Cake taker is still GE, who after jerking me around for 4 months on a refrigerator repair tried to say that it was no longer in warranty, then agreed to send me a replacement but only if I paid them a couple of hundred bucks for delivery.
After calling every single consumer complaint/tv/radio/bbb/AG outfit I could find, I bought a new fridge. About 2 months later the office of the president of GE called to say that they were sending me a new top of the line replacement free of charge, now would I please stop the barrage of phone calls and letters?
Its still sitting in my garage, full of soda and beer.
Seems refrigerator related CS is a hot button...
My nominee for worst customer service is a regional south TX appliance/electronics chain, Conn's. Here's a quick summary of my recent experience.
- Purchased a refrigerator in July of 2004 and worked fine for 3 1/2 years.
-The compressor quit the Sunday after Thanksgiving (yeah, the thing was crammed full of leftovers!). The compressor has a 5 year warranty stating "replacement free of charge."
- Conn's has it's own service department and sent out a repairman on Tuesday who confirmed it was a bad compressor and it was covered under warranty. Said he'd order a compressor for me.
- Wednesday I called CS and was told the part was on order and would be in within 3-4 working days, I would receive a call to set up a time for the service guy to come back out.
- Hadn't heard from them by Monday and called CS who told me no part had been ordered. I explained I'd been told otherwise the week before and got a "sorry". Asked to speak to a supervisor and was placed on terminal hold.
- Hung up and called back. This CS rep told me I was "mistaken" about what I thought I'd been told by the other rep, that their system didn't even show a status on an ordered part until it had been located and purchased. Asked the status of my part and was told, "we'll call you back". Asked to speak to a supervisor and was placed on hold. I attempted to wait them out and the CS rep came back on to tell me a supervisor would call me.
- Waited 4 hours before calling back. This third CS rep said "your part is in and we will be out on Friday to install it". I asked why no one had called to tell me this and got a "sorry". Asked why I had to wait 4 more days to get a service call and was told "sorry, that's the best we can do". Asked why I should believe the part was really in after having been told something different by two other CS reps. After getting no satisfactory answer, I told her to cancel my service call. She confirmed cancellation.
-While I was searching for another factory authorized repair company, Conn's called back. It was the very first CS rep I'd spoken to, the one who told me no part had been ordered. Apologized and said they could be out on Thursday to do the repairs. I said that was unacceptable and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told "they are really busy". I told her to have one call me please.
-I called another company and arranged for a service call late the following (Tuesday) afternoon.
-At 8:30AM on Tuesday, the Conn's service guy called and left a message (I was in the shower) saying "I'll be in our area" between 1 and 3 that afternoon. I called back but could not get an answer from his number.
-I called CS and explained I couldn't get in touch with the repair guy who called and asked that he call back so I could confirm he actually had the part and that I would be home that afternoon. I got no call back.
-He showed up at 2PM and installed a new compressor, left no invoice or paperwork of any kind. I canceled the other service call.
-The refrigerator worked fine for a week, then iced up. I called another service company who came out and replaced the defrost timer the Conn's repair guy had apparently damaged when troubleshooting. $150 in charges.
-The following day (Wed) I got a call from Conn's CS to let me know my compressor was in and a service guy would be out on Friday to install it.
I explained their service guy had been out 8 days earlier to install a new compressor. She said, "It just came in." Once again, I said the work had already been done. Then she asked "Well, did you pay for it?" (her exact words). I said no, it was under warranty and I wasn't going to pay anything. She said "You don't have a warranty, it expired in July of 2005". I patiently explained the compressor was covered for 5 years, I wasn't going to continue to deal with her company, expressed my sympathies at her having to work for an incompetent employer, and politely said goodbye.
-A few seconds later she called back. Said "I see where you have a 5 year warranty on your compressor, but that doesn't include the service call or labor. You'll have to pay for that." I had the warranty in hand and quoted it to her, noting it said "replace free of charge" and contained no exceptions for service calls or labor. After a moment of silence, she said, "We'll, I just wanted to be sure we were all straight." I assured her we were...all straight.
