Lowe's Now Using Robots

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When the robot apocalypse begins, I want you all to remember it was Lowe's, not Skynet, that brought on judgment day.

Lowe's is testing whether new bots on wheels can improve its customer service, like helping a shopper find a match for something as simple as a nail. Four robots are being tested an Orchard Supply Hardware store owned by Lowe's Companies Inc. in San Jose, California.
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They are not testing whether they can "improve" customer service. They are testing whether it saves them money while delivering "good enough" customer service.
 
dandragonrage said:
They are not testing whether they can "improve" customer service. They are testing whether it saves them money while delivering "good enough" customer service.
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If I could give it a screw, and it can find a reasonable match, it's about a million time better than my usual Lowe's CS person.
 
Probably won't even be autonoymous. They will pay some Indian slave to remotely pilot them for $1 an hour and and use a robotic voicebox thing to disguise their accents when speaking.

"Thank you Please. Do the needful."

Then it will robotically bob its head side to side whenever you ask it a question it doesn't know.
 
Traze said:
If I could give it a screw, and it can find a reasonable match, it's about a million time better than my usual Lowe's CS person.
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haha, I suppose that is one thing that could be helpful, but they don't NEED to replace humans for this. Just provide something better than the soft pieces of cheap metal to try screwing your screws in - you know, those things that other people have already stripped/cross-threaded and ruined. Heck, most people would probably prefer if an employee use such a machine for them, and such a machine would be far simpler/cheaper than an actual robot meant to replace the human. They are doing this for the same reason checkout lines and such are being automated - they don't want to pay humans.

I don't need to ask questions much, and when I do it's mainly just where to find something (to save me time), but I've literally never had a problem that stumped the employees.

CGP Grey video about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU
 
Traze said:
If I could give it a screw, and it can find a reasonable match, it's about a million time better than my usual Lowe's CS person.
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To be far the best you can expect is the person to point you to the isle with all the screws, without a tool to properly gauge it on hard it be hard to give precisely where that kind of screw is, then you also have the choice in what kind of screw is it be it stainless steel, box head etc.
 
Ducman69 said:
Probably won't even be autonoymous. They will pay some Indian slave to remotely pilot them for $1 an hour and and use a robotic voicebox thing to disguise their accents when speaking.
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And that company subcontracts to another in a country where they can pay the worker $1 a day, rinse and repeat... and each time the competence level drops as well. :mad:
 
Most of the associates I've encountered at home improvement stores like Home Depot seem wildly uninterested in helping you or are downright condescending. I don't get it.
 
Megalith said:
Most of the associates I've encountered at home improvement stores like Home Depot seem wildly uninterested in helping you or are downright condescending. I don't get it.
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It's like that at places like Walmart, Best Buy, etc. My only guess is people that work at those places hate their jobs or are socially inept.
 
Who is going to go to Lowes and use the robots when nobody has any money?

Megalith said:
Most of the associates I've encountered at home improvement stores like Home Depot seem wildly uninterested in helping you or are downright condescending. I don't get it.
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It's because they are paid nothing and treated like crap all day, by the corporations they work for, the people they work with, and the customers they serve.

You should try it sometime, or at least try having a little empathy.
 
Ducman69 said:
Probably won't even be autonoymous. They will pay some Indian slave to remotely pilot them for $1 an hour and and use a robotic voicebox thing to disguise their accents when speaking.

"Thank you Please. Do the needful."

Then it will robotically bob its head side to side whenever you ask it a question it doesn't know.
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And then it will say, "Don't forget to visit my cousin's Dunkin Donuts. Thank you very much!"
 
I can walk around the Lowes near my house for 35 minutes looking totally lost and not a single employee will even say hi, much less ask if I need help.

I welcome something that can help me, even if its not human!
 
k1pp3r said:
I can walk around the Lowes near my house for 35 minutes looking totally lost and not a single employee will even say hi, much less ask if I need help.

I welcome something that can help me, even if its not human!
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Why would you expect them to ask you if you need help? Most people don't even want employees to do that.

If you need help, go up to an employee and ask them. If you say you can't find an employee during those 35 minutes, you're a liar.
 
dandragonrage said:
Why would you expect them to ask you if you need help? Most people don't even want employees to do that.

If you need help, go up to an employee and ask them. If you say you can't find an employee during those 35 minutes, you're a liar.
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I would at the very lease expect a Hi, or how are you.

I don't get crap there. But the HD around the corner has someone at the door to welcome me and ask if I need help finding anything.
 
Ducman69 said:
Probably won't even be autonoymous. They will pay some Indian slave to remotely pilot them for $1 an hour and and use a robotic voicebox thing to disguise their accents when speaking.

"Thank you Please. Do the needful."

Then it will robotically bob its head side to side whenever you ask it a question it doesn't know.
Click to expand...

Well, if that is the case it will be like this:
"I need this screw"
"Yes, thank you very much, I am finding screw"
Comes back with nail.
"no I need THIS screw"
"Ah, ok yes, I am finding this for you."
**half hour passes**
"Can I help you?"
SON OF A BEITIITHCH!!!
 
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