Sykes
06-07-2010, 02:28 PM
So back at the end of March (March 29th), my wife and I went to a popular furniture chain retailer to purchase a washer and dryer set. After looking at a few options, we narrowed it down to the mid and top models from the Whirlpool Cabrio High Efficiency Top-load line . In the end, we decided on going with the mid-level model because the selling price and the Whirlpool rebate that was offered with it (there was about a $300 difference - not a huge difference, but not small either).
Now, we were also told that the dryer for the pair was on backorder for 4 weeks - this was also factored into the decision making process and we were okay with that. About a week before the delivery date, we receive a phone call from our sales rep letting us know that Whirlpool is having distribution issues and that stock wouldn't be coming in until June 3rd. Understanding that this would be an inconvenience to us, our sales guy offered us the option of taking the floor model. That would've been totally fine, except that when we asked if we'd get the floor model at a discounted price, he said "No, because there are 26 other people waiting for this dryer. If you don't want it, we'll just give it to the next person". Unsatisfied with this, we politely asked if there was anything that could be done. The sales guy's response was "Well, we can't promise you the world. I'll ask and see what I can do and call you back". We didn't receive a call back. I let it go. (I've worked in retail for a number of years and I know that these things happen and being dick customer won't speed up the process - a backorder is a backorder.)
Fast forward to last Tuesday (June 1st), I give the store a call to inquire and was told our sales guy was on holiday. Fine, so I asked for the sales manager (whom we've dealt with in the past with a fridge and stove purchase). Long story short, he said the ETA for the order was still June 3rd which meant that they would process it into inventory for today (Monday June 7th) and have it delivered to us tomorrow (Tuesday June 8th). He also said he'd call us today either way.
Fast forward again to today - no phone call. I called the store a few hours ago and was told he was with customers, so I left a message for him to call me back. Still no phone call. Another concern is in regards to our rebate, without a serial number from both machines, we can't get our rebate - it needs to be received by Whirlpool by the end of the month, otherwise we're out of luck.
Now for the advice: I think we've been pretty patient with the whole thing, but really - it's been 8 weeks since we've paid for the dryer. I realize that - to a certain degree - it's not the stores fault, but the store hasn't offered to do anything for us either. Am I being unreasonable in wanting this?
I don't want to be unreasonable and a dick customer (I've dealt with my fair share and know what it's like), but I don't want to be walked all over either.
What should I do?
Now, we were also told that the dryer for the pair was on backorder for 4 weeks - this was also factored into the decision making process and we were okay with that. About a week before the delivery date, we receive a phone call from our sales rep letting us know that Whirlpool is having distribution issues and that stock wouldn't be coming in until June 3rd. Understanding that this would be an inconvenience to us, our sales guy offered us the option of taking the floor model. That would've been totally fine, except that when we asked if we'd get the floor model at a discounted price, he said "No, because there are 26 other people waiting for this dryer. If you don't want it, we'll just give it to the next person". Unsatisfied with this, we politely asked if there was anything that could be done. The sales guy's response was "Well, we can't promise you the world. I'll ask and see what I can do and call you back". We didn't receive a call back. I let it go. (I've worked in retail for a number of years and I know that these things happen and being dick customer won't speed up the process - a backorder is a backorder.)
Fast forward to last Tuesday (June 1st), I give the store a call to inquire and was told our sales guy was on holiday. Fine, so I asked for the sales manager (whom we've dealt with in the past with a fridge and stove purchase). Long story short, he said the ETA for the order was still June 3rd which meant that they would process it into inventory for today (Monday June 7th) and have it delivered to us tomorrow (Tuesday June 8th). He also said he'd call us today either way.
Fast forward again to today - no phone call. I called the store a few hours ago and was told he was with customers, so I left a message for him to call me back. Still no phone call. Another concern is in regards to our rebate, without a serial number from both machines, we can't get our rebate - it needs to be received by Whirlpool by the end of the month, otherwise we're out of luck.
Now for the advice: I think we've been pretty patient with the whole thing, but really - it's been 8 weeks since we've paid for the dryer. I realize that - to a certain degree - it's not the stores fault, but the store hasn't offered to do anything for us either. Am I being unreasonable in wanting this?
I don't want to be unreasonable and a dick customer (I've dealt with my fair share and know what it's like), but I don't want to be walked all over either.
What should I do?