Lowe's delivery customer requests "no black delivery crew" - manager fired

[bcla]

Kind of surprised that nobody else posted about this before since it's a couple of days old (strike that - almost a week). Apparently a Lowe's customer had a delivery coming, and while the delivery crew was out, the customer called in and said she wouldn't allow a black delivery crew member in her house. I guess that might happen, but then the manager decided to call them back and replace the one crew member who was black with a white guy. His (white) partner then refused to make the delivery with a temporary partner.

http://wtvr.com/2015/08/09/delivery-driver-denied-due-to-skin-color/
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/to...acist-request-white-driver-report-19403.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-after-lowes-customer-demands-white-employee/
http://myfox8.com/2015/08/06/lowes-...ays-store-stopped-delivery-because-hes-black/

A TV news crew went to the woman, and she said she didn't feel bad about making the request.

As a customer, it would have never occurred to me to specifically request that someone of a particular race or ethnicity not be allowed in my home, not serve me in a restaurant, or not serve me as a salesperson. Heck - even though this was the South, I'm still surprised. If I were dispatching the delivery, I would have told her that under no uncertain terms could she dictate who could deliver to her house unless she had a specific issue with a particular employee that didn't involve race or ethnicity.

 

[firecracker725]

Kind of surprised that nobody else posted about this before since it's a couple of days old (strike that - almost a week). Apparently a Lowe's customer had a delivery coming, and while the delivery crew was out, the customer called in and said she wouldn't allow a black delivery crew member in her house. I guess that might happen, but then the manager decided to call them back and replace the one crew member who was black with a white guy. His (white) partner then refused to make the delivery with a temporary partner.

http://wtvr.com/2015/08/09/delivery-driver-denied-due-to-skin-color/
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/to...acist-request-white-driver-report-19403.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-after-lowes-customer-demands-white-employee/
http://myfox8.com/2015/08/06/lowes-...ays-store-stopped-delivery-because-hes-black/

A TV news crew went to the woman, and she said she didn't feel bad about making the request.

As a customer, it would have never occurred to me to specifically request that someone of a particular race or ethnicity not be allowed in my home, not serve me in a restaurant, or not serve me as a salesperson. Heck - even though this was the South, I'm still surprised. If I were dispatching the delivery, I would have told her that under no uncertain terms could she dictate who could deliver to her house unless she had a specific issue with a particular employee that didn't involve race or ethnicity.

My opinions on this aren't appropriate for The DIS.

 

[kimblebee]

It really is sad that there are still people out there with these attitudes. Unfortunately, I am related to one

My BIL is so racist that I have very little to do with him. I should block him on Facebook because every time he posts something I just want to rip into him. I honestly think he sometimes does it to bait me. More times than not I ignore it.

If I worked for the store and took the call I'd inform the customer she was free to purchase her item from another store because we were not going to honour her request.

 

[teller80]

His (white) partner then refused to make the delivery with a temporary partner..

Kudos to him, right? Lowes should promote him to the newly vacant manager position.

 

[PollyannaMom]

OK, first, I think the customer was the one in the wrong, and the best answer would have been to say, rather haughtily, "I'm sorry, the delivery is already on it's way, and we don't include skin color on our delivery forms, so I don't have that information. You may accept or reject the delivery as you see fit." - or at least escalating the call up the chain of command at work.

However, if I was the manager, I think I would have been too shocked to breath, let alone think, and he was also probably told in training that "the customer is always right". (Again, in many cases, including this one, that isn't true, and I do believe in conscience over training.) But unless he was already in some sort of trouble, I think he should have been reprimanded, not fired.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

Ok, first off I would have simply told her to buy her appliance somewhere else or pick it up in store. I do agree with the managers not sending the black employee to a household that specifically requests "No Black" as this could possibly put said employee in a dangerous situation. But to the manager being fired I wonder if their are other reasons for his being fired.

 

[mickeymedic]

The customer is clearly wrong in this case. I'm curious to know the rest of the story, though, behind why the manager was fired. As someone else said, I would have been concerned for the safety of my employee. If the manager's sole reason for changing up the delivery crew was to appease the customer, then I think he made the wrong call. If he did it to protect his employee from a crazy lady, then I have a hard time faulting him for it. Without knowing his motivation, it's tough to judge. I do think it is sad that the woman made this type of request in this day and age.

 

[ronandannette]

My comments here are going to go in a slightly different direction. I manage a team of Service Technicians that spend their days in going from home to home. They work alone, are often dealing with people who are disgruntled about some aspect of our product and often need to make multiple trips and spend several hours over the course of our warranty period and on occasion have to say "no" when expectations are unreasonable. It's a tough work environment at the best of times.

Although we've never been confronted with blatant racism, there have been many instances where a customer has called demanding a new technician and/or refusing to allow one of our staff members to work in their homes. The second this happens I deploy a different Tech for the sake of my guy, not the customer. There's no way I'm going to send my employee into a hostile environment or be subject to unplesant and disrespectful treatment. By contract we have to service our customers - even the ones that are total jerk#^*s. I'm not suggesting the customer in this story is right - far from it - but if I were dispatching the deliveries I simply would have gritted my teeth and sent another team. (As an alternative, maybe the customer's delivery could have been cancelled and the cost refunded - we have had a few cases where if a customer won't accept service on our terms they simply end up going without.)

 

[TAX GUY]

The customer has every right to allow or disallow anyone entrance into her private home. Now, she can make the request (as she did) however if I was in the managers shoes, I would have explained the order was already on he way and the delivery crew could leave it at the entrance if she was not satisfied with them.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I think the manager made an error in judgement here, but unless he has other strikes against him, firing him was way over the top.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I am just shocked that someone would make that request. What is the matter with people??

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I think the manager made an error in judgement here, but unless he has other strikes against him, firing him was way over the top.

I saw this on Reddit either yesterday or the day before, so I'd imagine it's gotten too much attention for the company not to overreact. It seems to be what they do when pushed into a corner. I agree with you though, if he was otherwise a quality manager, this shouldn't have ended his career with the company.

 

[ronandannette]

I am just shocked that someone would make that request. What is the matter with people??

"People" are jerks - plain and simple. Especially when they feel like they're entitled to call the shots. I am simply aghast at how some customers behave towards us. It happens every single day and I've been doing this for 25 years...

 

[Minnesota!]

People are just stupid.

An acquaintence once cancelled her entire bachelorette party because one of the strippers that showed up was black. Didn't want him near her.

People are people are people are people. *** is so hard to understand about that?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I saw this on Reddit either yesterday or the day before, so I'd imagine it's gotten too much attention for the company not to overreact. It seems to be what they do when pushed into a corner. I agree with you though, if he was otherwise a quality manager, this shouldn't have ended his career with the company.

Of course the flip side is that handling this exact situation may have been part of his training. So, who knows? I will give them credit for doing it right away as opposed to keeping him initially, then firing him once the PC pressure built up. It appears the move was entirely theirs.

Kudos also to the delivery man for not making a huge stink.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Of course the flip side is that handling this exact situation may have been part of his training. So, who knows? I will give them credit for doing it right away as opposed to keeping him initially, then firing him once the PC pressure built up. It appears the move was entirely theirs.

Kudos also to the delivery man for not making a huge stink.

It's sad if something like this had to be covered in training, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised that it was. Imagine that training video...

 

[Rhombus]

The customer has every right to allow or disallow anyone entrance into her private home. Now, she can make the request (as she did) however if I was in the managers shoes, I would have explained the order was already on he way and the delivery crew could leave it at the entrance if she was not satisfied with them.

I would have added "I'm not aware of the racial makeup of this particular delivery crew. If, when they arrive, the situation is not acceptable to you, you are free to cancel your order. There will be a $50 charge for a refused delivery."

As for the manager who was fired, boo hoo. Sucks to be him.

 

[MIGrandma]

What the crap is the matter with some people?! I can't even imagine being so prejudiced that I wouldn't allow a black delivery person into my home. How sad and pathetic!!

We are ALL people. To me, skin color is the same as a person's eye color or hair color. Different, but no better or no worse than anyone else in this world.

I just can't imagine being so hateful, hating an entire race because of the color of their skin.

One of my good friends is black, love her dearly. I see her as a person and couldn't care less what color her skin is. She's a wonderful lady, very sweet and caring and considerate. A former high school French teacher, mom, dog lover, etc. I can't imagine not liking her simply because her skin isn't the same color as mine.

There are good, and bad, in ALL races. People should be judged on their character and morals, not what color their skin is. So sad some people in today's world still are prejudiced.

 

[bcla]

I saw this on Reddit either yesterday or the day before, so I'd imagine it's gotten too much attention for the company not to overreact. It seems to be what they do when pushed into a corner. I agree with you though, if he was otherwise a quality manager, this shouldn't have ended his career with the company.

Reporting is that the partner reported it higher up the chain of command, and this delivery manager was fired before the story ever made the news.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Reporting is that the partner reported it higher up the chain of command, and this delivery manager was fired before the story ever made the news.

Based on what I've read I don't believe the events, as you've described them reported, to be true.