Ironic Day - My Home Depot Day

I call my day today ironic. At least I think this day qualifies as "ironic", you tell me. I bought a fridge in 2005 on sale at an amazing price from Home Depot. (Basically I got a $2K Maytag French Door Fridge with a 4 year warranty for $1K. About a month ago the inside fridge water spout quit working, the ice maker kept working just fine. I just assumed it needed a new filter and only this week did I make it to Home Depot to buy a the new water filter. I installed it and still no water. Time to call the famous "Maytag Repairman". I made the call to the Home Depot ESP (Extended Service Plan) number and was told it would be covered under warranty. I then remember when the fridge was delivered in Feb of 2006 the dreadful delivery guys, I swear they were the 2 stooges, damaged the back wheels. (Now I only discovered the back wheels were damaged when I went to pull it out from the wall to vacum under it the first time and it would not budge, this was about a year ago.) I just prayed the wheels would be covered under warranty but was told by the ESP rep that they would not be, that was fine I would pay for them to be repaired when the reairman came out to fix the water feature.

I was given one of those wonderful 8 am to noon appointments and of course the repair man knocked on my door at noon. Always my luck! He looks at the fridge and tells me it is not covered under warranty. Say What!?! Uh... yes it is.. I bought one of those multi year warranty's, a 4 year one to be exact and I could produce my receipt in a second. I did and sure enough my receipt clearly shows a 4 year warranty was purchased in 2005 when I bought the fridge. he says he can see that but GE says it is not under warranty ad for him to fix it I woul dpay for everything. Now I start get very upset. I took off from work and now fridge will not be fixed, so I will have to take off another half day at some point. The "Maytag Repairman" calls his dispatcher who tells me they called GE, who owns all Home Depot major appliance ESP plans, and GE told them my ESP plan does not start until 2010 and goes through 2014! LOL! What the Heck! Now why would I buy an ESP plan and not have it start until the fridge is 5 years old!?!! I am told I have to call GE to get the date chaned befoer they will fix my fridge. After 2 calls, I am told to go back to the Home Depot where I bought the fridge to have the contract date fixed. Now let me tell you GE can see that I bought the fridge in 2005 so why they thought the service plan didn't start until 2010 is beyond me. The ESP plan paperwork I have clearly states the ESP plan goes into affect as soon as the MFG's warranty expires and runs for 4 years. So I call Home Depot, ask for the store manager and warn him I am coming as I briefly explain the situation.

Now I tell the "Maytag Repairman" before he leaves that the damaged wheels will now be fixed for free and he tells me he has never seen Home Depot give away anything especialy in cases like this. You see his company seen this hapen once befoer. i know it i sjust a typoe but I also know it will take time to fix the error. I tell the 'Maytag Repairman" Home Depot has never met me!
I work on getting price breaks and discounts for a living!

I tell the Assistant store manager everything and that GE told me only he could fix the warranty contract start date. I also explain how I now want the damaged wheels fixed for free for my frustration and time off work. This manager then spends the next 2 hours on the phone trying to fix Home Depot's typo. Now I did go in upset,but I was more sarcastic than mad, and once the Mgr understood there was an error, I calmed down and patiently wait for the situation to be fixed. It was quite funny for me to see someone else for once go through a customer service call like what I normally go through with AT&T. He was given no less than 8 numbers to call and was transferred about just as many times if not more. I left to shop a bit in Home depot while he was still on the phone, at some point he tells me he will fix the wheels for free because of the hassle. When I get back to the counter he is very frustrated. He could not find a way to place and order for the 2 wheels parts and have them charged to his store, so he tells me not only will he fix the wheels, but now he is going to give me $110 store credit! $10 for the wheel parts. I am to order the parts and then give him a call once they arrive and he will get someone out to fix them.

Where is the ironic part you ask? While running a few errands I recall the "Maytag Repairman" asking me if I had heard a rush of water into the filter when I had replaced it. So when I get home, I twist the filter out and then back in when I clearly hear a rush of water and the water spout starts working! The reason for the call in the first place!
I could only laugh! But now the wheels will be fixed and for free!

And if my Easter Basket Swap Partner is reading, this my basket will be in the mail Saturday or Monday!