[big guy]

We have been without a refrigerator since November 29, when it stopped working. We have been eating 2 meals a day out. We lost $400 worth of food. We have had an extended warranty on our refrigerator so the cost of the repair has not been a problem. However, everytime they diagnosed the problem and had to order parts, Lowes had to give their approval which slowed the entire process down. I am not going to get into the diagnosis except to say, if you buy an appliance these days, buy an extended warranty since the appliances are mostly junk. It's 2020 and you would think 'we' could produce an appliance that would last a while. Not so.

So after 7 weeks of farting around with repairs the repairman said, "It's not possible to repair this thing. I am going to recommend that they pay you for a new refrigerator". They (the extended warranty people) did that the same day. So off to Lowes to buy a refrigerator. No luck. They had a big sale on Black Friday, which depleted their warehouse supply, it would have been 6 weeks before we got a delivery. So we ran down the road to Home Depot. The salesman is nice, we find a fridge, give the man our credit card, schedule a day for delivery (Wednesday) and leave. We get a phone call at 7:30 am on Wednesday from the delivery company. "Our trucks our running late so we can't deliver until Thursday between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." In my just-got-out-of-bed-state, I can't make sense of how at 7:30 in the morning, the trucks are running late but I ignored it and said OK. I had an 11:15 am appointment and my husband was here and since the delivery time was 3:30 or after, I didn't worry about it. I arrived home at 11:55 with plenty of time to spare only to walk in and learn that the delivery people were here and left and we had no refrigerator. My husband was on the phone and was being very loud. He gives me the phone and I asked what happened. The delivery boss says, "We've been there 2 days in a row and no one has been home." "What!?" says I, "that's not true. Someone was here both days and we weren't supposed to get delivery yesterday. It was supposed to be today between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." "No Ma'm", the boss says, " the delivery time was 11am to 3:30pm". We talked, I used language unbecoming to a lady, I cried a little and they wouldn't come back. We talked to people at Lady Lake Home Depot, Home Depot headquarters, and we got nothing except delivery, which had been suggested for Saturday was now suggested for next Wednesday. Nothing left to do but cancel the order and go elsewhere. In summary, Home Depot tells you one thing and does another, too many people are involved in handling your purchase or order, and communication is sorely lacking. Thanks for letting me vent but I also hope that you will remember this if you make a purchase that might need delivery or customer service from Home Depot somewhere down the road. We had a similar situation in the purchase and installation of a door a couple of years ago. That was settled amicably but who needs the stress!

[retiredguy123]

I understand that Home Depot relies on the manufacturer to deliver their appliances, so different brands will come from different places. But, Lowes has their own trucks and their own employees to deliver their appliances. So, they have total control over the delivery. Also, Lowes will allow 30 day returns for almost any reason, but Home Depot will not. It is better to buy appliances from Lowes.

[Chatbrat]

We never buy extended warranties on anything, the seller of the warranty is betting the item won't need repair, while you're betting its going to fail

Get the simplest appliance , that easy to repair or if necessary won't break the bank to replace--we plan on junking washer/dryer every 8 years, the same goes for the hot water heater--a/c--10 years-- replace before they fail

[dewilson58]

Both Lowe's & HD use independent contractors for deliveries. There is a whole industry out there, "Last Mile".


Usually Lowe's and HD require the manufacturers to line up the IC's. IC's can have the store's logo's on their units. Very difficult job. $75/stop.


Remember the Florida lady killed by the IC. Be careful. 99% are okay.

[retiredguy123]

I agree with not buying extended warranties. You are stuck with whoever the warranty company sends to your house and their schedule. Often, the repair person will come from out of town because the high quality repair companies won't do business with the warranty company. Do you want to wait 2 to 5 days to get an air conditioner repaired when there are at least 6 or so companies in The Villages who will come to your house the same day? According to Clark Howard, the consumer expert, extended warranty companies only pay out about 8 percent of the money they collect in premiums to repair appliances.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Both Lowe's & HD use independent contractors for deliveries. There is a whole industry out there, "Last Mile".


Usually Lowe's and HD require the manufacturers to line up the IC's. IC's can have the store's logo's on their units. Very difficult job. $75/stop.


Remember the Florida lady killed by the IC. Be careful. 99% are okay.

Lowes must have changed their policy. My washer and dryer were delivered to my house a few years ago by a guy who was a Lowes employee and driving a Lowes truck.

[karostay]

Thats what happens when big box pushes everone out of the game

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

We never buy extended warranties on anything, the seller of the warranty is betting the item won't need repair, while you're betting its going to fail

Get the simplest appliance , that easy to repair or if necessary won't break the bank to replace--we plan on junking washer/dryer every 8 years, the same goes for the hot water heater--a/c--10 years-- replace before they fail

Check your credit card benefits. With Citi we get 2% cash back and they double the lenght of warranties on anyting you buy except autos and one other item which I can't remember. That is a super benefit.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Check your credit card benefits. With Citi we get 2% cash back and they double the lenght of warranties on anyting you buy except autos and one other item which I can't remember. That is a super benefit.

Can you be more specific? The Citi credit card department told me that they do not offer a credit card that extends warranties on anything.

FYI, here is an update:

"Due to Citi recently cutting benefits across its entire range of rewards cards, extended warranty cover is no longer offered on the Citi® Double Cash Card."

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by big guy

We have been without a refrigerator since November 29, when it stopped working. We have been eating 2 meals a day out. We lost $400 worth of food. We have had an extended warranty on our refrigerator so the cost of the repair has not been a problem. However, everytime they diagnosed the problem and had to order parts, Lowes had to give their approval which slowed the entire process down. I am not going to get into the diagnosis except to say, if you buy an appliance these days, buy an extended warranty since the appliances are mostly junk. It's 2020 and you would think 'we' could produce an appliance that would last a while. Not so.

So after 7 weeks of farting around with repairs the repairman said, "It's not possible to repair this thing. I am going to recommend that they pay you for a new refrigerator". They (the extended warranty people) did that the same day. So off to Lowes to buy a refrigerator. No luck. They had a big sale on Black Friday, which depleted their warehouse supply, it would have been 6 weeks before we got a delivery. So we ran down the road to Home Depot. The salesman is nice, we find a fridge, give the man our credit card, schedule a day for delivery (Wednesday) and leave. We get a phone call at 7:30 am on Wednesday from the delivery company. "Our trucks our running late so we can't deliver until Thursday between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." In my just-got-out-of-bed-state, I can't make sense of how at 7:30 in the morning, the trucks are running late but I ignored it and said OK. I had an 11:15 am appointment and my husband was here and since the delivery time was 3:30 or after, I didn't worry about it. I arrived home at 11:55 with plenty of time to spare only to walk in and learn that the delivery people were here and left and we had no refrigerator. My husband was on the phone and was being very loud. He gives me the phone and I asked what happened. The delivery boss says, "We've been there 2 days in a row and no one has been home." "What!?" says I, "that's not true. Someone was here both days and we weren't supposed to get delivery yesterday. It was supposed to be today between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." "No Ma'm", the boss says, " the delivery time was 11am to 3:30pm". We talked, I used language unbecoming to a lady, I cried a little and they wouldn't come back. We talked to people at Lady Lake Home Depot, Home Depot headquarters, and we got nothing except delivery, which had been suggested for Saturday was now suggested for next Wednesday. Nothing left to do but cancel the order and go elsewhere. In summary, Home Depot tells you one thing and does another, too many people are involved in handling your purchase or order, and communication is sorely lacking. Thanks for letting me vent but I also hope that you will remember this if you make a purchase that might need delivery or customer service from Home Depot somewhere down the road. We had a similar situation in the purchase and installation of a door a couple of years ago. That was settled amicably but who needs the stress!

Could I ask what brand of appliance that was not repairable? I hope things work out for you.

[John_W]

My neighbor and myself have both used Best Buy. In April 2018 I bought a new LG top load stainless washer & dryer. They matched the 10% veteran discount of Lowes, were $80 cheaper than Home Depot, and went lower and gave us a $100 store credit card. Had them delivered and they arrived on time.

Lowes delivers from the store you purchase from, so the inventory at individual stores is going to be much less than a central wareshouse in the Orlando area, which is what Best Buy uses.

In July of 2018 we bought a 75" Samsung 4K TV and in October 2018 we bought an LG stainless refrigerator, stove, micro-wave hood and dishwasher. All delivered on time and set up by the Best Buy delivery crew.

Before I selected the make, models and Best Buy, I opened a browser window for Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy and Amazon and read reviews from all the stores for a day on these items, looking for the brands and models with the fewest complaints. Then compared prices and Best Buy came out ahead and had the models I wanted in stock. For example on the washer I learned the front loaders had problems with leaks and mold on the door gasket. So then I read top loaders and even though LG front loaders had complaints, their top load washers had the best reviews and the less complaints, and went from there with the dryer and so on until I had make all my selections.

[gatorbill1]

We purchased a new fridge last year after last one was not repairable. After reading about what ALL brands had for reliability, we bought our first extended warranty. There was not one brand that did not have many problems in first five years, both ice maker and refrigerator. I was told the new life expected for refrigerators was 3-5 years??

[petsetc]

Another vote for Best Buy. Up North 18 months ago I bought a Samsung kitchen suite which took 9 attempts to get delivered due to Samsung's contract service (GE deliveries). While the store was most helpful, they were not even allowed to communicate with the delivery service, thay had to go through GE Deliveries. Finally got it right, and the delivery service compensated my $150. for my "inconvenience".

In Jan 2019 we bought an "open box special" high-end LG refrigerator from Best Buy. It was delivered and didn't work properly (fortunately we still had our old and still working refrig). I personally went to BB and had conversation with the very helpful manager whose resolution to my issue was to replace the open box unit with a NEW unit. Took about a week total. So for my money BB is the place.

[Aw Man]

Originally Posted by big guy

We have been without a refrigerator since November 29, when it stopped working. We have been eating 2 meals a day out. We lost $400 worth of food. We have had an extended warranty on our refrigerator so the cost of the repair has not been a problem. However, everytime they diagnosed the problem and had to order parts, Lowes had to give their approval which slowed the entire process down. I am not going to get into the diagnosis except to say, if you buy an appliance these days, buy an extended warranty since the appliances are mostly junk. It's 2020 and you would think 'we' could produce an appliance that would last a while. Not so.

So after 7 weeks of farting around with repairs the repairman said, "It's not possible to repair this thing. I am going to recommend that they pay you for a new refrigerator". They (the extended warranty people) did that the same day. So off to Lowes to buy a refrigerator. No luck. They had a big sale on Black Friday, which depleted their warehouse supply, it would have been 6 weeks before we got a delivery. So we ran down the road to Home Depot. The salesman is nice, we find a fridge, give the man our credit card, schedule a day for delivery (Wednesday) and leave. We get a phone call at 7:30 am on Wednesday from the delivery company. "Our trucks our running late so we can't deliver until Thursday between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." In my just-got-out-of-bed-state, I can't make sense of how at 7:30 in the morning, the trucks are running late but I ignored it and said OK. I had an 11:15 am appointment and my husband was here and since the delivery time was 3:30 or after, I didn't worry about it. I arrived home at 11:55 with plenty of time to spare only to walk in and learn that the delivery people were here and left and we had no refrigerator. My husband was on the phone and was being very loud. He gives me the phone and I asked what happened. The delivery boss says, "We've been there 2 days in a row and no one has been home." "What!?" says I, "that's not true. Someone was here both days and we weren't supposed to get delivery yesterday. It was supposed to be today between 3:30 and 7:30 pm." "No Ma'm", the boss says, " the delivery time was 11am to 3:30pm". We talked, I used language unbecoming to a lady, I cried a little and they wouldn't come back. We talked to people at Lady Lake Home Depot, Home Depot headquarters, and we got nothing except delivery, which had been suggested for Saturday was now suggested for next Wednesday. Nothing left to do but cancel the order and go elsewhere. In summary, Home Depot tells you one thing and does another, too many people are involved in handling your purchase or order, and communication is sorely lacking. Thanks for letting me vent but I also hope that you will remember this if you make a purchase that might need delivery or customer service from Home Depot somewhere down the road. We had a similar situation in the purchase and installation of a door a couple of years ago. That was settled amicably but who needs the stress!

A different take about Home Depot:
We've been a Home Depot customer for over 20 years and have purchased many, many items from them on a furnish, deliver and install basis. We've never experienced anything like you are describing. We've always been more than pleased with customer service and communications with HD and their subcontractors and suppliers.

[big guy]

Originally Posted by New Englander

Could I ask what brand of appliance that was not repairable? I hope things work out for you.

It was Whirlpool, it was two years old and had the first major repair at 13 months. Before that it was a Samsung, 3 years old. We were told by multiple sales people at different stores that appliances, especially refrigerators, aren't like they used to be. Even the repairmen who came here told us the same thing. They said IF you get 3 years out of a refrigerator, you are lucky, so buy an extended warranty. We have never purchased an extended warranty until we bought the Whirlpool. The cost of repairing the Samsung was terrible.

I want to clarify that the repairman said it was not repairable because Lowes and the extended warranty company were not willing to put more money into it. They had replaced the compressor and a fan. When he came back it was the compressor again.

Also, the delivery people are independent contractors, not employees of Lowes or Home Depot.