them another shot. so today i go there to buy the following: patching soil, grass seed, grass fertilizer, and a wheelbarrow. i wonder around their desolate nursery department and drag the rain soaked bags of soil into a cart. i felt a little neglected but hey my fault for being a weakling. then i go up front to pay for my bags of stuff and the wheelbarrow (it's locked so i couldn't just bring it over). i ask tell the cashier i would like to buy a wheelbarrow and she tells me that someone from customer service has to come unlock it. sounds reasonable. i ask her if she's gonna ring it up now with the rest of my stuff and i'll just wait for someone to unlock it or if i need to keep waiting until they actually unlock it to pay. she INFORMS me: "you can go over there and get the barcode." the thing is, i've been a cashier and i'm totally the person who offers to go grab another one of something if there isn't a tag or whatever. but don't INFORM me to go get the some code you need when that is your job and you are obviously not busy. i say "i think i'll wait for customer service". we stand there in silence for a minute. she's oblivious to the woman waiting behind me. so i say "would you like me to step to the side so you can take care of this customer?". then i wait. nothing. then i say "i'm going to go prep my trunk". i get the backseat folded and the tarp laid out. i come back. nothing. another cashier comes. she's looking at me. her mouth is moving. i can't hear anything she is saying. at first i thought she was talking quietly to the cashier and just happens to be looking at me. then i realized she is talking TO me. but i can't hear anything she is saying. i tell her i'm waiting for someone to unlock the wheelbarrow. i keep waiting. i ask her much longer do i have to wait. she tells me i can go inside, i'll be more likely to find someone who can help me. WHY. WHY DO I NEED TO DO THAT? at this point i'm really boiling over. i ask her: "so i need to track you down to give you my business and money?". WHY IS IT MY RESPONSIBILITY? "we're really short staffed", she says. UM HELLO! UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH. I DON'T THINK YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE FINDING JOB APPLICANTS.

admit it lowe's, you are just too cheap to hire the amount of people you need to keep your store staffed properly. the whole time in my head the phrase "this would never happen at home depot" is just repeating itself over and over again.

so finally someone, probably a nursery manager comes over. finally someone who speaks to me not like i'm a nuisance. he tries to make lame jokes. it's ok, the point is he is trying. he makes one call and someone comes right out to unlock the wheelbarrow. the first guy is on the phone and walks away. the second guy unlocks it and starts to leave. i ask him, "what am i suppose to do with this?" the thing was closer to my car than to the cash register. and at this point i was so fed up i did not have the patience to wheel the big cumbersome thing inside, then drag a wheelbarrow and a cart full of bags of soil to my car. i ask "can't i just go put this in my car? do i need to take this thing physically to the register?" he looks back and says: "you can get the barcode it's over there" points in the general direction of the wheelbarrow and starts to turn the other way again. at this point i was so fed up, i said, "i have to tell you, you guys have the worst customer service" he says, "what do you want me to do? you want me to take this up to the register for you? what do you want me to do?"

i feel like emily gilmore. i was quite angry. the thing is, nothing was that big of an offense in and of itself. this is my last week of freedom before starting another 9-5 so i have been packing in the home improvement productivity level. i've been in and out of pettiti's, home depot, and target, nobody treated their customer this way! the attitude was astounding! this is not a healthy economy. people are tightening their wallets. if you want to compete for business, especially in a more affluent neighborhood, you have to work on your customer service. there are 4 other hardware stores and 4 nurseries of a similar distance from my house (not counting the walmarts and marc's and such). i never go as far as to swear off any place, but i sure will avoid going to a store such as this as much as i can.