Marvin talked about in the latest Round table but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it
coming. It is no longer profitable and the number of lawsuits and overall complaints about the
program has sky-rocketed. Time to put it out of it's misery. It's a stain......
No training. Having never worked in the Lowe's program, I was hired as a PSE. I had been in construction for years on the sales end. I enjoyed the sales side but struggled with the computer side. Genesis, IMS, and all the paperwork were overwhelming initially. It takes time to learn but you are not afforded time. You have a few weeks and best know it sufficiently by then. My training consisted of riding with another PSE for three weeks or so. I was taught very little on the administrative side of the business. At the store level, I asked for help from the local sales manager and was told to call someone else. The sales manager was a tyrant and most of the employees informed me of this. I found out first hand.
I am 60 years old and had no reservations about the work when I took the job. Loved working with the people and my sales were coming along. Walking into the store after having sold 14K in two sales, I was told I was discharged and escorted out of the store. Someone had said I made an inappropriate statement. I strongly disagreed and have no regrets. You can offend by saying hello in an inappropriate manner. This was addressed in a matter of fact way, no defense was allowed, no questions were answered. It was an accusation that was strictly based on personal opinion. Poof...you are gone.
Three months of long, sacrificial hours were spent trying to learn this system. This company environment is very much intuned with the spirit of this age. You cannot have an opinion that differs nor can you have a moral standard of which they do not approve. You check these things at the door, put on the red-vest, and a smile.
Not one write-up, no reprimands, no disciplinary actions. I was told by my district manager that I was improving and doing well. One co-worker who has been with Lowes for nearly 10 years said I was learning a very fast pace. He was surprised at how well I was doing.
Loved the work, enjoyed meeting the people in their homes, but the corporate atmosphere is extremely chaotic, poorly managed, and the training is extremely lacking. Would I recommend Lowes? At the end of the day, if you can deny your convictions, adapt to the moral climate, and work with little to no training...this is the place for you.
If not, do not be s—ed in.
No training. Having never worked in the Lowe's program, I was hired as a PSE. I had been in construction for years on the sales end. I enjoyed the sales side but struggled with the computer side. Genesis, IMS, and all the paperwork were overwhelming initially. It takes time to learn but you are not afforded time. You have a few weeks and best know it sufficiently by then. My training consisted of riding with another PSE for three weeks or so. I was taught very little on the administrative side of the business. At the store level, I asked for help from the local sales manager and was told to call someone else. The sales manager was a tyrant and most of the employees informed me of this. I found out first hand.
I am 60 years old and had no reservations about the work when I took the job. Loved working with the people and my sales were coming along. Walking into the store after having sold 14K in two sales, I was told I was discharged and escorted out of the store. Someone had said I made an inappropriate statement. I strongly disagreed and have no regrets. You can offend by saying hello in an inappropriate manner. This was addressed in a matter of fact way, no defense was allowed, no questions were answered. It was an accusation that was strictly based on personal opinion. Poof...you are gone.
Three months of long, sacrificial hours were spent trying to learn this system. This company environment is very much intuned with the spirit of this age. You cannot have an opinion that differs nor can you have a moral standard of which they do not approve. You check these things at the door, put on the red-vest, and a smile.
Not one write-up, no reprimands, no disciplinary actions. I was told by my district manager that I was improving and doing well. One co-worker who has been with Lowes for nearly 10 years said I was learning a very fast pace. He was surprised at how well I was doing.
Loved the work, enjoyed meeting the people in their homes, but the corporate atmosphere is extremely chaotic, poorly managed, and the training is extremely lacking. Would I recommend Lowes? At the end of the day, if you can deny your convictions, adapt to the moral climate, and work with little to no training...this is the place for you.
If not, do not be s—ed in.
I was a PSI when it first rolled out,Worst job ever.! The management was not on board with the concept from the start, he did not understand the difference between a Design client and a DIY customer. The back stabbing and sabotage started almost at the beginning , his main focus was to talk sports and take care of his pet employees. He would take me off the floor and put me outside to promote the PSE program. He would also put me in different departments to cover associates lunch hour. They also took a Kitchen cabinet associate to the side and told him to not give me any leads so his numbers would be high and slip into the PSI position, and that is exactly what happened ,nothing but back stabbing management across the entire team. I have been a A ASID designer with a $1M track record in kitchen/bath sales to back it up for over 22 years .Lowes needs to look at the upper management for the demise of the program I am talking about from the top down and everyone in between....I got the training but management didn't “ he dint have time for that c-ap!” Then he hired a lady to supervise the PSI program in all of north Houston that had 0 experience in design or insulation , who does that? Like I sad look at your management team. A blue color mindset is not good for design clients.
Lowes also discriminates against the elderly and get them fired by lies. Been there
this is funny. I ran across this after reading an article today on Moral at Lowes. I was a PSI and I left before they ended the program maybe 8 months before. I left because middle managers and regional managers had no idea what they were doing and aided to the downfall of the none support we had. Most of the other employees were jealous of PSI namely kitchen specialist who were total mo–ns no matter how much kitchen layout experience they had. one of the responses touch on this with being a professional designer and having to work with people who rose up lowes ranges with no other exp or degrees. it was a trip that job. loved working with the clientele . I was there when it started that first two years it was problems but I had a good manager and good contractor and we worked well together but lowes loves switching store managers. they have this thing if the manager has a store running well they move that manager to a struggling store and hopes that manager will fix that store???? Dumb. cause then that store they were in falls apart which is what happened at our store... when that happen we had two other managers and each was worse than the other and I had enough of the pour management always trying to undermine their staff and these managers in Cincinnati ohio where so horribly unprofessional especially the brown noser they put in the manager position for psi and pse. Most incompetent unprofessional thing I worked with in years. when I heard they ended the program it was not a surprise at all. did corporate pull a group of interior designers architects contractors and lawyers together to create a think tank to start this program? Or did they let the people who have business degrees and love HGTV get together to start this program? from the start not having real contracts that industry wide design professionals use was the first mistake they had the same contract they used to install a microwave or dishwasher that they used to install a full renovation... TOTALLY Ridiculous and when I would make comments about the contract these "Managers" would give me a blank stare. that's above my pay grade was the typical talking point to do nothing.
I was a PSI for Lowes, fortunately I snagged a much better job and left.
The reason I was looking for a new job? Well let me start by saying, I cared for each and every client that sat at my desk and paid top dollar for their home renovations AND stayed with them every painful step of the way.
The GC's I worked with were thieves. Not only did they jack up every possible thing they could, but then had the gall to NEVER stay on schedule, "applied" for permits (which in some cases were never paid for or applied for well after the start date of the project). Seriously, asking 4K to move a mobile home drain 2 inches (with obvious access of at least 1 1/2' under the home) for a new tub install. I asked them "Are we moving the drain 10 miles in into town from here?" They backtracked, couldn't or wouldn't explain the cost breakdown and ended up reducing the price but not by much.....
Deliveries through XPO A NIGHTMARE.
Installed sales managers (the ones who took over after the sale) - worthless.
Store support, (other than management), was great as I treated each employee with respect and would regularly make the rounds meeting with each person and building relationships. I loved my coworkers, I cared for my clients. Without support from ANY manager, from floor managers all the way up the ladder, there was never a doubt in my mind this would eventually blow up.
Like my fellow Post PSI's have said, I would like to thank all the clients that put their trust in me and apologize for the train wreck that ensued once the project was sold.
Mike Miller
Post ID: @Wlt9PeO-2Fath
If it really is a monster issue, I would figure you had lawyers inolved by now? If not, flood the CEO's twitter timeline with pics and complaints. Should help get the ball moving!
Worst work I've seen by a contractor and no matter how much I complained to CPO during construction I got NO response to correct. I'm not completely sure that the contractor was even licensed. I'm currently paying on a 30k home improvement that was never even completed according to the scope of services. Big business that should be held accountable. NEVER sign a contract that doesn't allow you to sue. Thank you Lowes for the hard education you have provided. I'll keep the pictures to show all my friends.
Was Severance Package offered to All PSI and their support?
I worked in the PSI program, paperwork mostly, but also labor. The CPO was a joke!!! Countless calls to people who were incompetent. Affected customers negatively which came back to the installer. Once that sale was made, Lowe's could not care less about the customer. They had their money. Trying to get ourselves paid was grueling. My thoughts are with those that relied on this program as a means of income and did their best work for a company that didn't appreciate them.
I am one the examples of exactly why this program didn't work. We are still working on a small kitchen /bath project that went horribly wrong from the very beginning. EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything, had to be done twice. From the wrong grout used on all floors to the wrong measurements for the cupboards,to the wrong electrical placement,to the water drainage problem in the shower that had to be retiled-I could go on and on. This project was started on August 2nd,and here we are almost to February,still trying to get this project not only completed,but completed in a professional manner. We paid $34,000 up front and expected a job that was not only completed in a timely manner,but done to our satisfaction. We got neither. The lack of communication,the mistakes,and the general unprofessionalism from both lowes and the general contractor were appaling to us. The reason we hired Lowe's was because we thought a big corporation would want to stand behind their reputation and also stand behind us. This whole experience has been the most disappointing project I have ever been through and I can see why they are no longer offering the program. They are losing money and their reputation as well.
As a PSI in the program from the early pilot days of the development of the PSI Program, I would like to say: The early training of PSI's and the store management team and how PSI relationships with the Dept. specialists and associates were developed made the program work beautifully in our location (0197) .
Yesterday the PSI Program was given the axe.
I'd like to say thank you to all the people who supported me and the PSI Program. It was a great run, and I'm sorry it didn't keep going along as planned.
It was a Great run as a PSI..,,,6 years and a million dollars in pay and benefits!
Lowe’s doesn’t like you making more then the store manager or most district people..... Come on, this is big box retail!!!!!!
I want to thank all of the people at the store level that I worked with. They made me successful !
And to borrow a tagline from Marvin .....God bless
To "Nobody" who made such an eloquent comment 6 days ago - yes, we had a "used car salesman" type as a PSI...he loaded all the bath sales onto one specialist and did not follow the original direction of the program which was to get quotes from each separate department and then combine them all, thus ensuring that all depths involved got credit for their sales...nope...instead one Plbg Specialist with no organizational skills would leave the rest of us p-ss-d off for having to pull her sales and people in flooring, etc p-ss-d at not getting the sales. Not to mention one instance where I sold a custom vanity top through a PSI of mine that should have sold for $1,400.+ dollars that he wiped out down to $45.00 to get the sale...beyond ridiculous...I was part of a still thriving Plumbing business for many years, that kind of B.S. would have closed the doors in a hurry....
you hit it out of the park with this post. I am a PSE and have gone through lots of mgrs. that are clueless to the real world way of doing these projects. It starts at the top...store managers don't give a dam about the programs until you fatten up their register for the day. then when you don't they think your not working..I hope I get canned I need an excuse...a push so to say...
I was an Installed Sales Manager when the two programs began first the PSI then later PSE was added. There was never any real support for the program. Never any kind of national ad campaign or any advertising beyond in-store.
We hired all the wrong people at first we went for people with design degrees and backgrounds, but not our own in house kitchen designers. In our market Kitchen Designers (Cabinet Specialist in Lowe’s speak) where told not to apply either as being unqualified or needed in their current roles. Didn’t matter if the PSI couldn’t close a sale. Then later we started to look for “sales people” and ended up with slick used car salesman types who knew nothing about the product they were selling. The hourly pay rates where cut and made up for by commissions. Margins on PSI/PSE sales where often so low after price adjustments that no commissions where made.
PSI/PSE sales looked good on paper as nice big topline sales, but when closely examined the only one making any money on these project where the GC/Installer. Half or more of the price of these projects was for the labor all the “hits” like, price adjustments, compensation etc. came off the product. Even when a problem was created by an installer Lowe’s took the hit upfront and tried getting money back via an ineffective installer debit that took multiple managers sign off and the installer’s co-operation. Central Production Office trying to remotely manage these projects and XPO delivering them was, or will be, the nail in the coffin for these programs.
PSI/PSE needed store support and co-operation, but it never happened. Orders rarely got pulled by departments that resented the PSI/PSE and not pulled by PSI/PSE because it was not their job. Product not ordered correctly. Product lost or damaged at the stores. Customers given unrealistic expectations. Making multiple instead of a single delivery per job and paying XPO for every trip plus an additional “carry-in” charge. GC’s pushing out install dates at their whims. GCs insisting on using non Lowe’s product for jobs because we do not stock what they want and Lowe’s then paying them for it. PSI/PSE where generally more educated and professional than their red vest managers which didn’t help with the needed relationships that would have made the programs work.
This last one touches on a bigger problem with Lowe’s and retail in general. If you start your career pushing carts or running a register you do not or may never have the skills to run a multi-million dollar store. Promoting from within sounds good and we all love the feel good stories of the lot tech who after 15 years with Lowe’s is now running a store but look where that has gotten us as a company.
Yes I see pay changes coming...Mr Ellison has made it clear only stockholders matter. He should try to come up with original ideas instead of HD playbook. We have always been strong in In different areas than Depot. Believe he will bleed Lowe’s and associates dry by time he’s done.
The PSI program doesn't work. The higher the volume of a store, the worse the program is. It doesnt work in cities either. In NYC it was always a disaster. Between PSIs the sold it wrong, contractors that did as they please with pricing, and XPO not caring about delivery it was always a disaster.
The only way the PSI program would work is if the projects were delivered by Lowes, not XPO. They need an assigned order puller that stages palletized PSI orders. They need to get pre-verified by managers so they can just send out the pallet without breaking it back down. They need PSIs that know how to set expectations and know how they delivery system works.
PSE should get ready for pay changes. Its gonna happen but haven't heard it's going away. PSI is a different story. Seems like new leadership does not like being held liable for these massve projects. 3rd party would fix that. The only people that know 100 percent will tell everyone when they feel the time is right
I was told by a PSI they had a meeting in the fall to discuss restructure of commission. She has since left Lowes.
Changed commission where did you find
They changed the commision again to make it harder. Lowe's doesn't like commision.
CPO ruined the whole process for both programs. They ran just fine when were in house
It’s big business ... it is profitable now... it can be made to be more profitable. It won’t be sc-apped, it will likely be tweaked — maybe even a lot.
It was a good program, then Lowe’s messed it up with XPO and CPO. I’m 50/50 on what will happen in coming months. Marvin does not seem to be a fan, off course he is a puppet to whatever the street tells him to do. If it ends, it was a good run.
No one is fishing, the program is more than Lowes can handle.
50% reduction in store staffing in 2 years, associates covering 2-3 departments during their
shift. Only leads to resentments. Managers overwhelmed with putting out the fires of the day.
Leads only trickling in. Lawsuits, complaints and jobs taking a year to complete. Customers
getting reimbursed for their 'inconvenience'. Time to pull the plug......
Some one of fishing