Lowes: Fail (Still)

For no particular reason, I revisited a poor shopping experience I had on Lowes.com the other day.

Previously, I'd tried to use a gift certificate I had to buy a fire extinguisher for my kitchen - and it did not go well.

I could still use another extinguisher - and I figured I'd give them another shot. Trying to re-create the same scenario - I tried the exact same item the Kidde 10-B:C Kitchen Fire Extinguisher.

Now, when I call up the item from a search - I am prompted to enter my ZIP code.

This is good, but I have to do this before I even see how much the item costs. Which is odd.

(Looking back at what used to happen on the site - I'm unsure if I'd entered a ZIP code prior to seeing the item. I did get an Add to Cart button for a screenshot - but if memory serves, this was after I'd lied about my ZIP to see if the site even had the ability to add to cart).

In any event - I plug in my ZIP code and get the following:

Okay, so I'm still out of luck at my location. The nearest Lowes doesn't carry this item.

Not to worry, they're offering the ability to check other stores.

I try that:

Okay, none of the five nearest Lowes carry this item either. Not a huge deal, only the site isn't offering any other options for me. I can Shop This Store (which changes which store I'm currently "located" at) but this will only allow me to look at the inventory of another store that doesn't carry my item.

There's a help icon next to the Unavailable status. Perhaps it has more information...

That'd be a no. What's interesting here is that the store search has returned a list of 5 stores and none of them have my item. You would think a better option would be if the site knew that the status on all 5 stores was Unavailable - it would provide you with a custom message like "No Lowes location within X miles carries this item. Here are some other options you could try."

It would hardly be fair to criticize Lowes for not stocking this item in a store near me. They can't be everywhere.

I cannot fathom why they cannot ship it to me - however. There's arguably no reason why the product cannot be boxed up and sent to me for a fee. If I'm in the US, you can ship it to me, regardless of what my nearest Lowes store has in their inventory.

You would think their website would support this.

Somewhere in their business model - they've made the decision that their website will not compete with their brick and mortar stores. That makes sense from a central office mindset - but from a customer mindset, I want to buy from you - and you won't let me.

Assuming I happened to live near a store that did have this item what would I see?

I plugged in 40036 (Kentucky) at random.

Kentucky's Lowes does stock this item.

So far, so good - but let's say I still wanted this item to be sent to me. I don't want to drive to them, and the website is offering to have it delivered.

Here's what the shipping estimate is:

You have got to be kidding me. $79 for home delivery of a 3 lb fire extinguisher?

The sticker shock would drive away your average mortal.


Reality check time. Yes, a fire extinguisher is considered hazardous material, so there's an additional fee. Good user interface would explain this so people wouldn't freak out when they saw a shipping rate that was four times the price of the item.

But is that rate even fair? What should it cost to ship a 3 lb fire extinguisher?

If you check with UPS the basic ground rate is around $15, plus another $25 fee because it's hazardous. (I tried LA to Portland, ME or LA to Kentucky without much variance)

So around $40 bucks to ship a $20 item via UPS - which is reason enough to drive to the store and pick it up -

Lowes is charging almost double that rate.

Which is reason enough to try another vendor.

Weak.