November 18, 2007

Lowes and the Freezer

We're tired of manually defrosting our freezer. We had a small 9 cu ft. freezer, an Absocold (look for it on Craigslist soon) manual defrost (meaning do it yourself) in our kitchen. We shop at Costco, so having an extra freezer is handy. What's not handy is the way it builds up ice over time and then needs to be defrosted, and having to move some of the food out and figuring out the best time so that we don't melt everything.
So, off we go to Lowes, where they have a frost-free freezer for $398. As we walk past the freezer, we notice a sign advertising Free (next-day) Delivery and 6 months same as cash(should we desire). Sounds great, we'll take the freezer. The sales guy checks the back, and yes, he has one in stock, and he gets all of the information from us. I tell him that I'd like the free delivery, to which he nods and takes my delivery information.
Now, remember how I said it was $398? The bill comes to $451, we're told. Hrmmm, of that, taxes is $17.xx, so where did the extra $30+ charge come from? Delivery charge is normally $75, so you're not charging us for that, are you?
Well, yes, in fact, that's what we're being charged for. You see, Lowes is giving 10% off appliances until December something or other, and with that discount, our freezer is no longer more than $397, the cut-off point for free delivery. While we've gained a 10% discount of $39.80, we've now got a delivery fee of $75.00.
I tried to tell the sales guy that I didn't want the 10% off, because I intended to get the rebate on the free delivery. Tough luck, Rich, you see, this is a big box store with powerless employees who have absolutely no control over how they sell items. All they can do is scan it into the computer, which automatically does the discounting. Sales Guy is not empowered to allow me to pay full price.
So, it wasn't free delivery because I bought the cheap freezer. But it was 10% off. I'm keeping the freezer....here comes the delivery truck now.

1 comment:

Star said...

I would write to Lowe's main office. THey should refund your delivery fee.