I don't know what to do about Lowe's

[Wait Wut]

Last edited Sat Dec 17, 2011, 02:59 PM - Edit history (1)

The husband and I shop there. Not a lot, but often enough to make me wonder what the hell to do. We have a Home Depot nearby, but we hate it. It's disorganized and normally a huge mess. True Value here is tiny and way overpriced.

I've become obsessed with Lowe's decision to pull their ads from American Muslim. Their "excuse" that the show was "too controversial" was insane. Jon Stewart nailed that line of bullshit to the wall when he mentioned that they advertise on T"L"C...including Toddlers and Tiaras. I know, Tods and Tis isn't controversial, it's sickening. There's the difference. Oh, and those little girls aren't Muslims.

Boycotts don't work. We'll stop shopping there only to be replaced with those good Christians who see Lowe's decision as an act of their god. I'm sure many of them ranoffta do all their holiday shopping there. Ooops. I meant "Christmas" shopping. I'll probably burn in Hades, damn...hell (I just can't get the hang of this Christian correctness).

I've written a strongly worded email to Lowe's. I even edited out all the abusive and colorful language before hitting "send". I believe they have every right to practice their intolerance and bigotry. I feel bad for the employees. The ones at our Lowe's are freakin' great and we normally get a basic stand-up routine from some random employee every time. Last time we were there, I was buying this goofy little Xmas dog for my DIL. The cashier was so enthralled with it she had to run to another cashier and show it to him. He in turn called over another guy and they all stood around giggling and playing with it. That, imo, is great customer service. I love seeing people laugh. They work at Lowe's. They aren't responsible for the assholish move of their corporate gods.

I'm disgusted and confused. To alleviate any misunderstanding, I won't be going there at least for quite awhile. Eventually, I'll probably have to when I can't find some random plumbing need at any other store. I hate that. I'll feel like I'm encouraging them. That I'm saying it's okay to be a bigoted and racist prick.

That said, the husband and I are going to Home Depot today. The employees there are miserable, difficult to find and have no sense of humor.

Edit to add: You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the helpful comments. Maybe the husband and I will go to Lowe's today instead of Home Depot.

[Odin2005]

1. Our country is too polarized for many boycotts to work, IMO

A lot of folks on the other side will intentionally buy from places we boycott just to piss us off.

IMO the country has not been this polarized since the Civil War.

[Wait Wut]

3. Exactly right, and it's depressing.

I feel trapped. Lowe's knows they have the market damn near cornered in this town. They could put a 12'x12' sign on the building that says they don't allow redheads and I'd still have to eventually send the husband in alone to buy some stupid piece of crap that I can't find anywhere else.

[siligut]

7. "IMO the country has not been this polarized since the Civil War."

I see this too. I had hoped that The Internet would modify the mechanisms of the divisive, but it seems that they have made a concerted effort to prevent that.

[emilyg]

2. A company has a right

to advertise where they please. I will continue to shop at Lowe's. Can't stand Home Depot and my Ace Hardware too expensive.

[Wait Wut]

4. Yes, they certainly do.

And, I said so in my post. I think what really set me off was their excuse. It's only "too controversial" to intolerant bible thumpers. But, it's okay to parade 4 year olds around in bikinis and false eyelashes.

[DebJ]

5. For me, it is a more important issue

of how companies are treating their employees here in the USA. I agree with you on the pulling of the ads, 100%, but in the end, what
is the real, long-term affect of Lowe's decision, compared to that of their competitor, Home Depot?

My sister and her husband have both worked for Home Depot for many years (I think maybe 18 for my sister). They used to treat their employees quite well, but over the last say 8 years or so, it has been pretty bad. I would much prefer to boycott Home Depot for their crappy treatment of people. There is a reason that Home Depot employees are acting as you see them acting.

I think it was about 6 years ago that my sister and her husband were informed, in October, that they would lose one weeks worktime/pay by the end of the year. Happy Holidays, right! My sister had a week's vacation pay that she was able to use, but her husband didn't and the loss of pay just before Christmas (and coincidentally, at the same time they just got custody of his children, who had been abused by their mother and required psychological and medical care) was very tough. The icing on the cake is that the CEO of Home Depot took home a record bonus for that same year. He earned it by screwing loyal employees who had busted their butts for the company for many years.

Second, I was horrified to find that my sister's health insurance through Home Depot was so hideously expensive. For a family of 4, they had after-tax costs of $700 a month, PLUS the first five thousand dollars of basically any medical care. In other words, their health care cost as much as their mortgage. Together, my sister and her husband were earning about $50k a year. I had to ask Lowe's employees if their insurance costs were similar, and they were absolutely horrified and said no way, and how can that be, that is outrageous!

Just two stories. There are many others. The Lowes I have gone to for the past 5 years is full of such helpful, happy, and available people that I take the time to compliment them all the time. In fact, i am filling out a form today to let their corporate office know how much I appreciate the people in this store and their consistently outstanding service of the last 5 years. They must be well-treated, or this would not be the case. Yesterday, I lost my cell phone while shopping there, and a manager, a rather large man (like 6'5", and heavy maybe 350 lbs), was on his belly on the floor and on top of bags of salt looking for my phone. (I did find it later, oops, in my car). These people do anything to help, and always with a smile, and never run away when they see you coming down an aisle.

So, IMHO, I'd rather support a good place for Americans to work. That said, the ad deal sucks. My best friend is Muslim.

[Wait Wut]

6. Damn. That explains a lot.

Your personal involvement with both Lowe's and Home Depot is helpful. You're right. I hate the thought of punishing the employee's for something they had no control over. I'm going to assume they have more than a couple Muslims working at Lowe's. I wonder what their opinion would be.

It doesn't make me feel any better.

[MH1]

10. Do you remember the site, Buy Blue?

it showed Home Depot as more 'red' and Lowes as more 'blue'.

But unfortunately, I have near me two Home Depots and zero Lowes.

So I don't have to make any decision about this Muslim tv show ad deal anyway. But it would come down, to me, to which is the better or worse store overall?

[Wait Wut]

14. Oh good.

Another friggin reason for me to be confused.

I guess I can't help but wonder, what if they had pulled their ads from some Liberal show for being "too controversial"? Would we be more likely to call for an ineffectual boycott?

[Mosby]

25. are you sure about that insurance premium?

Seems more like a cobra payment or something.

My experience with HD is completely different than yours, I go to several HDs in the valley here and have found all of them to be clean and well lit. The employees are friendly and helpful in fact just this week I had a guy in electrical explain to me how to wire 3-way outlets.

Due to my job and the fact that I live in an "older" home I spend a lot of money in these stores, I also frequent a local true value and the nearby Ace. All the hardware stores I go to have good customer service imo.

I sent an email to lowes letting them know I won't be shopping there anymore - I was shocked by their decision to pull adverts from the american muslim show.

[xmas74]

32. No, that sounds about right.

I don't work there but it sounds about right. A coworker where I work at pays about that much for her family of five.

[TheWraith]

8. The reality is you can't always choose to shop somewhere else.

In my hometown, the only place to get a lot of things is Walmart. I can either shop there, or I can drive 25+ miles to another town for the pleasure of paying a lot more, on top of my gas. It's not fun, but it's the world. Sometimes you don't have a choice.

[Wait Wut]

12. I'm a little better off than you.

We have two Walmarts. Y'know, because every town should have dueling Walmarts.

[Wait Wut]

11. I realize it sounds like I'm picking on Christians here.

I'm not. My husband and the majority of my friends are Christian. I'm picking on bigotry. There are idiots and assholes in every religion, non-religion, etc. They all have rights.

[treestar]

13. Odd that they did that

They could have just not had the ads in the first place. So the right wingers are already there - and they're going to lose the left wingers.

They could have left this choice to the right wingers to make.

Dumb on their part. Why lose the Muslims as customers, too? This never made sense. Capitalism is supposed to be self interest, so I've never gotten why the Woolworth's counter simply rejected a portion of the population as a potential market. And Lowe's would not be into niche marketing.

[txwhitedove]

16. Home Depot gives $ to Repubs and has poor work policies. After reading Lowe's thoughtful FB

explanation, I'm sticking with Lowe's. It wasn't just because of the complaint from Florida religious group, it was because it had become a nasty lightening rod. They have since pulled even that FB post because people were leaving such horrible comments. I read awful hateful comments just on a news article about this and it was ALL anti-Muslim. I am reassured that Lowe's has their heart in the right place, just trying to withdraw from the ugly middle of a no-win situation.

[Wait Wut]

18. Reasonable conclusion.

But, only because you're a Democrat. We're fair and balanced.

[txwhitedove]

20. Thanks, but thought that was because I'm a Libra?? Admit my first reaction was OH NO, not Lowe's!

But I'm not into knee jerk or vague reasons for hateful responses.

[JohnnyRingo]

17. If it makes you fell better, Lowes didn't walk into this willingly.

The ad execs didn't watch the show and use Christianity as a criteria to air spots there. They refered to pie charts and data like any cold blooded American corporation to get their money's worth out of their advertising budget.

The problem from the onset was the relgious right building another fake controversey from whole cloth. By the time the execs at Lowes knew what was going on, they were knee deep in hate mail and promises of a national boycott. At that point Lowes was in a damned if they do and damned if they don't situation. There was no way they could avoid a backlash no matter how they handled it, so they chose to extract themselves from the situation entirely and hope the whole thing blows over.

I'm sure they thought keeping the ads running would continue the situation, but pulling them would trigger the "Great American Amnesia Syndrome" where we tend to get over our ire when the problem lays low and we move on to the next big thing. Corporations are not people, they don't make desisions based on their conscience. Instead they weigh consequences and choose the road of most profit. I'm sure if Lowes had it to do again, they wouldn't touch the show. After all, they don't care if Muslims or Christians shop at Lowes, as long as people know they're "the doing place" or something.

While I imagine the ad men probably didn't see the boycott on the left coming, the decision to pull the ads was already cast. They couldn't very well reverse course again and put the commercials back up lest they find themselves whipsawed back and forth by polar public opinion groups. The cycle of left and right disdain would be endless unless they stuck to their first decision and made themselves temporarily invisible. Boycotts have a shelf life, and this too will go away when the jeers die down and we consumers find someone else to get mad at.

Lowes hasn't changed, they aren't anti-Islam now, and it was all started as another fake controversy by the bigotted right (lookin' at you Fox). If it wan't this it would be their "holiday sale". I personally like Home Depot better, so this boycott is one of convenience for me, but if I liked my local Lowes I'd probably continue to shop there. Once again, their decision to pull the ads wasn't based on their religious belief, but as a short sighted response to public cries.

[Wait Wut]

19. Thanks for that.

Quite a few comments here have made me rethink my position. I guess I'm capable of a knee-jerk reaction just like the average human. That sucks.

What sucks more? I'm starting to feel bad for Lowe's. Upon registering as a Democrat everyone should receive a survival kit containing aspirin, a bottle of whiskey, a bong and a neck brace. Oh, and a CD with some appropriate meditationlike music.

[Initech]

21. I couldn't care less about who advertises on what show.

What I *DO* care about is that a company like Lowe's actually listened to these fucking bigoted religious bully organizations like the Florida Family Association - groups whose mere existence is solely to hate gays and anyone that's not rich white men, and actually CATERED to their demands!!! No one should be listening to these bigoted bullies for anything - some of them are actually labeled as hate groups. The fact that Lowe's listened to them is what's pissing me off about this whole thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. +1

That's EXACTLY the problem.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. It is a bit of a quandary.

If I want to shop at a big home improvement store I greatly prefer Lowe's to Home Despot. Lowe's is clean, well-organized and brightly-lit, while Home Despot is sort of dim and depressing, like a Wal-Mart. More importantly, it is owned by Republicans. So I've generally been going to Lowe's when I need the kind of stuff they and Home Despot sell.

So I was pretty disappointed when I heard Lowe's had caved to the bigoted demands of some hateful fundy organization in Florida. Should I "boycott" them, too? Meaning, not shop there; my decision not to buy a garden hose or a cordless drill or a bag of wood screws hardly qualifies as a boycott.

I have to think that an onslaught of mail from customers objecting to their cowardly decision to pull their advertising would be more effective than just not showing up at the store and buying stuff elsewhere - since just not shopping somewhere doesn't tell the store why you aren't shopping there.

Or else maybe I'll just go to a local hardware store and contribute to the economic health of a small business instead of a big-box store.

[saras]

23. Do I live in the only part of America that has lots of alternatives to these two?

The only reason I ever go to Lowes is that they're open until ten at night, and Fred Meyer quit carrying hardware.

We have a local hardware store with far larger selection than Lowes and Home Depot put together. We have building supply stores - wood, metal, roofing, stone, appliance outlet stores, etc. Garden supply stores, feed stores, nurseries, paint stores, etc.

Am I living in some kind of time warp, or old-fashioned guy's paradise?

Seriously. Anything I can get at Lowes, I can get at ten other places, in less than fifteen miles. In thirty miles, there's a whole 'nother set of towns, and all THEIR hardware stores. In a hundred miles, there's Seattle, where I can buy anything wholesale or retail, or in many cases find someone giving it away as waste.

If I want dancing doggies, I usually go to the dollar store for cheap ones, a toy store for nice ones, and dog agility trainers for real ones. Locally owned and all that.

[Wait Wut]

31. Pretty much all we have here are big box stores.

No Fred Meyer, but I've heard they're pretty awesome. The closest "real" town would be Phoenix, and that's almost 2 hours away. So, I'm stuck with Lowe's, Home Depot or a tiny True Value.

So, yes, it appears that you live in an old-fashioned guy's paradise.

We don't have a toy store anywhere around here. Not even in the neighboring towns. I live in an old guy's paradise where children are frowned upon. With all the big city bashing here, they have no idea how they're manipulated by big corporations.

[jberryhill]

24. It's not like they fired their many Muslim employees

It was a boneheaded decision to generate this advertising controversy.

Their policies and practices as an employer matter more than whether they are underwriting a minor cable TV network.

[Le Taz Hot]

26. Lowe's and Home Depot

are pretty much the same store in my book. Huge stores where you can't find anything, can't find anyone to help you and if, on that oh-so-rare occasion you actually DO find an employee, chances are they'll have no idea what you're talking about. Last summer I went into the Gardening Dept. at Lowe's and asked where I could find the Vermiculite. He stared at me as if I had grown a second head. OTOH, our local True Value hardware store, a store that's been in business since 1847, actually has electricians in the Electric Dept., Plumbers in the Plumbing Dept. and a Master Gardener in the Gardening Dept. They may be a little more expensive but I like being able to bring in a Do-Dad, show it to a clerk and be asked what color I want it in. I'll pay extra for that.

That whole anti-Muslim thing just pissed me off to no end -- I'm not going in there again.

[beyurslf]

27. My experiences with Home Depot and Lowes are opposite yours.

Lowes service is terrible here and I love my Home Depot!

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. I understand your confusion. It's hard to figure out how to address bigotry some times. Home depot

isn't THAT bad. lol.

[marked50]

29. Conundrum all around

Probably going to add to your frustration with this, but.....Lots of discussion these last few days around whether you should shop at Lowes or HomeDepot on the basis of the parent companies political leanings. Is Lowe's now less liberal or more rightwing because of this contorversy versus the known rightwing leaning of HomeDepot? People have been suggesting to drop both and shop at your local Hardware stores- the Ace's or TruValues or whatever.

In my area my local Hardware store owners are about as rightwing as you can get. So you are left with either long, long trips to another local store, which for all intents and purposes, may be owned by a Nazi sympathizer or buying over the internet and supporting "who knows what"?

Rather than try and figure that all out my criteria has now become: Shop were you feel the help is happy- a good sign of good employee treatment, you get the best product for your need and price, and the best convenience of your time and disposition.

Edited to add: Product boycotts are easier to deal with.-as long as you have solid alternatives and varieties. But then again if you have no choice you just go with it or do without.

[2ndAmForComputers]

33. Kick because this thread contains a RARITY.

[Wait Wut]

34. You confused me!!!!!

I hate that.

Good thing it's Friday or I'd have to think about it more.

[2ndAmForComputers]

35. Post 9.

Because it's not directed to whom it's usually directed at.