On October 14th, 2014 I contacted Lowes regarding a Whirlpool front load washing machine that we purchased several years
ago. It was no longer under warranty, which I was aware of. The service department took my information and shortly thereafter, I received an email informing me that the company, Solutions Electronics, was going to come to check it out and they would be here sometime in the afternoon of October 15th. I retrieved a message off my cell phone the morning of the 15th confirming the appointment and if there were any problems or changes, to please call back. No mention that I would receive a call from the “service man” when he was on his way. Later that day, I received a call from the “service man,” he was on his way and he would be there in about a half an hour. The next statement out of his mouth was “the charge is $160.50 and I don’t take credit cards.” I was really turned off by his attitude and was going to tell him don’t bother but, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just a lack of social skills. He shows up in a black outfit, clearly not ready to do any work, takes one look at my stackable washer and dryer and says, “This is going to be a problem, I can’t work on these, no one told me they were stackable, I don’t work on stackables.” He told me that he can’t see what the problem is because he can’t look when the
dryer is on top and he can’t take it down. Apparently he had tried in the past and “it didn’t work out so well.” I told him that the problem was the water inlet valve. My husband had turned off the water behind the washer so it wouldn’t leak and it had to be turned back on. He attempted to move the set forward to reach the valve and got lint on his shirt. He then spent some time trying to remove it from his black shirt, again, clearly not dressed to work on a dryer. He turned the water on then hands me a contract to sign agreeing to pay the $160.50 before he can look. Once signed, he opened the door and saw the water running into the unit and says “yup there it is, see the leak; it’s the water inlet valve.” Now the big problem! He had to call the office to find out what part was needed because he had no idea and being that he “doesn’t do stackables” he couldn’t look for himself.
After several minutes on the phone he got the information that he needed. He gave me the quote and told me that it should take about 5-7 business days to get the parts in. When the parts come in they will call to make an appointment to come and do the work. 5-7 business days, that washing machine runs all day. How am I going to go without a washer for 5-7 business days? BUT, I already paid the $160.50 so I guess I am stuck with this situation. I had the feeling right there and then that this was going to go South!
Now we wait and wait and wait. November 4th rolls around, my husband calls your store, very angry I might add, and leaves HIS cell phone number on their answering machine. He receives a call back on HIS cell phone and is told, “No problem sir, the parts just came in today.” What a coincidence! “We can come tomorrow, November 6th, to fix it”. He requested that that the work is done some time after 3:00 as he had to leave work for this service call. He spent an hour last night unstacking the units as “they don’t do that” and getting the area ready for the service call. He leaves work, during a very busy season, to get home by 2:30 to be ready. I arrive home from work around 4:30; he’s sitting at the kitchen table, waiting, and notice that I have a call on MY cell phone. I check the message and it is from Solutions Electronics letting us know that they are on their way but if I
don’t call back in 5 minutes they will have to reschedule. Are you kidding? We have very busy schedules, I work in an
office and I cannot answer my cell phone all the time. That is why he left HIS cell phone number as he was going to be the one home waiting, and by the way, no one told him that they would call to confirm when they were on their way. He immediately calls the office and he was very angry, he was told that she can reschedule us for November 14th! He was furious and was probably saying things he shouldn’t have but, she kept hanging up on him which only made the situation worse.
I called the office and the very nice girl, not the one who kept hanging up on us, was able to fit me in tomorrow, November 7th between the hours of 2:00 and 8:00. I thanked her as I knew it was the best I was going to get. Again, being that we had to pay the $160.50, that they cashed on October 16th, I am stuck. One can only hope they will show up tomorrow and do the job properly however, that will not make up for the incompetence and total frustration that we have experienced over the last few weeks.