2006 Story Set
| Date: August 27, 2006 First of all - I went to Lowe's because they advertised - great customer service - look at us - we're SOOOO GOOD! Fast delivery! Happy customers! So I thought I would give them a try. I usually ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy my appliances from Sears - but they have a cheeky attitude that is only getting worse when it comes time for delivery. Look at the stove, microwave and refrigerator I just got in San Diego. Good thing I was home there and unemployed at the time. All these guys have trouble with that end of customer service. So I picked out under-$400 units (did you know that you can spend $2,000 on a washing machine for heaven's sake?} I don't need top of the line since I have units in San Diego and will buy new ones when I finally retire down there. 5.5 years. These go with THIS house. I had to go hunting for someone to wait on me. And I remember that it took THREE TRIPS to the store to get service so I could buy a front door! Something about the one guy was out sick and the back-up wasn't coming in for three hours. I wasn't waiting this time - I want hunting for a red vast. The washer and dryer I picked - 'fraid not. Not in stock and I, of course, want them yesterday. I offered to buy the display - because if you don't have it - why is it on display. But they said no. So I walked over and choose second choice - different brand dryer - because gas dryers are something they don't seem to feel we should buy. OK. (This is confirmed by them sorting little slips of paper to figure out if a given unit is in the store. Little slips of paper --- which I have been through with two different salesmen to handle, because the guy that started wasn't the appliance guy who finally deigned to show up.) Now to figure out delivery. Well - they deliver Sat and Sun. GREAT! It turns out the dryer (he checked) is actually at the store. The washer - arrives tomorrow. (This was Thursday.) So they can be delivered - SUNDAY - since I have a writing class on Saturday. (My "I am still trying to sell a book of fiction" mode of thinking.) Sunday came and I set my alarm. ON A SUNDAY! I got up, I caught the cat, I cleaned up the garage. My delivery window is 8AM - Noon. I washed the floor where these things will go. I did yard work. I waited. And waited. And waited. At 11 AM I called, and was told (after being transferred) that they were "definitely on the truck" by some female who sounded like she knew what she was saying. Turns out ----- By 12:30 I was antsy, since the delivery window, 8-12, had now been breached. The transfer had no answer. I called back and said that no one answered. They tried to contact the driver. After an interminable wait, they said they'd "call me back". I waited. And waited. I called them back at 2PM. I have now received a different story. The truck is empty. The drivers have gone home. The pick-up truck they could use is rented out. The smoke is starting to come out of my ears. But wait --- it gets better. They want to "reschedule." I want to know where the units are. All $885.00 worth of them They go to the back ---- and --- one is missing. "I'll be there in 15 minutes." I dress quick. My face is red (room too warm - and I have real good blood circulation in my face). I need makeup. I am quick. I drive over (near 90- degrees). It's all of 2 hops off the freeway. The manager is "in the back". I am fuming by now. After storming around venting my displeasure, they come up and suggest I "pick out a different model because they can't find either the washer or the dryer." I want to know how a unit physically SEEN and sold to me suddenly is no longer in the store. They don't know. I want to know if the washer ever showed up. They don't know. The salesman couldn't find anything out. Neither could this assistant manager (the store manager had gone home,) Turns out, they don't know much. I want to know why and who told me that my order was on the truck (costing me hours of being tied to the house). They can't tell. Did I get a name? Can't ID someone answering phones at 11AM? Well - they had 5-6 people answering phones ----- guess that is beyond their mental ability to decode. So - mad as hell - I whipped out the receipt - ignored the line out the door for returns and said - "roll it". They issued a credit for the entire $885. And I have the name and extension of the store manager, who is home, oblivious to the chaos this store eshibits. They did not just loose an $885 order - they (as a corporation) also lost the $40,000 kitchen I am planning for San Diego. (If Fremont ever sells.) It gets better. Driving home, still steaming. I decide - OSH. Orchard Supply Hardware. Right next to Albertson's. I go in, wait for a deaf couple to complete their sale (salesman was very good with them) and picked out - washer and dryer - matched set - $60 for gas extra. The washer comes with its hoses (Lowe's charged extra - I hadn't bought them yet.) The dryer needs a $25 kit and the $50 delivery includes connections. (Lowe's charged $80 delivery and wanted $150 to hook up the dryer. I was going to call Andy 'cause he'd do it for less.) Total bill at OSH? $880. They will call Monday night - tell me the 2-hour window for delivery Tuesday. Messes up my work day (hopefully they will do it early or set it late), but I will have a washer and dryer operational by Tuesday night. Oh yeah - Sears owns Orchard Supply by the way, if I remember correctly. |
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