i hate incompetance

My refrigerator--the one from the basement of Warrensville which I brought with me to replace the crappy one that was here in my house on Memphis--just crapped out. Although when I say "just," what I really mean is "just 3 weeks ago." That's a long time to go without frozen things (read: ice cream and tv dinners). So yesterday I went out and bought a new one. You might say I'm crazy to spend the money for a new fridge instead of reverting to the old one that was here, but if you saw it and you know how much I like to cook and am obsessed with having nice kitchen stuff, you'd understand.

So this whole refrigerator ordeal has caused a great deal of turmoil in my life, and made me pretty upset with Frigidaire and it's parent company, Electrolux Home Products, which I will explain in the following paragraphs. If you don't care about this, stop reading now...because I start to rant a little bit.

I called an ordinary repair company, who came out to look at the fridge on Thu 7/21, after it had been not freezing things for a couple days. He told me it should be under the 5-year manufacturers warranty, which covers the sealed system (compressor, condenser, etc.), but that I'd have to get an authorized repair agent to make that call. So almost 2 weeks later, after having the authorized guys reschedule on me twice, they finally sent a repair guy on Wed 8/3, who then told me that the fridge was unrepairable, and that I should call Frigidaire to find out what to do next. Aside from the rescheduling, everything is fine up to this point.

So I call Frigidaire, and the first option for me to choose sounds something like this, in a nice, pleasant, clear speaking voice:

"For English, press or say 'one.' Para Español, oprima o diga 'dos.'"

Now, you would think that they would give you this option because they want to provide you with the best service depending on what language you speak. But as it turns out, I should have pressed 2 and taken my chances. I was, after all, a Spanish major.

So naturally, after selecting English as my language of choice, I'm transferred to India, where I speak with Simone, whose favorite phrase is "Thank you for this piece of information, sir," which I heard after everything I told her. To make a longer story less long, I'll cut to the chase. By the end of the conversation, I was under the impression that the manufacturer's warranty would cover the fridge, even though I'm not the original owner, thereby entitling me to a rebate receipt for 30% off the price of a new Frigidaire refrigerator, up to the value of the one I'm replacing. This is acceptable. But alas, she tells me she is having a computer problem, and that I should call back in 15 minutes and explain to whomever answers what she had told me and it will be just fine. I call back in 20 minutes and the call center is closed. Fuckers.

About 2 days later, I call back, and speak with someone else, who is, in her broken English, entirely unable to confirm anything Simone told me, and asks me to have the authorized service provider to fax the service invoice to them. I try to get more information on what has to happen next, and I get told, essentially "just have them fax the invoice [click]." That's right. The bitch hung up on me. (It was just about 5:30 pm ET--at which point the service center closes. So the next day I call the servicer to have them fax the invoice, which they did.

Now I'm pissed. I call back about two days later and speak with a lady with a southern drawl--music to my ears! She tells me there's nothing in my claim file about being a secondary owner of the fridge. Nothing. Nada. So she asks for the best number to reach me, and says her supervisor will contact me in the next day or so. Well, I got a call back about an hour later (at this point, it's almost 7pm mind you...when the hours are 8am-5:30pm...) from someone else, asking for the exact same information I told this southern woman, because apparently none of it made it into the file. Well, this all gets sorted out, and I'm told I'll really be getting a call from a manager within a day.

Next day (yesterday, 8/11): I get a call, but I miss it because I'm working. I call back after work, and speak with someone who again has no idea what's going on. She transfers me to a supervisor, who then tells me because I got the fridge used, it's not covered under any warranty--I'm screwed, in other words.

I went to Lowe's. Bought a fridge. Got the extended (10 yr) warranty, and specifically asked if the warranty is transferable. And it is--but only the Lowe's extension, not the 1-year manufacturer's warranty. That's fine with me. I'd much rather drive to Lowe's and be able to punch someone in the face if they claim to speak English but don't understand a word I say, instead of having to be continuously more and more frustrated with incompetant people on the other end of a 12,000 mile-long phone line.

Moral of the story: If you get transferred to someone who doesn't speak your language, just hang up. Call back, select another language, and hire a translator. It'll be much less stressful. Fuckin' outsourcing.