2x4 VS 4x4 lumber

[ButchW1]

I was at Harbor Freight one day in line to pay when a woman asked the cashier where the torque wrenches were. The cashier pointed to an aisle and then went back to cashiering. I got out of line and went over the woman and asked her what she was looking for. She said she didn’t know, her husband sent her to buy the wrench. I asked her what size wrench she needed and she gave me the deer in the headlights look. I told her to call her husband and ask. I said to ask if he also needed the socket. He did. We found what she needed and she went on her way. First problem was her husband sent her to the store to buy something she never heard of. Second problem he didn’t write down what he needed. Third problem she asked the cashier.

Years ago I was working on my wife's VW bug and broke a Sear's Craftsman 1/2" breaker bar (Not the tools fault, I was trying to loosen the rear axle hub nut at 220 Ft #s of torque).. I sent my wife down to Sears with the broken breaker bar, and she soon came bake with the replacement, as well as the original... I asked her why they didn't take the broken tool in exchange for the free replacement tool... She looked at me and said "Why, were they supposed to?" ''' I'm sorry to say that I took that broken tool back and got another good tool in replacement... Two good tools for the price of one broken... Not one of my classier moves. ...
Butch

 

[gwinger]

I was at Harbor Freight one day in line to pay when a woman asked the cashier where the torque wrenches were. The cashier pointed to an aisle and then went back to cashiering. I got out of line and went over the woman and asked her what she was looking for. She said she didn’t know, her husband sent her to buy the wrench. I asked her what size wrench she needed and she gave me the deer in the headlights look. I told her to call her husband and ask. I said to ask if he also needed the socket. He did. We found what she needed and she went on her way. First problem was her husband sent her to the store to buy something she never heard of. Second problem he didn’t write down what he needed. Third problem she asked the cashier.

Most cashiers at any store have no idea where anything is. Their job is to ring up the merchandise and take your money.
I never send my wife to buy any type of tool or hardware unless she knows exactly what I want.

 

[Oldgator73]

I never send my wife to buy any type of tool or hardware unless she knows exactly what I want.

Me either. Wouldn’t be fair to the wife. Anyway, by the time I get to the store I often change my mind about what I need/want.

 

[old RV guy]

Years ago I was working on my wife's VW bug and broke a Sear's Craftsman 1/2" breaker bar (Not the tools fault, I was trying to loosen the rear axle hub nut at 220 Ft #s of torque).. I sent my wife down to Sears with the broken breaker bar, and she soon came bake with the replacement, as well as the original... I asked her why they didn't take the broken tool in exchange for the free replacement tool... She looked at me and said "Why, were they supposed to?" ''' I'm sorry to say that I took that broken tool back and got another good tool in replacement... Two good tools for the price of one broken... Not one of my classier moves. ...
Butch

I was at self checkout a few month's back and the machine locked up, after waiting for an eternity a lady with an attitude arrived and said the thing detected I hadn't scanned something I'd bagged. She rescanned everything determined I hadn't then without asking pressed pay on the screen grabbed the CC from my hand, swiped it and walked off, I can only guess because she figured me to be an idiot.( I suspect she'd been talking with my wife). Problem was I had several bottles of pricey wine I hadn't yet scanned. So I put them in the cart and left.

 

[gwinger]

Me either. Wouldn’t be fair to the wife. Anyway, by the time I get to the store I often change my mind about what I need/want.

Or find something you don't really need but buy it anyway. I hate the sale kiosks spread throughout the stores.

 

[Professor David]

As far as the quality, I've found HD to be better then Lowes.
When we were looking for new bathroom fixtures ( Moen), the sink and shower ones at Lowes were all plastic and only had a two year warranty. The ones at HD were mostly metal and lifetime warranty. Same exact model numbers.
Same with their lawn equipment. I bought a name brand lawn mower and had to take it back it Lowes for warranty repair. They do not do in house repairs, the sent it somewhere and it took weeks to get it back.

Good to know. That is very wrong that those fixtures were the same model number but made with different materials. I'm not loyal to any particular store or online source. I look online for ratings and then buy something based on multiple reviews from several sources, also, like you..I try to look at how something is made. It can be difficult to pick out good stuff these days...takes a lot of time. Once I find an item that I want to purchase, I look around for the best price regardless of the store. I try to buy the best stuff because it performs better and ends up saving money in the long run because it doesn't need to be replaced (at least, not as often). Recently, I bought a dry wall sander because I'm skim coating my whole 1930s house (walls and ceilings) to get rid of all the awful texture (which was popular in days gone by, probably the 70s/80s?). It's a big job. Good dry wall sanders cost at least $600 plus...the one I bought was only $150 (though it was rated highly by several sources). The motor ended up burning out on this cheap one before the first room was finished. Several lessons learned again: 1) buy good stuff and, 2) many times...reviews can not be trusted.

 

[jymbee]

I'm sorry to say ...

Doesn't sound very remorseful to me.

 

[old RV guy]

Doesn't sound very remorseful to me.

Don’t you have a conclave coming up?

 

[old RV guy]

Good to know. That is very wrong that those fixtures were the same model number but made with different materials. I'm not loyal to any particular store or online source. I look online for ratings and then buy something based on multiple reviews from several sources, also, like you..I try to look at how something is made. It can be difficult to pick out good stuff these days...takes a lot of time. Once I find an item that I want to purchase, I look around for the best price regardless of the store. I try to buy the best stuff because it performs better and ends up saving money in the long run because it doesn't need to be replaced (at least, not as often). Recently, I bought a dry wall sander because I'm skim coating my whole 1930s house (walls and ceilings) to get rid of all the awful texture (which was popular in days gone by, probably the 70s/80s?). It's a big job. Good dry wall sanders cost at least $600 plus...the one I bought was only $150 (though it was rated highly by several sources). The motor ended up burning out on this cheap one before the first room was finished. Several lessons learned again: 1) buy good stuff and, 2) many times...reviews can not be trusted.

Best way to find a good brand of drywall sander is ask someone who does it for a living. I had Porter Cable with the vacuum that served me well. Great for removing popcorn from ceilings. A good source for used tools is Home Depot. Go to their website and scroll down to tool rental and then click on tools for sale. You can select your area and then scroll through what different stores ( as long as they have a tool rental) have for sale. All stores sell the same items at the same time, ie., corporate tells them when it's time to sell which items. The prices are based on condition. You can make a reasonable offer and they'll usually go along, but at some stores you have to have them call a mgr. HD's tool rental shops mostly do a bang up job maintaining the rental tools.

 

[Firstime RVer]

I have had great luck with our Home Depot. When asking for a particular item, I'm either directed to the location or have been able to find someone who knows their way around.
Cant complain here.

Safe travels and all the best.

 

[Cmprman]

 

[tlmgcamp1]

Years ago I was working on my wife's VW bug and broke a Sear's Craftsman 1/2" breaker bar (Not the tools fault, I was trying to loosen the rear axle hub nut at 220 Ft #s of torque).. I sent my wife down to Sears with the broken breaker bar, and she soon came bake with the replacement, as well as the original... I asked her why they didn't take the broken tool in exchange for the free replacement tool... She looked at me and said "Why, were they supposed to?" ''' I'm sorry to say that I took that broken tool back and got another good tool in replacement... Two good tools for the price of one broken... Not one of my classier moves. ...
Butch

A news article a while back had a guy go into sears, buy some expensive rollaway tool box and load it in his truck. He went back in for a second, waving the receipt from the first at the security guy as he left. He went back for a 3rd, still waving the receipt from the first as he rolled it out the door. This time, security inconspicuously followed him out to his truck and busted him once he opened the door and they could see the first two in the truck.

 

[Joezeppy]

About 15 yeas ago friends of mine bought a window A/C unit from Sears. Picked it up on the way out of the store. A day or two later they got a call saying their A/C was still waiting to be picked up. Told the store they already picked it up. A couple of days later they got another call saying their A/C was still waiting to be picked up. They went and picked it up!

 

[old RV guy]

A news article a while back had a guy go into sears, buy some expensive rollaway tool box and load it in his truck. He went back in for a second, waving the receipt from the first at the security guy as he left. He went back for a 3rd, still waving the receipt from the first as he rolled it out the door. This time, security inconspicuously followed him out to his truck and busted him once he opened the door and they could see the first two in the truck.

At HD they'd load a bathtub on a flat cart, then fill it with power tools, close up the box and head to self checkout. The attendants however are trained to open the box on the pretext of checking the tub for defects. Apparently they'd ( the thieves) had success doing that in the past, they seemed to know what they were doing.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Lowe’s Vet. discount is a pita, after entering your ph. # you have to scan the back of your DL and it never scans so then you have to wait for the self checkout attendant. At HD, just enter your ph. # and it applies the 10% discount.

I found that if you go through a cashier all they do is ask for your phone number. No canning the ID card like self-check.

I can usually go through the lumber dept cashier with minimal wait.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Both Lowe’s and HD have removed several items for the discount. Like lumber.

Must depend on the area. I just bought a sheet of plywood, a 2x6 PT, a 2x4 PT, and two 2x2 pine boards yesterday and I got the 10% discount.

 

[gwinger]

I found that if you go through a cashier all they do is ask for your phone number. No canning the ID card like self-check.

I can usually go through the lumber dept cashier with minimal wait.

The "lumber" dept registers is our store is basically reserved for contractors with an HD account. I have used them once or twice when they are not busy.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I had a cashier scan the item. It came up as a 4x4. He got somebody on the phone and said it was going to be corrected. Not all the 2x4’s were incorrectly marked. It was random. Which is probably worse.

I kind of don't think it was an accident, but I do believe it was "random." It was probably deliberately put on there hoping that no one would pay attention to the tag. They think they are buying a 2x4, but actually being charged for a 4x4. I bet the price on the shelf was correct? It's truly a deception and unethical practice, yet it happens way to often. The manufacturers and business owners are hoping no one notices, pay the price, and nothing ever becomes of it, except is more money in their pocket.

I learned a long, long, long time ago to check the labeled product and to do the math to figure out which item was the best for the price. Retail shops complain about customers switching price tags.... but THEY ... far to often ... do the same thing, only in reverse.

It was a good catch and now the OP should go to their facebook page and share his experience there! Don't be critical, just state the facts as done here.

 

[jymbee]

It was probably deliberately put on there hoping that no one would pay attention to the tag. They think they are buying a 2x4, but actually being charged for a 4x4. I bet the price on the shelf was correct? It's truly a deception and unethical practice, yet it happens way to often. The manufacturers and business owners are hoping no one notices, pay the price, and nothing ever becomes of it, except is more money in their pocket.

IMO no way a store in a major, national chain like HD would do something like intentionally mislabeling a piece of lumber intentionally and "hope no one notices". Beyond insignificant considering the big picture:

According to Home Depot's latest financial reports the company's current revenue (TTM )
is $159.51 Billion USD.​

 

[John From Detroit]

IMO no way a store in a major, national chain like HD would do something like intentionally mislabeling a piece of lumber intentionally and "hope no one notices". Beyond insignificant considering the big picture:

According to Home Depot's latest financial reports the company's current revenue (TTM )
is $159.51 Billion USD.​

Most likely a crooked cuss-some-more swapped tags so his 4x4 was billed as 2x4 and you got the 2x he swapped with. also possibli it was a mistake.