The Home Depot vs. Lowes ~ Doors and Windows Department - - Cicero, NY Review

A few weeks ago, my husband and I decided that we couldn't wait much longer to have our wooden French Doors leading out to the deck in our backyard replaced. Time and the elements had taken its toll and we had quite a leak when it rained due to the rotting wood at the bottom of the door. We pretty much had an idea of what we wanted to replace the door with but didn't really know where to go to get it. We narrowed it down to either Lowes or The Home Depot.

Lowes

Lowes is fairly new in our area so we thought we would give it a try first. We headed to the back of the store where the doors and windows were located. And browsed the items that were similar to what we had in mind. We were not approached by a salesperson but we did see someone sitting at the desk in that department. The employee at the desk was pleasant but not eager to help. My husband and I explained what we were looking for and gave him the measurements. We asked what we could get that was similar to what we have now for the price range we had in mind.

The salesman pulled out a catalog and showed us a few doors that were similar to what we were looking for. The prices were very high. He suggested that maybe we should go with a slider instead since they were generally less expensive. I really didn't want a slider but he took us to look at them anyway. They were not at all what I had in mind and not very durable looking. He then showed us a picture of one slider that he originally forgot about. It looked more durable and attractive. He assured us that even though the opening to our deck is not a standard size, the price would be within our range. He was not able to reach anyone at the company to make sure they had our size but took our name and number and said he would call us. At no time did he "offer" information about approximately how much the labor would be, how the installation process worked, or any other details.

In about two days he did call us and left a message on our answering machine. The message was not about size but to tell us that the price was much higher than he believed it would be but if we were still interested, to stop in. We never heard from him again. Hmm, we were not happy. It wasn't a bad experience but it certainly was a waste of time.

The Home Depot

We decided to check out The Home Depot next, hoping we would have better luck. This time we immediately stopped at the desk in the door/windows department where we talked with an employee named Dave. At first, I was skeptical because, as we were speaking to him, he was typing on his computer. To our surprise, he was actually typing in information based on what we were telling him and as soon as we were done talking, he turned the monitor around and showed us a ton of options. Impressive. He then started telling us the differences between wood, fiberglass, and steel and gave his recommendations. He spoke to us about different manufacturers and even what would be best to avoid our dog causing damage to our new door. It was actually quite cool how he could literally "build" our French door on the computer. 

He gave us choices of whether we wanted a double or a triple door, which way we wanted them to swing when opened, all the way down to what type of hinges we wanted. We then got into whether or not we wanted plain glass, mini-blinds or grille options. He gave his opinion about the mini blinds and the problems that they have seen in the past with them. It was refreshing to have him tell us why NOT to buy a more expensive model such as this one. We could tell he was really there to help us. He took us to see some samples on the floor and even took us to pick out door handles. He also told us that he could get us the exact door from the distributor rather than the manufacturer for a few hundred dollars less. We still expected all of this to be out of our price range but the price of this door was $600 less than what we were being quoted at Lowes. We actually saw some of the exact doors we saw at Lowes for much less.

Dave, the "Millwork Specialist" that we were working with offered up details of the approximate amount of labor, charges for measurements, and other important facts that Lowes never even mentioned.

After the formal measurements

After we had the formal measurements taken, we found out that our numbers were off a bit. We received a call from Home Depot telling us that they couldn't get that same door we wanted in the actual size that we needed. I was really disappointed. We went back to see Dave a few days later and he had already did some research to find us a similar door from a different manufacturer. He showed us the differences and actually, there really weren't many. Unfortunately the price was about $200 higher. I wasn't happy about it and he knew it. He told us that he had a great idea. If we opened a Home Depot credit card that we were pre-approved for, we could get no interest and no payments for six months but he could get it extended to a year AND along with that, we could get 10% off our entire purchase. The maximum discount was $200. The exact amount of the overage for this door. Spectacular! Problem solved and two happy customers! Nice job, Dave!

THE WINNER!! ~The Home Depot~

If you had the time and the patience to actually read this very long review, you can already tell who the clear winner was between The Home Depot and Lowes. The Home Depot by a landslide! In every category, Home Depot came out on top. They had the best selection, customer service and price. My husband and I are very pleased with our experience and will definitely go back again if we are ever in need of similar items. I am giving The Home Depot Doors and Windows Department a well deserved 5 star rating.