Working at Lowes — Reviews by Employees

Let's see,where do I begin? First off,I have only been with this comapny a year and a half,and so far it has been the WORST retail experience I have ever had! And i've worked at Toys R Us seasonally! The beginning of this year we got a new store mngr who was supposed to "fix" the store.So far the only thing she has "fixed" is firing a ton of people and hiring her friends.I don't mean to sound fuddy duddy,because i'm young myself,but when they say SENOIR management,I expect at least some of them to be a couple years my senior,not 7-10 years younger than me! I've been in retail for 15 years,most of my managers were still in grade school!Work life balance is absolutely HORRID,rotating schedule my big butt! The favorites get the opens and mids and the rest of us schmucks are stuck filling in the holes.I had to send my son to his grandmothers for a week just because of my work schedule.....Now I don't really work but 3 days a week there and I have a position of authority.My zone manager is completely CLUELESSSSS!!! They lay off and don't schedule people to work and she comes up to me and says well where is everyone? EVERYONE WHO THEY FIRED EVERYONE YOU MORON!!!! Like it's my fault or something that they supposedly can't reach budget.Well people would buy more if they could find help in the store and had cashiers to ring them out.DUH!!
As for coworker competence, the few who are left that were there when I started know what they're doing,the store managers little friends NOT SO MUCH.In fact,we have to correct their mistakes alot and it's extremely annoying that they're not around to fix it when the complaint comes in.Probably because they're too busy eating breakfast outside on the picnic tables that we sell to people.
The store manager said that this week all the "seasonal" people would be let go and then they were going to start asking part time people to cut hours.I'm asking for my pink slip.I'm done working for a company that doesn't give a rat's behind about you unless you are a full time person who kisses major butt all the time.

Lack of everything.

Lowe's is probably one of the worst places to work at. The hourly pay is tremendous but that's the only thing I liked. We all try so hard to be better than anyone else. Well, this store isn't a contest. It's to show appreciation for the company. Almost all of the work meetings are so worthless. I was a Seasonal Employee. I've worked there for almost 6 months. They put in a hell place.. Wait for it... The USCAN... Those machines are sometimes the damn problem to that company, especially you have to call M.I.S. everyday to see whats up. I would like to say a few reasons on how these people don't manage the right equipment for these machines. Hell, I would just get a bat and break everyone. Out of all the USCANS, their was only one good one. It gets so stressful during the day especially if you ring up customers. Well, I called corporate and you aren't suppose to be ringing up customers. It's a policy and someone could just walk out and steal something. But if the managers dont care about this. Well, I care. I bust my ass for asking customers for their telephone number, EPP, and Credit Application. THere is no way in hell I would ask for item of the month because it never works when your over there. I did like a few people but not everyone. Do you realize that my head cashiers don't do a damn thing? The guy head cashier is a little prick and he just wants to ruin peoples live .They don't care about others, they care about themselves. It ain't right. I think this probably the worst job ever. I actually was the best there but they all didnt think so. Screw Lowe's. I'll comment more soon.

Until you have worked at Lowe's and treated like crap, shut up. We were not allowed to take potty breaks, water was taken from us, we were treated as incompetant by management and customers, we were never defended by management to irate customers who were totally incorrect in their assessment of the situtaion and the cashiers. When you have peed on yourself and passed out from dehydration, then you have the right to open your mouth.

Welcome to the realities of a large, publically traded corporation. Generally, corporate america is all about money. No matter how the company tries to spin the "we care about our employees" card, the truth is that Lowe's employees are only a means to an end, and that end is a healthy bottom line. A healthy bottom line is necessary to attract stock buyers and retain stock owners. If you are not an individual who can contribute to this goal you will not last very long at Lowe's. To be fair, Lowe's is not alone in this. It is simply one of the realities of capitalism.

When the bottom line is suffering there will be layoffs as a result of the corporation's attempt to slash costs and save money. Those who remain will be expected to pick up the slack. In the local store this will be from the Store manager on down. Excuses for being unable to complete all necessary tasks will not be appreciated or accepted. Those of you who strive for excellence in your work will be disappointed. There simply will not be enough bodies, or enough time to get the job done at a competence level that is acceptable to you. You will always go home realizing that you have left many things un-done.

Employee wages and benefits are a huge expenditure. When times get tough this is the first place cuts will be made. Staff will be reduced. In addition, benefits, especially medical coverage, will be revised down while employee insurance dollar contributions will increase. In effect, you will get less coverage for more money. Again, a reality in the current corporate arena.

Remember, Lowe's, Home Depot, or any other major corporation is not in business to build and appreciate people (other than customers). I think both the Home Improvement giants did, in times past, concern themselves more with the overall welfare of their employees. However, greed and the economy have pretty-much stripped the guts out of their previous good intentions. That's the way it is.

At the end of the day, no one has to remain employed at Lowe's. You work there because you choose to. If you want to remain employed by Lowe's and truly want to see things change for the better for employees then you will have to consider forming a union. The Lowe's line is that an employee union would not be in the best interest of the employees. Please do not shallow this. What would you expect Lowe's to say about something that would cost it millions of dollars in employee wages, benefits and concessions? Right now Lowe's employees have no power or functional say in their situations. It is all dictated from the top down. Unionization is the only way for employees to gain some serious clout and some say about how they are paid, how they are treated, and about the benefits packages they receive.

10 year employee that still has a stable job.

2384 is good store. Management isn't always wrong but doesn't ask for the feedback needed to have everyone on the same playing field. Interpersonal relationships also need work. There is way to much Finger-Pointing. I joined Lowe's to be a part of a good team. A team I see slowly slipping away.

I work in the Production Office (install sales) for Lowe’s. Pretty much when a sales associate sells a product such as cabinets, flooring or doors; and the customer wants one of Lowe’s installers to put it in for them, I step in to make sure that sale stays afloat.

My job should be difficult, but it is perhaps one of the easiest jobs I have had, simply because the sales floor either can’t or won’t sell the install, or they completely slaughter it from the start. This is a huge problem though, because your future in the production office relies on the sales floor ability to sell details and installs.

When others are in the production office, I’ll get sent out to sales floor since there is no need for more than 1 ISC. During this time, managers and sales specialists will constantly try to get you to do their jobs. I will gladly assist customers with their purchase decisions, or assist new employees, but instead specialists will try to sucker you into doing the opposite. Example being when I first started, the flooring specialist got me putting 50lbs tile on top stock. And since I didn’t have my power equipment license, instead of using the order picker (the way it’s supposed to be done), I had to hoist 30 of these heavy tile boxes over my head, while standing on those rickety and wobbling stair ladders (and yes, those ladders DO fall over very easily).

The sales specialists are nothing more than used car salesmen, they will promise customers 72 hour stock install on carpets we don’t have in stock. They will promise install dates without speaking with the installer or us. And they will always try to avoid responsibility when it comes back to them. This is the leading reason we lose a lot of our install sales. When they try to sell deviously like this, it comes back to bite them in the ass. They will avoid responsibility, blame Install Sales, and transfer the angry customer to us in the production office.

I can’t say my Lowe’s experience is as horrendous as some of the posts I’ve read here, but if you find yourself newly hired with Lowe’s, make sure you make good impressions with the right people. There are professionals who work for Lowe’s, and they are the best people to work along side with. Make good associations with anyone who can operate power equipment. And finally, avoid the slackers, especially when they wear blue vests.

Traning is way too long! And you have to work in the heat at the register in the garden center. It sucks.

I love working at Lowes. I’ve been there over a year starting off as a seasonal part time unloader. And in this short time I’ve had three promotions which were all accompanied by raises, and now I’m in the process of department manager. Our management team and most of the employees are very caring and hard working, but of course their are the few bad apples. I have no problem getting days off if I need them and they are very good making sure you don’t have to close one night and open the very next night. I would recommend Lowes as a employer to anyone!