This happened in our local Lowe's several months ago. Coincidentally, we were shopping for appliances for our remodel three days after the switch. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and there was only one person working in appliances. After waiting >45 minutes, we left. I wrote the CEO a letter (not knowing about the elimination of commissions) and someone from corporate contacted me to put me in touch with the store manager. The local manager called me that day but (a) never apologized for the lack of service and (b) never offered me anything to earn my business. So we bought our >$15K worth of appliances elsewhere.

I remain amazed at the short-sidedness of corporate America.

I didn't realize that lowes gave sales bonuses or commissions to their appliance and cabinets sales people, however that clears something up for me.

A few years ago we bought our oven, microwave and induction stovetop at the big blue store and it was quite the ordeal. The short version is that before going over to the store we had decided on the appliances we wanted (most weren't on the floor at any store). We also checked with the store manager to see if they accepted competitors coupons (we had a 20% off coupon) and we were assured that they did. Well, after waiting an hour to speak to the appliance guy to order our appliances he refused to honor the coupon. The manager told him over the phone that it was policy to honor the coupon, and he still refused. The manager then came over to help us, and the two of them had a huge fight in front of us regarding it. I'm guessing it cut into his commission and he kept referring to us as "his sale" and how he had "worked with us for some time". The manager eventually put him in his place, but he was none to happy with us.

This was my first and only experience buying appliances. Hopefully the next time around is a bit better! :)

That said, I bought "a few" of those $50 Lowes gift cards for $40 that were at Michael's before father's day and we plan on buying most of our appliances at Lowes for our next house!

Really glad you passed this along, GD. You're absolutely right that corporations just want to maximize the bottom line, which means they'd rather pay peanuts. I just have to inject that my son with a college degree earned $20,000 last year working full time for Barnes and Noble-it was his third year with them. Moving up the responsibility ladder wouldn't have made much difference. It's amazing to me that the guy in charge of handling all the receipts, tens of thousands of dollars a day, is paid $10.50-$11.50 an hour. The good news is that he got a real job utilizing his skills other than charm and good looks, and the ability to keep the cash drawers straight. Or, at the end, his ability to energize people to buy Nooks, which are well worth the money BTW. At least they offered health insurance.

Back to HD and Lowe's: I liked it that at HD the sales guy we worked with wasn't dependent on us putting in our order one second sooner than we were ready in order to enhance his income for the month. I liked it that his income didn't depend on him urging us to buy a more expensive line, although ours was at the higher end, or to purchase add-ons we didn't necessarily need or want. When we ordered 4 tall cabinets with glass fronts, he volunteered that it would be significantly less expensive to order them "glass ready" and get the glass locally. I didn't feel bad about coming back multiple times and using up his time. Time spent with us nailing down down every last detail didn't mean he was failing to make a potential sale elsewhere. He also called the company to ask a couple of things and got us at least one more expensive freebie than we would have gotten otherwise. Would he have done that if it cut his commission? Maybe.

You're right about hiring the kid who doesn't know or care diddly about kitchens vs. people with depth of experience or at least enthusiasm. In a different HD than the one we bought from, we thought of a question we wanted an answer to, so asked the kid on duty. He hadn't a clue what we were talking about and clearly had no idea about the line we were looking at. Why, one wonders, was he working in the kitchen department? Would I seriously work with him to design my kitchen? Not a chance; I might have walked across the street to Lowe's if that were the choice.

We tell everyone that Steve at the Melrose Dr. HD is great to work with. I'm pretty sure a couple of people have bought cabinets from Steve on our recommendation. HD needs to think about this and pay the Steves in their employ a comfortable wage.

Does anyone go to a store to learn about appliances anymore?

You research online, you visit forums like this, decide what you want then go to the store to see who gives the best deal.

I stopped asking (both young and old, experienced and inexperienced) sales people long ago.

I just want to wish you good luck on your new endeavor, GreenDesigns! I always read your posts as they are so helpful.

I think appliance stores are feeling the crunch too. Last week I visited a store in another town. It was an appliance store where we bought all our appliances when we lived in that town, and even when we did our first kitchen remodel here. They moved and now they don't have a showroom at all; it's basically an office now. There are a few appliances in their back room warehouse, but when I asked above induction cooktops, he went online and did pretty much the same search I had done at home. I'm sure they cater to builders now who just call in an order, but I was really surprised how much they changed.

"I just hate being "sold to," especially when I have more knowledge of a product than they seem to.)"

Me too!

anenemity hit the nail on the head of what i referred to in my post on your other thread. I think the right thing to do for customers and the company would be to pay a higher wage based on previous experience. Commission, to me, just drives the sale of more expensive merchandise that isn't necessarily what the customer needs. A true salesperson should be able to sell what the customer NEEDS no matter the price point and feel good knowing they helped a customer get what they wanted. It would also be nice if they could feed their families as well, but, IMO, not at the cost of the customer's needs. I wonder if they simply had done away with commission but given a few extra bucks an hour if there wouldn't have been such a mass exodus. I guess it depends on how much those employees relied on their commission.

I am very fortunate to work at a big box store that still does pay some commission to employees on certain lines of cabinets. 2% on store brand (basically an upgraded IKEA clone), and 1% on kraftmaid. While i've only been doing this job 9 months, I take pride in how much knowledge I've gained already, and my work ethic. I love working with customers. I have never pressured a customer into getting something more expensive for my own benefit of commission. I'd rather have a loyal customer that continues to come back to me (I do lots of rental home cabinetry and appliances). Used to work at Lowes in customer service. Not a friendly place to work.