On the plus side, this store has great quality appliances and staff that know their merchandise and can make helpful recommendations. And their prices are competitive.
On the minus side, I had a similar experience to several other reviewers regarding an attitude from the sales staff that was not welcoming. The first time I went there, if I hadn't been referred to them by our kitchen designer, I might have walked out.
My biggest complaint is lack of follow-through. We purchased an entire suite of kitchen appliances. When the range hood was installed, it didn't work. I contacted the store and was told to bring it back, so our contractor took it down, boxed it up, and loaded it into my car. That was on a Tuesday in mid-December. I drove to the store and someone from the store took it out of my car. Thursday of that week we stopped by the store to find out when the replacement hood would be in. Alan told us he would order a new one, which means that for two days nothing had been done. He said it would be in the week after Christmas.
When I called after Christmas, I was told that the manufacturer wants to repair it. So I drove back to the store and brought the range hood home again. Mind you, this hood is 36" wide so the box is enormous. A week or so later a part for the hood shows up at our door: the light bar. No idea why, because the light bar was working; it was something else that was defective. I contacted Alan to tell him this. Meanwhile, our contractor was on hold, unable to finish the kitchen, and unable to get paid.
Communication about the manufacturer coming out to repair the hood continued to be very spotty. Finally the second week of January, after I had told Alan our contractor would be out and could reinstall the defective hood if the manufacturer would be there to do the repair, and he said no one would be coming, I had had enough. I returned the hood -- again -- and told him we want to new one. He said they wouldn't take the other one back. I replied that we had been waiting weeks for a resolution, had been getting the runaround from them, and that I would go to my credit card company to dispute the charge if necessary. I had no doubt that I would prevail.
Finally a few days later, I got a call from Alan that a new range hood was in, and that it would be delivered to the Santa Cruz store from the Seaside warehouse the next day. I let my contractor know, and he scheduled his workers for the day after that. At 3:00 on the afternoon that the range hood was to arrive in the store, I called to inquire about it. Alan had failed to ensure it got on the truck. So at an inopportune time of the day, we made a mad dash to Seaside to pick up the hood.
The hood is now installed, looks great, and works well, so that's the happy ending to the story. But we got a call a full week after the hood was installed from an appliance company wanting to schedule service for the hood. No one had ever told them, or the BID service manager, that the hood was being replaced instead of repaired. Just another example of the poor communication between BID and others, and within.
I complained to Alan a couple times about the fact that because of their conflicting statements to us, we were going to have to pay our contractor to remove and reinstall the hood, plus the fact that the delay cost him money as well. In the end, they did agree to reimburse us the $300 additional labor cost.
The bottom line for me is that this store has great quality appliances and knowledgeable sales staff, but some real problems communicating and following through. I hope we don't need to buy appliances again for a long time, but if we do, I'm not sure I would shop there again. read more
