Nightmare Refrigerator Order (Home Depot)

[Katsmeow]

I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience with Home Depot and, if so, what you did.

We recently sold our house, including the refrigerator. We moved into our new house last Monday. In preparation for moving in, I ordered a fairly expensive LG refrigerator online (about $3k) from Home Depot for delivery on the 11th.

Home Depot says online that major appliances are non-returnable and should be refused if defective. However, defects can be reported within I think 47 hours.

Refrigerator arrives last Monday. Delivery people call me outside and point out that the handle is dented. There is also another small dent. They say it will be replaced and they can leave the damaged one as a loaner. The delivery people tell me that they have a lot of new people at the warehouse and they don't know how to use the forklift and they have been seeing a lot of damaged appliances.

About that time, the deliveryman notices that the electrical cord has been cut off and is missing! This is incredibly weird as the cut off part of the cord is not in the box and the box doesn't appear to be damaged. In other words, it looks it must have been cut off before the refrigerator was even boxed.

The deliveryman tells me about a customer that it took 3 tries before she received an undamaged refrigerator.

So -- delivery is rescheduled for last Friday. Of course, we have no old refrigerator to use in the meantime. Not wanting to give any more money to Home Depot, we go to Lowe's and spend a little over $200 for a small refrigerator (we will keep it an use it as a drinks refrigerator in another part of the house).

Friday arrives and when they bring the new refrigerator, I go outside to check it before it even comes in the house. I am chatting with the delivery guy about what happened Monday and he comments that I should not accept a defective one as a loaner. He unboxes the refrigerator and it has two huge dents in the side as well as a small dent on the front. Taking his advice, I reject the refrigerator. He tells me that they are seeing a lot of problems with damaged appliances due to poorly trained people in the warehouse.

So -- right now I am waiting to talk to Home Depot on Monday. I expect that they will want to redeliver another one a few days later next week.

On the one hand, I do want the refrigerator. I can get it elsewhere (it was actually a little cheaper at Costco but Home Depot could get it to me on the 11th and Costco couldn't commit to that).

Home Depot on its web page FAQ says you can't cancel an order that has been processed. At this point, I have no faith in Home Depot delivering me one that is not damaged given what both sets of delivery drivers have said. Has anyone experienced this kind of thing with Home Depot? If so, has anyone been able to cancel an order under these circumstances?

Has anyone been able to get any relief at all (I am still irritated I had to spend over $200 to get a small refrigerator just to tide me over until I got the new one).

 

[Scuba]

Sorry you are going through this. My advice is to pick something other than LG. We paid almost $3K for our LG 3.5 years ago, and took delivery on it after our remodel was completed about 3 years ago. It died recently and LG doesn’t have the parts to repair their “sealed system” which is under warranty. They are going to get back to us next week and let us know if/when they will come out to repair the sealed system, which is under warranty. Upon researching this, LG has a terrible reputation for not stocking parts in the US which means when your LG fridge dies, good luck getting it repaired within a reasonable amount of time. Our fridge has been out for 6 days now, and no end in sight. We finally rented a fridge this weekend to give LG the chance to come through for us next week. If they don’t, we’ll be in the market for a new fridge, and definitely will not buy another LG, despite its good looks.

 

[Katsmeow]

Sorry you are going through this. My advice is to pick something other than LG. We paid almost $3K for our LG 3.5 years ago, and took delivery on it after our remodel was completed about 3 years ago. It died recently and LG doesn’t have the parts to repair their “sealed system” which is under warranty.

That is very interesting. At this point, though, picking something else is a moot point unless Home Depot will let us cancel. That is, we have an existing order for the LG refrigerator which we have paid for....

 

[Bamaman]

I don't care what the form says, cancel the order. H/D wants happy customers. Today, appliances are often not stocked by H/D (or Lowes)/and they come out of manufacturers' warehouses. Too many people end up handling them, and there are too many chances of damage.

Modern appliances are just not such high quality--since the consolidation of brands. Are such expensive refrigerators really needed?

 

[JoeWras]

I don't care what the form says, cancel the order. H/D wants happy customers. Today, appliances are often not stocked by H/D (or Lowes)/and they come out of manufacturers' warehouses. Too many people end up handling them, and there are too many chances of damage.

Right. For HD, most are delivered by a third party contractor. Around here it is JB Hunt Final Mile who usually do a pretty good job. Your mileage obviously varies.

You also have recourse with your credit card company.

And I agree on LG. Two friends bought them in recent years with nothing but trouble.

 

[gauss]

Did you pay for the order with a CC (credit card)? If so, under Federal Law you have dispute rights (ie billing error).

I would discuss it with the local HD management first, but convey that you know that this is an option. They likely would rather make you happy somehow as opposed to having the banks reverse the charge plus the processing fees and time.

Another tactic could be to inspect the demo unit in the store that you based your purchase on. If it is not damaged, tell them that you will take that one. Let HD worry about receiving another functional store model.

I think the store management has a good deal of flexibility here. From the stories I have heard you should be receiving next day deliveries of the replacement fridges. I have heard they hold back some delivery slots each day as a tool to help satisfy good customers that are having trouble with the purchase.

 

[njhowie]

Home Depot on its web page FAQ says you can't cancel an order that has been processed. At this point, I have no faith in Home Depot delivering me one that is not damaged given what both sets of delivery drivers have said. Has anyone experienced this kind of thing with Home Depot? If so, has anyone been able to cancel an order under these circumstances?

Call Home Depot online customer service and tell them you want to cancel the order and if they will not then you will contact your credit card company to dispute the charge the moment you hang up the phone.

They will happily cancel the order for you when they see what has happened thus far.

 

[Aerides]

You need to make a big loud stink. In person probably best - call and let them know you need a manager to meet with you, and show up with photos ready for battle. I would not care what the policy says, they've had 2 chances to get this right and have failed to meet their side of the deal. HD broke the contract.

I agree it was a bad idea for the first guys to leave the "loaner" with you, sorry they convinced you to do that. After the 2nd failed attempt, I would want to cut my losses and go with someone else. Best buy, lowes, sears, there are other options.

 

[MichaelB]

I bought a water heater from them this past year and they handled it very poorly. My order was also non-cancelable and needed a third party to install, and the dates all changed after the order was placed. After a week of unsuccessful efforts to re-change the dates, I called and canceled the order. At first they said I couldn’t, and they had already charged my card, but I insisted, and told them I would refuse delivery and dispute the charge.

The reason the order is non-cancellable, it is fulfilled by a third party, so they hand it over to someone else once it’s been placed. I’d say that two attempts to deliver a damaged product is enough, you should call the HD internet orders number, raise a stink, cancel, and then buy from someone else.

 

[Another Reader]

I buy appliances for the rentals through a local appliance company that beats the box store's sale prices. Better service and faster delivery.

 

[jwkde]

Had a similar but not quite so bad experience with Lowes. And the same issue about cancelling.

Went over to the local Lowes and found the store manager. After I told him of the saga he said "what do you want me to do?" I said I want to cancel the order and he said no problem and also gave me a $25 gift card because of all the time, etc involved.

 

[jimandthom]

Our relief for such issues, is to never have purchased that type of item at a big box store. If you used a CC, cancel everything and go local.


Yeah we do pay a bit more at the more local/homegrown stores, but the $$ are not that significant.


We are lucky here, we have an appliance store that is still in business almost 70 years after it opened.

 

[samclem]

I agree with cancelling the order. You've tried to get a fridge from them twice now, that's enough. Talk with the manager of the HD, and if you don't get total satisfaction (with paperwork showing that the order has been cancelled and your CC account credited) then call your credit card company and cancel the transaction.
Yes, they take back major appliances. Every HD I've ever been in has a "clearance" area with several previously installed refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, etc. Find them, and if the manager gives you any static walk him over to that area and ask him how he thinks those appliances got into his store.
I would not want an LG fridge, but I'm probably not a good source because I wouldn't buy a $3K fridge unless it also rubbed my feet, computed my taxes, and mowed my lawn.

 

[Moemg]

Last November I ordered a new front door from Home Depot . Some one comes out to measure for the door and sends the measurements to Home Depot . Twice they ordered the wrong door so no installation . We made a huge squawk. Home Depot's response barely nothing . The door was custom made so we waited for it . It was finally installed in the middle of May .No sorry here is a $25 gift card .Unless I can not find it elsewhere I am done with Home Depot .By the way I had an LG french door refrigerator die at 31/2 years .The LG customer service is awful .

 

[jazz4cash]

I don't care what the form says, cancel the order. H/D wants happy customers. Today, appliances are often not stocked by H/D (or Lowes)/and they come out of manufacturers' warehouses. Too many people end up handling them, and there are too many chances of damage.

Modern appliances are just not such high quality--since the consolidation of brands. Are such expensive refrigerators really needed?

+1
We bought a low end Maytag refrigerator from HD 2 yrs ago and had no problems with the unit or the purchase/delivery. I really don't like using HD and Lowes for major appliances but I am a sucker for 0% financing.

 

[SteveNU]

We went through this last year when we did our kitchen. New stove, refrig, and dishwasher. The first stove had been dropped and the frame was obviously bent but they were putting it on the hand truck to pull into the house when I stopped them. Got another one successfully delivered s week later. The refrigerator was fine. The dishwasher had been handled improperly also but I didn't find the damage until weeks later when I was getting ready to install it. Luckily the damage was underneath and didn't impact it's operation and I lived with it. Unfortunately we have had the repairman out twice to fix it since it was installed.

I also found out that if you order online from them that the local store is not involved and can't help you out with any issues that you might have with the order or delivery. I'm sure if you raised enough heck they would step up but why can't they be involved from the beginning?

 

[njhowie]

I also found out that if you order online from them that the local store is not involved and can't help you out with any issues that you might have with the order or delivery. I'm sure if you raised enough heck they would step up but why can't they be involved from the beginning?

Because this is how they are able to maintain margins when offering better pricing online. You can have the lower price, convenience of doing it in your PJs from home, wider selection of models, ease of comparison shopping, etc., but they want to limit anything else they do for you, as that would increase their cost and lower their profit margin or possibly generate a loss on the sale. Unfortunately this is a fallout of what e-commerce has given us.

 

[Jerry1]

Cancelling the order seems logical, but I would just have them keep delivering refrigerators until they get it right. You already have the small back up fridge. Dig in your heels. I would, however, complain about not seeing a new fridge within 48 hours (24, even better). Hell, tell them to bring two next time.

While I understand the lack of experience in the warehouse, it’s really a manufacturer/packaging problem. I’ve had stuff come to the house with a pretty rough looking box and the appliance inside was fine. I mean come on, if the handles keep getting bent, put some styrofoam around them.

 

[ERD50]

After I thought I got a good deal on appliances from Sears some years back, Sears totally screwed around with the delivery - first we get a series of what I'd call threatening phone calls that we better be there on the delivery day, or face all sorts of charges. But they keep changing the delivery day. Then after setting up this delivery day that they say we MUST be home for, the cancel again and when I cal, they say they are on back order for that unit! Ummm, if you didn't have the unit, why did you schedule delivery? The average person would have had to arrange to be off work on those days, but I guess that was no skin off their back - good riddance to 'em. Anyhow, I raised a stink and got everything canceled. The sales guy kept asking, what can we do for you, and I kept insisting that the best use of his time would be to cancel my order, because I'm not giving up until he does, he's just wasting his time trying for any 'compromise'.


There is a large appliance store in the Chicago NW suburbs that has an excellent reputation. We went there, and it was night and day. Got what we wanted, delivery was smooth, one problem that came up, but they rectified that with no drama whatsoever. They also do online sales now, but I have no idea if the online experience is the same as their local. Because of that, I don't want to unequivocally recommend them, but if you are interested, they are based in Glenview IL, and the store name is 3 letters.

-ERD50

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I also found out that if you order online from them that the local store is not involved and can't help you out with any issues that you might have with the order or delivery.

We bought a range and a refrigerator from the local HD and have been reasonably happy with both. The fridge is an LG, at least 10 years old now; my only complaint is that the paint is wearing off the door at the handle. It's a pretty basic model.

On an investment as big as this I like to be able to go to the place that took my money and confront them if I have a problem.

 

[JoeWras]

There is a large appliance store in the Chicago NW suburbs that has an excellent reputation. We went there, and it was night and day. Got what we wanted, delivery was smooth, one problem that came up, but they rectified that with no drama whatsoever. They also do online sales now, but I have no idea if the online experience is the same as their local. Because of that, I don't want to unequivocally recommend them, but if you are interested, they are based in Glenview IL, and the store name is 3 letters.
-ERD50

I seriously considered ordering from them a few years back. Instead, we went local with Sears because we just didn't know if the Chicago area experience (which is excellent) would transfer to online country-wide. Since then, we've done the HD thing quiet successfully. Everything has been perfect all of these deliveries. I need to find some wood. Gotta touch it and knock.

 

[Winemaker]

Just received a washer and dryer from HD for a rental. No problems.

 

[Bamaman]

If you get down to it, today's appliances just look pretty. Since the major manufacturers sold out and condolidated, there are just not that many companies. GE sold out. A Maytag may also be a Whirlpool. Amana was once a premium line, and they were sold. LG is a Gold star out of Korea.

We have an independent appliance mechanic and he doesn't recommend brands to customers. He says they all break down. But he has a Fisher and Paykel washer and dryer out of New Zealand. Quality is now rare in any appliance.

 

[Dash man]

I’ve had good luck with Lowe’s, having recently bought all new appliances during a remodel of our Florida condo winter home. Lowe’s 10% veteran’s discount when combined with other sales is pretty nice. No problems with delivery or the appliances. We used Home Depot a couple of years ago to update a rental and everything went smoothly there too. For our main home we used a local appliance store and the service was great. Knock on wood for all those purchases!

 

[Janet H]

I think a large part of your experience will have to do with the HD in your area and their contractors. last year we moved and I purchased a pile of appliances from HD. Most had to be ordered and the deliveries were fairly smooth. No issues. In one case, there was a sale on an item after I purchased. The dept manager actually called me to tell me this and instruct me on how to collect a refund.