Dropped off the vacuum head AND the pole it came with so that there could be no excuse for it falling off again. Left.
Of course, somehow my request isn't so urgent and they took another four days to get the work done. When I came in to collect my stuff, they tried to just pass off the vacuum head on me without my testing it. And my pole? Go find my pole.
Sure enough, it never snapped in properly, but would fall right off. No way you could vacuum that way, let alone take that heavy vacuum head up and down the stairs still attached. This is NOT fixed, I told the guy.
Oh.
Well... (fiddles, wastes time... he's probably hoping I'll just say "nevermind" and leave... my, he's taking forever) LOOK! I fixed it! See this part here? I replaced it! And there was a tab inside here that's supposed to click in to the (blah blah... on and on he goes) So you have to feel this. No, reach in and look! I replaced it.
Fine. I reach in and "feel" the replacement part. Mm-hmm. But see, it still falls off the pole. So it's not fixed.
Silence. Oh, my, is it uncomfortable. I can just tell he's waiting for me to cave, tell him it's ok, or whatever. I'm staring at him and silent myself.
"Ok," he says. "Give me 15 minutes." I leave wondering what crap he's gonna pull next, and return in 25 minutes. The work hasn't even started. He "just wants to show me something."
Look, look, look. The Riccar company sent me defective parts! See how this NEW vacuum head works, but yours doesn't? Look at this... (droning on and on about how impossible it is to repair the vacuum with bad parts).
Um, ok. So, are you going to fix it?
Silence. But I'm pretty angry right now, and the silence is only uncomfortable insofar as I am biting my tongue.
Well... (rummages around the store) ok... it'll just be a minute. I fold my arms and wait. Meanwhile the vacuum saleslady is regaling G with all the cool vacuums. Thankfully G didn't ask me to buy a new one.
Finally, the vacuum is fixed! It works! It's great! Do you know what he did to fix it? He took a NEW vacuum, and robbed just the part that was "defective" in mine and replaced it with the floor model's. So, problem solved. But if I were buying a new vacuum, I would want a NEW vacuum. Not one that's been messed with and repaired and had parts removed and put in again. Maybe it doesn't matter to you. But to me? Well, I'm picky. I'm going to another dealer or buying a new vacuum before I go back to this guy. And I have half a mind to call corporate anyway because if it were MY company? I would not want my dealers to jerk customers around like that.
The vacuum is a great product. The service I got? Wasn't.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
I would def still complain to Corp. They seemed like they were just hoping you would give up and they would get your money for not doing their jobs correctly.
ReplyDeleteYou should totally call the company. They probably don't want their name associated with that kind of service. I think it's possible to complain while being nice and polite.
ReplyDeleteNot that I excel at that kind of thing. But I've heard of it.
I'd definitely be complaining to headquarters. This guy was clearly hoping you'd just give up and buy a new vacuum cleaner or go away.
ReplyDeleteYou were far calmer (on the surface) than I would have been. I love your silent, "waiting him out" approach.
I've had very good luck sending a calm, polite letter to the company's CEO via certified mail. From experience, I can tell you that Lowe's and Home Depot did nothing until I sent certified letters. And then they were quite lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI escaped from blogland -- I didn't have anything nice to say about my life so I just wasn't saying anything.
ReplyDeleteSo, I am catching up. I had fully intended on reading without commenting...
But, about a week ago David came to me, "I 'gret to inform you that I broke the ba-cuum!" He had been playing jump rope with the hose and cracked the part that fits into the machine. I got a run around too. But, it only took 2 days to get it fixed... and it ended up costing less than $20. They replaced the cracked piece. There first person said I had to buy a whole new $50 hose.
Dumb...