The Dryer (Part 2)

Things never go as planned

The installer called me downstairs. “Try out the dryer,” he said joyfully.

I went to open the door on the dryer. It wobbled. I asked, “What’s wrong with this? Something is not right.” First, the dryer was wobbly and not level; second, the front of the dryer was defective.

I couldn’t believe it. After this whole installation ordeal, the dryer isn’t right. Oh, I still have to pay for the installation even though he then needed to uninstall it.

The aggravation continues…

Immediately, I got on the phone with Lowe’s. Anger doesn’t begin to describe how I felt. I couldn’t find the phone number for a few minutes. I demanded to speak to someone. After talking to one person, I got transferred. He put me on hold, and then – of course – I got disconnected. That didn’t help my emotions one bit.

Trying not to put my fist through a wall, I called Lowe’s again. Whomever I spoke to transferred me to another person. They said they would remove both dryers and bring me a new dryer in two days. Then I would have to pay another installation fee.

I was furious! “Your dryer is defective. I don’t want to pay for another installation.”

The customer service person wanted to put me on hold. I said, “No! Don’t put me on hold. I don’t want to get cut off again.” He promised me he wouldn’t cut me off.

I begged, “Please don’t put me on hold.”

He said, “Okay, I’ll switch headphones.” After I went round and round, I got no help with the installation cost.

The supervisor

“Let me talk to your supervisor!” I demanded. “What’s the supervisor’s name? I don’t want to go through this again and be disconnected.”

He promised again that I wouldn’t be disconnected and refused to tell me his supervisor’s name. I was getting angrier, if that’s possible.

Finally, I spoke to the supervisor. She gave me a reference number for my case that would be flagged on my account so I wouldn’t have to explain again. She said they would give me “some compensation” for the installation, but wouldn’t discuss the amount until the replacement dryer was delivered.

The delivery guys showed up, and the man said, “I have your washer!”

“What???” I asked in disbelief. Next, I laid into him, though I knew it was wrong. But he said he had a washer and no dryer. He said he was removing a washer and not two dryers! Finally, he realized he was looking at the wrong delivery. I felt terrible for getting upset. Enough was enough! The current delivery guy told me there was no way the original delivery guys could have missed the defect in that dryer when they took it out of the box. More ammo for my refund…

He took the two dryers and brought in the replacement. He had me sign a receipt. (The first guys never had me sign anything, nor did the second delivery guys.) This fellow was worried I would give him a bad review because he said the wrong thing in the beginning. I assured him that I would be kind. He apologized multiple times.

A new installer

The next day, I would have to get the dryer installed (again) and call Lowe’s about the refund. Roto Rooter’s $468 installation was too expensive for me. I tried Angi. Usually, a bunch of companies call immediately. I got one call. The lady told me they couldn’t give me a price over the phone but offered free estimates. The problem was that they couldn’t come for two weeks. I had already been a week without a dryer.

“No thanks. I’m not interested in waiting.” The caller asked if I wanted to be on a waiting list. I said I didn’t, and she hung up on me. Later, I received a text asking me how the customer service person was. I wrote: She was fine until she hung up on me. I’m not pulling my punches anymore.

I decided to call an appliance repairman who said he could come the next day. The appointment was booked. He called two hours before he was supposed to come and asked if he could come right away. The sooner, the better! I had two loads of laundry ready to go.

The installer arrived

He showed up in a car, no service vehicle, and a luggage rack kind of thing he used to haul his equipment into the house. It was a $95 estimate, which would go toward the installation. The man was on his cell phone on speaker and was speaking a foreign language loudly the entire time he worked. I had a work deadline that day and was trying to concentrate on my own work. I also had my greyhound on a leash because the repairman was going in and out of the house (while on the phone). Meanwhile, my greyhound was pulling on the leash as I was trying to work. Luckily, he didn’t take long. The repair was $203. Finally, a working dryer!

Calling Lowe’s about the refund

The following day, it was time to call Lowe’s once again. I worked my way through the “press 1 for customer service” jungle until I got to the right person, but was it? I used the reference number given to me that explained the situation.

After several minutes on hold, they offered me a $25 refund. I was livid. “That is unacceptable!”

Several more minutes on hold later, he came back and offered me $50. I said, “Fine.” This needed to be over. Then he told me the $50 was in the form of a Lowe’s e-gift card. The top of my head might soon explode.

My blood was boiling. The customer service guy took the attitude of, well, that’s the offer, take it or leave it. In the end, I took the $50 e-gift card and gave it to my brother. I want nothing to do with that store ever again! When you get a $50 gift card, you always end up spending more to use it up. I’m not giving these people another penny. No way did I want that gift card.

I don’t know if I learned anything from this experience except that my old nemesis, Lowe’s, is still my nemesis. Customer service is dead.

I sent a letter to the CEO of Lowe’s. Stay tuned to see what happens next!

Please leave your comments below.

Read more by Holli Friedland.