Nightmare Refrigerator Order (Home Depot)

[Sunset]

... typically go through multiple warehouses until it gets to the one here. With White Glove photos are taken at each stage. She said that, as a result, it is rare to have damaged merchandise when something is sent White Glove. This is because normally if it turns up damaged they look at the photos of the box and can pinpoint where the damage occurred..... .

Amazing how hard it is to get good help these days, many people will slack off or be sloppy and they don't care about a poor job or damage.

 

[Big_Hitter]

as a home depot shareholder, this is somewhat upsetting

 

[RobbieB]

One of the reasons we do business with Lowes and HD is that they have deep pockets and want you to be happy. But you have to complain and complain. Be a squeeky wheel....

That's the reason I do business with small guys that have been doing it for generations. They know what they're doing and do it right the first time.

All new kitchen, new cabs and complete granite. Done perfect in 3 days. New floor, perfect in one day. New range installed when promised, perfect.

I'll take Mom & Pop over big box everyday.

 

[kgtest]

I always buy from the local guy. Same guy has been there for 30 years, we know each other.

Usually I go and need it fast because the one I had croaked. This time was the first time I ordered up exactly what I wanted. Took 2 weeks for the range and 3 for the fridge.

But I still have a fridge working in the living room -

Craigslist that old one, blow the dough on steak and lobster. Post pictures for us to enjoy!



Unless you are using it as a wine freg, in that case you better keep it around so the ole lady stays happy.

 

[45th Birthday]

Yes, good to hear the on-line experience is good too.

-ERD50

We order from Abt.com whenever we can, and used to go to their store when we lived on the North Shore of Chicago. Pricing, selection, and service are outstanding. A little-known fact, you can look online and call sales and sometimes get an even better price.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I love Abt even though it is an hour or so drive from us. We reoutfitted our kitchen through it and now don't even shop around any more--when we needed to replace our washer and dryer a few years ago, and our vacuum cleaner last year, we just called our person there. We also called her when we needed repairs on the stove, refrigerator, and microwave and she dealt with the service department and got a couple of costs waived for us. It's a nice store if anyone is in the area, and I imagine the online shopping is worth exploring if not.

We did have a problem with a TV from Abt--it had a big "virtual" crack across the screen when the installers turned it on (we wouldn't ordinarily pay for TV installation but it was our first big screen and they were at our house for something else anyway), and they packaged it back up and brought another one the next day.

 

[athena53]

I had thought to cancel the order. But, since some say that the appliances come from the manufacturer's warehouse then it sounds like it really isn't Home Depot's people damaging the refrigerator. That is, if I cancelled at Home Depot and bought from Costco (where I would probably buy it since it is a little less money there) wouldn't it come out of the same warehouse so I would be subject to the same issue?

My guess is that you would have gotten better response from Costco and they wouldn't have made it your job to deal with the manufacturer.

 

[Katsmeow]

My guess is that you would have gotten better response from Costco and they wouldn't have made it your job to deal with the manufacturer.

That may be. I was originally going to buy from Costco. But - they couldn't tell me when the refrigerator would be delivered. I would be contacted by the delivery people. So, that was an issue as I wanted the refrigerator on the day we moved in.... (Of course, that didn't happen either). Well, I'll find out Wednesday if third time is the charm....

 

[audreyh1]

My guess is that you would have gotten better response from Costco and they wouldn't have made it your job to deal with the manufacturer.

Agreed.

 

[Katsmeow]

Just realized I didn't follow up with this. The end result is that we have the refrigerator (undamaged) and LG did make me happy with their response to everything. That went a long way.

The refrigerator was delivered and was not damaged. It was fine. I think it was delivered by a different third party company than the first two times. For the first two delivery the guy in charge was different on each delivery but the second person was the same one. On the third delivery it was different people and just seemed different.

Interestingly, the delivery guy said that sometimes delivery people will cut the electrical cord on an appliance so as to not have to do a long delivery. On the first delivery, they were running late when they arrived (end of the day). That said -- I didn't have any hint the cutting of the electrical cord had anything to do with the delivery people. The delivery guy said the cord was not in the box.

Anyway -- the delivery went fine and set up went well. This refrigerator is one of the unit with instaview door in door. After the delivery guy left I was going through the refrigerator and taking off all the plastic covering the shelves, etc. In the inside part of the door unit there was plastic that wrapped under the inside unit.

No problem -- the inside door unit is easily removable by moving it up and out. When we tried to do it, though, the unit wouldn't budge on the right side. It would move (or try to move on the left) but the right didn't move at all.

I thought maybe we weren't reading the instructions correctly so we got in the car and went to Home Depot and found a similar refrigerator and asked how to remove the inner door shelving unit. It was super easy. Just up and out. We had been doing the right thing. Went back home and it still wouldn't budge.

I then called the person at LG who had helped me earlier. She had said to call her specifically when I got the delivery and she would arrange an inconvenience allowance. I called and also explained the problem. I told her I was reluctant to try to force the unit as I was worried the plastic would break. She told me not to force it and, with me on the phone, arranged to have an LG repairman (actual person working for LG not a third party) come by to check on it.

We then talked about the allowance. She was limited in how much she could offer as was her supervisor. Therefore, she asked if I wanted her to call the corporate office. I did. She called and they approved payment to me of $300 which will be arriving in the mail. Since I had to spend almost $250 for the small refrigerator this seemed fair to me.

She said that the reason that they approved a payment that high was because I was left without a refrigerator. She said that the policy is to not leave someone with no refrigerator. Even though the electrical cord was cut on the first unit. they were still supposed to offer me a loaner.

Oh -- about the inside the door shelving unit. The day before the guy came by a replacement unit arrived. So I was happy with that situation as well. So far, I am very happy with the refrigerator.

I am still frustrated by the fact it took 3 attempts to get an undamaged unit to me. But, I was impressed with both people that I dealt with at LG. And I feel the compensation for my inconvenience was fair and I wasn't out any money by having to buy a small refrigerator/freezer while waiting.

 

[DayDreaming]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Just last week I ordered a refrigerator from Home Depot, it was delivered 3 days later in perfect condition. The 2 guys on the (3rd party) delivery truck were very polite and worked quickly. New fridge was up and running in no time at all. Then the fridge went on sale at Home Depot, it was a pretty significant price drop so I called Home Depot, and with no hassle at all, I was refunded $491


Overall, a very positive experience.

 

[pacergal]

Sorry you had this experience, it certainly sounds frustrating.
We had no problems at all when we purchased our LG from Home Depot.

 

[W2R]

Katsmeow, I am so glad you finally got everything resolved! That was nice of them to give you $300 for your inconvenience, too. If "All's well that ends well", then I'd say all is well at your house and as a bonus you got a free small refrigerator out of it too.

When I had my (cheap, freezer-on-top, Kenmore) refrigerator delivered from Sears back in 2015, the only problem was that the website said they would hook up the ice maker, and the delivery men wouldn't do it. I don't think it was due to evil intent, so much as due to the fact that those particular delivery men were not smart enough to figure out how to do it. Also they were probably afraid of getting water on my gorgeous wooden kitchen floors.

My handyman hooked up my icemaker for me, no problem. He was out at my house anyway, fixing something else, so he didn't charge me for it.

 

[Walt34]

When I had my (cheap, freezer-on-top, Kenmore) refrigerator delivered from Sears back in 2015, the only problem was that the website said they would hook up the ice maker, and the delivery men wouldn't do it. I don't think it was due to evil intent, so much as due to the fact that those particular delivery men were not smart enough to figure out how to do it. Also they were probably afraid of getting water on my gorgeous wooden kitchen floors.

It can also be either local regulations or a company policy to limit liability if the connection leaks. When we had a natural gas clothes dryer delivered the delivery guys said they weren't allowed to make the gas connection, code required that a plumber do it. Well, with natural gas that can make sense but since I'd had a couple of years experience working on gas furnaces and water heaters I just did it myself. In 15 years we haven't blown up yet so I guess I did it right.

 

[raptor911]

We bought a kitchen table from HD a while back and it took 4 deliveries from UPS before we got one that was minimally damaged that we were willing to accept. We called each time and they gave us a credit each time. We ended up getting the table for free, but it had a slight dent in one of the corners. So my advice would be to call customer service and make a stink and ask for a credit of part of the purchase price.

 

[Scuba]

Just realized I didn't follow up with this. The end result is that we have the refrigerator (undamaged) and LG did make me happy with their response to everything. That went a long way.



The refrigerator was delivered and was not damaged. It was fine. I think it was delivered by a different third party company than the first two times. For the first two delivery the guy in charge was different on each delivery but the second person was the same one. On the third delivery it was different people and just seemed different.



Interestingly, the delivery guy said that sometimes delivery people will cut the electrical cord on an appliance so as to not have to do a long delivery. On the first delivery, they were running late when they arrived (end of the day). That said -- I didn't have any hint the cutting of the electrical cord had anything to do with the delivery people. The delivery guy said the cord was not in the box.



Anyway -- the delivery went fine and set up went well. This refrigerator is one of the unit with instaview door in door. After the delivery guy left I was going through the refrigerator and taking off all the plastic covering the shelves, etc. In the inside part of the door unit there was plastic that wrapped under the inside unit.



No problem -- the inside door unit is easily removable by moving it up and out. When we tried to do it, though, the unit wouldn't budge on the right side. It would move (or try to move on the left) but the right didn't move at all.



I thought maybe we weren't reading the instructions correctly so we got in the car and went to Home Depot and found a similar refrigerator and asked how to remove the inner door shelving unit. It was super easy. Just up and out. We had been doing the right thing. Went back home and it still wouldn't budge.



I then called the person at LG who had helped me earlier. She had said to call her specifically when I got the delivery and she would arrange an inconvenience allowance. I called and also explained the problem. I told her I was reluctant to try to force the unit as I was worried the plastic would break. She told me not to force it and, with me on the phone, arranged to have an LG repairman (actual person working for LG not a third party) come by to check on it.



We then talked about the allowance. She was limited in how much she could offer as was her supervisor. Therefore, she asked if I wanted her to call the corporate office. I did. She called and they approved payment to me of $300 which will be arriving in the mail. Since I had to spend almost $250 for the small refrigerator this seemed fair to me.



She said that the reason that they approved a payment that high was because I was left without a refrigerator. She said that the policy is to not leave someone with no refrigerator. Even though the electrical cord was cut on the first unit. they were still supposed to offer me a loaner.



Oh -- about the inside the door shelving unit. The day before the guy came by a replacement unit arrived. So I was happy with that situation as well. So far, I am very happy with the refrigerator.



I am still frustrated by the fact it took 3 attempts to get an undamaged unit to me. But, I was impressed with both people that I dealt with at LG. And I feel the compensation for my inconvenience was fair and I wasn't out any money by having to buy a small refrigerator/freezer while waiting.

I hope you are happy with your LG and it has no further issues. We went for over a week with no fridge because our 3 year old LG unit died. It was their “sealed system” which was still under warranty, but it took them over a week to scramble around and find parts. After 5 days, we rented another fridge but wouldn’t you know it didn’t work - freezer never got above 40. Luckily we kept our stuff in ice chests until we tested it.

Anyway, we were stuck with a rental fridge that didn’t work over the weekend. The rental company replaced it Monday morning. LG’s headquarters had told us they didn’t know when the parts would be available and it could be up to 6 weeks. Then Monday afternoon, the local LG guy came out and repaired our old unit. Lack of communication for sure. LG gave us $150 for inconvenience but we had to pay $440 for diagnosis and repairs, plus $100 for the rental that we only used for 24 hours (it was $100 minimum charge for a 30 day rental and at the time we rented it, we thought we might need it for 6 weeks). We also spent $100+ on ice for our coolers.

We didn’t buy the extended warranty. If we had, LG said more of these costs would have been covered. The repairmen told us that LG has a pretty bad reputation for breaking down after a few years, so if you didn’t buy the extended warranty, I recommend doing so. We never go for them but with refrigerators nowadays, maybe it’s worth it.

 

[ncbill]

+1

Love my LG HE washer/dryer, but it's clear their fridges have terrible reliability.

Buy the extended warranty.

 

[JoeWras]

I've been trying to keep my mouth shut since this thread opened because I had a HD delivery in the pipeline!

It came yesterday, JB Hunt Last Mile. On time. Painless. Perfect. Box in perfect condition, with the appliance in perfect condition.

Whew! I was afraid of a jinx.

 

[Katsmeow]

+1

Love my LG HE washer/dryer, but it's clear their fridges have terrible reliability.

Buy the extended warranty.

So, I see 2 options for the extended warranty which I don't normally buy. I can get one through Home Depot that Assurion does the warranty stuff. Or, I can get one from LG. The warranty has a 2 star (out of 5) rating on Home Depot. The issue isn't the terms of the warranty itself. It is that Assurion is very slow and people allege that they don't pay for replacement when you can't get the parts in a timely way.

From what I read the issue with repairing a lot of LG refrigerators is that there is a sealed system. You aren't supposed to go into that to repair it (hence the seal). Someone complained that Assurion wanted to do that though. For a lot of repairs basically you can't repair it without getting parts from LG. LG sometimes has difficulty getting parts particularly after a unit is a few years old. This can lead to the buyback situation. But, Home Depot is apparently slow to do it.

The other option is to get one through LG. This will use either LG repair people or authorized LG repair people (well, theoretically). In my case, I live in an area serviced by LG repair people. Theoretically this will work. That said -- people have also complained about LG not having parts available and service being slow.

Any thoughts on which to get?

I've been trying to keep my mouth shut since this thread opened because I had a HD delivery in the pipeline!

It came yesterday, JB Hunt Last Mile. On time. Painless. Perfect. Box in perfect condition, with the appliance in perfect condition.

Whew! I was afraid of a jinx.

I'm glad it worked out for you! I am sure that most deliveries are uneventful.

 

[jazz4cash]

In this case would go with the LG warranty. Theoretically extended warranty from mfr should be better since they have better access to proprietary parts. I wouldn't pay much more though. We've had pretty good luck with a whole house warranty. I'm still pretty skeptical about extended warranties but a bit more open minded now. We've always had a 2nd fridge so it wasn't a problem to wait for parts. Otherwise I'd buy one used to tide us over.
I think all modern refrigerators use sealed systems. You should be able to add a service valve if necessary but it may not be an approved repair. We like our LG washer/dryer but I guess we will look elsewhere when our 20 yo Kenmore (Whirlpool) bites the dust or goes to ER in the garage.

 

[Katsmeow]

OK. The LG warranty for 3 years (starting after the manufacturer's warranty is $269.97. You can also buy 2 year and 1 year options which I wouldn't really consider. You cancel at any time and get back the prorated part of what you paid less repair costs they have done which seems fair.

Home Depot's plan is a 5 year plan for $295. I think that 5 years may include the manufacturer's warranty period (couldn't find the actual plan on the Home Depot site).

I don't usually get extended warranty. For example, the LG one really only is of benefit if I happen to have a serious problem (that costs more than $270) during the specific 3 years of the extended warranty. Anything earlier is covered by the manufacturer warranty and later isn't covered at all.

 

[Helena]

.

Last year I bought a washer from HD and had no problems with it, the delivery and set up.

But I am not surprised there is a lot of damage being done by employees. I am constantly seeing dented cans at supermarkets. Last time I bought a can of tuna, I examined several cans before I found one with no dents. A bus boy at a local popular restaurant keeps breaking the dishes. Last time glass pieces flew across the floor and one landed under my chair. Now I make a point to sit at a table far away from a table with dirty dishes.