Customer Service

A week ago, on Sunday, we went to Sears for the last day of their big After Christmas Sale.  They had some really good deals on appliances, which we needed.  So, we found a beautiful new refrigerator and a dishwasher for nearly 50% off.  We scheduled delivery and installation for Tuesday.

The delivery guy shows up in the afternoon, with fridge and dishwasher.  He first unloads the fridge, takes out the old, in with the new...and there's a big honking scratch down one of the doors.  Well, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and all the donkeys.  The unit is a gorgeous black so there's no way to overlook this glaring defect, even if I wanted to...which I don't.  Call is made to headquarters.  New unit ordered, though the installation guy says it just needs to have the one door replaced, not the whole appliance.  Headquarters disagrees.  I really don't care what they do, I just want a fridge that doesn't look like it was beat with a stick before it has even been used.  The new one will be coming on Friday, though I'm hoping to just swap doors rather than unload the whole thing and start over.  We'll see how that goes.

And so.  The new, though damaged, shiny new refrigerator.  I wanted this new style with the double doors above and the freezer drawers below; so much more room, compared to the other fridge.  There's a little alarm that beeps if you don't close the door tight, and the water dispenser isn't a big gaping hole, but just a slight indent into the door, which leaves more room inside the fridge.  The icemaker is in the freezer, rather than the door too, again allowing for more room.  We looked at every single fridge at Sears, and this one made the most sense.

Here's a shot inside.  I had all this stuff in the old fridge and you could hardly find anything it was so crowded.  Now look..!!  Room to spare.  After the new one comes (whole unit or just door), I will rearrange the shelf configuration, but for now, I'm leaving as is until Friday.

I really like the freezer drawers, though again, I will repack them Friday.  I had to shove everything in as quickly as possible before things defrosted yesterday.  The drawers are deep, wide and perfect, plus there's a little wire shelf that holds butter and small stuff.  So cool.

And then.  Next on the agenda was installing the new dishwasher.  I have been waiting ten years for this--we didn't have room for one in Scotland.  Again, after looking at each and every dishwasher at Sears, we find one that not only matches the fridge, but has a stainless steel interior, is energy efficient, blah blah.  I'm anticipating the thrill.

The installation guy says he doesn't do dishwashers.

Um.  Sorry..??  What..??  We paid for delivery and installation, and for both appliances to be hauled off.

Nope.  He doesn't do dishwashers, though he will bring it upstairs.

Isn't it lovely..??  Such an attractive feature, and isn't that color just perfect..??  I particularly love how it goes with the dog beds.  AAAArrrrggggghhh.

Several phone calls later, conflicting stories, passing the buck, and many minutes wasted listening to dreadful phone music, we find out that indeed the Sears delivery/installation guy can't do the dishwasher.  We need a...wait for it...professional.  Well, excuse me, but who just installed the fridge..??  A truck driver..??

To spare everyone (and myself) by rehashing events too numerous and irritating to detail, I'll just cut to the bottom line:  We ended up driving back to Sears to get things straightened out.  After all that was done, and we were assured of a phone call that evening to schedule the installation of dishwasher as soon as possible, we come back home.  And wait...and wait.  No phone call.

But, lo and behold, at 8:00am this morning, a guy called from some local electrical company, and said he would be here around 10:00 to do the work.  I can't imagine he will take away the old one--as we were assured by Sears would be done--but, if not, maybe I can just roll it down the mountain into the scrub brush.  Okay, not really.  I'll be amazed to just get the new one in, considering it's nearly 11:00 now and no one's shown up yet.  We'll worry about the old appliance later.

So.  Customer Service.  Dead, dying, disappearing..??  I'm not sure what I think about this whole deal.  The salesman was clearly aware of our wishes to have both units delivered, installed, and taken away.  He never once mentioned we needed a different installation guy besides the fridge man.  The fridge man says we only need a replacement door; Sears says we need a new unit altogether.  We have to get a "professional" to install the washer, a factoid that seems pretty crucial in the purchase of this machine.  I'm depressingly baffled.

Any bets on a smooth installation of the dishwasher..??  Another post will be forthcoming later in the day...