So I wrote a while back that our dishwasher up and died Friday, February 8. Bob and I looked at new dishwashers on our weekend away, but we still do not actually have a dishwasher. It's been quite an experience. Here's what's happened, and is happening, for those (like Melinda!) who are curious.
We read the Consumer Reports article on dishwashers at the library on Saturday, Feb. 9. Their top recommendation is the Sears 1374. We finally decided we would get that one (as opposed to the cheaper Whirlpool that was a Best Buy, but not so highly ranked) on Sunday, but when we were in the process of buying it, the not-very-helpful Sears salesman Derek told us we wouldn't be able to get it until Tuesday. Well, that stunk, since we really wanted to pick it up Monday so my dad could help Bob put it in. We were really hungry, so we just left without buying it then.
Bob went back to Sears on Thursday, Feb. 14, to actually buy it. Derek was still there, and this time he told Bob we couldn't get it until Feb. 23. This was frustrating, but oh well. We laid in a stock of paper plates and prepared to wait things out.
After that, Bob thought that maybe we should get stainless instead of black. Saturday we all went back to Sears to look at the stainless one and see if we should change our order. Well, Derek told us this time that we couldn't get a stainless one until March 1, either pick-up or delivery. Forget that!
Coincidentally, my brother Dan and his wife Melinda down in Texas were also looking for a dishwasher that same day! They decided they wanted a Bosch, so they went to Lowes and bought one, getting it price-matched to the cheaper Sears price. After we left Sears, we headed over to Lowes to check out Dan and Melinda's model, since we're nosy. Nice! Very nice! Quieter, with a stainless steel tub inside, and a Bosch name. Hmmmm.
After the kids went to bed Saturday night, Bob got on the computer. We didn't think there were any other Sears really close, but it turns out there is another one not too terribly far away. On the Sears website it showed that they had the stainless one in stock and available for store pick-up the next day. So Bob bought that on-line. Yay! Well, the next day I stayed home from church with the girls, and around 1:00 we got an email from Sears saying that, lo and behold, that model of dishwasher actually was NOT in stock, so they cancelled our order. When Bob got home, he called that Sears. Ahmed, the salesman at that store, told Bob that we actually could pick one up at their distribution warehouse (the same one that the Sears close to us uses) on Thursday, Feb. 21. Well, that's a whole lot sooner than March 1, but Bob asked him how come they have a "next-day delivery guarantee" on their website. Ahmed eventually said that was only for delivery. Bob said he'd much rather have them deliver it--he only said pick-up because he thought it would be faster, since the web site had said "available for store pick-up"! So then Ahmed said that it could be delivered Monday (yesterday). Bob signed up for that deal, but the whole exchange left us scratching our heads:
1. Why was the other store able to get things so much faster than the times Derek was giving us?
2. Why did it seem like if you said the magic word ("Next-day guarantee"), then all of a sudden you moved to the top of the list? Why did no one at either store ever say anything about this?
3. Why didn't Derek at least check around with other stores? If they all share the same warehouse, and evidentally there were ones in the warehouse, then . . .
4. Was Derek's lack of desire to expend any extra effort at all for us indicative of what we could expect for future customer service from Sears, especially in the hopefully unlikely event of there being a problem with the dishwasher? (Actually we had some other concerns in this area. Until the time when we brought in all the kids, Derek had a bit of an attitude with us. When Bob went in on Thursday to buy it, Derek said, "Hey, aren't you the guy that needed it in such a hurry on Sunday?" When Bob told him that is was because his father-in-law was in town, and he was hoping for his help, but now he had gone, Derek said, "Well, that's good, 'cause you're not getting it until Feb. 23!" Definitely not feeling our pain, LOL. Also, when just Bob and I were there, I was looking at cooktops and overheard a really weird phone call that Derek was having with a dis-satisfied customer. It was obvious she wasn't happy, and then Derek started dropping the phone on the counter! It was so bizarre! He would say something like, "I don't know what happened . . ." but there was a group of salesmen standing around snickering. Yeah . . . not sure what his deal was, but I didn't really look forward to dealing with him anymore.)
So, long story short, Bob and I just really didn't feel comfortable with the whole Sears situation. We ended up cancelling the delivery that would have come yesterday, and Bob went to Lowes and bought the same Bosch dishwasher that Dan and Melinda just bought. We'll have dishwasher twins, LOL. It should be delivered on Thursday. I'll let you know if it actually happens. Totally weird.
7 comments:
I've been thinking about you and that dishwasher situation. You're not the first that I've heard having bad luck at Sears. We got our refrigerator from there a couple of years ago and haven't had too many issues.
Did you go with black or stainless steel? Mel
Good luck getting everything settled with your dishwasher. My Washing Machine chose this weekend to start having trouble. So I still don't have last weekends laundry done. :(
It's black, Mel--just like yours. We figured you all are so wise, we would just copy you! Actually, we agree that the black in the Bosch looks really stylish and elegant.
Definitely Bizarre. Where's the CUSTOMER SERVICE these days??Sheesh. Sounds like you're getting a gucci...I mean a winner of a washing machine though!!!! (I'm drooling, just so ya know!) Enjoy...you deserve it. Oh the things that float your boat when you have a quiverfull, eh?
Sounds like somebody works on commission and has come to think he's entitled to it, regardless of his service level. Personally, I'd be making a little note to the store manager, the general manager, and possibly cc'ing it via the website. >:-( FWIW, we avoid the Sears out here, too, unless it's a product we *know*, inside and out.
You know, we bought ours from Lowe's, and we had fantastic customer service. There are so many little things about dishwashers that we didn't know, and therefore didn't know to ask. So when we asked the simple question, "What makes this one $200 more expensive than, say, that one?" the sales associate went into this absolutely fantastic demo about the little things (like deeper baskets, water dispensation system, quality of the grinder in the bottom, seals, etc.) WOW. We did end up spending more than we'd planned, but we were also able to do so with comfort b/c we didn't feel we were getting jaked on the product at all, or paying for things we'll never use, or worse- not paying for, and not getting, things we sure do love and appreciate!
Enjoy your new dishwasher!
Woah! That does sound quite odd, but I hope getting it from Lowes works out alright.
Derek the Disgruntled Dishwasher Dealer. How's that for alliteration?
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