Pellet Salesmanship . . . NOT

[defield]

Had to get some more supplies for weekend projects so went to the Auburn Lowes.

A Lowes employee was in front of the main entrance leaning on a display of wrapped pallets of pellets bumming a cup of coffee from a customer he knew.

Price on the sign was $299 a ton with $25 off for 50 - 99 bags, and on and on . . . .

Asked the Lowes guy what brand the pellets were as I was leaning over to lift the wrap to look. ( Writing in French on bottom of bag.)

Lowes guy says, Gee I don't know, guess I should know that, Huh?"

He gets on his cell phone and calls in for more information.

The answer was, these are softwood brand, but we have Maine Woods for the same price and they are all hardwood.

I did not say that I can get Maine Woods placed in my garage for $220 a ton and I believe they are an 85% hardwood blend . . . . Just said thanks and walked off, glad I already had my stash of Okanagans and LGs.

Makes dealing with knowledgeable folks like Southern Maine Renewable Fuels ( www.woodpellets4me.com ) even more pleasurable.

Ranger

 

[jtakeman]

Ahhh, Those pellets are all the same, Whats the big deal about the brands anyway. I have been told by a pellet specialist at HD that there all bagged in the same place!

The $#!+ you hear from these maroons is unbelievable! One nerd even said "there water proof" so being outside with no wrapper is not a big issue! They really should share the stuff they smoke, We all might be pellet smarter?

 

[stoveguy13]

you were at lowes

 

[smwilliamson]

"there water proof"

Not surprisingly, he also misspells whilst he's speaking. Perhaps it's hard to be phonetic missing all of those teeth. "You can do it! We'll show you how."

 

[schoondog]

Its not just pellets either. I recently bought a new lawn tractor and folks at lowes knew so little I just walked out of the place. I had the mower picked out, merely wanted a litttle info and someone to come out a show me the differences between models. They didn't know and wouldn't even walk outside to help. Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life. I bought a machine somewhere else.

Schoondog

 

[coobie]

Its not just pellets either. I recently bought a new lawn tractor and folks at lowes knew so little I just walked out of the place. I had the mower picked out, merely wanted a litttle info and someone to come out a show me the differences between models. They didn't know and wouldn't even walk outside to help. Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life. I bought a machine somewhere else.

Schoondog

I hear ya!! Most of these people selling products at lowes,home depot don,t give a red rats ass if you buy one or not,this is why I ALWAYS go to the local dealers who sell mowers and other products.coobie

 

[smwilliamson]

Well, here's the thing, the BB stores are just warehouses. You used to have smaller outlets which relied on a distributing network of satellite warehouses. People working in the BB's are akin to warehouse workers. If the BB's were reliant on a single sale to make the numbers work, then they would either have higher prices or they would put money into employee training. They choose to put their cash into marketing and distributing, unfortunately for the consumer, we buy into it by shopping there.

We may all have similar experiences yet somehow we all still seem to find ourselves wondering in. Why? Cause they have a lots of stuff. We all complain about the service, but the service is really a mute point when it comes to moving volume. In fact, I would imagine that upper management kind of encourages LESS interaction and more moving, stacking and unloading.

I went in to Home Depot this morning and bought retaining ring pliers, a roll of TYPAR, a can of PB Blaster, some EPDM roofing seam tape and a hundred pack of AAA batteries. $85.00. If mom and pop could stock all of these items so I could buy them on a whim....they would still be in business. If any employee in HD could help me locate any of these items (except for the batteries) I would be amazed.

Mowers, pellet stoves, sheds....those are the eye candy that get's you to stop in and enjoy the whole experience

 

[stoveguy2esw]

this is why when you look to purchase at a BB store do your research ahead of time. Lowes is a "home improvement supermarket" just like Depot. think of it like groceries, if ya go to a chain store to buy groceries you have shelves and cashiers. get what you want and ring out. now if you go to a 'farmers market" you will likely garner more information on the product as you are dealing with the person who grew it in most cases and at very least someone who kibbutzes with the growers and are likely to gain more insight.

nothing wrong with the big boxes but you have to understand that they are "a supermarket" in my dealings with them (professionally, we sell in that market) we want customers to contact us and go to great lengths to make it easy for a customer to do so as we want the proper information to get to the customer so they can make an informed decision. thats what i do (and will be doing starting tuesday, no more lab fun time for me, the season is starting and the chain connected to my desk is bekoning)

 

[schoondog]

this is why when you look to purchase at a BB store do your research ahead of time. Lowes is a "home improvement supermarket" just like Depot. think of it like groceries, if ya go to a chain store to buy groceries you have shelves and cashiers. get what you want and ring out. now if you go to a 'farmers market" you will likely garner more information on the product as you are dealing with the person who grew it in most cases and at very least someone who kibbutzes with the growers and are likely to gain more insight.

nothing wrong with the big boxes but you have to understand that they are "a supermarket" in my dealings with them (professionally, we sell in that market) we want customers to contact us and go to great lengths to make it easy for a customer to do so as we want the proper information to get to the customer so they can make an informed decision. thats what i do (and will be doing starting tuesday, no more lab fun time for me, the season is starting and the chain connected to my desk is bekoning)

I hear ya. I had done most of the homework, merely wanted to check serial numbers and check on how many they had on hand to see how quickly I would need to get the truck and trailer for pickup.They just couldn't do anything right for me. I was ready to buy the thing! As it turned out I found a better machine for a little more money at the outdoor power equipment store. Salesman/manager explained things, gave me some choices,and I ended up spending more money on a better machine. (on paper, we'll see in a few years) Plus the pro store will warrentee machine, lowes will not. Just frustrating sometimes, I think the folks working at the BB should at least have some knowledge of thier products and be a little more willing to help. I did buy pellets from a BB last year and had to walk them through the purchase and loading process. They did replace all the bags they damaged and the girl at the register screwed up the price $11 a ton in our favor. oh yea i also stopped by TSC and they were grossly misinformed on pellets and garden/lawn tractors too !! I guess you get what ya pay for.

Schoondog

Schoondog

 

[stoveguy2esw]

this is why when you look to purchase at a BB store do your research ahead of time. Lowes is a "home improvement supermarket" just like Depot. think of it like groceries, if ya go to a chain store to buy groceries you have shelves and cashiers. get what you want and ring out. now if you go to a 'farmers market" you will likely garner more information on the product as you are dealing with the person who grew it in most cases and at very least someone who kibbutzes with the growers and are likely to gain more insight.

nothing wrong with the big boxes but you have to understand that they are "a supermarket" in my dealings with them (professionally, we sell in that market) we want customers to contact us and go to great lengths to make it easy for a customer to do so as we want the proper information to get to the customer so they can make an informed decision. thats what i do (and will be doing starting tuesday, no more lab fun time for me, the season is starting and the chain connected to my desk is bekoning)

I hear ya. I had done most of the homework, merely wanted to check serial numbers and check on how many they had on hand to see how quickly I would need to get the truck and trailer for pickup.They just couldn't do anything right for me. I was ready to buy the thing! As it turned out I found a better machine for a little more money at the outdoor power equipment store. Salesman/manager explained things, gave me some choices,and I ended up spending more money on a better machine. (on paper, we'll see in a few years) Plus the pro store will warrentee machine, lowes will not. Just frustrating sometimes, I think the folks working at the BB should at least have some knowledge of thier products and be a little more willing to help. I did buy pellets from a BB last year and had to walk them through the purchase and loading process. They did replace all the bags they damaged and the girl at the register screwed up the price $11 a ton in our favor. oh yea i also stopped by TSC and they were grossly misinformed on pellets and garden/lawn tractors too !! I guess you get what ya pay for.

Schoondog

Schoondog

ya know we do try , this time of year our sales staff is constantly out of the office doing "PK" (product knowlege) training sessions with the BB stores. results i expect can be mixed as you arent dealing with the old depot where the folks working there were retired plumbers and electricians like in the old days. the BB store has regressed over the last decade or more.

bottom line , if looking at a big ticket item in the BB store , see if they have a number for the manufacturer most times they are more than happy to provide it , ive even had stores call me with the customer right there so i could help them on the spot. those are usually the best calls as we can explain and answer questions while they are in the store, a large percentage of those calls end in a sale with a customer who is more confident cause they got the straight poop from the horses mouth.

the manufacturer is going to know their stuff (especially in my shop or i'll hang their hide on my barn door) and customer s have a higher degree of comfort knowing they have factory support a phone call away.