Lowe's - Tempe

It was a good experience. The roofers are on at the time they promised and workers were cordial. I chose them over others because of price.

Installer showed up within the stated time window. Removed the faulty water heater. Installed the new water heater, but put the emergency drain line in FRONT of the water heater in spite of my protestations. This was not necessary, as there was room to put the line around the back and that would have required less pipe. When I visited Lowe's Install Office this morning, glossy photos of the work in hand, I was told by their so called "expert" that this is how the line had to be installed because if there was a "pin leak" in the line, the entire system would have to be removed to get to it. However, I repeat, this is the EMERGENCY DRAIN pipe, that probably will NEVER have a drop of water running through it, and certainly will never have any water with any pressure in it. This is a normally DRY pipe. The install looks like sh** and is liable to be hit by people and or material being moved through our garage past the water heater. Lowe's response: It's within code. We aren't doing anything. My recommendation: Do NOT use Lowe's installation service, under any circumstances. Have Lowe's deliver your purchase at the required address, but hire a separate installer to do the work.

The sub was very professional. He shut down all our water. He did some tweaking to make sure that the water heater fit.

Lowe's will typically have the lowest prices for the items that I am looking for if they carry they item. If they don't carry the item, salespeople tend to be confused and will say things like "They don't manufacture things like that anymore, this is the closest you'll get." I have had them tell me this for multiple items, including screw sizes that they insist aren't manufactured. Usually that means I will find exactly the item I am looking for at a smaller hardware store where the staff are better trained. I have seen signs advertising things like solar gas heaters through Lowe's, asked the staff for more details like it said on the sign, been pointed out to the manager of the department and had them tell me that they had never heard of Lowe's doing that. They were pretty surprised when I brought them to see the sign. They said they wished that Lowe's had told them the details. There have been many occasions where store members took my contact information in order to check on such information and call me back. I have never received a callback with answers to my questions. The only time I ever received a callback was after I made a special order and they called me back to say I had to pay for it before they ordered it (when it would have been nice if someone had mentioned it when I was at the store ten minutes ago checking out with my purchase and turning in the special order sheet). Often when I have called or tried to go in to see a manager I was supposed to see about an information request or special order, I get told that the manager is out to lunch, stepped away from their desk and isn't responding to calls, out of the office, maybe they took off for the day... even when I seek out the work schedule of the manager in question to know the likely times to find them, I've made a lot of wasted trips because no one could managed to find them during the time they were scheduled to work. If they have the item, Lowe's is cheap. If they don't have an item and you have to rely on their customer service, forget it and go elsewhere. It will cost you a lot less in time and frustration than trying to find it through Lowe's. If you need to make returns, however, Lowe's is awesome and will give you no hassle about it even without receipt. I've been especially impressed at the ease of returning plants to them under their plants guarantee.