I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce

On 10/14/2016 8:45 PM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce


I've used the Lowes web site to finds things at two stores. Always
accurate. Also tells you the location. Maybe your store manager is the
problem.

On 10/14/2016 11:06 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

I've used the Lowes web site to finds things at two stores. Always
accurate. Also tells you the location. Maybe your store manager is the
problem.

But why does it depend on the store manager? Why isn't the system
automated? Why doesn't the quantity in stock shown on their Web site or
by the app. -- and let alone on their own in-store computer system --
update within minutes -- or less -- of a sale being made?

Perce

On 10/14/2016 11:20 PM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:


I've used the Lowes web site to finds things at two stores. Always
accurate. Also tells you the location. Maybe your store manager is the
problem.

But why does it depend on the store manager? Why isn't the system
automated? Why doesn't the quantity in stock shown on their Web site or
by the app. -- and let alone on their own in-store computer system --
update within minutes -- or less -- of a sale being made?

Perce


Because the job of the manager is to make sure things are running right.
He knew it was a mess, his job is to get the right people to fix it.
His responsibility is to get things done.

NEVER EVER EVER trust a computer when it
comes to retail inventory!

On 10/15/2016 12:37 PM, wrote:
NEVER EVER EVER trust a computer when it
comes to retail inventory!

People are thieves. If it ain't nailed down, someone will steal it.

Percy,

A sale is only one of the ways that items are removed from stock.
Shoplifting by customers and employees is quite high in many places.
Defective returns affect the stock. And, of course things get mis-shelved.

Dave M.

I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce

Same thing at the big orange store. I've had store associates check inventory many times and it is always off.

I know for a fact that they do perodic inventory checks, but that is done by an outside company using people who are not familiar with the merchandise.

On 10/15/2016 09:49 AM, David L. Martel wrote:

A sale is only one of the ways that items are removed from stock.
Shoplifting by customers and employees is quite high in many places.
Defective returns affect the stock. And, of course things get mis-shelved.

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x 8'
sheets of plywood? And how come the store's own computer records -- at
least for this item -- hadn't been updated for more than a year?

And where did the "13 in stock" figure shown by the app. differ from the
"17 in stock" shown in the store's own system? Doesn't each store's
system link to the company's centralized record keeping?

Perce

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 9:13:59 AM UTC-7, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
On 10/15/2016 09:49 AM, David L. Martel wrote:

A sale is only one of the ways that items are removed from stock.
Shoplifting by customers and employees is quite high in many places.
Defective returns affect the stock. And, of course things get mis-shelved.

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x 8'
sheets of plywood? And how come the store's own computer records -- at
least for this item -- hadn't been updated for more than a year?

And where did the "13 in stock" figure shown by the app. differ from the
"17 in stock" shown in the store's own system? Doesn't each store's
system link to the company's centralized record keeping?

Perce

I cut a lot of firewood. I was getting my bar oil at WalMart. Suddenly the spodt on the shelf was empty...and remained that way over several visits. I checked the website that showed thay had it. Went to the complaint desk and asks what the problem was. Had to show them there was none on the shelf. They looked, couldn't find any in stock room. Ordered me some. I picked it up a few days later and from curiosity checked...still none on shelf.. About a month later the gallon jugs were back.

John G wrote:
I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce
Same thing at the big orange store. I've had store associates check inventory many times and it is always off.

I know for a fact that they do perodic inventory checks, but that is done by an outside company using people who are not familiar with the merchandise.

As a salesperson at a big mall retailer, we closed the store and did the
inventory once a year.
"Every" single space (closets, etc.) was accounted for. They all were
assigned numbers. So even though some might be out of their normal
territory, there was an "expert" nearby to help. By the way, the
"project" was no fun at all (I only brought it to the front of my memory
because you forced me to!) : )

On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:14:35 -0700 (PDT), Harry K
wrote:

I cut a lot of firewood. I was getting my bar oil at WalMart. Suddenly the spodt on the shelf was empty...and remained that way over several visits. I checked the website that showed thay had it. Went to the complaint desk and asks what the problem was. Had to show them there was none on the shelf. They looked, couldn't find any in stock room. Ordered me some. I picked it up a few days later and from curiosity checked...still none on shelf. About a month later the gallon jugs were back.

At the BORG site I looked for a waxless toilet ring. Locally, said it
was in stock. The brand I wanted was not on the shelf. Manager was
called to the aisle. She had a hand held computer, told me "yes, we
sell that brand but not at this location."

Point being, not all stores stock the same products. Regardless of
what the main web site indicates. Not every store has same products
on the same aisles.

Get my mind right :-)

On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 14:14:54 -0400, Bill
wrote:

John G wrote:
I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce
Same thing at the big orange store. I've had store associates check inventory many times and it is always off.

I know for a fact that they do perodic inventory checks, but that is done by an outside company using people who are not familiar with the merchandise.

As a salesperson at a big mall retailer, we closed the store and did the
inventory once a year.
"Every" single space (closets, etc.) was accounted for. They all were
assigned numbers. So even though some might be out of their normal
territory, there was an "expert" nearby to help. By the way, the
"project" was no fun at all (I only brought it to the front of my memory
because you forced me to!) : )
The problem is , the count is not accurate when the wrong stuff is
put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

On 2016-10-15, wrote:

put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

Izzat "illegal" illiterate counters or jes our own bozos from the US
education system?

Regardless, not a problem. Lowe's has formally sold out to the
Mexicans. Even Lowe's regular TV adds are now spoken in Spanish with English
subtitles. Amazing how 10% of the population dictates which language
we should all speak.

nb

In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 14 Oct 2016 20:45:32 -0400, "Percival P.
Cassidy" wrote:

I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to

Yes it is. 30 years ago the mainframe installations where I worked
updated every night, or twice a day, but they worked things out a few
years later to update almost immediately.

check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery

That was a good year for maple.

was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

That's a good question. They may be using numbers from the Federal
Number Reserve, which only supplies raw numbers and has no method for
matching them with existing numbers. Because we use so many more
numbers these days, and because 97% of new numbers come from Arab
countries (That's why they're called Arabic numbers) with whom our
relationship is not always good, the federal government in 1975
established the Federal Number Reserve, in a rarely visited part of the
Humboldt National Forest in Nevada. In underground vaults, it holds
32 quintillion numbers, enough to carry us through an embargo of 20
years, if necessary. Some have said we don't need that many and so,
for a fee, a few have been made available to private businesses. They
can buy a few rather cheaply but the price per unit climbs steeply if
they buy more.

Perce

I was at Lowes about 10 years ago looking at the kitchen faucets. They
had about 15 on display.

But I thought I'd get more details at home so I looked on the computer
at home and they had 4.

HD was terrible at that time too, but they may have finally gotten their
act together. The webpage shows the aisle and bay for each product, per
store, and the two times I've looked, it was right.

On 16 Oct 2016 00:01:17 GMT, notbob wrote:

On 2016-10-15, wrote:

put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

Izzat "illegal" illiterate counters or jes our own bozos from the US
education system?

US college grads for the most part. Whether Anglo or Latino makes no
difference - still "functionally illiterate"

Regardless, not a problem. Lowe's has formally sold out to the
Mexicans. Even Lowe's regular TV adds are now spoken in Spanish with English
subtitles. Amazing how 10% of the population dictates which language
we should all speak.

nb

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:14:35 -0700 (PDT), Harry K
wrote:

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 9:13:59 AM UTC-7, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
On 10/15/2016 09:49 AM, David L. Martel wrote:

A sale is only one of the ways that items are removed from stock.
Shoplifting by customers and employees is quite high in many places.
Defective returns affect the stock. And, of course things get mis-shelved.

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x 8'
sheets of plywood? And how come the store's own computer records -- at
least for this item -- hadn't been updated for more than a year?

And where did the "13 in stock" figure shown by the app. differ from the
"17 in stock" shown in the store's own system? Doesn't each store's
system link to the company's centralized record keeping?

Perce

I cut a lot of firewood. I was getting my bar oil at WalMart. Suddenly the spodt on the shelf was empty...and remained that way over several visits. I checked the website that showed thay had it. Went to the complaint desk and asks what the problem was. Had to show them there was none on the shelf. They looked, couldn't find any in stock room. Ordered me some. I picked it up a few days later and from curiosity checked...still none on shelf. About a month later the gallon jugs were back.

To order a gallon for you and 5 gallons for the shelves would have
required two separate orders. I haven't got time for that. You're
lucky I waited on you.

/s MMT, manager of your local Walmart.

wrote:
On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 14:14:54 -0400, Bill
wrote:

John G wrote:
I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce
Same thing at the big orange store. I've had store associates check inventory many times and it is always off.

I know for a fact that they do perodic inventory checks, but that is done by an outside company using people who are not familiar with the merchandise.
As a salesperson at a big mall retailer, we closed the store and did the
inventory once a year.
"Every" single space (closets, etc.) was accounted for. They all were
assigned numbers. So even though some might be out of their normal
territory, there was an "expert" nearby to help. By the way, the
"project" was no fun at all (I only brought it to the front of my memory
because you forced me to!) : )
The problem is , the count is not accurate when the wrong stuff is
put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

This wasn't Walmart (nothing against Walmart). I don't think the
counters were functionally illiterate. Of course, this is 30 years ago...

Percival P. Cassidy wrote: "- hide quoted text -
On 10/15/2016 09:49 AM, David L. Martel wrote:

A sale is only one of the ways that items are removed from stock.
Shoplifting by customers and employees is quite high in many places.
Defective returns affect the stock. And, of course things get mis-shelved.

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x 8'
sheets of plywood? And how come the store's own computer records -- at
least for this item -- hadn't been updated for more than a year?

And where did the "13 in stock" figure shown by the app. differ from the
"17 in stock" shown in the store's own system? Doesn't each store's
system link to the company's centralized record keeping?

Perce "

In theory, yes. The POS(point of sale) terminals -
cash registers for those of us old enough to
call them that - automatically reduce inventory
by the number ofmthat item sold. When inventory
falls below a point set by regional or store
management, the computer alerts staff to order
more stock, or, automatically places an order
tombring stock up to the quantity normall kept in
stock at that retail location.

Defectives are returned to store for refund or
credit, but if the computer system is set up
appropriately, defectives will not be added -
on paper - back to inventory by that system.

Again, this is ideally what should happen,
and reordering and delivery of new stock should
occur at a rate that ensure that an "out of stock"
condtion should rarely if ever occur. But it
doesn't always. A cashier with a long line or
short on experience may not enter the stock or
PLU correctly for an item, so even if they charge
the customer and receive payment for it, the
computer controlling inventory cannot reduce
quantity of that item. Additionally, 2 of item #447J
were pocketed. So computer thinks there are 12
of item #447J in stock and doesn't need to order
more when quantity drops to 10, when in actuality
there are only 7 on the shelf.

On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 20:53:46 -0400, Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 14:14:54 -0400, Bill
wrote:

John G wrote:
I needed a sheet of 1/4" maple plywood. According to the Lowe's app. on
my phone, the local store had 13 of them. When I got to the store, I
found that the spot labeled for them had underlayment instead, so I
called one of the staff, but he couldn't find them. I said, "I know some
stores only update their inventory overnight; maybe you sold them today
already." He replied, "I think we do updates only once a week," which I
told him I thought was terrible. After much searching he decided to
check their computer, which told him that they had 17 sheets -- as at
*9/10/2015* (yes, more than a year ago!), and that their last delivery
was at about that same time. He said he would update their computer
system to show that they had no stock and would order more -- but they
will not be available for 9 days.

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce
Same thing at the big orange store. I've had store associates check inventory many times and it is always off.

I know for a fact that they do perodic inventory checks, but that is done by an outside company using people who are not familiar with the merchandise.
As a salesperson at a big mall retailer, we closed the store and did the
inventory once a year.
"Every" single space (closets, etc.) was accounted for. They all were
assigned numbers. So even though some might be out of their normal
territory, there was an "expert" nearby to help. By the way, the
"project" was no fun at all (I only brought it to the front of my memory
because you forced me to!) : )
The problem is , the count is not accurate when the wrong stuff is
put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

This wasn't Walmart (nothing against Walmart). I don't think the
counters were functionally illiterate. Of course, this is 30 years ago...

I remember using an inventory counting service one year and the
results were FAR from accurate. The next year we did it in-house - and
having a basic understanding of what was SUPPOSED to be in the bins -
and making sure we counted what was there as the right part, made for
a much more accurate count. 3 days of work over the new-year counting
was NOT what I had figured on.

On 10/15/2016 7:01 PM, notbob wrote:
On 2016-10-15, wrote:

put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.
Izzat "illegal" illiterate counters or jes our own bozos from the US
education system?

Regardless, not a problem. Lowe's has formally sold out to the
Mexicans. Even Lowe's regular TV adds are now spoken in Spanish with English
subtitles. Amazing how 10% of the population dictates which language
we should all speak.

nb


Seems unfair not to have some ebonics commercials.

On Friday, October 14, 2016 at 8:44:02 PM UTC-4, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Perce

Not mentioned is the app you are using. If it knows where you are at at the time of app use (gps) it may be looking at inventory for the 'other' store you were closest to.
See what "My Store" is set as.

On 10/15/2016 11:15 AM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x
8' sheets of plywood?

Here's how: if the SKU isn't attached to the item - in this case,
stamped on the sheet, or at least a price tag stapled to it - the
customer can load the sheets on a cart and helpfully write down the
SKU to provide to the cashier. But that customer may accidentally or
deliberately note the wrong SKU, and odds are the cashier won't
notice. The sheets of maple plywood are rung up as something else -
probably something cheaper - and that's how the inventory gets screwed
up.

On 10/17/2016 10:55 AM, Thomas wrote:

So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Not mentioned is the app you are using. If it knows where you are at at the time of app use (gps) it may be looking at inventory for the 'other' store you were closest to.
See what "My Store" is set as.

It showed me the place-name of the store I was at. And if it had been
showing me the wrong store, it wouldn't have reset to zero when the guy
in that store set his "number in stock" to zero.

Perce

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 8:01:21 PM UTC-4, notbob wrote:
On 2016-10-15, wrote:

put in the wrong "bin" and the counters are functionally illiterate.

Izzat "illegal" illiterate counters or jes our own bozos from the US
education system?

Regardless, not a problem. Lowe's has formally sold out to the
Mexicans. Even Lowe's regular TV adds are now spoken in Spanish with English
subtitles. Amazing how 10% of the population dictates which language
we should all speak.

Why shouldn't Lowe's broadcast in a language spoken by the customers
they're trying to attract? If they thought it would increase market
share, they'd broadcast their commercials in Etruscan.

Next time I see a Lowe's commercial, I'll have to leave the sound on.

Then again, maybe it's because you live in the West.

Cindy Hamilton

On 10/17/2016 3:08 PM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:


Why shouldn't Lowe's broadcast in a language spoken by the customers
they're trying to attract? If they thought it would increase market
share, they'd broadcast their commercials in Etruscan.


Our local home store does just that. They have a strong Etruscan
following from a hundred miles around. I've never seen an Etruscan at
Lowes or Home Depot, now I know why.

On Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 12:05:21 PM UTC-7, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 15 Oct 2016 11:14:35 -0700 (PDT), Harry K
wrote:

I cut a lot of firewood. I was getting my bar oil at WalMart. Suddenly the spodt on the shelf was empty...and remained that way over several visits. I checked the website that showed thay had it. Went to the complaint desk and asks what the problem was. Had to show them there was none on the shelf. They looked, couldn't find any in stock room. Ordered me some. I picked it up a few days later and from curiosity checked...still none on shelf. About a month later the gallon jugs were back.

At the BORG site I looked for a waxless toilet ring. Locally, said it
was in stock. The brand I wanted was not on the shelf. Manager was
called to the aisle. She had a hand held computer, told me "yes, we
sell that brand but not at this location."

Point being, not all stores stock the same products. Regardless of
what the main web site indicates. Not every store has same products
on the same aisles.

Get my mind right :-)

In my case the site I checked was for the store I was shopping in. I think most Borgs have that option.

On Monday, October 17, 2016 at 8:39:51 AM UTC-7, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 10/15/2016 11:15 AM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I know that things walk out of the door without being sold. But 4' x
8' sheets of plywood?

Here's how: if the SKU isn't attached to the item - in this case,
stamped on the sheet, or at least a price tag stapled to it - the
customer can load the sheets on a cart and helpfully write down the
SKU to provide to the cashier. But that customer may accidentally or
deliberately note the wrong SKU, and odds are the cashier won't
notice. The sheets of maple plywood are rung up as something else -
probably something cheaper - and that's how the inventory gets screwed
up.

I was working in an agricultural fertilyzer plant making parts for applicators. Shop boss got the brilliant idea to put pads of paper on the bins so I could add the number I put in there and theusers subtract the ones they used. Now what could be more brilliant or simpler than that? I pointed out aht that system will only work if two people are involved and even then commonly fails. Nothing I said would convince him until the day he said he needed a batch of part # so and so, I pointed out to him that the bin was full per the pad.

On 10/14/2016 11:20 PM, I wrote:

I said, "Even if I had called, you would have looked in the computer and
told me that you had 17 of them, wouldn't you?" "No," he said, "I know
that the system is a mess, so I would have gone and looked on the
racks."

Now the Lowe's app. does show that there are none in stock at my local
store. So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

I've used the Lowes web site to finds things at two stores. Always
accurate. Also tells you the location. Maybe your store manager is the
problem.

But why does it depend on the store manager? Why isn't the system
automated? Why doesn't the quantity in stock shown on their Web site or
by the app. -- and let alone on their own in-store computer system --
update within minutes -- or less -- of a sale being made?

The maple plywood is not yet in stock again at that store, but I was
there yesterday evening to buy something else. The app. showed two in
stock, and that was the number on the shelf. I bought one and did not
think to check in the app. again straight away, but this morning it
showed only one in stock. So something is getting updated reasonably
promptly.

Perce

On 10/17/2016 03:00 PM, I wrote:

So if it gets synched so promptly now, how come they were out of
synch before (13 vs. 17)?

Not mentioned is the app you are using. If it knows where you are at
at the time of app use (gps) it may be looking at inventory for the
'other' store you were closest to.
See what "My Store" is set as.

It showed me the place-name of the store I was at. And if it had been
showing me the wrong store, it wouldn't have reset to zero when the guy
in that store set his "number in stock" to zero.

I was passing that Lowe's yesterday, so (even though the app. and the
Web site still showed that they had none in stock) I stopped in to see
whether they had the new stock of maple plywood. None to be seen, so I
asked the nearby checkout operator, who told me that *he* could not
check whether there was any on its way, and sent me to Customer Service,
who told me that there was no record of any having been ordered. I
walked back to the other end (which is where I had parked) and told the
checkout operator there. He said, "What are they going to do?" to which
I replied "Probably pretend that I don't exist."

There are other Lowe's stores farther away that claim (on line) to have
stock, but it's not convenient to make th trip at present -- and I would
certainly insist that they check the racks to ascertain that they do
have stock before I would drive there.

The reason for preferring Lowe's on this occasion is that they will cut
the 8x4 sheet into sections appropriate for my needs and that will fit
into the car. Menard's has no way to cut plywood sheets, but maybe I'll
go there at night, park in a far corner, and cut the sheet down with my
18V saw. I did it once before.

Perce