how come staff at box stores know nothing baout their products?!?!?!

[300UGUY]

I don't go to Lowes too much, it's a few miles farther than HD, so I don't know the staff there. Local HD has a licensed electrican and plumber on staff. I've done pretty good following their advice, but I don't expect them to be there after 5 pm or so. I order a lot of stuff online, so I don't have to go running around to get it. It is a big box retailer, so I don't expect them to know everything. When I asked the HD electrical guy about my electric fence, he smiled and told me that he didn't know anything about fences.

One thing I have noticed, is that Lowes and HD have put every single lumberyard in the county out of business. The nearest yard is about a 60 mile round trip. And that is Menards, not a local biz. And the plumbing and electrical supply shops are either gone or are on life support. Big retailers are basically vacumns for money. They take so much volume out of the biz, that the little guys can't survive. Add in the credit that they will give contractors, it is surprising that any of these independants survive.

 

[Soundguy]

it's too hard to multi quote on the pad.. so i'll rebut you by point.

first: actually, they do cleaim to be experts.

second: the seal parts for delta post 76 are common.

third. i didn't bring anything because i didn't want to take it apart and have it fall apart completely upon disassembly with no rebuild kit on hand. i was kinda hoping the people that sold the parts might know which of the ***2** kits fit a kitchen sink. essentially it boils down to the stem.. short or long.. and the cup seal kit is the same across the board.

finally: the delta websit would have helped me 0% lowes in my area does not sell 'delta' parts. it sells some other brand that 'fits' delta.. so a delta parts kit number would have helped 0% thus your trivial effort argument is null.

I did not go to lowes to save money. i went there to get parts. if 'joe the expert plumber had been next door, and open, and cost 2-3x as much and i was guaranteed to get the correct item. i'd have went there. as I stated inmy followup posts. no local plumbing supply.

and my faucet, for the time being is not leaking. it needs a ket for the pieces that I did not repalce. but is working now.

and yes.. that's right. I EXPECT them to know their job.

too many slackers don't know thier job.

who would you rather work with? someone who knows their job.. or someone who doesnt?

Ok.


First -- Lowes/Home Depot are "parts stores" not "parts and service" stores. And, no matter how competent the person in the plumbing aisle is, he/she has not seen everything. Some plumbers have spent their life in an industrial setting and can tell you exactly what fittings to use on 6" diameter commercial steam pipe. But they have no idea what size O-rings/cartridges fit into your Delta faucet of unknown vintage and origin. Expecting that Lowes has a 24x7 "faucet rebuild kit expert" on site with unerring product knowledge across a wide variety of fixture manufacturers is tad unrealistic.

Second -- Moen, Delta, and so on sell different types/styles/grades of faucets via different channels -- big box stores versus general plumbing supply versus fixture specialty stores. Do the various parts interchange? In some cases yes, in some cases no. My brother-in-law is a master plumber and has story after story of this. Although they look similar, the AO Smith brand water heaters which Lowes sells are NOT the same as the AO Smith models you get from a plumbing supply house. Do the thermocouples interchange?

Third -- you didn't bring anything for the person in the plumbing aisle to work with, and you expected through some kind of remote telepathy that he/she would know what type, style, grade, etc of faucet you had and what rebuild kit was needed? Really? If your description was errant or omitted just one aspect you'd be complaining right now about how the person at Lowes handed you the wrong rebuild kit.

Finally and probably most importantly -- the Delta website (and other self-help/DIY websites) have tons of cross-reference tables and what-not that document which rebuild kit is suitable for which faucet. In the time it took you to write the rant in your top post you could have found out EXACTLY what kit was needed (including the OEM Delta P/N) and been standing in the Lowes aisle holding one with complete confidence that it would fit. For that matter you could have been having a beer on your deck at home, and UPS would have delivered one to you in short order for less than you could have bought it at Lowes plus the cost of the gas to drive there.

Summary: you ***** about sub-standard service in big box stores but in my eyes you have to realize first off that you have to help yourself. A trivial amount of effort up front (90 seconds in Google) and you would be enjoying a non-leaky faucet right now instead of being all frothed up that Lowes -- it turns out -- is operating in the same capitalistic model you do: minimize costs and maximize revenue.

Consistent with the other responses, this thread did not go the direction you intended.

Wrooster

 

[Soundguy]

Since I can't change the rest of the world, what I do is buy one of everything that I think that I might possibly need, put it on my credit card and return the excess on the next visit. No out of pocket expense, no multiple trips and minimum grief.

i regret just not buying both kits... 1 would have fit.. guaranteed.. and the other will fit every OTHER faucet in my house outside the kitchen sink...( and of course not the shower cartridge )

I actually considered doing just that then got side tracked picking up some valve grease and a hammer arestor replacement for the washing machine.

 

[Soundguy]

You most likely went there because it was close by and cheaper. That makes it a box store like Wal-Mart Inc. You get what you pay for. Don't expect a Rolls at a Ford price.

you assume i went there because it was cheaper and close by.

I went there as it was what i had available. never fails to have a leak at 9pm at night! I'd have gladly paid more for knowledgeable service.

 

[murphy1244]

I shop our local hardware store, they know their stuff!

 

[300UGUY]

it's too hard to multi quote on the pad.. so i'll rebut you by point.

first: actually, they do cleaim to be experts.

second: the seal parts for delta post 76 are common.

third. i didn't bring anything because i didn't want to take it apart and have it fall apart completely upon disassembly with no rebuild kit on hand. i was kinda hoping the people that sold the parts might know which of the ***2** kits fit a kitchen sink. essentially it boils down to the stem.. short or long.. and the cup seal kit is the same across the board.

finally: the delta websit would have helped me 0% lowes in my area does not sell 'delta' parts. it sells some other brand that 'fits' delta.. so a delta parts kit number would have helped 0% thus your trivial effort argument is null.

I did not go to lowes to save money. i went there to get parts. if 'joe the expert plumber had been next door, and open, and cost 2-3x as much and i was guaranteed to get the correct item. i'd have went there. as I stated inmy followup posts. no local plumbing supply.

and my faucet, for the time being is not leaking. it needs a ket for the pieces that I did not repalce. but is working now.

and yes.. that's right. I EXPECT them to know their job.

too many slackers don't know thier job.

who would you rather work with? someone who knows their job.. or someone who doesnt?

Not to beat the subject to death, but given the pay scale at a lot of these places, I don't expect too much. Our local HD has a couple knowlegible retirees on staff. Without them, I would expect a lot less info from HD. If the guy doesn't know his job, that's a management problem, no training=no info. I really think it all comes down to the benjamins - no money = no good. If they paid more, stuff would cost more, and lots of folks would go somewhere else. The good news is, we are winning the race to the bottom!!!

 

[300UGUY]

I shop our local hardware store, they know their stuff!

Kinda hit or miss here. A good hardware store is about 25 miles away, but HD is much closer. Most local hardware stores are mini Biglots now, a lot of cheap stuff, employing minimum wage folks. One place I got irritated when the guy made a remark "it must be nice to have money". I bought a bunch of birdseed my wife wanted, and a new birdfeeder. I've never went back.

 

[300UGUY]

you assume i went there because it was cheaper and close by.

I went there as it was what i had available. never fails to have a leak at 9pm at night! I'd have gladly paid more for knowledgeable service.

If you were a plumber, would you work at Lowes at 9 pm?

 

[DFB]

The good news is, we are winning the race to the bottom!!!

:thumbsup:

 

[Bird]

I have a friend who owns a large plumbing business. He advised he no longer attempts to carry repair parts for all the different brands and makes of faucets on his repair trucks.

I've hired a quite expensive plumber recently for some jobs I would have done myself a few years ago. One of those jobs was replacing the American Standard F20 Clear Tap kitchen sink faucet with a new Delta because I was tired of repairing that American Standard faucet myself, and the nearest place to even get parts for it is more than 30 miles in heavy traffic in Dallas. Of course, I got all the paperwork for the new Delta and put it in the file cabinet, as I do with nearly everything. That way I know when I bought, from whom, how much it cost, model numbers, etc. if I need them in the future. The other thing I had this plumber do is replace both toilets in our bathrooms with Toto ADA toilets. And the plumbers with this company drive big box van type trucks, so they do carry a lot of parts, tools, etc. But there's just no way a plumber could carry it all.