Discussions

Bought a 4pc kitchen appliance set from (uphill) April /17 with a 4 year extended warranty which they gladly took the money for their "Customer Care" service..  
So the fridge died Nov/20 forgot I had warranty called out service guy paid the $200 for him which im fine with. Fridge died again. Freon leak twice. Now I have laundry list of what it needs..Fine order it. waiting , waiting ,waiting..hmmm no "customer care"? so called them..parts coming ..that was 2nd week of Dec..there goes Xmas supper..Can I get a replacement or used fridge to tie me over...No. Im living with a bar fridge the size of a shoe box. My question to Brandon, is this acceptable to you and would you shop at this (uphill) store? Knowing they don't follow up or care about their "customer care" warranty? Can you live without a fridge for 3 months or longer?

I know you are frustrated.  
Appliances are a nightmare right now.  
It’s taking months to get appliances and a shortage of parts is part of the problem.  
Try to be patient. If you’ve had a technician look at your appliance and parts are ordered, then not much can happen until the parts are in.  
This is not ideal.. I know

We have been living with a bar sized fridge since July. Went through harvest and Christmas. The store at Coral Centre was happy to take our money but as you say customer service is lacking. They can’t say when it’s coming and don’t really want to look into it unless you throw a fit. Nothing they can do apparently so we wait.

My mom waited months and months for few appliances. This is in Winnipeg. She had ordered a 4-piece group, and they came in a piece at a time over 5 months. At one point, they called to say they had a fridge for her, but because she couldn't accept delivery for the time they proposed and was going to call them back (which she did, about 12 hours later), they turned around and sold it to someone else and she had to wait all over again.  
 
But....  
 
The scarcity of appliances and parts is real. It's because of Covid. Here's a good news item about it from the US that explains the supply chain issues. It's been an issue all over the world.  
 
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/how-the-pandemic-is-impacting-how-long-it-takes-for-you-to-get-new-appliances-or-appliance-repairs/269-228bc6f9-2583-4142-a527-506c774015b8

If they can’t fix or replace the appliance within a reasonable time then they should fully refund you. These are big companies with huge resources behind them. You need to check the small print of your warranty and find out where you stand.  
Everything is so expensive nowadays and it should not go wrong.

its a complete matching set , but it would be nice to have been offered a clean but (full size) second hand fridge to tie me over until parts show up months later and without all the it's covid's fault BS ...but no...no offer...no options..that what pisses me off..it would be cheaper for them in the long run as im out hundreds of dollars of food they now have to pay out as i have to throw out food constantly. A second hand $100 fridge would save them and I don't even want to keep it. Yes . Customer service is a thing of the past as Im the one doing the follow up calls (not them) it's their job do let us know, I don't get paid to do their job, and appliances should last not the crap they sell us now and charge outrageous prices for it breaking down in 3 years? they have an excuse for everything and it's beyond sickening. I would never recommend this furniture store to anyone.

were i want to stand on the road in front of the store with a big poster billboard and state the issue on it..  
Do you think that would get attention and maybe bring in the local tv news media?  
thought for the day

it sucks that the customer service has be less then stellar. but parts for appliances are extremely back ordered right now since many manufactures shut down or ran at reduced capacity due to the pandemic.

Why do you think you're entitled to a free, second-hand fridge, to "tide you over"?  
 
Also, once it became clear that this wasn't going to be a quick fix, why didn't YOU buy a second hand fridge to use temporarily, which you can then resell for probably the same price once done? If you're throwing out hundreds of dollars of food (again, why?), that probably would have been a cheaper option.  
 
I know hindsight is 20/20, but there was a few things you could have done to improve your situation when it became clear you were not going to get the level of customer service you were expecting.

I feel your frustration, but I have a couple of constructive comments here.  
 
1) Uphill can mean quite a few different furniture retailers. I thought of one, then realized it doesn't matter. All furniture/appliance stores offer extended warranty and there are quite a few of them in the North of Brandon.  
 
2) You have a personal choice whether to accept going with extended or not and to understand the terms and conditions. I hope it was explained to you, as that should be mandatory for businesses to do. Nobody forces your hand. It's one of those decisions you alone must make.  
 
3) You should know where your extended warranties are or who they are if you choose to go with them, and their expiry dates, contact numbers, etc. The store will only refer you to their number.  
 
4) Extended Warranty Companies through furniture/appliance places are 3rd party and most places go with one or 3 big ones (global). Yes, the retailer has endorsed them, but you're at the mercy of these 3rd party places. The retailer's hands are tied once you've signed an extended 3rd party contract. It's the warranty company who lines things up and you have direct dealing with.  
 
5) You can picket the store, but it will end up being useless. All places in this industry align themselves with whatever extended warranty place they've aligned with. You are at the mercy of the warranty place after a certain amount of time when the manufacturer one runs out.  
 
6) Yes, there has been a supply chain issue with a global pandemic. I have actually had a positive experience with some extended warranties (for $$$) things, but am aware it's really between you now and said 3rd party. They then line up a local repair place with you directly who order the parts and will make an appointment when ready. That's been my experience.  
 
I feel awful you've had to go through this, but I think bad mouthing the store might be uneventful as they are all aligned with global warranty companies and it could be hard to get parts right now.  
 
PS: Keep a log of all of your correspondence, time of calls, requests, whom you spoke to, etc.  
and I do hope this gets fixed for you - sounds like a long time.  
 
Edited by PT1001, 2021-01-22 13:16:00

I do have a log and recordings of calls made but it's the same ol same ol... and my original question is How long would you wait? Would you phone once a week ? once a month? And for starters why are you the one doing the calling...that's not customer service.

I never got the offer and no offer of a replacement. I actually did the asking if they could provide me with one..nope cant do...I live 2 hours away from Brandon..wtf do you want me to do buy another fridge from Brandon and strap one to the roof of my car? Hire someone to bring it to me for $200 shipping fee? I shouldn't have to be the one to pay for anything..I paid close to $500 the extended warranty and when I bought it I did go through it with them...Im covered for loss of food which in now topping the $400 mark...they are paying the bill for that. My problem is no option, no service, no repairs,. they are the ones gaining money from people like us. They DONT care. as long as they make their commissions.  
do you have kids? can you feed your family from a bar fridge for 3, 4 ,5 6 months? Did you have your xmas supper and a place to put the left overs? Can you bake and spare 4" of space? Can a 500ml of milk feed your kids breakfast in the morning? Vegetables? ya how would a head of lettuce fit? This is why im frustrated .

You actually lose it.

Incredible. If you talk like this on the phone I can totally understand why you are waiting and why you will likely be waiting a lot longer.

Honestly I'd be upset too! and I feel I'm a pretty understanding and patient person.  
 
You bought a new fridge and the extended warranty from the store, IDC if its third party or not the business got a commission for pushing it so they should be helping to deal with it. $400 in food is not great for them and you think at some point they would offer a fridge at cost or some other solution at least to negate some of their their losses and promote costumer service (maybe hard to work with the third party)  
I get that there isnt much they can do while waiting on parts ect but at what point they should offer a new fridge,?  
 
There used to be lemon clauses that after so long you either got the option of a comparable replacement or refund but I take it that you dont have that option so all i can do is sympathize possibly it would be worth it for you to ask about a fridge at cost or look into other options but i dont think you're acting unreasonably entitled to have your new fridge work, repaired or, a reasonable solution provided to you in a reasonable time frame .  
 
But at some point for your own frustration & mental health you may have to find your own solution sucks but it might be best