How do you decide where you'd like to purchase a nice appliance? Do you want to use a local company in the hopes that local people will treat you right? Do you head down to the local big box store because the price is right and they'll finance you for a year or two? How exactly do you make the decision?
I had this exact conversation prior to my purchase, and I chose wrong. My heart was in the right place, but....
Is it too much to expect quality service after a purchase?
For example, let's say that you've been purchasing some good high end wine and you decide to purchase a cabinet to store your wine in so that your investment in the wine is maintained.
Let's further say that after about five years the wine cabinet gives out and you call the place that you purchased the wine cabinet from and you ask them what it will take to come down and fix the cabinet.
Now, I live in Gardnerville and the Czyz's Appliance store is in Reno. What's a fair price to pay somebody to come down and diagnose the problem? Really...it's an hour down to my house, let's say it's six gallons of gas down and back because they're driving a gas guzzler. Gas adds up to $18 if it's $3 a gallon, and it's lower than that as I write this. For the sake of the argument let's say that the expert arriving down here makes $30 an hour, which I doubt, but maybe. Now let's throw in some profit for the store, another $30. Here's the math:
$18+$60 (hour down and an hour back)+30= $108
Now it's important to remember at this point they have not even figured out what's wrong with the machine or what parts I might need to buy. With a straight face, they let me know that it's $150 for what I've listed above. It's not fixed, I don't know what the problem is, and I'm in $150.
So, being who I am, I need to consider this for a few days. I call back about two weeks later, and I say, "Can I save the $150 by bringing the machine to you?" This seems reasonable to me. I'm not made of money and I'd like to save a buck or two when I can.
The answer, "No, we are not a shop." I pitifully begin to plead with them, and I'm told the same thing..., "We are not a shop."
"Can I speak with the owner?" With that, I'm put on hold.
When she comes back, "He's left to the bank or something."
"What can you do for me?"
"I'll put a note on his desk."
It's been a week, and I never got the call.
To wrap this up, it's really my fault. I wanted to spend my money locally, support a local family owned outfit, an outfit attempting to augment the growing Reno food scene by sponsoring chef competitions and events, but it was to no avail. There was no benefit for this effort. I'd purchased a wine cooler that no longer does what it was designed to do, manufactured by an outfit out of Florida that provided little service support, and from a local appliance outfit that really did not want to work with the customer after the sale was completed.
The sad part, and I mean this sincerely, is that the big box stores would have probably done a much better job.
Heck, Costco just sent me an email with $100 off of two different models (one's $699 and ones $899) and those prices include shipping.
I hope this is the exception and not the rule.
My advice, try to buy local and small, but do a lot of research, check the name brand for reliability, and definitely find out what it will cost to have your machine serviced down the road.
Please, learn from my experience. read more