On May 19, 8:59*pm, "Mike Marlow"
wrote:

So... that, as well as other commentary, causes me to wonder. *Mind you -
I'm not criticizing your thoughts or the contributions of others, but I do
see this recurring theme where folks here seem to expect retail help to be
as knowledgable as they are, or perhaps even more.

I may not have explained myself well. I am not an expert on any
subject and never think I am. I wasn't seeking product use knowledge
(appreciated, but not expected), but rather something more elemental.

I am looking for the guy that knows where hammer drill bits are in the
store. I want to find the guy that can tell me were the 3/8" plumbing
supply lines are, or someone that can tell me where the roof sealer in
a caulk tube resides in their store. Store knowledge is good.
Product location is good. The local HDs we have are disorganized
enough that certain products simply aren't on the isle they say they
are on the announcement board.

HD used to be good about hiring at least a guy or two that had
perfunctory knowledge of product and application. Now I have no idea
what their standards are locally.

Strangely, the HD in a small town about 40 minutes from here is
great. The folks in the store know where everything is, and will ask
you a simple question like "have you used this before?" if it is
something like a new mold killer or pipe sealer. If you have, they
ask how you like it while they are checking you out.


What's worse is when I
read a post from a guy who loves to criticize the retail help for not
knowing a particularr piece of equipment or a particular piece of knowledge
that the poster knows. *Makes me scream inside - So What! *It's like it's
some ego trip for the rec woodworker to be able to blabber about someone who
does not know what he does.

Mike, there are a host of folks everywhere that love the "big me,
little you" situation, as long as they are on top. No one is an
expert at everything, and few I run into are an expert at anything.
My personal experience rings true with the biggest mouth usually knows
the least.

And so what is someone knows more about a machine than another guy.
The guys at the box stores are for the most part just trying to earn a
living. They don't want to be the next Norm, Nakashima or Krenov.
All I want from those guys is to tell me where the deck screws are.
(Why aren't they with all the other fasteners??? At some stores they
are...)

The only time I am ****ed off is when someone attempts to tell me how
to use a product or a tool when I have not solicited their opinion,
and made it clear I don't want it. When I go in to the store and ask
for a very specific item by brand name, model number and size, I don't
want the jovial, middle aged nit brain to say "well, wait a minute
fella, what are you going to use this for?"

And when purchasing oil based products in one of our local HDs, the
pin head in the paint department on deck (my regular guy is an ACE)
told me he wouldn't sell me naptha to thin their old based paint with
because it was the wrong product. He was really serious, too. He
told me mineral spirits or nothing, although we both know I could pick
up any can I wanted.

Even after I told him I did this kind of work for a living, he
continued with his diatribe about using the proper thinner for each
paint so that you would get the best results. He quickly inserted the
fact that HD would not be responsible for the results if I used naptha
instead of mineral spirits.

I pointed out to him HD never guaranteed my final product anyway, so
he could sleep well at night. It escalated as he followed me down the
isle telling me that he had gone through two different training
classes on paints and did a bit on the side as a contractor... then I
made a real scene... the store manager came over to where I was
wrong... read him the beads, too. All I wanted was my bright white
paint for trim (did you know HD has the brightest white enamel in the
business? Available nowhere else?), my thinner, and get out.

What gets me Mike, is that each HD and Lowe's have distinct
personalities. Now, when I suggest something for clients or
contractors, I send them to different stores. Since no two HDs have
the same inventory, I go to three or four of them fairly often, and
they are as different as they can be.

Anyway.... we are on the same page. 99% of the time in any retail
establishment I am happy if the folks just say "go to isle 27, about
halfway down, look about eye level on the right. If they have moved
it, come get me." That's all I need.

Robert