Our refrigerator started leaking around the water filter. It’s a steady drip, not a torrent, but it still made a big mess inside the fridge. We managed to fit a bowl under the drip, but we need to notice that it’s filling up and empty it or it still makes a mess.
The part that’s leaking can be replaced. I have used appliancepartspros.com in the past. I checked with them, and they had the part available. At the top of their web page, right above their logo, they proclaim “2 Day Quick Delivery!” as you can see above. Notice that it isn’t a link, and there’s no asterisk. That appears to be the whole story.
I have come to absolutely expect that things will take longer to get to this island than advertised, so when I placed the order on 14Aug and then was told that the delivery date was 04Sep — three weeks instead of two days — I was disappointed but not surprised. They sent me a FedEx tracking link which reiterated the 04Sep delivery date and was updated to say that they had the package and it was “on the way.” But then on 19Aug the tracking page stopped updating. There were no changes for weeks. Then, after the 04Sep delivery date came and went, there was a change. Instead of promising the delivery by 04Sep, the page changed to read “We’ll add a delivery date as soon as your package starts moving.”
So here’s how it’s gone…
- Your part will arrive in 2 days
- Now we have your money, your part will arrive in 3 weeks
- We’ve now shipped your part, and it’s on the way and will arrive in 3 weeks
- (three weeks later) We’ll let you know as soon as your part starts moving!?!
I sent an email to the vendor’s customer service email address and heard… nothing.
After another few days, I used their sucky online contact form and suggested that, since it had been five weeks since the order, perhaps it was time I requested a chargeback from my credit card company.
That got a response saying “The usual time frame for an economy order to Hawaii is 4-6 weeks.” and “I would advise waiting another couple of weeks to see if it arrives.” In other words…
They’ve known from the beginning that I wasn’t going to get my order in two days, or in three weeks, but “usual[ly] 4-6 weeks.”
So why lie? They caused me to spend time and effort trying to track the package. They set up expectations that they had no intention of fulfilling. I had to waste my time twice trying to contact their customer service. They had to expend resources answering my inquiries, though they tried to avoid that by totally ignoring my first inquiry. This hardly builds confidence in their competency and willingness to take care of their customers. And, ultimately, it results in dissatisfied customers like me posting negative reports of their experiences like this one.
And what’s up with FedEx, putting up a tracking page that says “we had your package three weeks ago, we don’t know anything about it now, but we’ll let you know the next time we see it”?
As it stands, it has now been over five weeks since I placed my order. I have no target delivery date, just “wait another couple of weeks.” All this grief could have been avoided with just a few honest words up front.
—2p