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PSA: Lowes Free Shipping and Canceled Items

2,747 467 October 20, 2023 at 09:54 AM in Free Shipping (2)
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Not sure where to put this. Moderators, please move this as necessary.

FYI:
If you order multiple items from Lowes and the items add up over $45 and receive free shipping and some items get canceled where you drop under $45, Lowes will automatically charge you the shipping fee for the items that do get shipped out.

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Nishiko
10-20-2023 at 04:12 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:12 PM.
Quote from iluvmysh :
in this case, wouldn't the answer to allow "free ship to store" to alleviate these problems rather than penalizing (without notifying) buyers that genuinely wanted multiple things and also did not want to pay for shipping?

That would be fine but there still needs to be abuse limits... if a certain customer has a decent pattern purchasing whatever limit necessary to get free ship to store, and then returns part of the order, then the normal fee for ship to store under that limit should still be applied.
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earthdogmonster
10-20-2023 at 04:14 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:14 PM.
Quote from Nishiko :
If you've been around Slickdeals long-enough, you'll have seen people say to meet free ship minimum's on an item they want on a good sale and when the item doesn't itself meet the minimum, they will simply buy something else to meet that minimum with the intention to return that item later (and many retailers do NOT take this free shipping minimum into account for returns, especially ones that have bricks and mortar locations you can return online orders at).

I've never done this myself, so can't remember which retailers allow/allowed this in the past.

Yeah, what OP is describing is the retailer failing to fulfill certain items and then as soon as the price falls below the free shipping threshold, Lowes charges a shipping fee.

Anyone in this scenario is being charged more than what is displayed at checkout.
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Joined Dec 2011
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Nishiko
10-20-2023 at 04:15 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:15 PM.
Quote from earthdogmonster :
Yeah, what OP is describing is the retailer failing to fulfill certain items and then as soon as the price falls below the free shipping threshold, Lowes charges a shipping fee.

Anyone in this scenario is being charged more than what is displayed at checkout.

Absolutely, I missed that. In this case that is wrong and terrible customer service!
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JayM3585
10-20-2023 at 04:16 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:16 PM.
Quote from burntorangehorn :
You may be confused about who canceled the items. Lowes canceled items in the order, which dropped the total order below $45, and charged shipping for the items they didn't cancel. Do you think that's fair?

Yes that is what chat with it and call customer service is for
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JayM3585
10-20-2023 at 04:20 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:20 PM.
Quote from Nwryguy :
How is the retailer canceling my item gaming the system? I think there is confusion here on your explanation

One thing that needs to be explained is do they notify you of the shipping being charged. I saw another post where some one is concerned about past orders, and if they might've been charged shipping because of return and going below free shipping.
If they do not let customers know then shame on Lowe's (and any other retailer's that do not let them knwo
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Core2Quad
10-20-2023 at 04:29 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:29 PM.
Quote from Nishiko :
That seems very fair actually... too many people game these retailers.

Retailers are having a difficult enough time with all the organized flash thefts and everything else.

Businesses are learning there are certain types of customers they definitely do not want.
How would that be fair? It's not only unfair, its unethical and likely illegal (bait and switch).

I remember years ago Dell did a similar thing. I ordered a laptop which came with a free case, they cancelled the laptop and charged me full price for the case.
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burntorangehorn
10-20-2023 at 04:38 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:38 PM.
Quote from JayM3585 :
Yes that is what chat with it and call customer service is for

That's absurd.
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mprincebuyer
10-20-2023 at 04:47 PM.
10-20-2023 at 04:47 PM.
Quote from Nishiko :
If you've been around Slickdeals long-enough, you'll have seen people say to meet free ship minimum's on an item they want on a good sale and when the item doesn't itself meet the minimum, they will simply buy something else to meet that minimum with the intention to return that item later (and many retailers do NOT take this free shipping minimum into account for returns, especially ones that have bricks and mortar locations you can return online orders at).

I've never done this myself, so can't remember which retailers allow/allowed this in the past.

Pre Covid I ordered a miter saw from them and somehow they messed up and sent me 2 Lowe's 5gal buckets with lids instead. In fact they changed the order so that it showed up as a purchase in my account yet still charged me for the price of a miter saw. Do you think their issues with inventory or order mess ups are the customers fault?
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dadab
10-20-2023 at 05:03 PM.
10-20-2023 at 05:03 PM.
Lowes is the worst in terms of refunding purchases made via gift cards online, they cancel order for stupid inventory issue and send you a nice merchandise card via usps. Now, you've to go to store to use that credit. This illegal practice is going on for a while.
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earthdogmonster
10-20-2023 at 05:08 PM.
10-20-2023 at 05:08 PM.
Quote from Core2Quad :
How would that be fair? It's not only unfair, its unethical and likely illegal (bait and switch).

I remember years ago Dell did a similar thing. I ordered a laptop which came with a free case, they cancelled the laptop and charged me full price for the case.

My most recent (and maybe last) experience with Dell was a mishmash of shipping delays mixed with items that just didn't ship at all. 0/10 would not recommend…

Edit: forgot to mention the recurring monthly charges for service plan they snuck in during checkout. I guess when I sent the new, unopened laptop back to them (they can keep it) their system isn't smart enough to figure out that I don't need service on the laptop I don't own.
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Last edited by earthdogmonster October 20, 2023 at 05:11 PM.
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Adelley
10-20-2023 at 05:18 PM.
10-20-2023 at 05:18 PM.
Quote from TealLeopard348 :
I had this happen to me and I chatted with lowes and they refunded the shipping amount. But this policy is actually listed on site so at least they are upfront about it now.

Right.. That's what people do, read the policy that they will be secretly charged shipping after the fact.

Upfront would to put a note about this secret charge at checkout.
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zdiddy987
10-20-2023 at 05:39 PM.
10-20-2023 at 05:39 PM.
Thanks
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eb50
10-20-2023 at 06:39 PM.
10-20-2023 at 06:39 PM.
Happened to me. I plan on calling
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jeff44jeff
10-20-2023 at 06:55 PM.
10-20-2023 at 06:55 PM.
This is so dumb, if you say something is in stock and I order it and other items to hit the free shipping threshold and you(retailer) are actually out of 1 or multiple of the items I ordered. That is a flaw with your inventory system. If your inventory system is working as is should in 2023, the cancelled orders should be such a small number that the company can eat the shipping cost on those orders that originally qualified for free shipping after spending $ X...
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cleek
10-20-2023 at 08:11 PM.
10-20-2023 at 08:11 PM.
The customer can refuse to accept the shipment. The shipping company will return the entire shipment to the vendor and the order will be canceled.
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