SAMON'S ELECTRIC & PLBG SUPPLY

On June 11, 2011, we purchased a MasterCool evaporative cooler from Samon’s Do-It-Yourself Center at 4124 4th St, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 505-345-6564.  We arranged with the plumbing company that installed it for it to be picked up by said company on Friday, June 17.   Upon unpacking it, they realized that the cooler was dented to the point of not being useable.  Being on a tight schedule, the plumbers did not have time to do both the cooler exchange and the installation.  We had reschedule the installation for the following Monday, June 20, and the plumbers returned the damages cooler to Samon's on their way to their next job.  On Monday, the plumbing company again stopped to pick up the cooler.  They unpacked this cooler at the store.  It, too, was somewhat dented.  Our plumber said that since it was less dented and usable, he would see if we would accept it.  We did agree, in large part because the temperatures were in the mid 90s, and we had already been without a cooler longer than planned, and exchanging this cooler for yet another (and taking the chance that it, too would be dented) could mean that  we would have to reschedule our cooler installation for a third or perhaps even fourth time, causing the plumber's prices to increase with each attempted installation.  The following day, Tuesday, June 21, I went to Samon’s and spoke to Jeff, the manager.  I explained the situation and asked for some compensation, as we now have a “scratch and dent” piece of equipment, but we had paid the full price for it.  (I had the plumber’s note on our receipt as proof.)   We also had to pay the plumbers more as a result of Samon’s giving us a faulty piece of equipment the first time, and the plumbers having to make a second trip to do the installation. The manager was quite unpleasant and insisted that since we had accepted the cooler, they owed us nothing.  “We can’t be compensating people,” I believe were his words.  Never once did he even apologize for selling damaged goods or for causing us to pay more for our cooler installation as a result of those damged goods.  While we try to patronize local businesses, I do believe we would have gotten much better customer service at either Lowe’s or Home Depot.  If this company goes under during this recession, perhaps it is for the best. Customer service means a lot these days, and this is one family that will never do business with Samon’s again, due to their utter lack of it.