Fridge Fiasco

My wife recently got her 15-year-old wish as our side-by-side refrigerator died a few weeks ago. It had been a bit nosier than usual for a few months but I chalked that up to more use of the icemaker since we were home more. Not so much. After a weekend during which my wife said more than once that she wanted it to go, it listened.

Now the mad scramble was on to find a replacement that would fit into our house and that could be delivered quickly. Oh, and it had to be a French door fridge with bottom freezer, and it had to be black. UGH! To save time we hit the Web. After a lot of searching we finally found a suitable model at a big box store that would fit (according to the specs), that got good user ratings, and that we could get in a week. Score! Or so we thought.

Luckily we have an extra fridge in the basement (that would be the beer fridge) and we were able to fit all the salvageable food & stuff into that fridge and freezer by consolidating the beer – didn’t have to sacrifice any of it. We used a cooler for some and to have ice for drinks, etc. After a week of making sandwiches on the dryer and often making multiple trips down and up the stairs for forgotten ingredients, we were looking forward to getting the new unit so all our food and meal prep stuff would once again be in the kitchen – no more steps!

Delivery day came and the truck pulled up without the “on the way” call we were supposed to get and the crew came into the house to measure our doorways. The lead was clearly not having a good day and he quickly told me that I would have to remove a piece of molding in the doorway from our dining room to the kitchen in order to fit the fridge through. He showed me the dimensions on the box that were ½ inch larger than the specs I had seen on the manufacturer’s site, in the manual, and on the store’s site. I was a bit stunned but commenced the destruction to get that extra clearance while my wife and I asked the crew to get the old fridge ready to remove and get the new one ready to bring in. Both needed the doors removed which is standard procedure for fridge installs as most homes do not have large enough doorways for the whole unit. Instead they sat in their truck for a couple of minutes and then announced they were leaving – and drove away. The molding was off and my wife was on the phone with their company when they pulled that stunt. UGH again!

The delivery company informed us that they would re-deliver in a week. No priority given and no accountability on the crew. A call to the big box store yielded pretty much the same result, though after going to the store to physically measure the unit – which we should have done in the first place – we did get the name of the department manager to contact. Next day my wife was able to speak with her and she was appalled at the delivery crew’s behavior as this big box store just switched to the delivery service after firing the old one for exactly the same thing. While being empathetic, she was not able to do anything to help us with the fridge as the finger-pointing game continued with neither company held to account for the debacle, and another week without a fridge for us. The worst part was the molding did not need to come off. The measurements in the specs had been correct and there was a little over ½ inch clearance in the doorway. We are working with the big box store to get it fixed, but are not holding out much hope that they will take responsibility for the damage.

Fast forward to delivery day take-2 and the same crew pulling up with our fridge. After a rocky start with the lead, he and I measured the fridge and the doorway again, and agreed on how it could be moved into the kitchen, By taking off 2 little plastic spacer tabs, and of course the doors, it fit with room to spare – again, the molding didn’t need to be removed. The crew was careful and thorough, and did a nice job on the install, even connecting to the existing water line, so I decided to go the good karma route. I had been debating not tipping them and telling them that the tip was there last week but thought better of it. They did a good job, spent almost an hour here, and deserved a good tip for the work. As he was leaving the lead apologized for the previous week. Hey, I know those guys have a tough job but I also know there are standards of customer service that go with that job.

The moral of this story is buyer beware. Too often we shop on the Web because it is convenient, and I’ll take the hit for this one that cost us a week without a fridge and an expensive repair job. Had we gone to the store and measured the unit ourselves we would have avoided the whole mess and would have had the new fridge a week sooner.

For all who buy everything via the Web: What happens when Web purchasing pushes stores out of business? Customer service will be gone, the ability to physically see and try items will be gone, personal service will be gone, accountability of merchants and vendors will be gone – it’s already fading fast. Think about that the next time you opt for a Web purchase instead of going to the store – at least for the major stuff.