Tuesday, December 13, 2011

First World Problem

So the struggle to get my freezer fixed continues. Here is a summary, for my own references and also for your edification on how not to treat a customer.




  1. Researched which pidgeon-pair fridge/freezer combo I would buy for months. Looked up the internet prices, visited department stores, opened every fridge and freezer door in every shop I could find. 
  2. Finally decided to purchase an expensive European brand for a few reasons: mostly they had the features I wanted, plus the long term energy running costs were significantly lower than the other brands.
  3. Ordered them in Grafton Hardly Normal and arranged for them to be delivered once my new home was finished construction in Port Macquarie.
  4. Actual delivery, didn't really have a problem per se. They arrived intact, and on time.
  5. I immediately discovered the fridge just didn't work. As in, it failed to actually get cold. Which, is kinda the point.
  6. I rang the Expensive European Company (which we'll call EEC Miele from now on) to find out what to do. They told me they would need to send out a service agent
  7. This agent couldn't come until the end of the week. This wan't good, as I had just moved in to my new home, and had no refrigeration. 
  8. So I rang Miele back, and they thankfully agreed, and arranged to have the fridge just replaced, as it was brand new, and didn't work from the day it was delivered. Clearly a dud. Or...it was damaged in transit. Something I'm now more increasingly inclined to believe.
  9. Fast forward to around the 29th November. Freezer wakes the house up at midnight beeping. Yes, it's quietly defrosting and an alarm is going off. I must say, that is actually a nice touch. At least we had time to move most of the frozen stuff into the 20+ year old rusty fridge in the garage.
  10. I ring Miele again to explain...yep, the freezer is now dead too.
  11. They refer me to their service agent again. He says he can't come out until Friday 2nd December.
  12. Friday comes and goes. No service agent.
  13. I am a little busy so don't call the service agent until Friday 9th December. They don't explain what happened. They say someone came and left a card. I have no card, there is no card. It's possible someone came and we didn't hear them at the front door. If they didn't ring the doorbell, it's possible as the house is quite long and you can't hear squat down the back.
  14. Regardless, they then tell me to "call Miele". No explanation, nothing. Just call Miele.
  15. So. I call Miele. Explain the whole saga. They refer me to two other service agents.
  16. One of them only does vacuum cleaners.
  17. The other is a 4WD service agent. Yes, seriously.
  18. I ring Miele back again and explain I don't have a problem with my car, or vacuum cleaner. What do we do next?
  19. They promise to ring me back last Friday.
  20. They don't.
  21. So here I am. I've rung Miele again today. They will "look into it" and will ring me back.
  22. Jessica who I spoke to today, seems lovely. 
  23. The lovely Jessica left a message on the home phone AND my mobile, to say she has escalated this to the State Manager, and has given me his number. Apparently, he's not in the office but I can leave a message on his voicemail. Which I did yesterday.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are all lovely, they just don't do anything. By the way the last time with the fridge she talked to her supervisor or someone and they arranged for a new one to be shipped immediatly, can't see why that couldn't happen this time

Anonymous said...

You do realise if you don't get some action soon, you won't get a new fridge till well into the new year, everyone shutsdown.