xavierdlc61887

I went to Lowes and saw 2 bottle palm perfectly fine nice leaves and trunking anyways i asked them why they were in the trash. Get this they said "COMPANY POLICY WHEN THEY ARE RETURNS WE HAVE TO THROW THEM AWAY" I asked what can i do to save them...buy off for 50% take them free.....nothing so i left pissed off so i wouldnt make a big scene.

its 8:00 PM i go back and the palms are still there, i ask the new shift emplyees......they tell me the same thing....again i tell the guy in charge what can i do to save them please it hurts me to see them get thrown away like that....well i stood there till closing and nothing changed i was escorted away by security and i am now here venting out and pissed that chain stores do this things just because they were returned they need to throw them away....anyways

I know im going to get kicked around here but what could i have done to save those palms??? and has this ever happend to anyone here????

Whatever

Yeah that's pretty messed up.

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between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out.
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.

Spiral out. Keep going...

NanaNut2

Lowe's became my least favorite store when they refused to honor their $10 off any plant coupon after saying they would. My policy, is simply never to return, not spend my money there, and never recommend it to anyone. Just a one person protest. Other's must feel the same way, since the store parking lot is mostly empty when I drive by. Anyway, save yourself a bout of high blood pressure. You most likely can't change their policy. Just boycott the store.
NanaNut2

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NanaNut2

JoeReal

Well, when I was still younger, I used to check out the trash bin behind Home Depot. Sometimes they dumped all their "dying" bare rooted plants in there. I would collect them and resurrect them. My success rate is over 80%. And so I always give away potted fruit plants as gifts to friends. Now they put a lock on their trash bins.

Another way that you can do is go to customer service and ask for the store manager to make a deal. I've done that and often get away with just a fraction of the original price. Sometimes I get them for free if you ask the store manager.

I recently hauled about 10 bags of concrete for free, simply because all of the bags have some damage (leaking concrete powder) one way or another. I simply asked what they are going to do with those and they told me if I can haul it to my van, it's free.

xavierdlc61887

there must be something an orginization that helps save plants from stores like that....ahhhhhhhhh whyyyyyy


i did ask the manager and he said they cant resell them...which he never answerd my question if i can have them free

jason

I am by all means not this type of person,,so I hope people dont think I am this way cause Im not,,but If the palms were not that big I would of grabbed them and ran like hell,,walmart did the same thing to me this summer when I asked what they are doing with all the cannas that are in the garbage,,they said throwing them away cause the season is done they would not even let me buy them,,,,what a waste and to think this happenes all over the united states each year,,take all those plants thrown away their would be enough to landscape everyones yard in the us im sure,,,sorry to hear that bro!!!!!

Taylor

Start something like a, or even call it the Plant Savers Society.

STEELVIPER

Grab them and run!!!

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natedogg1026

Sounds like me, Jason, and Mark got a plan.

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Banana's are a safe addiction. Right?Maybe I need classes.

jason

Yea really I can run a 40 yard dash in about 4.9 seconds,,it might be a little slower with the palms but im sure they would still not catch me,,LOL!!! That is really a bunch of crap,,I would every day look in the dumpster to get them ,,and also to prove a point!!!! Who cares if bottle palms are common they still are a really nice looking palm many of us would love to have!!!!

Lagniappe

Re: You might be a banana feind ......

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The posts lost thier number sequence...lol....anyway :

......if you get plants outa the garden center dumpsters (palms too)

harveyc

I kind of like Lowe's. The are stocking some tropicals when most others won't.

I am more bothered about the reason behind the policy for throwing those plants away then the loss of the plants themselves. Unless things have changed since I was working in a business that financed nurseries, these large box stores make guarantees to attract customers but pass that directly onto their suppliers. If Lowes or Home Depot neglects the plants and they die, their supplier has to give them credit for it. If the customer neglects the plant and kills it and brings it back six months later, the supplier eats it. The supplier can't handle a wide variety of plants in various conditions and take care of them and the big store gets their money back but can't sell them. It's all part of the assembly line of big volume plant sales. It drives many suppliers out of business because they can't make a profit on slim margins and these crazy return policies.

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NanaNut2

Like I said, boycott them. Let them know why. Profit is always the key to change. When enough customers are unhappy about a practice and it begins to affect business, then things change. But I do like the idea of grabbing them and running, lol. If I were younger ...
NanaNut2

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NanaNut2

harveyc

If you boycott Lowe's you need to boycott all of the big box stores. One store offers the money back guarantee because the others do.

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xavierdlc61887

thanks guys and im thinking of doing that for the next couple of days of going to check the dumpster but i doubt ill succeed as the dumpster is inside the nursery :/ oh well still gonna try though

Richard

Harvey hit it right on the head. For a volume dealer, doing anything other than tossing a returned plant impacts the time of both the supplier and the resale employees - which neither can afford. Further, re-distributing the plant without a sale opens up all kinds of liabilities with their resale licensing, agricultural licensing, and again their suppliers.

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

NanaNut2

I suppose an alternate to boycott, would be to wait outside the store for hours, waiting for people with returns to show up. Divert them and pay for the return outside the store.

They do this at the humane society for dogs and other pets. Generally you get them cheaper.
NanaNut2

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NanaNut2

Lilith

I have had similar experiences at both Lowes and Home Depot here.

Once at Home Depot, an employee was cleaning off the fairly large and extensive "Exotic Angel Collection" tables, and there were plants, broken off stems and branches and leaves and all sorts of stuff being tossed both in the trash and hitting the ground.

A little old lady (I estimate this lady was about 75, she was definitely old enough to be my mom and I am almost 50), she was petite and pretty fragile looking anyway...she saw a broken off plant part on the ground and started to pick it up, and while she was [i]bent down[i]getting it the employee literally RAN over, snatched it our of her hand and said in an extremely loud voice, "THAT'S TRASH! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! DON'T PICK ANYTHING ELSE UP OR I'LL HAVE THEM MAKE YOU LEAVE!"

There were quite a few customers standing around watching with pretty astounded looks on their faces at this employee's behaviour.

I was pretty appalled, so I walked over and said, "You know, people like YOU are the reason why Home Depot's stock is at an all time low and people avoid your store and shop at Lowes. You should be ashamed of yourself for talking to this lady like that. I hope you speak to your own mother in a more respectful way."

People around me started mumbling their agreement and generally giving the employee the skunk eye, and she started trying to justify her behaviour by parroting the store policy. No one was interested in what she had to say.

Our Lowes and HOme Depot (we have 2 of each in town) have started putting already bloomed orchids, frostnipped stuff, and otherwise viable but still damaged or unsalable stuff on special carts and marking them down 25-75%. If you are there at the right time, you can get some perfect orchids (all-be-it they are the run of the mill generic box store varieties) for $3-5. Nothing wrong with the plant, just out of bloom.

Walmart has always had a "plant graveyard" of extreme markdowns. I have gotten a lot of nice stuff there

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jellyfish_sky

I really hate to have to deal with all that mumbo jumbo bix box stores policies. I'm reading those stories up here and I feel outraged by your experiences at Lowe's and HD. My only bad experience at HD was that person in the plant section didn't know what she was doing (but at least she was nice when I asked her something).

I'm sure if the returns were pets and tossed in the garbage, people would freak out! Why not plants? (I wonder what they do at WalMart with fish returns...)

I usually try to avoid going to any big box stores or at least buy my plants there. There are always nurseries with good quality plants where you can also get good deals. Or small florist shops that can get you great plants if you order. I think boycotting would be my favourite solution!

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Celine

Bananaddiction~!

stokesjl

they don't even compost them? way to save the planet wal-mart!

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