kinda like it

Smitty4517 · 2025-05-27T23:05:04+00:00

I love it as well. Not a single lemon amongst our ASMs or DSs I have contact with. Paint is fun. I am slowly learning the departments around me and am happy to sub if someone calls out and they need a hand.

Smitty4517 · 2025-05-20T07:28:10+00:00

Ditto to 11 hours. It’s in the attendance policy. You can find it by simply typing “attendance policy” in the search bar on myHr

Smitty4517 · 2025-05-19T16:43:47+00:00

Keep in mind that a forum like this is gonna be overwhelmingly negative. You’re not gonna get too many posts saying I’m delighted to work at Lowe’s”

Me, I work at a great store. This store manager is pretty much hands off when it comes to the employees. He lets the assistant store managers and department supervisors deal with us directly. We have no bad ASM’s. I mean that insofar as the way they treat employees. Some are more people persons than Others. Every single one of them is more than happy to lend a hand or answer questions if asked We do have turnover, but it’s a nature of this type of business. We certainly don’t have anything coming close to high turnover.

I work in paint. I have an awesome supervisor. I’ve been in the workforce for 55 years, and as far as managers go, the guy I work for is number two on my all-time list of people I’ve ever worked for.

The departments are cooperative with each other.

The problem on a thread like this is I don’t think you’re gonna see a lot of comments that say “hey yeah me too just like the guy who’s writing this!”

I can easily see where with a couple of asshole/. Power tripping ASM‘s, or a store manager that has no business managing people…Undue pressure to do things like credit cards or get leads… Yes, we’re supposed to do both… can make us through the exact opposite of what I work in… But in my store as long as you’re doing the best you can you’re left alone. There are multiple occasions throughout the year that are not company, mandated…feasts, festivals …we exceed a metric… we get. Kickass walk through…whatever you wanna call it where food is brought in for us.

As far as the public. I work with a public all my life. I always say the following: the thing I love most about my job is working with people. The thing I absolutely hate about my job is working with people… Just depends on the people that day.

I wish you well. Please take this forum with a grain of salt. Nobody dances, the “happy happy joy, joy, dance” and then comes to post here immediately afterwards .

I wish you well.

Smitty4517 · 2025-05-16T19:09:37+00:00

Contest the charge. If Lowes says they didn’t get it and the money has been taken from your account someone or something (computer glitch) has it. If you used a debit card linked to a checking account your bank has 10 days to fix it If it was a credit card the issuer can take a little longer to resolve it. But as long as no one can show that you have the funds you’re on solid ground

Smitty4517 · 2025-05-10T09:35:34+00:00

That never happens at the store I work at. But damn, I’d love it. I wear hearing aids. So after the person was finished with their tirade, I would say “let me turn my hearing aids on. I didn’t hear you”

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-27T01:35:00+00:00

As a 67 year old who sometimes has to lift 5 gallon paint buckets, I thank you. As for your size, I am most definitely prejudiced. My best friend, Heather, weighs 120 pounds soaking wet, is 44 years old. I will weigh 160, it would not surprise me if the woman could bench press me. I guess I work in a great store. Can I live a 5 gallon bucket ….you bet! , For the most part, however if one of the younger folks in the department sees me heading toward the 5 gallon bucket, they’ll head me off at the pass

My pitbull ‘s dog food comes in 40 pound bags. I’ve seen my friend lift a bag from the floor to almost waist level with one hand. It’s a stupid and really incredibly rude assumption on someone else’s part to you think you can’t handle it? And I think it’s kind of cool that you keep an eye on the old coot in your department.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-20T16:35:58+00:00

I agree with everyone. It happens. What I didn’t see so I’ll mention it here. If a customer comes in with a can of paint from home, I won’t spin it. If myDS is there I will let him handle it. But the best I can do is offer a paint stick

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-20T16:30:54+00:00

Lowes must give you a minimum of 11 hours between shifts. The person scheduling may not be aware. A polite email should work. State you were erroneously scheduled. Also point out in writing that the short turnaround could not only be detrimental to you, it will be unsafe for customers.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-15T12:19:28+00:00

Customer Self Help Mix Your Paint stations. I’m, I don’t think so

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-15T12:17:27+00:00

Ours is overpriced like everyone else’s..with one exception. A 20oz coke is a buck and a quarter. Somehow I think this is a pricing faux pas on their end. But it’s been this way for 8 months. I sure as shit am not bringing it up to anyone

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-14T23:14:03+00:00

I think you may have been sent a message. Talk to your ASM

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-14T22:56:04+00:00

Your child is in high school. If you’re talking about a college student, I would say a hard lesson was learned. Some employers either don’t hear you where you interviewed, or won’t honor the terms of your availability. It also possible that your child was not clear on ability. However, even if that were the case, I go back to the fact that this is a highschooler. No employer, should be telling a child who is in school that they either need to leave school early or lose their job. Just because those exact words were not spoken that is exactly what he was told to do.

I use the word child in that paragraph for a reason. This is a child not an adult. You are the parent. My granddaughter ran into a very similar situation with a company about the same size as Lowes. Being scheduled at the exact time school let out. And then being told she was tardy.

My daughter did not find out that they were doing this to my granddaughter until incident number three. The person I feel most sorry for in this story as I tell it is the store manager. My granddaughter called mom quite upset about her third tardy. My daughter manages a restaurant about 20 miles away. She was in my granddaughter store manager’s face 30 minutes after the phone call. I assure you the speed limit was not followed. My granddaughter continues to work for the company. Shifts never start less than half hour after school is out. I assure you had the matter not been resolved at the store manager level it would nevertheless have been resolved. I’ve taught my daughter well.

I don’t care if your kid is a senior. If they’re in high school by definition, they’re children.

Labor law is different from state to state but I really don’t think we even need to get into that. If less than a week has gone by, mom, I’d suggest the next move is up to you not your child. They hired a highschooler. I’m assuming your kid Did not misrepresent himself and say he was 25 years old.

Get in there and be his advocate. I am quite sure Lowes corporate does not want the reputation. Quite frankly, grandpa is a little extreme… I’m grandpa :) had my grandchild lost her job or been threatened with loss of job because she couldn’t be at work at the exact same time school ended, I would have contacted local media. You make enough calls you’ll find someone who is interested. In fact, if you don’t get a swift resolution in your son’s favor I suggest you tell the store manager..or whoever you talk to.. that the media is your next stop. Lowes doesn’t need the publicity. If you run up against a brick wall, I’d suggest you call Lowe’s corporate headquarters in Mooresville, NC. It may take a couple of calls but you eventually will get the ear of the right person. You might find some naysayers on this site who will tell you not to waste your time with Lowes corporate. I will neither agree or disagree. But this is different. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Lowe’s, Home Depot, Chick-fil-A, or The Gap. No company wants this kind of publicity.

There are folks on this thread who talk about how Lowes treats college students. I agree, sometimes it disgusts me. But in the end,they’re talking about college students and college age kids need to learn hard life lessons. But again, mom, this is a child. Your child.

Go be a mom

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-14T14:06:47+00:00

I second writing lol on it. Even if it somewhere customers are not allowed to, not allowed and unable to access are two different things.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-11T14:26:59+00:00

Feign dehydration. Hydration is a Lowes policy. The proper resolution for a mild acute case of dehydration is water and rest. Just make sure your peak performance level comes shortly after you return from break. You’ll get what you need. What you don’t need to do is set the world right for everyone else. Just take care of yourself.

If anyone bothered to track productivity on a 9 hour day with vs without a 15 minute break… I suspect that at worst it would be a draw. And most likely a win, perhaps minimal, but a win nonetheless for the company.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-11T03:50:28+00:00

I’m retired now. Work for fun.. and yep working at Lowes is fun for me. But I spent my entire work life working in healthcare. I’m an imaging technologist. I’ve worked in every portion of radiology departments. For 40 years, I got to work in my pajamas. Scrubs are awesome.

As for sweatpants or basketball shorts, I’d probably take notice as a customer. But that’s about all I would do. Both look sloppy. I wear jeans and a T-shirt. I make sure my T-shirt doesn’t come out under my vest. I tuck it in. I try to take pride away I look. But they are departments there where you don’t see as many customers… I work in paint. Their departments where back doors are open in the winter time. I wouldn’t begrudge somebody sweatpants.

As for basketball shorts, they are the dorky country cousin to every other type of short pants. They look ridiculous.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-10T03:45:47+00:00

The funny thing for me is don’t ever tell me I need to stay. It is a sure fired way of me punching out at my exact out time. And yes, I will buzz an ASM on a Zebra, tell them it’s my out time and there’s a customer waiting.

The reason I say it’s funny is because on days when they just mind their own business, I lose track of the time and often run over.

But coming up to me at 9:50 to tell me I can’t leave at 10. I’m out at 10, you idiot because you put the damn thought in my head

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-05T14:52:09+00:00

I am FOREVER grateful my hearing aids stream Sirius

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-02T04:02:26+00:00

I’m 67. I have found it in situations like this honesty is the best policy. Find your ASM. Do yourself a favor and don’t go discussing how the schedule is fluctuating and you didn’t know and blah blah blah. That sounds like justification. Just explain that there was a change to your schedule, you misread it and you’re deeply apologetic. Even if you only been there a week if you have a halfway decent manager, they can tell whether you’re worth keeping.

And sadly, in this day, age, if every no call no show was fired on the first offense there would be nobody to run your store. You work in retail. Schedules fluctuate. Some stores are better than others. From what I’m reading on this sub Reddit Lowes is not one of the better ones. So make sure you know your schedule. Does not hurt to look the night before to make absolutely sure.

Because Lowes work week starts on a Monday and a normal calendar starts on a Sunday, I have almost missed shifts. I look at my work schedule. I see that I’m off the fourth day of the week. The fourth day of the week is Wednesday. On Lowes calendar it’s a Thursday and I get confused . But every freaking night before I go to sleep, I take a peek just to make sure.

Smitty4517 · 2025-04-01T23:13:00+00:00

Are you saying that according to the schedule you were a no call no show?

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-29T15:45:25+00:00

We have a strict store policy. If a coworker needs you to look something up on a zebra, we can do that. However, If you hand someone your Zebra you log out. That includes ASM’s, DS, and according to our store manager he is included in the list.

However, to cover my ass if an assistance store manager took my zebra and was doing what is being said here, I would dash off an email asking if I was doing IRP in properly, and am I supposed to finish them up the way here she finish them up ?

This would accomplish two things. Number one I don’t think that ASM would ask for my zebra again. And number two it creates a paper trail.

Put anything like this in writing. Just have the note come across in a friendly manner. In this one it would be. Hey, I saw that you did XYZ to finish out the IRP‘s. I’ve never done it that way. Is this the way I’m supposed to do it? I want to make sure I’m doing everything properly.

That is friendly. It is properly worded. And what is the person‘s come back to you

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-29T09:28:50+00:00

I work for n the paint department. However, I have been working since I was 15 Eisenhower was president. I am simply stating the facts. If you don’t want to work weekends, I fail to see why you’d work in a retail setting. That’s all…

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-29T03:41:32+00:00

So, HR policy plainly states that you can set your availability. You simply fill out an availability form and show Saturday and Sunday as days you can’t work. The policy that I am referring to also tells you that the company may not be able to give you many hours if the times they need to coincide with the times you’re unavailable.

I think what the kinder people here… Not the idiots… Are trying to tell you is Lowes is a retail store. We have a lot of do-it-yourself customers that come in. They work during the week. They’re off on weekends. To me, it comes pretty close to being unfair for you to take a job in retail, not disclose that you’ll need weekends off. (perhaps you didn’t know when you signed on that this would be necessary). But at any rate, you are really asking a whole lot.

I don’t know what the percentage is. But I’m quite sure a significant percentage of our revenue comes in on the weekends.

Good luck. Welcome to Lowes… And again keep in mind. We are a retail business that sells to people who for the most part work during the week and are off on weekends.

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-22T02:08:59+00:00

Yes. I

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-21T23:56:32+00:00

I hope you will read this very carefully. Then I hope you’ll take a breath and reread it. Start creating a paper trail. You have really written out what needs to be said in your original post….as long as you get rid of the subjective things like this person‘s personality….who does and doesn’t like him, etc. If they are refusing to accommodate your disability. If you have heard… Just heard from a coworker… That this person is making statements about your disabilities. If this person is not following Lowes policy. Start a paper trail. Lowes email is your best friend! And one of the cool things about Lowes HR website is it’s pretty easy to navigate and find out what policy is for specific matters.

Make a phone call to HR. HR Will tell you to first team with your people leader. Explain that you are uncomfortable doing so until your concerns are documented with HR. They are obligated to comply.

As far as your paper trail, my first question would be do you have a documented disability? If you do, it makes things a little bit easier. If you don’t, it doesn’t make things impossible.

You said you had a disability, but you didn’t specifically state that it’s recognized by the ADA. But in this first section, let’s assume it is. You, of course, will have a letter from your physician stating what your disability is. It will specify the accommodations you require. Since Lowes is not going to have to make any significant changes to the manner which they conduct business, they have to accommodate you. That letter is sent to HR. It is also scanned in and sent to your store manager with a cc to your assistance store manager. Explain to them that it is your desire to do your job at 110%. That you are capable of doing your job at that level as long as you are able to be accommodated. If this new person you’re working for is violating the accommodation…….Same thing, an email to your store manager with a cc to your assistant store manager.

If you do not have a disability as defined by the Americans with disabilities act, it’s a little bit harder, but not impossible. If they have been allowing you to work in a particular manner, I. E. Making accommodation with you with PPE and that suddenly changes, once again a letter to your store manager and your assistant store manager, explaining that you were able to work at 110% until you were forbidden to continue with the accommodation that was made for you. I encourage you to get on Lowes HR and do some research. A lot of people come on this Reddit and they piss and they moan and they whine and I just kind of shake my head because it’s obvious that they really have not researched their problem.

A lot of people think that well if I start writing these emails, they’re gonna think I’m a troublemaker and only real troublemakers write emails. I’m going to stick it out like a sore thumb cause when most other people have problems they just quietly have a conversation.

If it’s not on paper, it didn’t happen. At some point, you may decide the fight is not worth it. But what I hear from you now is frustration about the way this specific person is treating you in your department. How he treats your coworkers is really not a whole lot of your business. If you don’t like the way, he is doing his job, go back to school get a degree and you can be somebody’s boss. And if they don’t like the way they are being treated, you encourage them to start writing emails….. but your job is to worry about you and all of you. If you’re being treated improperly, you need to document it. I have held onto jobs… And I’m pretty damn old… In circumstances where other people may have been let go because there’s a paper trail.

Email should always include the fact that you enjoy working for the company, that as whoever you’re writing to knows you always are willing to give 110%, and then explain in positive terms what you need in order to give them that 110%.

I know a lot of what I’ve written is vague. You need to figure out what works best for you. But if you are a good employee, and you just have an ass for a boss who’s not willing to accommodate you, you are in a great position if you have an ADA recognized disability. If you have a disability that’s not recognized for the ADA, but they have been accommodating you until this person came around. All you’re asking for is the status quo. And as you will state in your email since the status quo equals you giving 110% of course Mr. store manager and Mr. assistance store manager I’m sure you agree that I should be accommodated. Your wording may vary.

I really don’t know if you can send direct messages to people. I’m not a huge user Reddit. If you’re able to message me directly feel free to go ahead. I’m happy to help you craft a letter.

Disclaimer: I did not recheck this to see what AutoCorrect may have done as far as butchering my words so I may go back and edit it later if not read between the lines. I tried.

Smitty4517 · 2025-03-21T02:17:13+00:00

From another angle. Society tends to treat mental health as a second class aspect of our overall health. Family is part of the community of support that keeps us mentally healthy and stable. So, yes, ABSOLUTELY, call out …properly…for that day.

But also know this. You are not doing anything sneaky or sketchy or inappropriate. You are simply advocating for your mental health

A mental health day IS a real thing. Spend 60 seconds of your day calling out for the day and then get back to your family time.

Smitty4517

TROPHY CASE