New Appliances Installed - HD Does It Again!

[ptcruiser51]

Let me try

to at least provide some answers, as a THD appliance salesman... Procedures may vary from state to state, I can only tell you how we operate here in the NY/NJ Metro area.

Our "warehouse", as such, is just an "across-the-dock" facility. Stuff comes off Maytag/Whirlpool's truck and goes onto the truck going to your house. There is no storage facility there, so anything not delivered simply goes on the truck back to the vendor's warehouse. Re-scheduling just repeats the above procedure, which is why you are directed to call the delivery service to do that.

General Electric's delivery vendor is used for all THD deliveries,regardless of make. This is why GE called you about your Maytag delivery.

Installation services vary widely between states. Here in NJ, they use different delivery teams depending on the services requested/paid for. Some teams do delivery only, others are scheduled for delivery+installation. Some are only for "go-backs" (damaged/nonworking appliance, forgotten parts). In NYC, for instance, gas hookups must be done by licensed plumbers. THD sends someone following delivery to do this. THD does not install some things at all: wall ovens, slide-in or drop-in ranges, cooktops, built-in fridges. If someone shows up unequipped to do the install, it most likely means "someone" doing the scheduling overlooked that requirement. Mea culpa.

In NJ, at least one member of a delivery team is required to speak English. I can't speak (pardon the pun) for other areas.

Delivery teams in this area are not allowed to accept payments of any kind, so I have no explanation for the dishwasher output hose situation. Perhaps in TX they are permitted to offer upgrades, such as burst-resistant hoses?

Store sales personnel are SUPPOSED to identify specific delivery needs at the time of sale (back door delivery, through the garage, etc.) Also supposed to inform the customer that a "straight shot" is necessary to deliver the appliance (no furniture in the way, hence the problem with the fridge needing to be moved by you). Delivery persons are not permitted to do this due to liability issues. Yes, someone did not do their job properly.

Your troubles are certainly out of the ordinary. You may want to contact THD Customer Care 800-791-2750 and kvetch about it. It's really up to local management, but maybe they'll offer you store credit or something. It helps A LOT if you have names, order #'s, dates, etc. Good luck.

BTW, nice choice of stuff! The Maytag dishwashers are the last things actually made in their plant(s) that have not converted to WHP. Very quiet and effective machines, my customers are usually happy with them. Are you OK with the "green" in the stove window? I always point this out, lots of customers find that a "deal breaker" - a little too glaring green for most tastes. The drawer underneath I find not particularly useful for anything other than cookie sheets! Barring that, you should be happy with this purchase. General Electric invented the over-the-range micro, so they seem to have a better track record than others, IMHO.

Wash that floor. Do it now.

 

[Cybrvanr]

My "Big Box Hell" is similar to yours, but not quite as bad. Thankfully, it had a good resolution at a local appliance shop...Hurray for Lakeside Appliance!

2 years ago, I set out to buy a new fridge. I saw a flyer in the newspaper 2 years ago for a 15 cu/ft energy star Frigidaire fridge at Best-Buy while nosing through my parent's newspaper on Christmas day. The ad also said "Free ice machine with any fridge purchase" So, I hit the road the day after Christmas to get to the store when it opened to buy this fridge I wanted. Well, typical of big-box stores, somehow they ran OUT of the model BEFORE the doors even opened on the sale day! They said they would either sell me a bigger fridge with the same discount as the smaller one, or I could wait till January 18th with they would get another shipment of that particular model.

Well, I couldn't use the bigger model because it wouldn't fit where I wanted to put it, and if I waited till January 18th, the fridge would be back at it's normal price, and I would hafta pay extra for the ice maker. I walked out of the store with my money, and didn't give them any. I then hit Lowe's, Home-Depot, and Sears looking for the same or other similar model. Nobody even wanted to even bother with getting me the fridge I wanted. Home-depot had a non energy-star model for cheaper, but it consumed much more energy (and also wouldn't run off of my backup power inverter!)

Finally, I stopped by Lakeside Appliance just up the street. Their response? SURE, we have 6 of em in the warehouse, we can have one there tomorrow! Now, they didn't have the ice maker for free, BUT they did have free delivery and installation! I went ahead and bought an ice maker for it anyways, and it came out to what I would have paid at the "sale" at Best Buy.

Well, just as they said, the guys arrived the next day with my fridge, they spoke English, and even moved my old fridge out to my garage for me! He installed the ice maker, and connected it up to my water line. They guys were very helpful, and had the job done quickly and efficiently! Best part...I didn't pay any more than I would have buying form a big-box store to get that extra mile of service!

 

[whirlcool]

Thanks for the insight as to what may have happened during this purchase. Your explanations seem right in place.

So far the appliances are working perfectly and the performance is actually better than we expected. We are very happy with the units we purchased. We love cooking with gas over electric now.

You know, we didn't even notice the green in the oven window. After I read your post, I had to go look for myself. We've used the oven a few times with the oven light on and to tell you the truth, we never noticed it. And we are usually very observant people. It doesn't bother us at all, you only see it when the oven light is on. I can't believe that this is a deal breaker for some people. I really like the fact that the oven door stays perfectly cool the entire time the oven is in use.
I'd put up with that green any day for the cool door feature.

The only comment I have is that some of the oven controls are not very intuitive. You have to read the manual to get the full use out of the system. For example, we use convection cooking the other morning. The convection fan would not turn on. I thought it was a malfunction. What the problem was is that the Convenction Fan does not turn on until the oven reaches the temperature you select. Then it turns on. This is clearly outlined in the manual.