Chalk up one Lowes that'll never see a dime from me

[dswallow]

I'm trying to impulse-buy a miter saw that'd help a lot but I don't really need to be spending $200 for -- but I'm lazy, and I've collected so many tools recently, what's one more; it's starting to look prestigious! The one I'd settled on at Home Depot was out of stock at both nearby Home Depots, then I went to Lowes' web site and saw they had one I'd consider better -- a 10" sliding miter saw for $199. The closest Lowes to me isn't gonna be open for another year as they're still building it, or just starting. The next closest one was open for less than a year before they discovered major structural problems in the foundation of the building and immediately closed it. The third closest one is in a place it's just plain inconvenient to go to because of one-way limited access to roads I'd take to get there -- you gotta drive all over the place to actually approach it from the right direction.

But I went there today. As I'm walking in, I realize there's 3 other little things I need too, so I go to pick up a cart. All carts are locked up. You gotta put in a quarter (which, admittedly, you get back later) to get a cart.

I hate those things. So I go to the customer service counter, and start off with "I don't mean to be annoying to you, but I wanted to tell you I need a cart because I'm planning to buy a power saw and I refuse to put money in to get one. The first thing she replies with is "please write a letter; the mayor made us do it". She can't do anything else, but no matter. Lowes could've built elsewhere; they didn't care. So I walked. Frankly, I figured they'd have had tokens to hand out when people objected -- oh well.

I just finished making my own miter box... those prefab ones are too narrow for the baseboard moulding I need to cut. I still would rather have that saw, damn it. So tomorrow I might have reason to go up towards the fourth closest Lowes -- where I know they don't do that stupid cart thing. And there's a fifth-closest one to try, but real out of my path near my office I can try Monday -- also known to be free carts.

Home Depot's lot is always packed -- and it's about the same size as this Lowes; The Lowes lot always looks empty. Pity.

*sigh*

But I'm gonna write letters -- to the mayor asking if that's the case; and to Lowes expressing my strong dissatisfaction.

The silly thing -- right across the street from this Lowes is a Home Depot -- no stupid pay carts there; but it's technically in another town.

As I was driving away I did realize they'd had the big lumber carts without any pay locks -- should've gotten one and gone and done my shopping, but I was so pissed right then I wasn't thinking about it. And I'd have to drive about 3 miles to go around the roads to come back to the same Lowes, and I was not in the mood. Then I thought -- heck, it's only a quarter. I should've gotten one, shopped, then pushed it diagonally across the parking lot with all my strength so it'd get as far into the empty lot as it could. Still -- any day but Friday; I just wanted to go home.


Oh yeah -- Brick NJ is where this one is.

/rant over

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[RandyL]

After reading that, I'm willing to mail you a quarter...............YAAAWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNN...... :)

[Bill Vincent]

Home Depot's lot is always packed -- and it's about the same size as this Lowes; The Lowes lot always looks empty.

Atleast you know no one is buying Edge tile!! LOL

[cx]

Good on you, Doug! I liked the idea of paying your quarter and leaving their cart in the next town, though. :)

Actually, I'd be more inclined to pay my quarter and load the cart in my truck. Anybody axes you about it, say they was on sale for a quarter at Lowes and suggest the cop go git hisownself one, too, afore they's all gone. :D


But I think the good news is that you didn't buy a $200 SCMS. You ain't gonna be happy with it. There are some compound miter saws at that price that would probably serve your needs, but in the sliders you gotta throw more money than that to get satisfactory results. And sliders are nice. You ain't never gonna make me part with mine. But you can probably live a full and happy life with just a good compound miter saw. Hell, most folks can live with just a miter saw 99 percent of the time. But a fella hasta have at least that. :)

[dswallow]

But I think the good news is that you didn't buy a $200 SCMS. You ain't gonna be happy with it. There are some compound miter saws at that price that would probably serve your needs, but in the sliders you gotta throw more money than that to get satisfactory results. And sliders are nice. You ain't never gonna make me part with mine. But you can probably live a full and happy life with just a good compound miter saw. Hell, most folks can live with just a miter saw 99 percent of the time. But a fella hasta have at least that. :)
I keep almost buying this little $87 miter saw at Home Depot; I'm just doing baseboards, after all... but I keep thinking "well, I'm gonna do a deck next spring, and maybe I'll get fancy putting up chair rail or crown moulding sometime"... and for the extra $112... it just seems better to do it. I don't expect much for a sliding compound miter saw for $200 -- but the couple of reviews I've read online make the GMC brand one from Lowes out to be a decent occasional-use product.

It's in no way gonna be used often; but after doing 5 pieces tonight, I'm really tired of manual sawing. But then, on the third hand, I'm not in a rush, 5 or 6 pieces each evening till the house is done isn't necessarily a bad thing. And on the fourth hand, I can just use my table saw to do the managably sized ones -- I did that in the kitchen -- and then just do the really long ones by hand since they're not easy to maneuver onto the table saw in my crowded garage. :)

It's annoying though, everytime I go to Home Depot I must stare at all the saws for 4 or 5 minutes before talking myself out of it.

If any of them had an electric brad nailer for about $100 I'd have bought it too -- but I don't need one so bad as to order one online, and Home Depot only has air compressor models.

[LadyGodiva]

Doug, that's why you need to move to Oklahoma...we don't have to put a quarter in to use the cart at OUR Lowes :D

[tileguytodd]

Bought a Benchtop at Kmart for 80 bucks to throw in and out of the truck for basic stuff figuring it would last maybe a year.Its 4 years old now and i cant seem to kill it even though we try our best.
Scary thing is,Its Blue!!!! :D

[Bill Vincent]

Todd, nothin ta be ascared of-- blue is only a SIGN of greatness!! Now if there's a water pump and metal tray involved, that's a different story!! Then you best be genuflectin!! :D :D :D

[jjwq8]

And why doesn't this site have a genuflection calculator? :D

[LadyGodiva]

JJ it did, but they updated the site and I guess John is keeping it for personal reasons :D

[RandyL]

Actually Doug, When I was younger we used to grab all the carts with quarters in them that people left or just forgot about, then went a bought a pack of smokes. :) Here's a question, if you put money in something to "rent" it so to speak, as long as you have your quarter in it can you rent it forever? Was there a contract you had to sign on the cart? Actually those wheels would probably come in handy to make little tile carts out of. Hmmmmmmmmmm getting ideas here.... :idea:

[Davy]

I might live in a cave but I have never heard of paying to use a cart, down here they are called a buggy by lots of folks. I spent enough time in California to still call them a cart. I don't understand the logic, if you grab a cart aren't you most likely going to buy more? I have gone in many times not thinking I need a cart and end up going back to the front and get one, that's if I don't find a abandon one along the way. You've done the same, especially if your wife is with you. :)

[cx]

Well, I ain't never heard of that GMC brand, Doug, likely because it's not available anywhere but Lowes. I've not been in a Lowes for at least a couple years.

It sounds like it might, in fact, be a good buy for a DIYer, and maybe after you test yours for a while I'll hafta stand corrected on my previous position. :)

But you're gonna hafta go back to Lowes. I lend you a quarter, eh? But you gotta promise to dispose of their cart across the street. :D

[alygal]

Heh heh, now there's an idea!

I've not ever heard of having to pay to use a cart except in airports.
Poor marketing on Lowe's part there.

I guess it's regional. The Home Depots near me (Portland OR area) are not that great, in getting assistance. There seems to be plenty of staff elsewhere milling around but rarely in the dept. you are requiring help in. I once had the guy in the tile area paged and was told to "wait right here". I did for 20 minutes, steam comin' outa my ears. Guy never did show up so I left. Lowe's out here is different: very good lighting, plenty of people to help you...but it's only been here a year.

[RandyL]

The idea is (up here anyway) is that if you want to get your quarter back you have to connect it onto another cart. From what I remember its got some sort of thing that fits into another thingy that releases your quarter.........thing... :uhh: Guess its to help clear the parking lot and they are less likely to get stolen when you have 10 carts connected together. So if you see a cart all alone......there's a quarter in it .....you just gotta connect it to another cart and viola........free cash........well, a quarter anyway... :yipee:

[jjwq8]

Randy

are you deliberately inciting violence against bag ladies simply to recover quarters? :D

[LadyGodiva]

We call a cart 'trolly' where I'm from. To this day I tell my kids to grab a 'trolly':D

Oh, do you guys say 'sack' for a 'bag'? Some parts of the country say 'bag' and if you say 'sack' they know you're from the less advanced areas :D

[yadax3]

Maybe the Mayor is trying to find a way to encourage people to return carts to the store/corral instead of leaving them in the parking lot, up against or rolling into someone's car. I just found one up against my car at Costco today. :mad:

[tilesnake]

I'll pay my quarter but I'm gonna take a dump in it :crazy:

[Bill Vincent]

Thank you for that mental image!! :bang:

[flatfloor]

Doug, get into our store an buy your saw there from Construction Complete, no traffic, no one way streets and the carts are free! :)

[e3]

those .25 coins do come in handy if you got one of them vibrator beds!!:loaded: :aparty: :sheep: :x:

[dswallow]

Doug, get into our store an buy your saw there from Construction Complete, no traffic, no one way streets and the carts are free! :)
And no miter saws, either. We're talkin' wood here, remember... not tile. I have a Felker already. Besides, GMC is Lowes-exclusive, and nobody else makes a sliding compound miter saw anywhere as inexpensive as this one. ;)

Anyway, I stopped in at the Lowes near my office last night and, using a cart I didn't have to insert a quarter into, purchased the GMC sliding compound miter saw. Tonight I'll pull it out of the box, align the laser, and see how it works. The one on display in the store seemed to move well and supposedly it's fully assembled in the box; just needs an alignment check, etc.

A "common complaint" about shopping carts is that they're stolen and left in strange places, where the city has to spend time dealing with them. I've seen some areas with laws allowing the city to collect a fee from the owner, supposedly paying the expense of having to deal with recovering them. More often, I see cities just not bother, and stores not really care.

I don't think it has much to do with returning carts to keep the parking area free of them, though it certainly can encourage that.

Nevertheless, I find the deposit/chain concept to be annoying, and simply won't spend any money at a store doing that. It encourages something I don't want to see happen everywhere. As long as there are alternative places to shop, it's simple enough to do.

[Derek & Jacqui]

:bang:
Well, sorry to say I think it ought to be a dollar or more, that way you might be able to get into the car without having to move a cart fist.

[dswallow]

:bang:
Well, sorry to say I think it ought to be a dollar or more, that way you might be able to get into the car without having to move a cart fist.
I rarely see carts left where they'd block a car from leaving; more often they block a car from using an otherwise empty space.

Don't think for a moment that any deposit small enough not to create a huge outcry from shoppers would ever be significant motivation to return a cart if someone doesn't want to. ;)

25 cents is noise. Anyone wanting to steal a cart isn't going to care; the cart's worth $150-$250. It's small enough many people wouldn't really care if they lost it, either.

If places were provided to leave carts that can be reached in no more than 8 to 10 car parking spaces, 95% of the carts not being returned today would get returned.

In many grocery stores in Florida, a simple solution was found to carts being left in the lot: a store employee takes your cart to your car and loads the groceries into it for you, then takes the cart back with them. No tipping permitted; and except when the store's super-busy, it's done 100% of the time -- and when that busy, any carts left are brought back by the next person taking a cart out for a customer.

I'm surprised municipalities don't require this method -- it creates jobs. :)

[John Bridge]

Municipalities can't tell people how to operate their business . . . yet. I'm thankful for that. :)

The cart thing should be considered when you open a business that requires carts. Lowes (and Joe Blow business owner) thinks that by creating another incovenience for customers who want to buy something in their stores they can save money. It's just freaking amazing. These people went to college to learn how to operate retail businesses. :D

[dswallow]

Municipalities can't tell people how to operate their business . . . yet. I'm thankful for that. :)
Unfortunately, they can when they won't issue a building or occupancy permit without the business agreeing to certain conditions.

[jjwq8]

I think there are moves afoot to make everyone using a cart to present a valid municipal fishing license prior to use since most of the carts in the UK seem to end up in the canal. :)

[peterd]

Don't forget it also saves money for the company. If I can get people to return the cart to a specific area I don't have to pay some one to run around the entire parking lot to retrieve carts. Face it people are cheap. If the put $0.25 in the cart and all they have to do it put the cart back to get their $0.25 the vast majority will do it.

We have a grocery store he called "Aldi" foods, it is run by a German comany. All of the carts require $0.25. No $0.25 no cart. If you look at the parking lot you will not see one cart in the lot. They are either in the store being used or right outside the front door.

[yadax3]

If places were provided to leave carts that can be reached in no more than 8 to 10 car parking spaces, 95% of the carts not being returned today would get returned.
Are you kidding me? Most stores where I live already have at least as many cart corrals - which, by the way, can take up an entire parking space. And half of the time the corrals are left empty while there are carts strewn everywhere else around the parking lot. Some people are just lazy! I've seen them leave a cart next to the driver's side of their car when there was a cart corral on the passenger's side. Even my dear husband rolls his eyes at me :rolleyes: when I insist on taking a few extra seconds to return a cart. Take a look around your grocer's parking lot on your next visit. :) It really amazes me that people will log 2 miles running around a store but they won’t walk an extra 10 yards to prevent the cart they used from damaging somebody’s car. :bang: :bang: :bang:

P.S. Thanks for getting me all riled up before I've even started my work day! I'll probably need to take out my frustration on somebody else now. :D

[John Bridge]

My point was not that many shoppers are not slobs. They are. :)

What I'm getting at is that a company like Lowes (any company) must recognize that shoppers are basically slobs when they open a store. The cost of retrieving carts must be figured into overhead. Next thing you know, they'll be charging you a quarter to use the check-out stand. ;)

Doug,

I'd have to see that agreement. I think it would more likely state that Lowes guarantees the city it won't allow shopping carts to litter the parking lot and adjacent streets. I'm confident that it would be up to Lowes as to how they ensure that doesn't happen. And when disgruntled customers ask why the hell they have to put up a quarter to use a cart, isn't it easier for an employee to blame the city instead of informing the customer she's a slob? ;)

I'd like to see them try it around here. They'd be accused of being Yankees and run out of town. :D

[JonSquatch]

You all seemed to forget or overlook one fact that gaurantees the shopping carts will always be returned. The willingness of segments of the population that have lots of time and not as much money to collect all the carts for you. If you look at shopping malls and airports you will notice that there are very few carts found strewn about for very long. People who are cheap will wander all arround looking for a "free" cart to use.

Granted that the environment is different at malls and airports where the smart carts are for the convienince of the user who has other options. They also generally cost more than the 25 or 50 cents they give back. However you can often find young people, old people, homeless people, employees who dont think they will get caught, and your random cheap skate wandering the parking lots looking for carts to push back to get 25 cents.

On another note I cant see this ever becoming main stream and I for one am happy about that. I wouldnt go to a store that made me pay to use a cart. If I was forced to I wouldnt buy enough to require me to get a cart. I for one would never be able to shop at that lowes, since I never pay cash for things at lowes. I dont even cary cash often, and when I do I even more rarely would have a quarter... so they would lose a bunch of business to people like me. So how long before they start taking credit?

[Jason_Butler]

Next time Doug give the people at the "customer sevice" desk a list of what you want. Tell 'em you got a bad back and can't lift much. Then park in the loading zone and wait for them to come to you :)

If they object, tell 'em they are in violation of the ADA codes..

Jason

[flatfloor]

John, us Yankees have a different approach to cart control. There are snipers posted around the perimeter of the lot. :D

[pitterpat]

But I went there today. As I'm walking in, I realize there's 3 other little things I need too, so I go to pick up a cart. All carts are locked up. You gotta put in a quarter (which, admittedly, you get back later) to get a cart.

I hate those things. So I go to the customer service counter, and start off with "I don't mean to be annoying to you, but I wanted to tell you I need a cart because I'm planning to buy a power saw and I refuse to put money in to get one. The first thing she replies with is "please write a letter; the mayor made us do it". She can't do anything else, but no matter. Lowes could've built elsewhere; they didn't care. So I walked. Frankly, I figured they'd have had tokens to hand out when people objected -- oh well.




Doug, this rant sorta sounds when I returned a piece of fake trim to HD 2 wks ago. The clerk accused me of cutting the trim, $ 7.00 fake trim at that, called the manager on duty, then he measured it and it was 8' like it was supposed to be and then told me "It's not like I don't trust you mamm". After that he called somebody to verify what the length was supposed to be, imagine that me a girl knows it supposed to be 8' but the all mighty guy that works in the store doesn't know what the length is supposed to be. Of course I went off on him on a rant and told him he had just lied to me and accused me of lying. When I came back from my Thanksgiving trip I stopped in on the way from the airport, talked to the manager of the store and told him I was never shopping at his HD anymore. He apologized but I had enough of HD's crap. So no more HD for me!!! All over a $7.00 piece of fake trim!!

[Fant]

This is yet another EU import. I first saw this about 8 yrs ago. They have perfected it a bit in that they have a token they will give to the regular customers. They can use the token rather than a coin. I think they have a different set for use with the token. Having had my mirror knocked off my car in Richardson TX (Dallas burb) by a wayward cart that had been blown into the road during a storm, I am kind of for this idea. Of course the store went with the whole "signs says it is not our responsibility" line. At $250 for a new installed mirror on the car I figure I could get a lot of carts (like maybe 1000). Being that you are in one of those blue states I am not surprised by the influence from the EU. Think of it as another welfare program for those that might otherwise be asking for spare change. MN is real nice except for the blue thing as well.

[tile contractor gal]

You might have posted this ages ago, I'm new to this forum.I live in Oakland Ca, and hey, someone just left a Luckys shopping cart in front of my house. So come on over and get it, you don't even need to put a quarter in! I'd be happy to see it gone............

[Petey]

How good can a $200 sliding compound miter saw be?

Just curious... most of the sliders I see START at $400.

Petey

[dswallow]

How good can a $200 sliding compound miter saw be?

Just curious... most of the sliders I see START at $400.
Good enough to make a bazillion cuts in about 300 linear feet of 5 1/4" high baseboard moulding.

I don't know what ever got into me that made me think I could possibly endure doing it with a handsaw and a mitre box. :)