LOWE'S HOME IMPROVEMENT

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We requested several quotes from various companies and decided to hire Lowe's because of their design idea for our kitchen, price and timelines promised for completing the work. We bet on major company such as Lowe's because we expected:

1. Good warranty for the work they did.

2. We are busy professionals and did not want to project manage the remodeling.

3. We knew costs would be higher than choosing a local contractor, but wanted the peace of mind that work would be well done.

We signed a contract with Lowe's where they would complete the work within 6 months, but were told that it would be done within 3 months, before the Christmas Holiday. We paid in full in late August 2014, but they did not complete the work until April 2015 due to delays, shoddy work and sheer subcontractor incompetence, which led to work having to be done twice in some areas.

As soon as we signed a contract, we asked Lowe's to start demolition of the kitchen, so any issues or surprises could be discovered early in the process, but Lowe's and its subcontractors delayed until all cabinets had been ordered. When they finally began work we found out that one of the walls that were supposed to be removed, was a load bearing wall, and had to change our entire kitchen remodel on the fly, based on cabinets that had already been ordered, leading us to have to buy more cabinets, be left with cabinets we couldn't use and worse, the prospect of not being done with the remodeling job before the Holidays, when we intended to move in (and family was supposed to visit us and stay with us)

We were charged an extra $5,000 by the subcontractor to remove a load bearing wall, and make adjustments to the structure to support its removal (add a column and a support beam)

During the project their subcontractor, MHS, did a very poor job managing the work, they caused delay after delay, and their work was substandard in many ways: drywall had to be done twice in some areas, a knee wall was built incorrectly.

The following is a list of complaints we had throughout the duration of the project:

Lowe?s Feedback  3/10/15  Customer Service: 1-800-445-6937

Need overriding checklist of items and processes

1) demolition after the design, which resulted in showing that we had two load bearing walls

2) extra wall support cost another $5,000 extra to remedy

3) extra charges for the cabinets that needed to be ordered from the new design; Lowe?s would not return the originally ordered cabinets

4) delivering floor model for the oven/stove without our knowledge, we rejected it after we learnt this and had to wait another month until a new oven was ordered and delivered.

5) not clarifying garbage disposal wall or sink and charging us extra for a sink side model.

6) not itemizing each work order and not clear as to the surplus charges

7) not authorizing change orders specifically (i.e., we paid for a skylight and fireplace work order but did not know what these credited)

8) counter top took very long time to arrive. It took them more than 6 weeks to get them all installed. We had to call daily for status.

9) tile ? had no grout ordered and MHS had to be instructed on which materials to use; we actually had to go to the tile store ourselves to pick out and deliver the grout

10) not realizing that the island hood needed to be a wall mounted hood

11) not ordering the re-circulator for the oven hood - more delays

12) using Gmail for email communications with no addressing title or signature; need to use Lowe?s email for all communications

13) not giving updates for status of our orders; we had to ask each time for an update; was not automatically updated or reported for us

14) never knew status of ordered parts for the kitchen

15) oven did not get installed properly with anti-tip mechanism

16) refrigerator did not have the handles installed

17) dishwasher was not automatically installed; had to call  person separately

18) design was not complete; was a very rough sketch that was confusing to follow for both the customer and MHS

19) design was not given to contractors or workers effectively so that each trade had a question as to the design and placement of items

20) When main person is on vacation is very difficult to get information

LOWE?s good points

1) came on a Saturday to pick  up the extra skins

2) manager worked out some charges for us ? not all of it

3) new change in policy where customer must sign off to authorize extra change orders or amounts and to confirm satisfaction

MHS/electricians:

- hesitancy to correct poor quality: very curved plaster wall, misaligned lights in the kitchen, delay in the kitchen lights, and non-working electrical socket

- did not work with us well

- took 3 times to fix the chandelier light

- electricians threated lien on the property after substandard work and overcharging.

- extra charges such as stucco repair that was part of kitchen remodel

- improper disposal of waste ? garage and in the attic. We had to beg the subcontractors to remove their waste from our garage.

- subcontractor broke our garage opener and had to be fixed; inoperable for 1.5 months

- refusing to come on site again until the oven hood re-circulator part was ordered

We gave proper and prompt feedback to Lowe's customer service number but were unable to get any traction for resolution of problems.

unknown

The process was not as smooth, but the installation was fine. I was pleased with the final product. I go through Lowe's to place the order, some guy calls me up to make the appointment to take the measurements, he arrived 5 minutes past the appointment time, and I had other things to do, and then I told him he would have to show up some other day. He showed up anyways, and said that it was Lowe's having appointment issues and that he didn't get here within the time frame. I was bothered by that, but the actual installation was fine. The installation guy was going to hang the bedroom vertical blinds lower than the initial measurements and I caught him before he started drilling, and I happened to be there, and I called them, and he redid them fine. He would have had to redrill and I would have not been happy with that. This was not a Lowe's person, it was a contractor. The cost was adequate.

They did a really great job. I love the appliances. The refrigerator as it turned out happens to be on a damage before when it arrived in our place so it was pretty an ordeal having to, they insisted on leaving it because they didn't think it would be a problem but the door wasn't closing properly and it did end up being a problem. Ultimately, the manager that quickly gets it restored but I can't say that because I have used another Lowe's when I moved in to my current area and there is absolutely, completely different service quality of the two different Lowe's. The ones that I am using down in another location, the manager there was awesome, that's why the staff there is awesome. He probably doesn't tolerate staff or he may just have treated them fully in person so they were actually just happier with helping everything.

The buying and installation and all that kind of stuff was one package price. I thought it was a very fair deal. When I got there, there was an issue with the something and they called manager and manager got over the phone and it was resolved immediately. They were direct on time and I appreciate it and cleaned up after they had done and it was all pretty when they got out of the house. They explained in detail and I had a bad experience when I was a child with gas leak in the house and I am very concerned using gas.

Over a period of 3 months, I made several visits to this particular Lowe's. There is another one in my area, but the staff in appliances at Lowe's store #2639 are wonderful. Each time, they patiently answered questions and helped me compare various brands and features so that I could identify what I'd really prefer to have. I never felt as though they were trying to sell me something! Indeed many times I left, needing time to digest what I'd learned. Dave went so far as to get on the internet for a particular manufacturer to look for the model side by side I was focusing on. I had been unable to see it any where but after reading other reviewer product comments, I was determined NOT going to buy one that I hadn't seen the internal configuration of shelves and bins. He was able to find it and that sealed the deal! Ultimately I purchased a washer, dish washer, range hood, micro/oven wall unit, as well as a side by side refrigerator-freezer from this Lowe's.

It went great - they moved the furniture, prep the floor, (slab), put moisture padding down then the flooring and not only put the furniture back, but put tabs on all legs of furniture, which was a lot. Excellent experience and floors look awesome, my friends walk in and think they are hardwood, but didn't want hardwood due to scratching and dents, which doesn't happen on this high quality laminate.

Purchased a new front load washer and dryer. The dryer being replaced was electric and the new dryer is gas. We shopped a number of retailers and found that Lowe's had the best deal for us. The sales representative was very helpful and effecient. The day after making the purchase, we were contacted by the installation department that would work with us until the units were installed and we were satified.
Lowe's delivered the appliances in the morning and hauled off the old units. A couple of hours later, the plumber arrived to connect the gas dryer. Prior to getting these units, the gas line was capped off in the laundry room. A licensed plumber needs to make these connections to ensure that we are in code.
Lowe's installation department followed up the day after install to make sure that were were satisfied and we received another call from a manager to ask if we needed anything else. I was very impressed with their customer service and follow-up.

Carpet and new pad was installed. Old carpet was removed. They moved regular furniture (which I paid for) and put it back. They gave me as much left over carpet that I wanted and cleaned up after themselves.

Their prices were very competitive. The people they contracted were extremely professional, polite, and worked really fast. I was very impressed with how fast they did work.

My home's back door became so warped it would not shut. I had to tie it closed and could not lock it. I chose a replacement door at Lowe's was told it could be installed within 2 weeks. Due to Lowe's ordering the wrong size door and difficulties getting the correct sized door delivered from Houston, Texas, it took over six weeks to get the door installed. Each time I called for updates, I would get the response "I thought that was taken care of, let me call you back." Sometimes they would call back and sometimes I would need to call them again and again for updates on status. I kept reiterating my anxiety in getting a new door installed was directly related to the fact that I was unable to lock my current back door and felt unsafe. I kept being advised the new door would be installed within 2 weeks.

Great prices, great selection. The tub was delivered and not brought into the actual bathroom. They also went to the wrong address (our old address) instead of the new house. The manager in the bathroom section was very helpful and helped us plan the whole layout of the bathroom. The prices were below wholesale value for the bathtub. We will go back again and buy supplies there, as well as major appliances, etc. The tile selection was the best overall compared to other companies.