why are major purchases such a pain in the ass?

[habernac]

Our dishwasher is on it's last legs, so last week, we decide to go shopping for a new one. We saw that Trail had a sale on or whatever so we headed over to see what they had to offer.

We end up finding a couple different ones we liked, talked to the salesperson and made the purchase. I let them know we'd pick it up and I would have help installing it. He assured me it would be ready Tuesday. I said great, my Dad is leaving Saturday so I need it before then (he's going to help me install it).

Anyways....Tuesday rolls around, no one calls. I figure no big deal, I'll call them Wednesday morning. So I call them up and ask if my dishawasher is in. "Oh, we're sorry, it's on back order." Uh, pardon me? How can something go from "we have it in stock at the other location, we'll get it sent here for you" to "sorry, it's on back order."?

So I ask them if they have any of the comparable model in stock. I get put on hold and a manager comes on the line. She assures me that she can get the other one there for Thursday. No problem, I say.

So, I call back on Thursday. I ask them if they have a dishwasher for me. I get the same "oh, that's on back order" comment. I ask for the manager I talked to the day before. She's not in of course, but can another manager call me back? Sure, I say and give her my number. The end of my work day comes and no phone call.

Friday morning, I call in and ask for the manager directly. She's with a customer, would I care to leave a message so she can call back. Sure. I let her know I'm not too impressed that I am still waiting for my dishwasher and ask if she can call me back right away.

2:15pm rolls around and I've run out of patience. I call and ask the person who answers who I talk to to get my money back. "Hold please". I get the manager I had left a message with. "Oh, I was just about to call you...." Forget it, I say. I'm tired of waiting and you can just issue my refund.

The fact that they couldn't even bother to call back yesterday pretty much cemented it for me. And to have me waiting for another 5 or 6 hours again today was unacceptable.

[fredr123]

Agree.

A house is probably the biggest purchase you'll ever make. Once you're prepared to make an offer, there seems to be a lot of time pressure to respond/counter/etc quickly without thinking about things too much. It's a stressful decision and all that pressure only makes things worse.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Agree.

A house is probably the biggest purchase you'll ever make. Once you're prepared to make an offer, there seems to be a lot of time pressure to respond/counter/etc quickly without thinking about things too much. It's a stressful decision and all that pressure only makes things worse.

If you think buying is stressful try on the seller's shoes, one mistake can cost you dearly, of course that goes for both sides, but from my experience the sellers tend to be more emotional about the whole thing in general, way more for their own good. The buyers are just excited.

As for habby, your first mistake was choosing the retailer that you did...I haven't heard many nice things about them personally. If you still need a dishwasher PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.

[burn_baby_burn]

I had a similar situation with a tv about 7 years ago. Personally I hate paying for anything in advnace. I have done it before. But if anything goes wrong and they allready have your money, they don't seem to care. If they still need to get your money or you walk? It is a differant story alltogether.

As for Trail. I bought all the appliances for my house there. We had a good experience, but we picked models that were on the floor. If I was in Habernac's shoes I would be livid.

[RougeUnderoos]

If you want things to get worse, go to Sears.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

If you want things to get worse, go to Sears.

and that's the thing, it sucks pretty much everywhere. I'm running out of options. Anywhere you have to deal with commisioned salespeople is pretty much a crapshoot.

[Madman]

Sounds like a typical Trail experience to me - they have the worst service in my opinion.

[Nufy]

I usually don't buy unless I can throw it in my truck and bring it with me.

Leons FTW.....

If they don't have it in stock, I buy something else.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

If you want things to get worse, go to Sears.

We bought a queen-sized bowling ball mattress from the Sears appliance place in Brentwood this past summer. Aside from taking two weeks for delivery, everything went off without a hitch.

Oh wait. They screwed up our bill. Had to spend a few hours over a couple day period talking to various and sundry customer service reps to get things sorted out.

[Slava]

Funny...Leons is probably the last place I would go at this point. We bought a new dishwasher from them about 2 months ago. It was on order, and finally delivered in the complete wrong colour!

We are still waiting and will hopefully have it delivered in December now! Perhaps the funniest part was the "thank you" card from the salesman, (At least he sent one!), wherein he hoped we were enjoying our new range!

I guess that everyone has these stories about every store.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Once you're prepared to make an offer, there seems to be a lot of time pressure to respond/counter/etc quickly without thinking about things too much. It's a stressful decision and all that pressure only makes things worse.

That's the fun part!!!

[HOOT]

It doesn't matter if you buy a cheeseburger at McDonalds or a Car from Lexus, customer service now adays is a joke and you just get passed on until the problem corrects itself.

[Ashartus]

I had a similar experience buying a couch at the Brick (I will never shop there again). I found the couch I wanted and the fabric. It was supposed to be 2-4 weeks for delivery. After 4 weeks I called, and kept getting the runaround. Eventually they said the fabric I wanted was no longer made. I asked why it took so long for them to tell me, and they said they don't get the fabric until the couch is all ready to go. Since my couch was therefore ready to go aside from the fabric, I asked if I could get a different fabric put on it instead. They said sure - that will be 4-6 weeks for delivery. Needless to say, I immediately canceled my order, left the poor customer service rep almost in tears after tearing a strip off her (I felt a bit bad about that since it probably wasn't her fault), and got a couch elsewhere.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by fredr123

We bought a queen-sized bowling ball mattress from the Sears appliance place in Brentwood this past summer. Aside from taking two weeks for delivery, everything went off without a hitch.

Oh wait. They screwed up our bill. Had to spend a few hours over a couple day period talking to various and sundry customer service reps to get things sorted out.

just bought a queen-sized bed from sears. they messed up the bill bad. salesman lied about the sale, etc. wrote a formal letter of complaint, traded a couple emails with customer service people, talked to a couple managers and ended up getting the bed for over $650 less than the regular price plus they threw in a free frame.

[jam26]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

I had a similar experience buying a couch at the Brick (I will never shop there again). I found the couch I wanted and the fabric. It was supposed to be 2-4 weeks for delivery. After 4 weeks I called, and kept getting the runaround. Eventually they said the fabric I wanted was no longer made. I asked why it took so long for them to tell me, and they said they don't get the fabric until the couch is all ready to go. Since my couch was therefore ready to go aside from the fabric, I asked if I could get a different fabric put on it instead. They said sure - that will be 4-6 weeks for delivery.

I had a similar experience with the Brick and will never set foot in one again.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by fotze

I can't believe that this is the first time you have seen this habby? That is the only crazy thing. Every single thing I go to buy is how you describe. every bill is wrong. The wife and I laugh ourselves to sleep over it. We have bets about what the salesperson will lie about.

Customer service isn't a joke. The problem is that there is a completely acceptable excuse for brutal service right now. If an employee rapes someone thy will trot out the same excuse.

Yeah, same crap everywhere. It's just disappointing.

[Rathji]

I bought my Washer/Dryer combo from Home Depot, and although I was very wary about doing so, it seems like my 5 hour late delivery was top notch service in comparison. It wasn't surprising though since we do live in the sticks and it takes a Sherpa guide to find us.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Customer service is in the crapper, but customer expectations also seem to have gone off the chart. "Respect my money - beyach!" seems to be the mantra of a lot of people, and by that I mean some unrealistic demands and expectations.

Totally depends on the salesdroid you get. I had a great experience at Trail, including a warranty claim. (Although I'm not convinced I got that great a deal for how much I spent, which was a lot). House masters home inspection or many general contractors? Distinctly Soviet.

[Mccree]

We bought a dishwasher from Trail today. NO problems as all. They had it in stock, loaded into my van and I just finished installing it (but that is a totally different story).

[redforever]

Well, we just did a major house renovation over the last year. So I purchased all new kitchen appliances, 6 in total, as well as a washer/dryer and wine fridge, also purchased all new family room furniture, new TV console, new TV, new area rugs, 2 new leather sofas, a new mattress/box spring combo and a few incidentals like accent tables and the like.

Outside of one small glitch with the mattress/boxspring, the service I received was exemplary. I purchased all my appliances from Trail. I think it will depend on if you get a salesman with a lot of past experience, or someone who is green on the floor. The guy I had has been there like forever, the service from him is always top notch. If you ever phone him and get his voice mail, you will get a return call within 2 hours unless that is his day off. I think perhaps it helped in that I have used Trail in the past and have dealt with the same salesman but I have found the service from Trail to always be a good one.

I had one small glitch on the delivery of mattress/boxspring. Like it disappeared. I could see a very similar set on the delivery truck (I had received other merchandise from the same store), the delivery people said that was for a lady in Okotoks??? So that is where I think my original set went. Anyhow, my salesperson had a new set to me within a week and it was an upgrade, so I was left a satisfied customer.

I think perhaps it is the luck of the draw. Also, try not to go shopping on a Saturday. I know it is hard if you work during the week, but it is a zoo in stores that day, but the animals in the zoo are friendlier. And I think you get frazzled sales staff on those days increasing your chances of getting bad service.