The Lowe's Saga

Part I

Back in March, Julie and I decided we wanted to get a feezer for the garage.  The freezer in our side-by-side refrigerator just wasn't cutting it.  We took a trip over to Lowe's and looked at the stand-up freezers.  We had decided against a chest freezer due the general pain of getting things out of them.

Looking at the limited selection of freezers, we tried to decide if we wanted to spring for a 20 cubic foot or settle for the 13 cubic foot.  I had a strong impression to go for the larger model, and convinced Julie that it would be the better choice in the long run.

The freezer was originally $800 but marked down to $750.  I called the dept. rep over and asked if he could take 10% off the price, to which he answered in the affirmative.  The deal of the day also included a rebate on the delivery charge of $79.  We had a $25 off coupon, which we weren't sure if they would accept due to the 10% off they were giving us.  The girl at the register said she'd try it...swiped it...and it worked, bringing us to a total of $787 after taxes, and $708 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I left feeling we got a pretty good deal.

Part II

The next day, the freezer was delivered.  The delivery guy took it off the truck and took it out of the box.  I was getting a few more things cleared out of the way for the freezer when he called me over.  I went to the truck and he showed me that there was a scratch and a few dings on the freezer.  He said he'd call the store and see what they wanted to do.  He came back to me saying they could deliver a new freezer the next day, or we could get another 10% off of the purchaseprice.  We didn't have to deliberate long...and went for the extra 10% off.  It was going to be in the garage anyway, so what did we care if it had a few scratches.

We went into the store the next day, to get the extra 10% applied.  They credited back the original charge, and re-ran my card for the new amount...$717, and $638 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I left feeling we got a really good deal.

Part III

My credit card statement came, saying that we owed Lowe's no money.  Looking at the detail, it said the $717 was credited back also, leaving us with a balance of $0.  I thought maybe they had some problems, and it would be resolved in the next statement.  The next statement never came, and looking it up online, again there was no balance.

I called the credit card support number, and asked them why it was credited back.  The agent said that I would need to call the store to get it straightened out.

I then called the store where we bought the freezer.  The rep that answered was not quite understanding the situation, so I had to spell it out a few times.  Once she pulled up the information on her end, she said she would look into why the balance was credited back and then find out what her administrative manager wanted to do.  I gave her my number and she said she'd call me back.

About an hour and a half later, she called back saying that she spoke to the admin mgr and that they were going to be taking off the delivery charge, and giving us another 25% off the original price.  They said the extra discount was for bringing it to their attention.  It sounded like she said it would come out to $433 to be charged to our card.

So, if after tax it comes to $433, it would be $354 after the delivery rebate.

Julie and I now feel we got an AWESOME deal.  And we don't feel guilty, which we would if we had gotten it for free by not bringing it to their attention.  Maybe honesty really IS the best policy.