Hard to answer you without all the specifics. How much was the entire remodel? Where were you during the project? etc.

Not sure how you come up with a dollar amount. I would think it depends on the severity of the mistakes that they made. They did our kitchen about 10 years ago and we had a few problems. At the time they had a horrible kitchen designer that unfortunately we had do our kitchen so she made some design mistakes that we just lived with.

But we did use Lowe's for our bathroom remodel several years ago and purchased a large vanity from them. Lowes was having just horrible problems with CraftMaid at that particular point in time and the vanity came in two or three times just looking horrible. I have to say in Lowe's defense that they went above and beyond to make it right. So we felt they made a great effort at good customer service and resolution. Even though it caused us weeks and weeks of delay on the bathroom due to the problems the manufacturer was having with the vanity we originally ordered. I would think that Lowe's would work with you, if you work with them.

Just curious.... Did you use the Lowe's kitchen designer, or your own designer? It seems there is a big discrepancy in the quality of Lowe's kitchen designers as it various from store to store and probably region to region.

The $900 could be 10% if you had a $9,000 purchase (not a bad offer) or it could be 1% if you had $90,000 project (this is laughable). Without knowing the FINAL scope of project, we can't comment.

Try to settle this without a lawyer because by yhe time you pay them you might end up with less. And I agree without knowing the mistakes and scope of work hard to give an answer I will tell you I tell my clients a kitchen reno is usually 12 weeks even if everything goes well.

Two months ago my wife and I used a Lowe's designer to design the layout of our kitchen. I paid Lowes for the measurement fees. The guy from Lowes came out to my house and took the measurements then he passed it to the designer. The designer finalized the designing part then we placed an order. It took almost one month to get the cabinets. In between, we also paid for the installation fees at Lowes. The Lowe's guy (same guy who did the measurement) came to inspect the cabinets before installation. He checked the cabinets and told us everything was in good shape. He gave us the installation date - a week after the time of inspection. During that period I hired an independent contractor to demolish my old cabinets. After the demo was done, the Lowes guy came to install the cabinets; then he pointed out that the cabinets sizes were wrong and incorrect. The installer told me the designer had the wrong measurement designed, and indicated that I should talk to the designer. He did not install and left. I went to the store to speak to the designer. In the beginning, she told me she needed some time to do the research how it causes the problem. Then after few hours of research, she said that there was a mistake from their end (improper communication between the measuring guy and her). Now Lowe's said that it would take another 3 to 4 weeks to re-order the cabinets. Since I don't have a proper kitchen and with having my in-laws staying with us, we don't know what we could do? We paid $8,000 for the cabinets and $1,900 for the installation. We think that we should be entitled to compensation since it will be going to push back another month to complete the project. In that period we have to manage to eat outside. Is anybody faced similar kind of problems? Please advise how to deal with Lowes and what we could do. If we are entitled to compensation how much should we demand.

It's frustrating!!!

We hired Lowes to do a major remodel for our kitchen (including all new appliances, cabinets, granite, knocking out walls, custom pantry, flooring etc.)back in January of last year. The work was actually started the first week of May, was told it would take 6 weeks to complete the job. in June we started to have issues, then again in July it just got even worse. We sent out a text to the general contractor and the rep from Lowe's that was over seeing the project. the response we got back from the general contractor was that he had a softball tournament so he couldnt make it. immediately got a bitter taste in my mouth and was very upset. tried for an entire 2 weeks to meet with everyone to get back on the same page and NOTHING. I finally emailed Lowe's and explained my issue. nothing has seemed to be done. Basically i have been fighting with anyone and everyone that i can get to contact me from there and nothing has been resolved until the end of September when I went into the store and talked face to face. Joe (asst. manager) acted like he cared and concerned, to later find out he is a joke. my main issue at that point, was just to get a new microwave that worked until they could come out and get the rest of the kitchen completed. after weeks of calling the store and emailing corporate, we finally received a call on Black Friday that our microwave was in and that we needed to come pick it up and bring the old one back (mind you we paid for them to come out and install this). i was beyond furious at that moment and we drove to the store and demanded to talk to a MANAGER. We were able to talk to a guy named Gary (claiming he was a fill in store manager) and he took us to the back room and we sat down and went over all the issues we have had. we had a contractor that we had to pay to give us a bid come out and estimate the job to be another $8000 to fix all the issues when we have already paid $21.000 for the entire remodel. the second contractor that lowe's sent out that is now going to be trying to complete the job stated that the entire flooring needs to be replaced, grout on backsplash be redone, cabinets need to be adjusted, microwave, pantry door is wrong, all trim work needs to be fixed, all boards in pantry need to be fixed along with all the hardware. I feel like we are going to be out another 6-8 weeks to just get this completed and hopefully right this time. It is now January 2018 and we still do not have a microwave nor our kitchen completed. I have asked several times for compensation and was told by a Regional Manager Matt that we can discuss the issue once all work is complete. What would be a fair amount to ask for compensation? We have had to stay in a camper during the remodel period each time, move our animals to other peoples homes, and relocate toys, clothes, food and eating arrangements for myself, my husband and 20 month old baby. you try living in a camper that is tiny compared to a 2800 square foot house for long periods of time and now going to have to live thru it again.

Did anything ever come from your project?

We paid Lowe’s $23,000 to remodel our two bathrooms and expected to be done by late-Feb. The job started mid January and now its almost end of April; one of our bathroom is “done” with a lose tile on the floor and NO shower door/glass (lowes came in to measure the shower 3 times for a glass shower door AND GOT IT WRONG TWICE and the THIRD door is supposed to come In this week.) The second bathroom is under construction. The base of our second shower got put in yesterday and guess what, it is smaller than it was before!!! (It was very small before thus the remodel) Now my husband ( 6” and 200 lb. ) cant even fit in the shower!!! We are so mad. We’ve been going to my in-laws for showers for almost two weeks (since the second shower went under construction.) Im so mad. What would yall do?

It is April 11,2021 and we are in the same situation with Lowe’s and if anyone had any resolution or advice I would greatly appreciate it. On 8/1/2020 we paid Lowes about $21,500 for the kitchen cabinets, installation, and a new hood. Told us we had to pay everything upfront which I’m pretty sure is illegal on NC but we didn’t know. Pay the measuring fee and spent many hours at Lowe’s with the kitchen designer but kitchen designer never set foot in my house. When I tell you I have received about 19 different orders from Lowe’s since then most of which are wrong because she keeps ordering things incorrectly. Cabinets stick out from the depth of the wall. Cuts into my existing crown molding in my house. The hood was installed and is 6 inches offset from the exhaust in the wall so cannot be used. Also they installed the hood backwards and I had to point this out to them. Also the installer that Lowes sent was only here for like five minutes and didn’t do any of the work, he sent random people to our house to do things. Ripped out all our cabinets and left them in our front yard along with trash bags for three days. I have open electrical sockets everywhere since September and we have children. No one at Lowe’s cares. I have contacted the CEO and I’ve been at the executive customer service level since October 2020 and nothing is moving. I’ve been told my entire kitchen needs to be ripped out and started over because the original ‘s installer (or whoever he sent ) did it wrong. In the meantime I had paid for countertops through a separate company so now Lowes is telling me that I have to pay that company to rip out the countertops so that Lowes can come in and rip out the cabinets and reinstall them correctly. And then maybe they’ll reimburse me. And then maybe when I sign paperwork With Lowes saying that everything is complete, then and only then will Lowes talk to me about compensation. I obviously don’t believe a word they say. Original installer also keep kept pressuring me to sign the completion document one week into the project when I have crap all over my house. He has since been fired from Lowe’s apparently. It’s been 6 1/2 months, my entire kitchen needs to be ripped out and started over, and nothing has happened at my kitchen since October of last year.

Elvislives - Very similar issues here... Your contract has a binding arbitration clause in it. I'd try to invoke it when the time is right. Lowes is telling us that once everything is complete, then we'll talk compensation. Our kitchen install has been going well over a year, and KraftMaid can't seem to get us a particular cabinet in decent shape. We've been working with Executive Customer Service for about 6 months with limited success. Very best of luck!

Dieter Geithner thank you for your reply . I am sorry you are going through the same thing , this is a horrible situation to be in . Lowe’s Exec Cust service is at the point where they barely reply at all now. No movement on our kitchen . I do no the trust them at all with regard to provide sufficient compensation after the fact - the cases that I have read people say that Lowe’s basically offered them a $50 gift card . I was spedicially told they would talk compensation once I signed the completion document , which releases them from any responsibility . No way. They have also breached the contract in so many ways and we have contacted any attorney . We do have rights beyond arbitration , have you tried the arbitration route ? I just wonder who sets up the arbitration bc if it’s Lowe’s , it will never ever happen .

Lowes hired me to punch out a bathroom for a Lowe's customer who would not allow the Lowe's contractor back into his home. Took half a day and very nice reasonable customers.

I'm sorry that you're going through all that too. You've passed on some good information and I know now to be leery of signing the completion document. I have as much trouble with KraftMaid/Masco as I do Lowe's. The only way that I see this getting worked out is with the binding arbitration, and I just feel like that's the way this'll end, and getting my ducks in a row now for it.

Is there a way we can all get together against Lowe’s? I am going through the same situation and in my case is two kitchens. I want to kmow if we can all go to the media and fight for this is a scam they have and it is not acceptable. Can we do it together?

Lowe’s truly is horrible horrible horrible and does not care about the customer . I am not sure where you are in the “process” with them , but I want to give you the best advice I can and save you the most time and frustration . I have tried going to the media in my area (NC) and it just so happens that another family one town over, who use the same exact Lowes, had just done a story on them. They were 14 months into their kitchen renovation and so the news media did a story on it. Keep in mind that Lowes is actually headquartered right up the street from us. Pathetic. Of course make sure all of your interactions with them are in writing . You will need this to later prove how many times you tried to “s them to do what you hired them for “ and they didn’t do it . Chances are they have already breached your contract multiple times so document those breeches (for example, finishing the job within a reasonable time. This may not be spelled out in your contract but it is part of the contract. Other things include installing things incorrectly, installing damaged product etc. These are just some examples of what they do. What I regret most about my personal experience is that I waited a year before I hired a lawyer. The lawyer is really the only thing that got this moving forward. He wrote a demand letter and sent it to Lowes and then Lowes pass that off to its third-party insurance company, Sedgwick. So that’s where our kitchen project stands right now. In the hands of an insurance adjuster .

There's a clause in your contract that says that you won't be party to a class-action suit. Also there's an arbitration clause also. It's probably likely that you can get around that if they're in breech of contract, though.

We're no closer to having our kitchen completed. We received KraftMaid's 7th try to get us an undamaged pantry cabinet, and it came damaged. They're trying to figure out what the next step might be.

Today is day 508 since we wrote Lowe's a check for the cabinets in installation in February 2020. It's day 396 since they tore out our old cabinets. Currently, we have plywood as countertops (since last November) and we cant get countertops, backsplash, do trim, or put down the floor until they're finished.

We're making progress with Executive Customer Service, but while Lowe's owns the problems, KraftMaid is certainly the biggest part of the problem and I can sense the frustration in the voice of the Lowe's representative.

I've prepared a spreadsheet with the costs/damages that we've incurred so far, and it's a pretty big number (more than what the cabinets cost). Considering talking with a consumer protection attorney to see what can be done and expedite any payment.

This has truly been a terrible experience.

I can't imagine how the big box installed home improvement departments make any money. They sure do lots of PR damage.

I'm not sticking up for them by any stretch, but I feel like most of these installs go pretty smoothly. They use contractors to do the work and they're essentially just supplying the materials. The contractor doing my kitchen install is pretty good - KraftMaid and Lowe's are the problem with my project Plus, I think it's something that they feel like they have to do, even if any profit is small... If Home Depot does it, Lowe's has to do it too for instance.

I hired Lowes to do a full kitchen remodel 3.5 years ago for $25,000. It still isn't finished. The worst job I have ever seen... wiring messed up... no licensed electrician. Numerous cabinets were dented, scratched, missing paint, etc. At least 7 or 8 had to be sent back. New plumbing leaked and rotted the box under the sink. Canned lights constantly blink... something wrong with the wiring. I have written probaby close to 200 emails, texts, and made so many phone calls, taken time off work. handles for island were not placed accurately and when holes were drilled they were put in the wrong place and split the boards. Ugly bright white outlets were put on the ends of island (island is a medium gray) and they were put in crooked and they should have been under the counter where they could be hidden. I had to tell the guy that was where they should go... refrigerator surround was ordered too small *(thanks to lowe's designer) and the refer protruded 9 inches further out than it should have... they finally ordered another surround.. but they broke it trying to install it... and I had to wait another 5 weeks to get the third one.

The list goes on and on. It's gotten so bad... with a huge string of people working on the project and they all no longer work at Lowes... go figure! Even the Senior adjuster who had just given me an offer on fixing what needed to be completed or was damaged. He doesn't work there any more! This current adjuster offered me $1,000 for my time.... yeah right. Looks like it's finally time to get an attorney. I sympathise with you all. Can't believe in January it will be 4 years since I signed the contract... and it said it would be done in 3 months. Oh, and 3 other contractors were called in to look at what needed to be fixed... Lowes didn't have any of them do the work. The 2nd project manager went out on maternity leave and no one did anything in the months that she was gone. Contractors were so bad that the store manager spent several days at my house watching them do the work... to make sure it wasn't screwed up any further. I have a thick notebook log of all the phone calls, texts, emails and dates I met with them in the store. Unbelievable. And they want to give me $1,000 for my time. Yeah right.

people are better off hiring a GC or Kitchen Cabinet company (all inclusive kitchen remodels) than to go through lowes. Lowes hires out subs to do all of the work, install, electrical, etc. You are paying Lowes to be the GC, but have far less communication and recourse w/them then you would an actual GC (who would come to your home to supervise everything) People think lowes has a complete kitchen team, but they really don't. They pick subs from each group and pay them bottom wages. I knew a flooring guy that would fwork for lowes only because he needed a steady stream of work, not because they pay well or because they're a great company.

It would be cheaper to use an actual kitchen company or hire a general contractor, than pay lowes to be the invisible GC.

These threads span several years now and I just want to add that, as of 2023, Lowe's (at least in NC) is having the same issues. We started a simple kitchen project with them. We used them to measure and install. We ordered cabinets through them. We were told 4-5 days for this simple install (not changing the footprint or anything). It took 14 weeks and we were without a functioning kitchen for much of that time. Same experience as what others have been reporting in this thread over the years. Damaged material, defective materials, missing materials. Lack of attention to design details causing major issues and delays down the road. No accountability by Lowe's. They get your money up front. Report them to BBB, FTC, take them to small claims court. I also encourage others in NC to contact the NC attorney general. They can't keep getting away with this way of doing business.

Wow . I know this comment is years late but...we are on MONTH 9. Pulling my hair out. Ready to kill

" we are on MONTH 9 "

With what?

I assume you’re working with Lowe’s? I hate to see you make the same mistake I did which was to keep giving them more and more chances to screw me over. Our process took 2 1/2 years at the end of which point I had to hire someone else to undo all their mess and reinstall everything.had to pay a lawyer to sue them because they suck. So it ended up being a wash financially except for the 2 1/2 years of my life that I flushed down the drain dealing with that freaking company.

I found this thread because i am sadly in a similar situation. I am going on day 334 of our kitchen remodel nightmare!

I emailed the CEO for over 100 days asking for help to resolve their breach of contract. Their installers did shoddy work and damaged every single cabinet in some way. The refused to follow the plan with the specified measurements, damaged my walls, ceiling, and floor. They stole items, left a mess outside which popped my tire, left us with live wires hanging without notice (home with young child), installed a pantry cabinet blocking an outlet, disconnected my plumbing for the sink, and installed a base drawer cabinet over it. The Executive Customer Relations case manager Lane Powell abandoned the case and the claims person was so confused and making up false narratives. I have reported to the AGO, FTC, BBB, local news, and my Senator's office. Lowe's should be quick to make things right when things go wrong. Instead they beat you down to get ypu to sign contracts with extremely restrictive terms. The level of stress and chaos they create is unreal.

Here's a pic of the only red vest who came to view damages. ;-)

This sounds a lot like what happened to us. Did you use a credit card to pay for any of it ? I would start by filing a dispute with your CC company. Was the amount leased than $15k? Then maybe small claims could be the venue for you (depending on dollar limits of clam all claims in your state). If a contractor has come into your house and caused PROPERTY damage, then that should be paid for by that contractors insurance company (Lowe’s insurance company ). We went through this with them for 2 1/2 years. Back-and-forth back-and-forth, CEO,CFO, Board of Directors, etc. no response and didn’t give a crap about making the situation right. We also had live wires and cabinets installed over live electrical outlets. Absolutely ridiculous. So the question is how you solve it. We ended up having to sue them And we ended up paying just as much in lawyer fees was the value of the job so it ended up being a wash for us but at least we were able to move on with a blank slate with somebody else that was able to install things correctly. My lesson learned here was to have pursued the most aggressive action sooner rather than trying to believe that they would actually do anything after two years. Some people claim that you can work with the manager of the store directly where you purchased the cabinets in the services. That might be an option if you haven’t tried it yet, but it was not an option for us. We dealt with Lowe’s executive Customer Service for about a year and a half alone and that was a complete waste of time as you have mentioned above.

I was hired to punch out a bathroom on a Lowe's job years ago. Took me most of a day. The customers wouldn't let the contractor back in their home.

Never use lowes or home depot. They contract out to the cheapest people. You are paying THEM to hire someone else to work on your home! how is that good for the homeowner? Especially when lowes won't take responsibility.

Anyone reading this, hire your own people and cut out the middle man. If that is too much work, hire an actual company with its OWN workers and let them handle it. these 3 party workers are a horrible option.

HELP/ADVICE OUTCOMES

I am in the same situation in winter haven fl. 13 months in.

Please anyone that is finished with their Lowes dilemma will you share the Outcome? Did they compensate you?  Do you have any regional manager contact info? Besides corporate office.

Any email addresses that don't end up at corporate complaint dept. in Mooresville NC.

I have been dealing with Sally there, what a joke.  

Any help or information will be so appreciated. Thanks

We were compensated and the compensation was pretty fair. We dealt with corporate and I’d say that is your best bet.

we started in May 2023 and they just put our countertop in today . It was suppose to be put in Sept of 2023 .. First was Diamond was who we picked .. the whole order was damaged 36 boxes to be sent back .. one big issue was taking pictures .. we where told to inspect to boxes and take pics of damage , which we did .. there where not enough pics they wanted more , so we opened all the boxes and did it again .. now a Diamond Rep and Lowes rep come to my house , now we have to open all the boxes again .. so now we have opened a 100 boxes .. waited 2-3 months for the next order ( which had a walk through before shipping ) again damaged .. while we waited for the second order we housed the first ,so basically a warehouse .. when the second order came they picked up the first order .. we decided to have the Lowes kitchen planner design with a different company .. Craftmaid .. so Diamonds second order shows up damaged again .. so we scrapped the whole order ..Kraftmaid came with some damaged cabinets and we got piece mealed several replacements , wrong cabinets came , 3 of one , none of the one we needed . so afte good knows how many months of housing all these boxes we finally got all the cabinets we needed without noticeable damage Installion day came about 2 weeks ago ..anyway long story shorten .. the first installer was horrible he kept threating to leave ( since he opened all the boxes our notes for good and bad cabinets where on the boxes ) so we had to reinspect the dupilcates for which to go up and which was for parts .. He was pushy till i told h to jist leave .. they sent out a second team the next day . they where better but left a mess .. didnt clean up after themselves . messed up the sink cabinet .. the countertop installers where not much better they ripped the inside the sink cabinet , lines the sink up uneven , leaves a blemish in the countertop we are not sure how to get out .. my wife is upset and talking to Lowes now ..the caninet installers have to comeback and fix there errorif the can and who knows what is gonna happen with the countertop

I left a comment 2 years ago about my kitchen remodel from hell with Lowes. Well I finally did get some compensation but it was only $8,000 and I had to go above corporate and talk to the person that deals with monetary claims against Lowes. So the case was settled ( I talked to a lawyer who told me it wouldn't be worth it to go to arbitration as I would need to hire a lawyer and I'd be better off just taking the $8,000. )

So that was settled after almost 4 years and wouldn't you know it, Lowes plumbing was faulty too. About 6 months after settling with them one Sunday night about 8 pm August 7, of 2022 I heard a loud noise and water spraying and the cold water fitting under the kitchen sink blew off and flooded my house. All flooring, baseboards, cabinets, wallboard, paint, countertops, insulation, etc etc had to be replaced. I had to use Lowes for the cabinets because my top cabinets ( which State Farm wouldn't replace with the exception of one of them) had to be the same brand/style as the new bottom ones. Well I thought the first kitchen remodel was bad....lol. I used their designer in December of 2022 to help me order cabinets as State Farm screwed around for several months before they had their proposal to me telling me what they would replace and how much they would pay for each item. So having the experience I did with Lowes 3 years prior, I went to a different Lowes store this time hoping for different results. Lowe's ordered the cabinets using the dimensions that Lowes had written up in their book for the previous kitchen remodel. Cabinets were ordered wrong. I got 5 cabinets I didn't order. When they arrived they had been taken out of boxes to be inventoried and inspected and they had to be put back in and taped and sent back. What a project! Lowes even tried to charge me a large restocking fee ( I think it was 20%of the cost of the cabinets.) Heck no!!!! The refrigerator surround was a huge joke. I let them know I needed a 30" deep surround. I told them it was screwed up with the first kitchen remodel..what did they do? Ordered a 23 inch. It came, I sent it back. They reordered, it came and was 23 inches, I sent it back. The third time it came and it was the right size..only because I called the factory.. Lowes wanted to charge me an additional $800.00 for the surround. No!

Back to the cabinets...I hired my own contractor to put them in and Lowes had screwed up the installation of the previous cabinets so bad that the plumbing actually had to be moved so that the new cabinets would fit. I had to hire a plumber at a huge cost to fix this and make sure that the new cold and hot water fittings were replaced, were secure, and would stay that way.

It took ( ready for this?) 6 months for the right cabinets to be delivered. When they finally sent the right ones I was told they had been shipped someone had signed that they had been delivered. Uh no they hadn't!!!! They were sent to some delivery facility in another town and no one knew where they were. They sat there for over a month. Probably still would have been there if I wasn't proactive.

Also with this second remodel ( I only bought the cabinets from Lowe's and had them do NONE of the installation) I was in a hotel for 8 months. Nice, huh? Had to eat all my meals out. Had my cat in a hotel. Fun. Due to their shoddy work of the first kitchen remodel which flooded my house. I even got to pay a several thousand dollar deductible to State Farm. And then State Farm ( which incidentally is the absolute worst insurance company to work with..I had to fight with them about costs because they are so cheap on every little thing..) well they didn't pay for a lot of the cost. Covid was going on and their reimbursement prices were pre Covid..they hadn't updated them ( we all know how prices of everything skyrocketed with Covid). So I ended up paying an additional $20,000 out of my own pocket because of Lowes faulty remodel three years prior. Talked to the store manager at Lowe's about all the screw ups with the cabinets and the amount of time I was in a hotel and he kept saying he would give me some compensation...he never did and just blew me off. So it wasn't the store specifically ( I went to two different ones). It was the people and the organization. I even called the factory that Diamond Cabinets come out of. They were the ones that said Lowes had screwed everything up...wrong dimensions, type ordered, etc.. what a fiasco. Still have one piece of trim that didn't get ordered for the bottom of one upper cabinet and when they made the cabinet they didn't paint the bottom of the cabinet white to match the other ones. I'm to the point where I don't care. So done with Lowes. What a horror story. It took over a year to get my flood damage fixed due to Lowes crappy work with the first kitchen remodel which caused it ( including having all my belongings in a metal pod in the front yard for 9 months because of the flood damage) and the subsequent ordering fiasco with the second. Wow! Oh, and it cost State Farm over $100,000 to pay for fixing all the flood damage in my house. Don't use Lowes for ANYTHING! Learn from my mistake!

Imcant even imagin… Youre a strong, strong perdon

Susan .. who did you use to get the monetary compensation . and what state ? we are New Jersey

Wow!

Kitchen cab replacement? $30K. Signed Lowe's contract 7-4-2005. Today is 7/8/2026. Nothing was rebuilt, knocked own, or added. Did not have water or electric or use of my garage until April. Waiting for finish work like trim, leveling, couple doors mssing. I am on the ledge.

Galina

" Kitchen cab replacement? $30K. Signed Lowe's contract 7-4-2005. Today is 7/8/2026. "

Contact in 2005 or 2025?

Sor-ry. If I proofread, then I can control my fat (e)?

Could be worse. You could be dealing with Home Depot.

Seriously, I had Home Depot re-do my countertops ... can it really be 26 years ago? No complaints about the quality of the materials, but their installation was sh**.

I really believe buying from the big box guys is fine, but you shouldn't use their installation services.

"Never use lowes or home depot. They contract out to the cheapest people."

They do not. They contract with some of the largest, most efficient, and customer satisfaction oriented fabricators.

My old boss wanted Lowe's work. Lowe's told him they wanted to assign the entire state to one fabricator. He created a new entity with two other very reputable fabricators and they divided the state between them.

Lowe's and other big boxes use their buying power to negotiate material purchases that smaller fabricators cannot begin to touch. That's why their prices are unbeatable; not because of cheap fabricators.

It’s amazing to me that so many people disparage and underestimate these ”big box stores”. Lowes and Home Depot are well/established, long standing companies- so, of course, they must have no idea what they are doing.

^^^

Joe is in Florida. Florida is different than many areas, including California. I have a few doozie fabricators/installers locally, that would be available to HD.that I'd not touch with a ten foot pole..