There\u2019s a crack in our bathtub. Not a major one, but better to get it fixed now before it gets worse. I did a little research and found a kit that contains all the materials needed to repair this and, thus armed, I headed to Lowe\u2019s to make my purchase and start my next home repair project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found the plumbing section and the kits easily enough, but paused as I pulled the kit I needed from the shelf. The one in \u201cwhite\u201d – that would match the color of our tub – was $45.48 The exact same kit in \u201cbone\u201d was $29.98<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A difference of $15.50 based – as far as I could tell – only on the color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a wrinkled brow, I took both packages to the front of the store and had them check the price to see if the signs were an error. The clerk was a little confused since it looked like the same thing, but confirmed the difference. They didn\u2019t offer to do anything about it so I took the cheaper one back and headed to the checkout – confused and cranky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I got home, I decided to investigate on my own. I looked up the manufacturer, found their website, found the contact form, and sent them a note. I asked if this price difference was something that they had set (via an MSRP) or if this was something that Lowe\u2019s did. This was a Sunday afternoon and I put the project on hold – figuring I might hear back later in the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, I got a text message and then a phone call in less than 20 minutes – from the owner of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He confirmed that this is something that Lowe\u2019s had done and he had been trying to get this adjusted. He then explained that Home Deport sells the kit – but only in \u201cwhite\u201d and had increased the price. Lowe\u2019s followed suite and did the same – but since Home Depot only sells the \u201cwhite\u201d kit, the Lowe\u2019s price on \u201cbone\u201d remained the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were both frustrated by this and I told him that I would reach out to Lowe\u2019s to see if they could help resolve this. I thanked him for contacting me so quickly, especially on a Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I next headed to the Lowe\u2019s website and confirmed the prices there – it wasn\u2019t just this one store. I assumed that this wouldn\u2019t be something the store or a frontline support person could resolve on the phone and went looking for an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there wasn\u2019t one on the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I fired up the chat and asked for an email address. The Bot couldn\u2019t help and handed me off – to someone in Sales. They also couldn\u2019t help and handed me off to Customer support. They finally returned an email address and handed me off to a survey – which stalled out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I fired up my gmail and drafted a note explaining what was going on with all the prices, what the manufacturer had said, and my concern that I was being gouged for having a white bathtub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I got a note back within an hour – an automated message that noted they were reviewing my email. The message also stated that not all emails will get a reply – and to not send repeated inquiries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, they might not respond and I shouldn\u2019t pester them if they don\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mmmmm-hmph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few days later I did get a response, noting that they do price items differently based on the color and that they do adjust prices based on the competitors. And while there was nothing they could do about that, I was encouraged to contact the manager at the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost immediately, they also sent me a survey – and when I didn\u2019t respond right away, three follow up reminders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim found the same kit – in \u201cwhite\u201d – at Menards and so I returned the one I had to Lowe\u2019s. I\u2019ll make a trip to the land of \u201csaving big money\u201d soon to re-buy the kit I need in the color I need. For quite a bit less than the cheaper color at Lowe\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that was that. Faceless corporate drones and pricing algorithms – such is the consumer experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n EDIT: The kit didn\u2019t work – even after two attempts. There\u2019s a crack in our bathtub. Not a major one, but better to get it fixed now before it gets worse. I did a little research and found a kit that contains all the materials needed to repair this and, thus armed, I headed to Lowe\u2019s to make my purchase and start my next home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_bluesky_dont_syndicate":"","_bluesky_syndication_accounts":"","_bluesky_syndication_text":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2753,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions\/2753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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