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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, July 30, 2010

Mini rant about Lowe’s

So, yesterday while I was in Bozeman, I went to the Lowe’s store to purchase a 150 PSI air compressor.  The air compressor that I had for my old rig wasn’t strong enough to inflate these bigger tires.
_MG_3315I found what I was looking for.  Before I bought it, I wanted to make sure I could pick it up, so I tried lifting the display model (which was at shoulder height) up.  I couldn’t budge it.  Then a salesman came along and asked if I needed any help.  I told him I wanted to be sure I could lift the compressor.  That’s when he told me it was bolted down!  :(  That was a little embarrassing.  He picked one of the boxed ones up off of the floor and handed it to me.  I could lift it.

Okay, then I told him I wanted one of those gun like things that attach to the hose for putting air into the rig’s tires.  He got one for me.  I asked him if I needed anything else to use it, and he said no, I was all set to go.  Ha!
_MG_3316In the evening, I got everything out of the packaging and tried to put it together for a test run.  As usual, I read the entire owner’s manual first.  When you’re not especially mechanically inclined, this is a must.  Do you see the end of the blue gun thing?  It is supposed to pop right in to the easy connect end of the air hose.  It does not!  It has threads on it instead of the nipple type thing it should have had.  I was ticked, to say the least.  He should have known that it wouldn’t work, in my estimation.  Ugh!

Luckily, my neighbor, Jim, came wandering over and took a look at it.  Since he and his crew were going to Rexburg today, he said he’d get me the needed piece so it will work.  He knew right away what was needed!  The salesman should have also.

While I’m at it, I might as well put in a gripe about the accessories kit that came with the compressor.  Remember, this is a 150 PSI rated compressor.  Guess how high the included tire gage goes to….only 50 PSI.  And there is a little gun like thing included, but it’s labeled to be only good to 90 PSI.  All made in China, of course.  :(

Well, I hope it doesn’t all blow up on me when I use it!  The owner’s manual is so full of worst case scenarios, that I’m almost afraid to turn it on.  Doing the tires and checking the batteries are the two most dreaded things that I have to do in this full time lifestyle.  I wish I had one of those blow up male dolls that could be inflated for these chores!  Of course, then I’d have to get the air compressor out to blow him up!  :(  I can’t win…  :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you tomorrow,  Judy

13 comments:

  1. I've always wanted on of those blow up men to!
    Well, actually I have one but all he does is smile~

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  2. Blow up men....now there's a concept!
    Yes, I agree he should have been able to help you or find someone with the proper information. You just can't get good help these days. Hope you get everything exchanged out and working as it should. :-)

    Mike & Gerri (happytrails)

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  3. Blow up guy? Gee, I'd be happy with a blow up me to do everything I need/want to! :) Judy, to answer your question, the new photo on my blog is us at Double Lake Recreation Area near Livingston at the start of our voyage. Maybe hanging around all those air compressors gives guys an "inflated" sense of know-it-all???

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  4. Blow up male. I LOVE IT! I think I would still be on the road full time and in my 5ver if I had one of those babies!

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  5. Wow! What a rowdy group. Blow up men indeed! Everyone knows they only come in female models :)

    Good luck with the compressor.

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  6. I'm so glad I found your blog today. I'll be checking in often. You are living my dream, which I hope will come true for me in 3-5 years.

    I currently have a fixer-upper of a house. When I buy things for the house or yard, the young men at the home improvement stores always want to load them for me and my response is probably the same as yours - if I can't load it by myself I won't be able to unload it by myself!

    Can't wait to read more! LG

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  7. Like your neat-o grass header pic. I changed the print color in our header pic from red to black fer ya:)) I have never liked having to check tire pressures whether it's bicycles or Motor Homes & the compressor we have has about enough power to blow the dust of my glasses. Think I'll stick to blowing up party balloons instead of rubber dolls:))

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  8. Don't worry Judy, 3 out of 4 men would not have noticed that the blue gun thing didn't have didn't have a quick connect adapter mounted on it's threads, after all when you buy something chances are you will always have to make a second trip,it's murphy's law. You might be able to have Jim look and see if that 90lb gauge is threaded and removable, then he might be able to get you a 150lb gauge and put it in it place, or just a threaded plug to replace the low reading gauge. Hope it all works as advertised to fill those big trauck tires. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  9. I hope your air compressor will work well for you. We bought a 125 Psi one a few months ago and it will not inflate our tires over 90 psi. It's under warranty and will go in for repairs.

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  10. Do you think our blow up honey do will take the dogs for the early am & late walks too? I'm in!

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  11. How disappointing the salesman didn't know the right parts to give you especially since you drove so far.

    We bought the exact same compressor 150psi at Lowes and it works great for us.

    Good Luck it getting the correct parts.

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  12. I've known some men who needed to be "blown up", but that is another topic... :-O

    Yes, one would think that someone who is getting paid to sell merchandise would actually know a little about it, but I know from my previous life renovating houses that they typically don't. I had to learn things the hard way and ended up telling the Lowes-pros what I needed. "sigh"...

    Hope the compressor works well for you. Thanks for making me laugh-out-loud this afternoon!

    Kerri in AL :-)

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  13. I've always said it's hard to find good help. Mediocre are plentiful though! I can't tell you how many times similar things have happened to me. I've also had store clerks shrug and walk away. Very annoying!

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