Customer Service? HA!
It's an upside-down world and no one seems to care about customer satisfaction or service. You absolutely won't believe this story. It has me questioning my sanity!
Our Dacor oven went on the fritz last Sunday (July 20). And since we have a home warranty on our appliances, I called the insurance company to report the problem. Of course, no one works there on Sunday, just the voice mail system. I left a message after the prompts assured me I would be contacted first thing Monday during regular business hours.By late Monday afternoon no one had called me back, so I called again and reported my problem.
A repairman named Michael (his company will remain anonymous) called me a short time later and told me the soonest he could come to look at the oven would be on Wednesday. So on Wednesday, he came at the appointed time and proceeded to determine what was wrong with the oven. He found the relay board was not working. He then told me that part might take 3 to 4 weeks to get; Dacor, he said, was very bad about making parts available. I said that time frame was totally unacceptable. I told him that I was going to call Dacor to see why it will take that long.
I asked Michael for the part number of the relay board so I could get the necessary information from Dacor on how to get the part faster. He eventually and rather reluctantly, gave me the number. He said he needed to get an authorization for the part from the Home Warranty Company before he ordered it. And I told him I would see if Dacor would rush the part or tell us where it was available in this area.
Well, I spoke to the folks at Dacor, gave them the part number and they told me there are 7 of them sitting on shelves at 2 different appliance parts companies in the Phoenix/Mesa area. I called Michael and he said he already ordered the part from his supplier and cannot stop the order. According to him, it will take 10 days (maybe longer) to get the part because it is a special order. I said stop the order and get the part where they have it in stock. He said he can't stop the order and has to pay for the part even if it is canceled. Why he didn't wait to hear from me knowing I was contacting Dacor about that part, I'll never know.
All I do know is that he made an error in judgment and special-ordered a part that is available in this area. I realize it is no inconvenience for him or Land America. I am the one who has to wait 10 days to 2 weeks for my oven to be fixed. Had Michael gone to a Dacor parts dealer, the oven could have been fixed last week.
The Land America Home Warranty Company is not going to do anything for methey are standing by their man (even if he did make a foolish mistake). The Home Warranty contract says they are not responsible for delays due to labor difficulties, weather, delivery problems, availability of parts.." But it adds: beyond our control. To my way of thinking, this is clearly within their control since 7 of these relay boards are available in this area. It is the repairman's error and I am being penalized for it.
Seriously, I do not understand this whole chain of events. Why didn't Michael call around to see if the part was available locally before he special ordered it? Clearly he was aware he could not return the part. After all, he should know about their policy; he told me he deals with this company for all his parts except when they don't have them in stock—then he uses another company—the company that stocks Dacor products!
0 comments