Those Nuts Were Expensive!

A few months ago when Hilary and I were shopping at a place called Down on the Farm outside of Peru, Indiana, I bought a decorative windmill to put in the yard.  It looked great on the circle by Dad's iron kettle of flowers and a patch of hostas and irises, but the blades blew off quickly in the first hefty breeze. 

After inspection of the blades and a little bit of repair by Rex at Hively Welding, it was ready to be re-assembled, but the nut to go on the bolt under that tap was missing.

Since Landon dug the hole and Blaine erected the new flagpole in that same area Labor Day weekend in preparation for the Adoption Party on Saturday, it seemed like the perfect time to fix the windmill for the last touch to that spot.  What we needed though was a nut.

Off I went to Lowe's for a nut. Now I know nothing about bolts, nuts, taps, caps, washers, or any of those things.  I went to the aisle where I thought they might be located and searched for help.  The first lady who asked me if she could help me passed me off to an elderly gentleman whose nametag included the word Trainee.  After explaining what I needed several times, he finally found a nut that he thought would work.  As I was searching for the correct nut, I noticed that many of the nuts and bolts and washers cost less than a dollar.

The gentleman asked if I would like two, just in case, so I agreed  He put two in a little plastic bag, wrote the number 2 and the code on the bag, and sent me on my way.

When I approached the cash register, I interrupted two young girls who continued their conversation as one of them typed in the code and times 2 and gave me the total of $11.66.  WHAT???? For two little nuts?  I paid it and walked out, astonished that those two little items would cost as much as a meal at Taco Bell for Gary and me. I also knew I was hanging onto that receipt and returning the nut we didn't use because no way was a very expensive nut going to take up residence in the garage, never to be used or even seen again!

Gary said 'you got taken for sure' when I told him about this.  He fixed the windmill and placed it in the spot near the flagpole, and the bag with the extra nut remained in the Escape.

Today was return day.

I walked up the service desk at Lowe's and explained to the clerk that I needed to return this item but I also thought I had been overcharged for the two items I had purchased.  She took out the solitary nut from the plastic bag, looked at the receipt, then laughed and said, "Well I hope you were overcharged!"  After her request on the intercom for help from Hardware was not answered, she asked a passing worker if he had any idea of the price of that particular nut or how she could find it.  He showed her where the little number was etched into  metal and said "I think it will be around 22 cents or so."  She showed him the receipt and he laughed and agreed with her that I had been overcharged.  After she entered the correct number, which pulled up the correct price of 24 cents, she returned both of the nuts, and handed me $11.66.  Then she rang up one nut and I paid her 26 cents.  I walked out with $11.40. 

During the process she asked me who had helped me and when I explained that the man was an older gentleman who was wearing a trainee name badge, she began nodding and said she knew exactly who had helped me.  He was new and was learning and she was glad I was being a good sport about it AND that I had returned to have the error corrected.

I have often heard complaints about Lowe's and customer service both in the store and with appliances, but our experiences have been good ones.  And after today's episode, I know I can say that I will still shop at Lowe's.  I just need to avoid the older guy with the trainee label under his name!