Buying a refrigerator

We recently had a problem in our house with our refrigerator.  Our house came with a fancy big name unit and we found that it was having major problems.  As often happens with these kinds of things, it quickly became clear that the cost to repair was more than the cost of a new one and so we started shopping.

We looked all over the place included the big box stores, but wanted to get more personal service and ensure that someone would take away our old unit.  We eventually settled on a local appliance store figuring that a company in business for 40+ years must be doing something right.  Right?  In our case wrong!

The crazy thing is that we got all these mixed messages.  One of the reps I spoke with over the phone did a thorough analysis and told us that a Bosch unit was the only one that would fit the space vacated by our old unit.  Okay, so Bosch it is.  I was a bit concerned though because the reviews on Consumer Reports were not that favorable about Bosch and I was thinking that we should look at GE units.

I stopped by the store to discuss further and the people were completely indifferent and I left frustrated.  I was told that we could have someone come out and measure and he did.  Once again, he recommended the Bosch and I expressed my concerns and he said no problem it is great.  We also made it clear that we wanted a black refrigerator with black handles and this was committed to.  We purchased the Bosch and schedule delivery.

A day before the delivery they call us and say, "Oh by the way, we can’t make it tomorrow. Maybe in a couple of days."  Nice, thank you for the advanced warning.  They called us the next day and said "Oh, the refrigerator has stainless handles."  Uhmmm, what?  We agreed to black on black which they evidently forgot and yet again they are calling us a day before delivery!

We were so frustrated about this that we called the owner.  Here is where it gets great.  He says, "Why are you obsessed with the Bosch?  You can get something better for not much more money."  Oh my god, I was ready to strangle the guy over the phone.  I never wanted the Bosch and constantly pushed against it!

I breathed in deeply and said "We want the Bosch because your guys recommended it as the only unit that will fit in the space!"  His priceless answer was "I don’t know what they are talking about.  All the units are the same size!"  I just about blew a gasket at this point as I was so sick of the constantly changing messages.

In the end we just wanted a friggin’ refrigerator and ended up buying a GE from the same place.  The big boss gave  us a good deal because he felt bad.

In short, we tried to do the right thing and buy from a local store.  We had an expectation that the service would be better and found the complete opposite!  It is scenarios like this that make me realize why it may not be a bad thing that bix box stores are taking over the world!  I do feel disappointed though because I expected so much more and am left feeling that I will never purchase anything from this place ever again….

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2 thoughts on “Buying a refrigerator”

  1. as I told your wife…you really just can’t go wrong with Sears for appliances! 😉 Seriously, we’ve had nothing but great experiences with them. And believe me…we had to replace every single major appliance in our house.

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