3.15.2007

The Letter

March 15, 2007

Mary Davis
Electrolux Liabilities Department
PO Box 212378
Augusta, GA 30917

Dear Ms. Davis:

My fiancé and I purchased a new construction home on January 30, 2007. We moved into the new house the following day on Wednesday, January 31. We had a Frigidaire SXS refrigerator (model # FRS6LF7FM-6, serial # 4A70319874, silver mist color) delivered from Lowe’s that afternoon. The fridge was installed and appeared to work fine until Saturday, February 3, when we noticed that the food in the freezer was not fully frozen. We consulted the fridge’s owner’s manual and were instructed to adjust the temperature to a cooler setting and then wait 24 hours for the fridge to adjust. When we woke up on Sunday, February 4, there was a pool of standing water in front of the refrigerator and water leaking from the freezer section. All of the food in the freezer had completely thawed and all ice had melted. As my fiancé cleaned up the mess, I called Lowe’s regarding this five-day-old fridge. I was instructed to call the service center, which I did. I was finally put in touch with the Electrolux service center, but was told that no one could come look at the refrigerator for at least two days. We have hardwood floors in our brand new kitchen and allowing water to leak from the fridge on the floors for two more days would ruin them. I called Lowe’s and they agreed to replace the fridge that day. When the delivery team came to replace the fridge, my fiancé and I noticed the water damage to the floors, shown in the photographs provided.

When I try to contact your company about the damage your malfunctioning unit has caused, I have been put on hold and transferred to a number that no one answers. I have left a message on a voicemail about my issue instead of talking to a real human being. When no one returned my call, I called again, making my way through automated systems and countless transfers, and was told that the liabilities department at Electrolux does not have a single phone number that will reach a human being in that department. There is only a number to a voicemail. I feel that you and your company’s “policies” have insinuated that you will not rectify the damage done to my floors unless I jump through countless hoops that you throw my way. You yourself have told me that I went about replacing this refrigerator in the wrong way from the beginning, stating that I should have waited until your service people could get to my house, two days after the malfunction of the fridge, instead of replacing the refrigerator. You have told me that Lowe’s should not have helped me by replacing the refrigerator. You have told me that I needed to prevent further damage to my floors while your refrigerator sat on them waiting to be “serviced” by continually mopping up any water that leaked onto them. When asked what I was supposed to do to keep my food cold for two days, you had no reply. When I explained that I no longer have the refrigerator that malfunctioned in my possession, I was told that without record of me servicing the fridge and the actual part that was broken, I probably did not have much of a case.

I am appalled that a company of your stature treats their customers in this way, especially in stressful situations as the one described above. Not once was I told that Frigidaire was sorry for my inconvenience, sorry that their product had failed me. Not once was I reminded that I am a valued customer and that my business with Frigidaire is appreciated or even acknowledged. Not once was my situation considered with competent customer service. I am now questioning how Frigidaire became a household name, as it appears that it has nothing to do with the quality of your expensive products, and I now know first hand that it has absolutely nothing to do with your customer service.

As you can imagine, this has been quite upsetting to us as first-time homeowners. I do not expect a refrigerator that cost more than $1,000 to malfunction within three days and I have been very displeased with the way I have been treated by you and the rest of your company. The only feedback I have received so far, Ms. Davis, is that I need to spend a lot of my life energy fulfilling your checklist of documentation regarding your refrigerator that malfunctioned and ruined my new floors. I have complied with your requests and you will find the proper documentation included in this packet. A leak in the sealed system of the fridge was repaired by the service center contracted by Lowe’s, therefore no actual parts are included with my paperwork. I expect you and your administrators to review my information and my situation carefully and I expect the damage that was done to my new home by your product to be repaired in a timely fashion. I would also hope that you would share my concerns about the customer service aspect of your company with your supervisors.


Sincerely,

Me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

good luck!! way to go........

Anonymous said...

i purchased the same fridge from lowes, but we also purchased the extended warranty which covers food spoilage. haven't had a problem (yet)... would your homeowner policy cover the damage to your floors?