SPARTA, Mich — John and Carol Gee have always lived in West Michigan, and for the past 24 years, the married couple, both in their 70s, have enjoyed living in Sparta.
They often shop at the Lowe’s on 28th Street and the East Beltline, but they say the home improvement retailer owes them more than $4,000 for a sliding door they ordered for their back deck more than a year ago.
“This has been a nightmare that we would never imagine would happen,” Carol said.
The Gees’ receipt shows they placed their order on Dec. 13, 2021. They said the door finally arrived six months later, as did the installation technician, but the door was broken.
“The guy who came to install it checked the slider out,” John said. “The slider was damaged in five different spots, so he took pictures and sent them all back to Lowe’s.”
That door was returned to Lowe’s and marked as damaged. A couple more months went by, John said, and another door was delivered, but it wasn’t what they ordered.
“It didn't have the sliders in it, and it was the wrong size,” John said.
The sliders he’s referring to are internal blinds, sandwiched between the sheets of glass, that rise and fall with ease. The Gees have a similar door on their front patio.
“I love those inside ones because they're dust-free, dirt-free,” Carol said. “That's so nice, and they close really tight too. So, you have your privacy at night and from the sun.”
Again, the door was sent back to Lowe’s, and a third door was ordered, John said. Then, in the fall of 2022, the installation tech showed up again, ready to finally install the door, but it wasn’t there.
“He said ‘I’m here to put that slider in,’” John said, “I said ‘what slider?’ He said ‘they told me the slider was here.’ I said ‘there ain’t no slider here. They never delivered the third slider.”
John laughed as he relived the slider saga, saying he and his wife tried to remain patient and positive through all of this. Eventually, they decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and asked Lowe’s for a refund. John said he was told numerous times that a check was in the mail, but that check never arrived. He also said the Lowe’s reps kept passing him off to other workers.
“I bet I made probably 20 to 30 calls, every two or three days, every week,” John said. “Meanwhile, I’m on the phone anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour talking to them, and nobody can get nothing straight.”
He said the “false promises” continued for months. John and Carol both said they feel lied to by a company they’ve supported for many years.
“We’re on a fixed income. We’re both retired. We don’t have money to throw away, especially $4,000,” Carol said. “We have health problems like anyone in their 70s, so it’s added stress to our life. We’re not troublemakers, we’re not trying to make trouble. We just want to be treated fair.”
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to Lowe’s to try and make sense of all this. A Lowe’s spokesperson responded with, “The satisfaction of our customers is our top priority. Lowe’s customer relations has been working directly with John and Carolyn Gee to address their concerns.”
The Gees tell us Lowe's made contact with them and says a refund check is on the way, but the Gees say they will believe it when they see it.
If you have a situation you need help, whether it's getting a refund you are owed or making an issue right, send us an email to help@13onyour side.com.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.