Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 5, 2:25 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

As a general rule, always go to a specialty store if you're going to
need help or advice on anything.
Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"frank megaweege" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 5, 2:25 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

As a general rule, always go to a specialty store if you're going to
need help or advice on anything.
Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.


I had absolutely no problem at HD, getting a can of Kilz white exterior
latex glossy to match the previous can of the exact same thing. :-) The
paint expert was very helpful when he said "yeah it's down that aisle
somewhere". :-)

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:25:56 -0700, DerbyDad03
wrote:

The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

You get what you pay for (most of the time). You were a customer with
highly specific needs, and you should go to a higher-priced store to
get the attention you wanted.

Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"Bernardo Gui" wrote in message
Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

No, the price difference is less than most people think. If we don't support
the local guy, he won't be there when we do need his expertise.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

Bernardo Gui wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:25:56 -0700, DerbyDad03
wrote:


The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?


You get what you pay for (most of the time). You were a customer with
highly specific needs, and you should go to a higher-priced store to
get the attention you wanted.

Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

I would be a fool then. With the automatic discount that I
get at the real paint stores, plus the higher quality paint
that I get, I come out ahead every time. Plus, it only takes
a minute or two unless I come in when there are alot of
customers. Even then, it is usually MUCH faster than the big
box stores. So I save money AND time. I guess I am just a
fool for economy.

The real fools are the ones that think that Home Depot and
Lowes are cheaper.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Bernardo Gui" wrote in message
Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

No, the price difference is less than most people think. If we don't support
the local guy, he won't be there when we do need his expertise.

The primary benefit of Depot / Lowe's is their longer hours. Your local
Sherman Williams store isn't typically open when you find you need paint
at 9pm. Of course better project planning generally eliminates those
problems.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"Robert Allison" wrote in message
news:1vJDi.4578$J96.1147@trnddc02...
Bernardo Gui wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:25:56 -0700, DerbyDad03
wrote:


The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?


You get what you pay for (most of the time). You were a customer with
highly specific needs, and you should go to a higher-priced store to
get the attention you wanted.

Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

I would be a fool then. With the automatic discount that I get at the
real paint stores, plus the higher quality paint that I get, I come out
ahead every time. Plus, it only takes a minute or two unless I come in
when there are alot of customers. Even then, it is usually MUCH faster
than the big box stores. So I save money AND time. I guess I am just a
fool for economy.

The real fools are the ones that think that Home Depot and Lowes are
cheaper.
Robert Allison


They're the fools who don't put any value at all on their own time. Do it
right the first time, and you have more hours to spend with your family, go
fishing, or just sit in the yard watching the clouds go by. When I bought my
first house, I was fortunate enough to have a hardware store two blocks
away. The owner and his wife knew how to fix every damned thing, from
plaster to electrical to plumbing to painting. I'd walk in, learn something,
buy the right thing the first time, and be done with the job fast. They'd
introduce my kid to the store's official cat and keep him busy while I
concentrated on hardware.

Those places still exist, but in a nation of idiots, advertising is king,
and too many people never find their local hardware store because Home
Depot's ads are bigger and more frequent.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

Pete C. wrote:
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Bernardo Gui" wrote in message

Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

No, the price difference is less than most people think. If we don't support
the local guy, he won't be there when we do need his expertise.


The primary benefit of Depot / Lowe's is their longer hours. Your local
Sherman Williams store isn't typically open when you find you need paint
at 9pm. Of course better project planning generally eliminates those
problems.

Good painters paint by daylight. That's why they aren't open late :o)

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 5, 5:20 pm, Bernardo Gui wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:25:56 -0700, DerbyDad03
wrote:





The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

You get what you pay for (most of the time). You were a customer with
highly specific needs, and you should go to a higher-priced store to
get the attention you wanted.


-- Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a
can
-- of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
-- gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Unless you also want one of the 8 finishes available at the paint
store instead of the 3 available at the borgs.
I choose a Low Lustre finish based on the recomendation from the
expert. At Lowes I had a choice of flat, satin or semi-gloss.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 5, 11:58 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"Robert Allison" wrote in message

news:1vJDi.4578$J96.1147@trnddc02...





Bernardo Gui wrote:
On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:25:56 -0700, DerbyDad03
wrote:

The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

You get what you pay for (most of the time). You were a customer with
highly specific needs, and you should go to a higher-priced store to
get the attention you wanted.

Of course, you'd be a knucklehead to go to that same place for a can
of standard-color paint that you can easily find on one of the
gazillions of paint sample cards at Lowes.

Bernardo

I would be a fool then. With the automatic discount that I get at the
real paint stores, plus the higher quality paint that I get, I come out
ahead every time. Plus, it only takes a minute or two unless I come in
when there are alot of customers. Even then, it is usually MUCH faster
than the big box stores. So I save money AND time. I guess I am just a
fool for economy.

The real fools are the ones that think that Home Depot and Lowes are
cheaper.
Robert Allison

They're the fools who don't put any value at all on their own time. Do it
right the first time, and you have more hours to spend with your family, go
fishing, or just sit in the yard watching the clouds go by. When I bought my
first house, I was fortunate enough to have a hardware store two blocks
away. The owner and his wife knew how to fix every damned thing, from
plaster to electrical to plumbing to painting. I'd walk in, learn something,
buy the right thing the first time, and be done with the job fast. They'd
introduce my kid to the store's official cat and keep him busy while I
concentrated on hardware.

Those places still exist, but in a nation of idiots, advertising is king,
and too many people never find their local hardware store because Home
Depot's ads are bigger and more frequent

I'm lucky enough to have one of those close by. I walk in and tell
the owner what I'm trying to do and he wanders back into the dark
cluttered aisles and returns with exactly what I need along with good
explanations and advice.
Maybe his mark up is higher than Lowe's. It's not worth it to check.
Peace of mind is priceless.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

DerbyDad03 wrote:
The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

I took a paint stick into a SW store, said to the guy, "I need a half-gallon
of this."

"We don't do half-gallons," he said.

"Okay," I replied, "I'll take two quarts."

"Can't do that either. Minimum is a gallon."

"So I suppose four pints is out of the question?"


I left. About a half hour later, I repeated the conversation to the regional
manager for SW who said: "I know the guy you described. Up until a couple of
minutes ago, he was in our management-trainee program. That store does cater
to builders and contractors, but he should have found some way to accomodate
you."

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"frank megaweege" wrote in message
ups.com...

Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.


I had absolutely no problem at HD, getting a can of Kilz white exterior
latex glossy to match the previous can of the exact same thing. :-) The
paint expert was very helpful when he said "yeah it's down that aisle
somewhere". :-)

I live where a Home Depot and Lowe's are almost across the street from
one another, and I haven't been to Lowe's in over a year because they
made a pricing mistake on every other visit, and their employees were
a lot less informed and less available. For example, I needed a
window air conditioner one July, and it took three Lowe's employees to
find them in their store. OTOH when I needed an odd electrical item,
a Home Depot employee who worked in a completely different department
told me exactly where to find it, not only the aisle but how far from
the end and how high above the floor.

BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"larry moe 'n curly" wrote in message
ps.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"frank megaweege" wrote in message
ups.com...

Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.


I had absolutely no problem at HD, getting a can of Kilz white exterior
latex glossy to match the previous can of the exact same thing. :-) The
paint expert was very helpful when he said "yeah it's down that aisle
somewhere". :-)

I live where a Home Depot and Lowe's are almost across the street from
one another, and I haven't been to Lowe's in over a year because they
made a pricing mistake on every other visit, and their employees were
a lot less informed and less available. For example, I needed a
window air conditioner one July, and it took three Lowe's employees to
find them in their store. OTOH when I needed an odd electrical item,
a Home Depot employee who worked in a completely different department
told me exactly where to find it, not only the aisle but how far from
the end and how high above the floor.

BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.


At the store here, the electrical "expert" is a mouth breathing neanderthal.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"larry moe 'n curly" wrote in message
....
BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.


At the store here, the electrical "expert" is a mouth breathing neanderthal.


That would likely be the best estimate of an EE testing lighting at UL
who had to moonlight at HD... :)

In a similar vein, the local TV news obligatory blurb from the CR "lab"
test a couple of nights ago was on CF bulbs. A very carefully staged
clip showed the "trained professional engineer" in his white lab coat
and carrying the clipboard "testing" these bulbs by turning the lamp
switch on and off in succession going down the lineup... :)

Oh, and it ended w/ the technical feat of unscrewing a bulb and
carefully replacing it w/ another while wearing cotton gloves...

--

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

In article , dpb wrote:

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"larry moe 'n curly" wrote in message
...
BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.


At the store here, the electrical "expert" is a mouth breathing
neanderthal.


That would likely be the best estimate of an EE testing lighting at UL
who had to moonlight at HD... :)

In a similar vein, the local TV news obligatory blurb from the CR "lab"
test a couple of nights ago was on CF bulbs. A very carefully staged
clip showed the "trained professional engineer" in his white lab coat
and carrying the clipboard "testing" these bulbs by turning the lamp
switch on and off in succession going down the lineup... :)

Oh, and it ended w/ the technical feat of unscrewing a bulb and
carefully replacing it w/ another while wearing cotton gloves...

--

Was he chanting "righty tighty, lefty loosey" while performing the feat?

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 6, 10:43 am, "HeyBub" wrote:


That store does cater
to builders and contractors, but he should have found some way to accomodate
you."

Does SW designate only certain stores as homeowner friendly?
I've bought tinted quarts there lots of times.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 6, 11:14 am, larry moe 'n curly
wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"frank megaweege" wrote in message
oups.com...
Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.

I had absolutely no problem at HD, getting a can of Kilz white exterior
latex glossy to match the previous can of the exact same thing. :-) The
paint expert was very helpful when he said "yeah it's down that aisle
somewhere". :-)

I live where a Home Depot and Lowe's are almost across the street from
one another, and I haven't been to Lowe's in over a year because they
made a pricing mistake on every other visit, and their employees were
a lot less informed and less available. For example, I needed a
window air conditioner one July, and it took three Lowe's employees to
find them in their store. OTOH when I needed an odd electrical item,
a Home Depot employee who worked in a completely different department
told me exactly where to find it, not only the aisle but how far from
the end and how high above the floor.

BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.

Wow, youre experiences are exactly the opposite of mine. I live near
two HD's and going to either is a pointless exercise. After asking
three different people where to find something you usually give up and
just drive the extra 20 miles to Lowe's and wonder why you bothered in
the first place.

nate

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

larry moe 'n curly wrote:

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

....

I live where a Home Depot and Lowe's are almost across the street from
one another, and I haven't been to Lowe's in over a year because they
made a pricing mistake on every other visit, and their employees were
a lot less informed and less available. For example, I needed a
window air conditioner one July, and it took three Lowe's employees to
find them in their store. OTOH when I needed an odd electrical item,
a Home Depot employee who worked in a completely different department
told me exactly where to find it, not only the aisle but how far from
the end and how high above the floor.
Sounds like you are describing Sunnyvale. I was eagerly awaiting
the opening of the Sunnyvale Lowes, because I thought that HD would
get some real competition. But they were such complete idiots that
I vowed to never go back there again. Yes! Worse than the worst
HD employees.

BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.

I don't know about the lack of a smile, but I have found the quality of
HD employees to be quite variable. Many are the usual "don't care" types,
and a few are very good and competent. You kind of wonder why they are there.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 6, 11:54 am, N8N wrote:
On Sep 6, 11:14 am, larry moe 'n curly
wrote:





JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"frank megaweege" wrote in message
oups.com...
Lowe's and Home Depot are useful for supplies when you know exactly
what you need, can go in, load up your cart and get out with as little
interaction with employees as possible. They're usually hiding from
customers anyway.

I had absolutely no problem at HD, getting a can of Kilz white exterior
latex glossy to match the previous can of the exact same thing. :-) The
paint expert was very helpful when he said "yeah it's down that aisle
somewhere". :-)

I live where a Home Depot and Lowe's are almost across the street from
one another, and I haven't been to Lowe's in over a year because they
made a pricing mistake on every other visit, and their employees were
a lot less informed and less available. For example, I needed a
window air conditioner one July, and it took three Lowe's employees to
find them in their store. OTOH when I needed an odd electrical item,
a Home Depot employee who worked in a completely different department
told me exactly where to find it, not only the aisle but how far from
the end and how high above the floor.

BTW at a place like Home Depot, if you have a complex problem try to
find an employee who doesn't smile because that person is probably a
contractor working part time. At one of their stores that meant the
lighting dept. was staffed by an electrical engineer who testing
lighting at UL.

Wow, youre experiences are exactly the opposite of mine. I live near
two HD's and going to either is a pointless exercise. After asking
three different people where to find something you usually give up and
just drive the extra 20 miles to Lowe's and wonder why you bothered in
the first place.

nate- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Thats my experience at HD, I had to cut my own wire last night, I only
needed 20 feet and didn't want to buy a 500 foot roll at todays copper
prices. All the floor people were hiding from customers, as usual
(Frankfort Illinois store). I was scolded by the checkout lady when I
told her "20 feet at .20 cents a foot", of couse she didn't trust me,
so she had to call the guy to verify the .20, then she proceeded
untaping the wire and actually measured it across the floor, of course
it was 20 feet. At my old hardware store the guy would give you
something then tell you what to tell the cashier up front "just tell
her it's .50 cents a foot" or whatever. Then I needed some faucet
hoses, I had to explain to the clerk that HD's faucet hoses were not
really stainless braid, but rather they are cheap nylon braid made
silver to fool DIY people into thinking they were stainless braid. I
said no deal and bought the hoses at Menards, they are all stainless
there, no cheap crap. HD is going downhill, I know because I've been
going there since it's inception.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

Because their previous employer is out of business since HD showed up?

"M Q" wrote in message news:WnWDi.1806$s06.1767@trnddc04...
SNIP
a few are very good and competent. You kind of wonder why they are there.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"frank megaweege" wrote in message
I'm lucky enough to have one of those close by. I walk in and tell
the owner what I'm trying to do and he wanders back into the dark
cluttered aisles and returns with exactly what I need along with good
explanations and advice.
Maybe his mark up is higher than Lowe's. It's not worth it to check.
Peace of mind is priceless.

I used to have one nearby. I'd go in and tell the owner I was going to get
some pipe. Then I'd go downstairs, cut and thread whatever I needed and
bring it up to the counter. He never measured, but took my measurements to
price it and off I'd go.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 6, 10:27 pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
"frank megaweege" wrote in message
I'm lucky enough to have one of those close by. I walk in and tell
the owner what I'm trying to do and he wanders back into the dark
cluttered aisles and returns with exactly what I need along with good
explanations and advice.
Maybe his mark up is higher than Lowe's. It's not worth it to check.
Peace of mind is priceless.

I used to have one nearby. I'd go in and tell the owner I was going to get
some pipe. Then I'd go downstairs, cut and thread whatever I needed and
bring it up to the counter. He never measured, but took my measurements to
price it and off I'd go.

This gives me an idea. My HD has a self service miter boxes for
cutting trim. Maybe I'll go cut myself and sue them back to the stone
ages.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"dpb"

In a similar vein, the local TV news obligatory blurb from the CR "lab"
test a couple of nights ago was on CF bulbs. A very carefully staged clip
showed the "trained professional engineer" in his white lab coat and
carrying the clipboard "testing" these bulbs by turning the lamp switch on
and off in succession going down the lineup... :)

Oh, and it ended w/ the technical feat of unscrewing a bulb and carefully
replacing it w/ another while wearing cotton gloves...

Changing a light bulb is too dangerous for the average person, and anyone
attempting to do such an activity is, by definition, irresponsible. Call a
professional when you need a job like this done, and call the police to
report anyone attempting to circumvent light bulb changing laws.

Jon

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

"Jon Danniken" wrote in message

Changing a light bulb is too dangerous for the average person, and anyone
attempting to do such an activity is, by definition, irresponsible. Call
a professional when you need a job like this done, and call the police to
report anyone attempting to circumvent light bulb changing laws.

Jon

Bull****. Just take the 10 hour training course and you can be certified to
change both incandescent and florescent bulbs. Halogen is a separate
course.

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

on 9/7/2007 3:50 PM Edwin Pawlowski said the following:
"Jon Danniken" wrote in message

Changing a light bulb is too dangerous for the average person, and anyone
attempting to do such an activity is, by definition, irresponsible. Call
a professional when you need a job like this done, and call the police to
report anyone attempting to circumvent light bulb changing laws.

Jon


Bull****. Just take the 10 hour training course and you can be certified to
change both incandescent and florescent bulbs. Halogen is a separate
course.




I failed it the first time and had to go to summer school.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Lowes Paint Counter vs. A Real Paint Store
 

On Sep 5, 2:25 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
The other day SWMBO says to me "I'd like those Bordeaux colored
shutters that I saw at Lowes."

So I take the new shutters over to the paint counter and asked for a
quart of matching paint for the trim. The guy in the red vest tries to
find the color Bordeaux in his computer. No go. He tries a couple of
paint chips but nothing matches. He tries to hold the 48" shutters up
to the little tiny color matching computer lens - the resulting
formula is not even close. "Sorry, I don't think I can match it."

I drive down the road to a local paint store and bring the shutters
in. The guy behind the counter grabs a keychain full of little
miniature shutters and finds one that's fairly close. "Let's start
with this and we'll tweak it from there." He mixes the formula found
on the back of the mini-shutter, brings it over and declares it "too
purple". A couple of drops of this and that and he hits it perfect on
the next try.

When I told him what happened at Lowes he said the computers don't
work very well with dark colors and the guys behind the counter are
too lazy to try and match the paint manually. Guess where I'm going
the next time I need paint?

My experience with the big boxes: If it's not a stock color or the
computer color match doesn't get the match right, you're toast. They
normally don't know jack about tweaking.

Guys at paint stores know colorants and how to tweak. Not all of them,
mind you -- it's rather amusing to see the formula written on the can
involving 8 colorants and the color is basically Light Tan. One
mistake requires an additional colorant to kill the mistake, so the
final formula can get quite "wordy".