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

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I'm dying. I live in Nashville so this is a very real situation for me

ANYWAY, I find it odd that she would think a Lowe's delivery man/employee would rob/kill/whatever her. He was hired by the largest home improvement chain in America - black/white/orange/green, I'm pretty sure they are like 100% of all other major companies and do background checks, at a minimum. I would never think a member of a team from a very reputable company delivering my washing machine would hurt me, no matter his skin color. Did she think the other white members of the delivery team would just stand and watch as the black guy robbed her or something?

I think the fear for people like this is that they are worried that the individual will see something in their home and come back later that night or another day to steal it or rob them. I'm not saying it makes sense, just that this is what I've heard said. I'm not sure why she thought only a black delivery guy would do this, but there ya go.

 

[bcla]

I think the fear for people like this is that they are worried that the individual will see something in their home and come back later that night or another day to steal it or rob them. I'm not saying it makes sense, just that this is what I've heard said. I'm not sure why she thought only a black delivery guy would do this, but there ya go.

Sure - every time I allow a stranger into my house, the thought does come into my mind that maybe, just maybe that person might be casing my house on the side for something to steal. Also - many who do that probably wouldn't do it themselves but pass it on to a friend or even just sell the info. However, I've never had my house burglarized, so that's just me being paranoid. In any case, anyone would really be stupid to do it since it's pretty easy to establish a pattern if a bunch of burglary victims all had in-house deliveries from a large retailer.

However, I'm wondering what race has to do with any of that. Black, white, Indian, whatever - there's no monopoly when comes to petty crime. If I were really worried about anything, it would be that someone has a meth addict friend who is desperate to rob a house for the next fix. That's kind of lame. It sounds more like she was uncomfortable with the thought of a black man in her house. Like I said - probably tough if that's her personal preference in a town with about a 50/50 white/black population. Makes me wonder how she manages to get any professional service to come to her house. If I owned a business and she gave me a similar request, I'd just tell her that her business was no longer welcome. What she asked for is not protected by any civil rights law I know of.

 

[SirDuff]

I'm not lying. As I said, it was a story relayed to me so I can't vouch with certainty as to whether he was lying. He was a travel enthusiast who flew frequently and was kicked-in-the-gut shocked by what he saw.

I believe we were talking about our experiences flying out of Charleston. I couldn't believe I was carded when buying a beer, made me feel young. Turns out it was their policy to card 100%.

ETA: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...igious-accommodation-says-passenger-1.3171114

Just an example of how people try to de-escalate uncomfortable situations.

I didn't think you were lying (I believe that someone told you the story), I just don't believe the story.

BTW - your link is a bad example of deescalating an uncomfortable situation. Porter (which I fly about once per month) got a LOT of bad press for how they dealt with that trying to force the woman to move rather than the man (when the man was the one who had a problem with where he was sitting). In fact, the article you linked to is all about the fact, as the first sentence says "A former Halifax chef wants an apology from Porter Airlines, alleging she was asked to move from her seat to accommodate a man who did not want to sit beside a woman for religious reasons."

 

[NewRVLady]

I agree
yOU are not lying-your friend is
Since 9/11 no passenger gets to make the rules when flying- the passenger would be kicked off NOT the pilot!

 

[SirDuff]

I agree
yOU are not lying-your friend is
Since 9/11 no passenger gets to make the rules when flying- the passenger would be kicked off NOT the pilot!

That and the fact that they generally don't just have extra pilots sitting around ready to jump into the flight at a moments notice (if the passenger knew the co-pilot was black, they must have already been boarding the flight).

 

[TLSnell1981]

The manager shouldn't have been fired in my opinion. He was satisfying the customer and protecting his employee (from a racist witch).

 

[Rhombus]

Another story I read said three management-type employees were fired over this incident. I think it was a link from ABC's Good Morning America.

 

[bcla]

The manager shouldn't have been fired in my opinion. He was satisfying the customer and protecting his employee (from a racist witch).

The manager should have just flat-out cancelled the delivery and told her she could pick it up herself.

 

[TLSnell1981]

The manager should have just flat-out cancelled the delivery and told her she could pick it up herself.

Honestly, I think, he was in a no win situation. He may have been fired either way.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The manager should have just flat-out cancelled the delivery and told her she could pick it up herself.

He should have said he was sorry but that he could not accommodate that request. If she cancels the order, it's on her.

 

[bcla]

Honestly, I think, he was in a no win situation. He may have been fired either way.

If the manager was fired for not complying with a racist request, then he could have also gone to the press about it. Don't know if Lowe's would have taken him back, but I could imagine a lot of job offers.

 

[TLSnell1981]

If the manager was fired for not complying with a racist request, then he could have also gone to the press about it. Don't know if Lowe's would have taken him back, but I could imagine a lot of job offers.

Imagining he would receive many job offers and reality...could be quite different. Who wants to hire a ? I don't believe MOST people would even consider going to the press. Besides, who's going to pay his rent, car payment, utility bill and feed his family in the meantime?

I doubt the guy handled the situation with any malice. Like I said, no win situation for him.

 

[Unas]

Seems like a few folks are twisting themselves into pretzels attempting to defend the woman's racially prejudistic behavior.

 

[low-key]

I decided my humor would not be appreciated by humorless people

 

[nobellybutton]

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.)

I work for a communications company and we install different things in customer's homes and they have specifically asked our representatives over the phone please don't send a a certain type of person..I have on many occasions advised my customers ALL OF OUR TECHNICIANS ARE WELL QUALIFIED. Whether it's a female, a Latino or African American they are capable of doing the work and you as the customer cannot request a specific tech. I've never had it escalate because once they hear themselves they realize how ridiculous their requests are.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Seems like a few folks are twisting themselves into pretzels attempting to defend the woman's racially prejudistic behavior.

I haven't seen anyone defend the woman's behavior.

 

[bcla]

Seems like a few folks are twisting themselves into pretzels attempting to defend the woman's racially prejudistic behavior.

I don't really see that many; maybe a few but mostly sounding totally off the wall. Mostly I see some people defending the manager as being in a no-win situation. I don't really agree, as I believe he could have cancelled the delivery and would have had a ready-made excuse that would have received the backing of higher up management for making that call.

 

[bcla]

I haven't seen anyone defend the woman's behavior.

Maybe not here. I've seen various things reading different message boards. Many border on the irrational or ridiculous, such as bad relationships with black men. However, I suspect that in this case it's just that she didn't want a black man in her house for whatever reason.

 

[Planogirl]

I've indirectly had some association with Lowe's. They do appear to fire often and easily just from my limited experience. Like so often at companies maybe they were just looking for an excuse to fire these people.

I agree with those who said that the Lowe's employees seemed to be in a no-win situation.

 

[asta]

I'm dying. I live in Nashville so this is a very real situation for me

ANYWAY, I find it odd that she would think a Lowe's delivery man/employee would rob/kill/whatever her. He was hired by the largest home improvement chain in America - black/white/orange/green, I'm pretty sure they are like 100% of all other major companies and do background checks, at a minimum. I would never think a member of a team from a very reputable company delivering my washing machine would hurt me, no matter his skin color. Did she think the other white members of the delivery team would just stand and watch as the black guy robbed her or something?

I live in Nashville also and thought the hipster joke was funny. I can see too many hipsters being a problem in East Nashville particularly. We had a couple of scrawny little moving guys that I thought no way can they carry heavy furniture but they managed somehow.