Another bad customer service story

[FleetsidePaul]

My wife bought a new refrigerator. A real nice one with all the bells and whistles.

Lowes delivered it and set it up. Everything was good.

Then it wasn't. A day later it didn't work. The ice in the freezer was melted. The fridge was on but it wasn't cold.

So. She calls Lowes and they tell her to call the manufacturer LG. She calls LG and they tell her that it's Lowes problem and to call them back. After calling both of them for a month they get on a conference call and proceed to point fingers at each other. Neither one of them will do anything. They wont replace it. They won't send anyone out to fix it. Nothing.

She has spent hours on the phone with both companies and we still have a $3,100 dead fridge. This has been going on since last May. They sold her a pile of junk and refuse to do anything about it. The warranty doesn't seem to be worth anything. They are well aware of the problem. What good is a warranty if they refuse to honor it?

They did pay us $200 for spoiled food. So they acknowledge that there is a problem but we're still getting no help on fixing the problem. Just excuses. It's always the other guys problem.

I will NEVER buy another LG product or shop at Lowes. This is ridiculous.

If anyone wants a warm beer. I have some in my fridge. And just for S&G we can call Lowes or LG and get put on hold for a hour.

[blazer2007]

A friend bought one with the cold water dispenser and the line broke 6 months or so later at night and flooded the upstairs and wrecked all the hardwood floor. House ins. paid for the fix but still a pain and house ins. went up. I also know a guy who fixes appliances and he had a row of these fridges from LG and told me they can,t be fixed, no parts or too expensive to fix

[mongocanfly]

Dang...that's sad...so far I've never had a issue with lowes or warranty .. only thing I bought from them that I had a problem with was a washing machine..had a tech out the next day..
My sister just bought a new freezer a couple weeks ago..it quit..they gave her a number to call ..they told her it would be 3 weeks out for a service call..??????? ..really...she called a local guy that looked it over and found the problem...he said itd be at least 2 weeks to get parts..

[72c20customcamper]

Sorry about your experience . Learned long ago to buy appliances from a local appliance store. We use Sohns in Walden ny bought a Miele dishwasher from them worked great for years and when it went down they sent someone out and fixed it the next day , Been in business since the early 1900s . May pay a little more but the service is stellar.

[Big Kev-O]

This is one of the reasons I use my Costco Citibank Visa for large purchases. Card has a protection plan that even covers negligence. If you paid with card you might want to try and contact your credit card company and see if there is any way they can assist. They may be able to pull the payment back from Lowes. Lowes might think they are untouchable but Visa may hand them a smack down.

[Warrens69GMC]

I would have taken it to the store for a refund/exchange the same week. If the local store gives push back call corporate until it gets approved.

Always pay with credit card, if they refuse refund, tell them you will be doing a charge back and you delivered the merchandise to the store

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by Big Kev-O

This is one of the reasons I use my Costco Citibank Visa for large purchases. Card has a protection plan that even covers neglect. If you paid with card you might want to try and contact your credit card company and see if there is any way they can assist. They may be able to pull the payment back from Lowes. Lowes might think they are untouchable but Visa may hand them a smack down.

Good info and advice!

Paul, sorry about your fridge. What a pain!

[Rich84]

Lg appliances are garbage.

I had a great experience with Lowe's. They took care of our problem immediately. I think it goes by the local management.

[Blue GMC]

LG never again my fridge is rusting on the front. I thought rust was only for old cars and trucks

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

Sorry about your experience . Learned long ago to buy appliances from a local appliance store.

Ditto that. We buy our appliances from a "local" (one hour away) appliance store that's been in business a long time. Their stuff is competitively priced and they seem to have good advice. When our nearly-new over-the-range microwave broke, they replaced it, no problem.

Haven't used Lowe's much but we did get our Generac there. Took them forever to find it when we went to pick it up. Our neighbor brought it home (an hour away, like everything else) on a borrowed trailer, we unpacked it and the front panel was caved in a bit, probably from a forklift. Many calls to Lowe's and Generac got nothing but finger pointing. Lowe's finally agreed to a small payment and I got the panel mostly straightened out.

We've had pretty good luck with LG TV sets -- our major appliances are either Maytag or KitchenAid.

Sorry about your fridge problems, Paul. That should never happen but when it does, it sure leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Good luck with the replacement. Oh, fwiw a guy at our appliance store said that in-the-door ice & water dispensers are prone to failure (all brands) and expensive to repair. So we bought a fridge with an internal icemaker & water dispenser. Less convenient, but no failures yet and we don't use either very much so not a big deal.

[kipps]

Used fridges have treated us the best here. We recently had a 1999 fridge with failing door gaskets and a few other defects. It still worked perfectly. We replaced it with a practically-identical 1989 model that's seen less wear and tear. It's purring right along.

These modern "designer" appliances with all the bells and whistles aren't worth it. Use a simple old refrigerator. If you want a drink of water, take it out of the kitchen sink. If you want a cold drink, there's a jug of milk in the fridge. On the few occasions that you need ice, there's an ice tray in the freezer. If you need to see your recipes, look in the recipe box, not on the touchscreen built into the fridge.

The purpose of a fridge is to keep perishable foods cold. Expecting it to do any more than that is bordering on stupidity.

[special-K]

In this world today, I'm not replacing any appliance that is in working order. Chances are, no matter how much you spend, the appliance you are replacing is of far superior quality than the new one. The advantage to new sure doesn't seem to be they last longer. Warranty? The only guarantee when you buy something today is you spent money.

[Dead Parrot]

If she used a credit card, reverse the charges. If paid with cash or check, might be time to file a small claims court case. Send both companies a certified return receipt letter advising of the issue and that you will start charging a "inconvenience fee" of $25/day for having this large hunk of scrap metal stored on your property. Replace the fridge with another unit from another vendor. Put the dead one outside somewhere.

I have had good luck with appliances from Lowes and Best Buy. But both were basic models. Got $100 off a gas range from Lowes because it was the floor model with a scratch and they were out of ones in a box.

[61_FL_Apache]

The quality of "stainless" these days is garbage! The picture above proves it.. We have two white painted appliances and they have rust too. the fridge is about 15yo and the stove is around 5. Both are rusting in places.

Over priced crap out there today.

My Tahoe has less rust than all my appliances put together

[FleetsidePaul]

Yeah I know about the newfangled appliances. But my wife keeps buying them. This was her deal. I was fine with the old one. I have it in the garage now. It still works great. It's the only fridge that does but now you have to walk to the garage to get anything which is a PITA when cooking.

I just can't believe how they've just blown us off. I guess that's just how it works these days.

[95 S_Trucker]

I had a similar issue with Lowes and a chest freezer, but i had a different outcome. I bought a Frigidaire chest freezer. It died after 57 days. Luckily I found out before the food went bad. Lowes said they are responsible for 30 days after the date of purchase, and they told me to call Frigidaire. I called Frigidaire, and they agreed they are responsible. So Frigidaire refunded the cost of the freezer. They would not refund my sales tax. They would not pick up broken freezer. I had to get rid of it on my own. So I lost $50 and I'll never buy a Frigidaire product again.

[LS short box]

We bought a LG 60" TV locally for $1500. It lasted two years and then started turning itself on and off randomly while we are watching. Contacted LG and they said too bad so sad its out of it's one year warranty. End of story. Contacted the local dealer and they said the same. We have bought all of our appliances from this local dealer. Had a new Sony installed last week. Not happy with local dealer but I need to calm down a bit before I talk to them again.

[Palf70Step]

I have not had an issue with my LG, but it is a basic white fridge. No high techie stuff on it short of a ice maker in the freezer. I was warned by some appliance repair folks about all the circuit board and gadgets in today's appliance that get fried in all of our storms and power outage/fluctuations, so just the basics for me.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Do you have a pic of the fridge? I've never actually seen one with bells and whistles.

Interesting options...

All kidding aside, that blows. What if you brought it back to the return counter, I've seen them take back all manner of crap people clearly broke or used. It's not their problem because it's not physically present....

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Do you have a pic of the fridge? I've never actually seen one with bells and whistles.

Interesting options...

He's not saying it actually has all the bells and whistles. That's an old expression used when people actually mean all the geegaws and doodads.

This stuff that's made all the way over in China because it's so much cheaper to make there sure is expensive to buy all the way over here. But it's easier to maintain quality control this way, right?

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Do you have a pic of the fridge? I've never actually seen one with bells and whistles.

Interesting options...

All kidding aside, that blows. What if you brought it back to the return counter, I've seen them take back all manner of crap people clearly broke or used. It's not their problem because it's not physically present....

There is no way that I'm lifting that heavy monster into my truck and driving an hour to return it.

I'd let my wife do it. She's the one that bought the stupid thing in the first place. And it would be fun to watch her try.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

There is no way that I'm lifting that heavy monster into my truck and driving an hour to return it.

I'd let my wife do it. She's the one that bought the stupid thing in the first place. And it would be fun to watch her try.

Be sure to take video and post it here.

[burnin oil]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

There is no way that I'm lifting that heavy monster into my truck and driving an hour to return it.

I'd let my wife do it. She's the one that bought the stupid thing in the first place. And it would be fun to watch her try.

All those toys and you don't have a tractor yet. Front end loaders are indispensable. I have set 2 engines this month with one.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by special-K

He's not saying it actually has all the bells and whistles. That's an old expression used when people actually mean all the geegaws and doodads.

This stuff that's made all the way over in China because it's so much cheaper to make there sure is expensive to buy all the way over here. But it's easier to maintain quality control this way, right?

OK, now I want a picture. I've never seen a refrigerator with geegaws nad doodads.

[davischevy]

Somehow, I can imagine Paul getting in trouble with a tractor and front end loader.

I have rental property.

In the old days, we bought appliances from the local Sears Catalogue store. Owner changed and now we buy from a local dealer.

When I need and appliance, I call the appliance dealer, and tell him the appliance needed and give him an address and the tenants address and phone number. He delivers, installs and hauls off the old one.

Done.