Hello, hello, hello….anyone there? That is how I feel dealing with a local appliance store when we called for service on our dryer which decided to take a poopout 2 Sundays ago. And it still hasn’t been fixed yet.
After wrestling with a voicemail system a couple of times, we finally get a human being or what sounds like one. They tell Steph they don’t have enough people to send out within a week. After much pleading, they forward us to a partner service outfit who sent someone out right away. The guy comes and tells us we need a timer switch. “No problem! We’ll get it ordered and it’ll take 5 minutes to install. I’ll be back out Saturday with it.”
Friday, we call to confirm. “Oh I am sorry Mrs. Spritzer but we are still waiting for warranty authorization.”
Now mind me, I am not good with the phone. I do have this phobia about using one even if it has captions. I am afraid the other end will think I am a loonie because of the lag while voice is being translated to text. But I was really pissed. After all, we have a service contract, a pile of dirty smelly laundry and no patience for getting the run-about. As far as I am concerned, you are authorized to order the part according to my service contract.
So Saturday morning, Steph calls again. “Oh I am sorry but it looks like you’re approved. We get the part out Monday and hopefully installed Wednesday.”
Now mind me again but I did visit the store Saturday and the guy told me they have “7 girls answering 400 calls a day.” 7 girls???? How old are they? 10? 12? 15? No guys?? Do they take turns like one mans the phone and the others just sit around giggling at all the voicemails coming in?
Funny how the store was empty and I counted 4 guys standing around. Maybe they can be taught, very slowly, how to handle service calls and enter them into the computer.
One of them had the audacity to be arrogant enough to ask me if I had to pay $129 for the guy to come out. When I said no, his reply was “That’s right! Because you have a service contract, you paid for the peace of mind to not have to worry about that!” Um excuse me you arrogant SOB, but what good is a dryer that doesn’t dry? I bought something to dry my clothes, not give me a peace of mind. If I want a peace of mind, I’ll go smoke a joint or something.
Monday morning, more of the same with the voicemail. And so, I am really getting pissed and I have no clue if the part has been shipped. I had to restrain myself from posting the name of the outfit on Facebook for more than 1000 people to see. That night, I went to a parts website and guess what? I could have ordered the damn timer switch and have it within one business day!
The next day, I call the service department. I was tempted to ask for the president of the company but they said “He is not available at the moment. May I take your name and number and he’ll call you back?” NO! YOU MAY NOT TAKE MY NAME AND NUMBER! And I highly doubt you’ll pass it along to him. “Well ok, let me investigate and we’ll get back to you.” Later, they called Steph and they told her the part is on its way and the service guy will call when it arrives to schedule installation.
It is now Thursday; we still don’t have the part and the dryer is still pooped out. And I still pissed off.
Moral of the story: If you buy an appliance, it WILL break down. Make sure you have a good, reliable, reputable service contract with good reliable people who know that customer service makes a difference!