May 12, 2015

Paging Mr. Asshole

Despite the impression you may form from reading these pages I do not enjoy getting angry. In fact, I am a pretty even-keeled guy. But, when I get pissed it turns ugly and usually pretty loud. My anger takes a bit to kick in, then it goes from zero to eleven in record time.

When we moved to the 'burbs we bought a whole kitchen of appliances from retailer H.H. Gregg. We bought the extended warranty, mostly because they discounted the cost of the appliances so that the warranty was practically free, but we still paid for it.

Last fall the "stove top is on" warning light ( it is a glass top electric range) came on and would not go off. After navigating through the phone mail hell, I finally got a service call scheduled; albeit three weeks out. They did not show up. I rescheduled. They did not show up. I said the heck with it.

My 'fridge has started making a popping sound when you open the left French door. So I navigated phone mail hell once again. I scheduled the range repair yet again and then told them about the door popping. The response was pretty much "too bad". According to H.H. Gregg, if it is not an electric or mechanical issue it is not covered. I told him it was clearly a mechanical issue. It did not make the noise when new. The right door does not make the noise, therefore there is something mechanically wrong with the hinge. The man says if it still cools food then the noise is not covered.

Mr. Asshole made an abrupt appearance. I called bullshit. I mentioned their failure to show twice as evidence of H.H. Gregg's worthless customer service, and coupled with this failure to honor the warranty makes me confident they will never get a penny from me going forward. The Supervisor started down the path of  'if the service company did not show up, my issue is with them'. I stopped that nonsense in the starting blocks. I don't care who H.H. Gregg hires to do the service work, my contract is with H.H. Gregg. Apparently mechanical issues only apply if the door actually falls off the hinge. Well fuck H.H. Gregg.  This is not finished.  I think I'll go to the store and make a scene. A loud "H.H. Gregg will not honor their extended warranty" in front of potential customers on a busy Saturday often has a strong effect. I often get my way.

5 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

Sign in the car window, parked in their lot.

hey teacher... said...

Your son taping you encounter on his phone may help. I intentionally left your wife out not knowing her tolerance for public displays of consumer outrage. My wife is now at the point of dealing with these #%^*+=<€£¥_\| that she would be wearing a Howard Beale t-shirt wielding a machete and there would be a serviceman at your door within 24.
Don, I wish you well in this tilt.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Frankly, I think you're better off buying major appliances from Lowe's or Home Depot these days.

We bought a clothes washer several years ago from Lowe's and the pump motor died within warranty. One phone call and I had their third-party repair service out here within a couple of days. They were polite, fixed it, cleaned up after themselves, and it's worked fine ever since.

Dan O. said...

"The customer is always right" adage certainly doesn't apply anymore, does it?

I once walked out of a car dealership, loudly proclaiming, so the 20 or so other customer's heard me, "Fine, you don't want my money, I'll take my business else where." This was after the Sales Mgr. told me "There is no CASH price for this car." I was already pre-approved at my bank for a loan & he and his sales slave wanted me only to finance through them.

No CASH price? Not a very good sales tactic if you ask me. I don't tolerate assholes well, either, Joe.

Anonymous said...

Never buy extended warranties!

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