I judge any business or service not just on the initial product or service that I purchase, but also (or even more so) on their response to issue(s) that may occur after purchase. My concern, in this case, is with the latter.
I purchased a refrigerator from Plugs, deciding to try them over a “big box” store to see if there was a benefit from doing so. I also bought their three-year warranty. The initial purchase experience was okay, with Plugs’ price being about the same or slightly higher, than a comparable purchase from a “big box,” taking into account all costs – basic price, delivery and warranty.
I recently experienced a problem where the water dispenser was dripping; additionally, some food in the refrigerator would freeze up (I keep the refrigerator at a recommended temperature). No big deal, I thought, until I tried to utilize the warranty to get these issues addressed. I will try not to fill up this review with too much detail, but this was likely my worst experience dealing with an appliance issue in my more than 40 years as a homeowner.
This was the first time that I tried to use the warranty. I was unable to get any documentation on the warranty when I first bought the refrigerator (there is just the phrase, “3 year term,” on the invoice), so I called Plugs to report the problem and request service. The person with whom I spoke gave me the name of the warranty company. I called the latter and was able to get an appointment for service. However, on the scheduled service date, no one showed up. I stayed home, wasting the day. I called the appliance repair company directly several times, but no one returned my call.
I followed up with another call to Plugs, spoke to someone, but no one got back to me. I then filled out a form online, and a “manager” did call me. There was another delay, and I needed to call back a few more times. The “manager” commented that dealing with the warranty company is like dealing with an insurance company (the warranty company actually seemed more like a “call center” to me), which takes time. I was then given the name of another repair company, called them, and finally had the repair completed. I give the appliance technician eventually assigned a good mark for his quality of work.
Start-to-end for getting a seemingly straightforward repair completed took more than 3 ½ weeks, with wasted hours, and needless aggravation on my part. Plugs, in their commercials, distinguish themselves from “big box” stores. I suggest that Plugs should, instead, try to learn from the big box stores, namely, that the full life cycle of an appliance purchase is what’s important to customers, not just what gets delivered on Day 1.
Read full review
I judge any business or service not just on the initial product or service that I purchase, but also (or even more so) on their response to issue(s) that may occur after purchase. My concern, in this case, is with the latter.
I purchased a refrigerator from Plugs, deciding to try them over a “big box” store to see if there was a benefit from doing so. I also bought their three-year warranty. The initial purchase experience was okay, with Plugs’ price being about the same or slightly higher, than a comparable purchase from a “big box,” taking into account all costs – basic price, delivery and warranty.
I recently experienced a problem where the water dispenser was dripping; additionally, some food in the refrigerator would freeze up (I keep the refrigerator at a recommended temperature). No big deal, I thought, until I tried to utilize the warranty to get these issues addressed. I will try not to fill up this review with too much detail, but this was likely my worst experience dealing with an appliance issue in my more than 40 years as a homeowner.
This was the first time that I tried to use the warranty. I was unable to get any documentation on the warranty when I first bought the refrigerator (there is just the phrase, “3 year term,” on the invoice), so I called Plugs to report the problem and request service. The person with whom I spoke gave me the name of the warranty company. I called the latter and was able to get an appointment for service. However, on the scheduled service date, no one showed up. I stayed home, wasting the day. I called the appliance repair company directly several times, but no one returned my call.
I followed up with another call to Plugs, spoke to someone, but no one got back to me. I then filled out a form online, and a “manager” did call me. There was another delay, and I needed to call back a few more times. The “manager” commented that dealing with the warranty company is like dealing with an insurance company (the warranty company actually seemed more like a “call center” to me), which takes time. I was then given the name of another repair company, called them, and finally had the repair completed. I give the appliance technician eventually assigned a good mark for his quality of work.
Start-to-end for getting a seemingly straightforward repair completed took more than 3 ½ weeks, with wasted hours, and needless aggravation on my part. Plugs, in their commercials, distinguish themselves from “big box” stores. I suggest that Plugs should, instead, try to learn from the big box stores, namely, that the full life cycle of an appliance purchase is what’s important to customers, not just what gets delivered on Day 1.
