A Bit of a Rant: When Companies Make Mistakes

I was so excited this weekend!  I was getting a new fridge!  Even better, we were getting a nicer fridge than we originally picked out because it was a floor model.  It had zero scratches.dents or whatever.  It just so happened the one we picked the store was not carrying anymore but here was this nice Electrolux counter-depth, stainless steel fridge just waiting for us to take it home. 

Isn't she pretty? Thank you Best Buy for the pic. 

I prepared all week for it's homecoming.  I cleaned out the fridge and the freezer.  I carefully planned our meals for the week so that there would not be a whole lot in the the fridge/freezer to switch over.  I put off my usual soup cooking for my fall/winter lunches to keep the freezer as empty as possible. 

At 9:50am P got a phone call. 

Warehouse Worker: "Your fridge is out of stock."
P: "Um, no.  It is a floor model, there is only one of them.  It cannot be out of stock."
WW: "Well we don't have one here." 
P: "Is it still at the store?"
WW:  "I don't know.  It is out of stock."
P: "No, that is impossible.  Again, it was a floor model we touched and saw this week."
WW:  "Well if it is still at the store maybe you can pick it up."
P: "It's a refrigerator."

Can't explain to you what would have happened if I had fielded that call.  I think that is why P gives people his cell number now instead of the home phone. I can tell you that the laws of physics would have been broken and her head would have somehow ended up on my side of the phone.

So we haul ourselves to the store and luckily the woman we worked with to buy the fridge was there.  She saw us coming and said, "Guys I am so sorry.  I am on hold right now to find out what happened and get it fixed."  She even brought her manager over and he apologized profusely.  For some reason, the warehouse sent it back to the store and they have no clue why.  We thanked them for working it out and left.  Later we received a phone call and were told the fridge would not arrive until Thursday.  This was Saturday morning.

Now, after going through something much worse but similar in the area of inept delivery with Sears and our washer/dryer a year ago, we are familiar with how things work between the company that sold you the item and the people who are in charge of getting it to your door.  The people that sold the item are actually pretty decent and will do what they can to help you...

...the delivery companies basically tell you to suck it if they have made a mistake.

In my humble opinion, what SHOULD have happened, is they should have gotten our fridge on the very next truck leaving that warehouse and brought it to us at a time-frame we chose, not them.  Why?  Because we already arranged our schedule to meet them the first time, it is their turn.  It is called CUSTOMER SERVICE.  We paid you, now you deliver.  Secondly,  I know that Monday was an option because it was a date would could have picked when we originally chose the date.

Nope

Not possible.  Why?  The idiot at the warehouse could not explain why.  Why?  Because the less the people answering those calls for complaints know, the better for the people higher up.  All they care about is that they don't have to go an extra inch, let alone a mile for a customer. 

So, this is a controlled rant.  Why?  Over the years I have found it is much easier to find the root of the problem and concentrate on ranting on that root rather than the whole tree.  The associate that helped us originally, was very good at her job and did everything right.  It was the delivery company that caused the problem and then because they don't have to deal with me directly, can sit on their lazy butt and just say 'no' for no reason.  The store is at their mercy as well seeing as how they only have one delivery company. 

Now, when the fridge is delivered on Thursday, the store will be getting an email from me.  It will sing the praises of the people in the store and tear a new one in the delivery company.  I figure it should be at least worth a gift card.