# what is lesco thinking?



## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

People order it online and have it shipped to their Lesco for local pickup.

Something I wish people would get off of is Lesco as the sole source for Soilmaster. Contact OilDri and ask their sales rep where the closest source is. For me, there is a place slightly further than my local Lesco but it's $3-5 cheaper, too.


----------



## <Frawg> (Nov 26, 2006)

Some people only know what they hear here.

So thanks for the info - I'll check into the source you mention.

Scott
Sanford, Maine


----------



## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

sorry. I knew Pro's Choice was the company who makes Soil Master, but everyone only seems to say that lesco is the only place who carries it.

I contaced another local turf warehouse. They carry Profile's turface products, but have no Pro-League in stock. They do carry Turface MVP for 10.99 a bag.

Does anyone have any experience with this product? It has the same MSDS as the Pro-League.
Profile Products | Sports Fields | Turface® MVP®

They have about 720 bags of this in stock right now.


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

I think it is a larger partical size than pro-league


----------



## Burks (May 21, 2006)

turbomkt said:


> People order it online and have it shipped to their Lesco for local pickup.


That's what a manager at a local Lesco told me some guy does. Works every time he tries. The bags end up coming from Atlanta and take about 7-10 days.

But that's just what I was told.


----------



## joshua969 (Nov 15, 2006)

If you call Lesco to order, see if they can have it shipped from the Mokena IL store. When I got my bag of charcoal, they had to unwrap a fresh pallet of it. This was in early December, so they may still have some.


----------



## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

sayn3ver said:


> sorry. I knew Pro's Choice was the company who makes Soil Master, but everyone only seems to say that lesco is the only place who carries it.
> 
> I contaced another local turf warehouse. They carry Profile's turface products, but have no Pro-League in stock. They do carry Turface MVP for 10.99 a bag.
> 
> ...


Turface MVP has been on the "list" for substrates for a while. I'm thinking there are plenty of people using it. The only difference between this and Soilmaster would probably be grain size and uniformity (and maybe color). They are basically the same thing.


----------



## anthonysquire (Jul 18, 2006)

I called my local Lesco about SMS charcoal 1/5/07. He had no idea what it was, they refered to it as ProChoice. After he figured out what I was looking for he said he would have a bag shipped to him from another store and that he would eat the shipping! He called today and said it's in and I can pick it up whenever.


----------



## turbomkt (Jun 9, 2004)

Good for you!


----------



## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

Update: I have two lesco's reasonably close to me. One is about 10 minutes or so away(driving). The other is about 20 minutes or so away(driving).

The one closest to me refused to help me at all, requiring i needed to order a pallet of 42 bags in order for them to get the charcol in. They had plenty of red but i don't want red substrate.

I called the further one from me, and he took my name and number and said he would look into it. That was last week when i posted. Monday to my surprise he called to let me know he ordered 2 bags for me and they came in. He found some in Maryland and ate the shipping for me. What a great guy. And when i went to pick it up, he said he didn't know how often i would be needing more, but to give him a week heads up and he would order more from me. That lesco has earned my business, while the one closer to me will never see business from me.

As of right now, i am a happy owner of 2x50lbs of soilmaster select charcol.


----------



## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

WOO! That's great! It is always such a pleasant surprise when customer service goes above and beyond. I really think you'll like SM as a substrate. I am planning on using it in almost every tank in my fishroom.


----------



## kgbenson (Oct 29, 2006)

I ahve read that you can order the stuff online and pick it up at the local lesco. The local lesco guy didn't seem to think that was any different than having it sent to my house. For the people that have done this - exactly how did you arrange this (to save on shipping)?

thanks,

Keith


----------



## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

JenThePlantGeek said:


> WOO! That's great! It is always such a pleasant surprise when customer service goes above and beyond. I really think you'll like SM as a substrate. I am planning on using it in almost every tank in my fishroom.


Surprise, heck, Jen, such usually sends me into shock. And that's sad . My usual expectation is that they're going to screw something up. Unfortunately they quite often meet my expectations.


----------



## Kelley (Nov 2, 2006)

I was extremely pleased with my experience ordering SMS charcoal from the Lesco in Rock Island, IL. The manager there didn't know they carried it in that color, but he looked it up and immediately ordered me some. I was not charged any shipping and this guy was really nice, too. :red_mouth


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Last time I ordered SMS was great. I ordered online and put my phone number in the comment box. 

A week later I got the call and picked it up. The people at the store are not at all familiar with the online ordering option.


----------



## Khandurian (Oct 25, 2006)

Here's what gets me. I showed this post to my local lesco dealer. He doesnt understand why you guys are being treated like this.

All those guys have to do, is get on the website when they place their normal order, and add in whatever amount you want. This is exactly what he told me. The dealers requiring you to order an entire pallet of it is absurd.


----------



## Burks (May 21, 2006)

I had one guy hang up on me after telling him it was for an aquarium. The next Lesco I called the manager tried to track down a bag for me and was really helpful. The next time a pallet comes in he's supposed to contact me. He said to call ahead maybe two or three weeks in advance (if no pallet has arrived) so he can get me a bag. That store is almost 200 miles away but I'm in the town about every other month.

It seems the managers are really nice or really idiots. Nothing in between. I've dealt with about 8 Lesco's and that's been my experience.


----------



## mbaldyga (Dec 29, 2006)

I ordered 1 bag online and selected to have it delivered to the nearest store and a week later got the call that it was in. This seams to be the best way to get a small quantity in. Avoid calling the store and order online!


----------



## kgbenson (Oct 29, 2006)

I am trying to do just that. I could not see on the website how to organize that so I called the main office and the woman I spoke to said there would still be a shipping charge. Some of the folks in the Lesco food chain don't know what they can or cannot do.

Keith


----------



## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

When you order online it magically arrives at the store. If you call them they give you the run around.


----------



## kgbenson (Oct 29, 2006)

weird - but I will give it a whirl.

Keith


----------



## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

i was afraid to order online because as i went to place the order it put a flag next to the SMS in my shopping cart and told me to call first before placing to make make sure they could get it in.

Reguardless, i like talking to real people when it comes to this stuff. I now have a friendly source if i ever need more.


----------

