I live in a rural area and the nearest "shopping" town is 20 miles
away. The town has a Lowes and a Home Depot. The Lowes was there
first, so I got into the habit of shopping there and continued to do
so after the HD opened about 5 years ago.

Last week, on a whim, I decided to try the HD when I needed some
lumber for a barn repair I was working on. HD had two grades (higher
and lower) of the lumber I needed. Since this was a barn repair, the
lesser grade would work well, but there wasn't enough of it. I asked
the department manager if they had any more in stock. He checked and
said no, but they would have a delivery in two days and suggested I
come back then.

I told him that I was in the middle of a project and that it was a 40
mile round trip. He said "no problem", just take the higher grade
lumber and he would charge me the lower-grade price.

I was impressed with that. At Lowes, I wouldn't have been able to
even find a manager. I'm a HD fan now.

Lowes and HD may not be perfect, but they are way better than the "mom
and pop" rip-off store that they thankfully put out of business.
--
Work is the curse of the drinking class.