We’ve all had the experience of waiting at home for a delivery to arrive, only to discover a note on your door later in the day claiming that a delivery was attempted and failed.
If this has happened to you, you might be wondering how you could have missed your delivery if you were home all day. Now, TikTok user Michelle (@michellegwynn85) has gone viral after sharing her potential explanation.
In a video with over 3.6 million views, Michelle claims that she was waiting at home for a new washing machine to be delivered from Lowe’s. Rather than ring the doorbell and wait for her to answer, Michelle claims (with evidence from her video-enabled doorbell) that the driver simply honked his horn, ran to leave a note on the door, then drove away.
“Not a ring or a knock though I stayed home all day for a delivery,” she wrote in the caption. “The only thing offered was a 10% off a future purchase though we have no plans for future large purchases. We were also not able to get back on the delivery schedule for days and days.”
@michellegwynn85 Not a ring or a knock though I stayed home all day for a delivery. The only thing offered was a 10% off a future purchase though we have no plans for future large purchases. We were also not able to get back on the delivery schedule for days and days. @lowes ♬ original sound – michellegwynn658
According to commenters, this is a common problem with Lowe’s delivery.
“I watched lowes pull up, waked out to greet them, and they booked it. claimed I wasn’t home,” alleged a user. “They didn’t even get out of the truck.”
“Same happened to me. I sent video and asked for compensation They gave me $350,” shared another.
“They delivered my in-laws new fridge and literally left it in the yard in the rain. Refused to help them get it inside,” claimed a third.
As many commenters noted, Lowe’s largely does not control its own deliveries. This is due in part to an outsourcing effort that came to a head in 2019, when thousands of workers were laid off in favor of third-party contractors.
“I used to deliver appliances for Lowe’s. They liquidated the in house delivery department and [contracted] it out,” recalled a TikTok commenter. “Glad to see it’s working well.”
Instead of running their own delivery, Lowe’s now sends smaller deliveries through traditional shipping services like UPS, USPS, or FedEx, whereas bigger deliveries like the one shown in Michelle’s video are handled through companies like RXO.
Over on Reddit, numerous Lowe’s workers and customers shared their opinions about the switch to third-party delivery.
“A lot of Lowe’s have switched to third party delivery. Trust me, we’re just as upset about it as [you] are. One of those ‘cost saving measures’ that benefits the company and not the customer or associates,” stated a Reddit user.
“Whoever decided to move deliveries to a third party should be fired. Straight up. Someone with a negative IQ could’ve predicted these issues,” added a second. “Third party is horrible and gets more bad feedback than good. And it’s a universal thing, not just one local team.”
“How can we guarantee the customer a good experience without owning the whole thing, from receiving the products to delivering/installing them correctly?” asked a further user.
Update: 9:50am CT, March 21: Michelle shared a happy update with followers of this story: She finally got a washing machine. After a viewer told her to “shop local,” she purchased one from Illinois-based appliance store Klein’s Brand Source and posted a duet featuring the successful delivery on Monday.
@michellegwynn85 #duet with @michellegwynn85 We had a great experience with a local business today. Kyle and Ben from Klein’s did a fantastic job! #buylocal ♬ original sound – michellegwynn658
The Daily Dot reached out to Lowe’s via media contact form and Michelle via TikTok comment.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated the company that handles large deliveries for Lowe’s is XPO. RXO, which spun off of XPO in 2022 and is now completely separate from XPO, is the company that handles such deliveries.
