It's Saturday Let's go Shopping?
Here is a good bad and ugly buying experience.
I wanted a small fridge for my guess bedroom to put in a closet. Somewhere to store extra drinks, wine, and such when not needed and to empty some of that (including beer and wine I am not drinking right now) out of the fridge in the kitchen.
So, I started on-line to see what the options and alternatives are. Call it a drink cooler and prices go up, call it a wine cooler and oh boy, but an ordinary compact fridges range between 2 and 11 cu ft and they seem to be manufactured by all the major brands.
I started out going to home depot, Lowes and Sears about a month ago and after thinking and looking I settled on a 4.4 cu ft. Kenmore as I have said before I am quite happy with my Kenmore appliances. Part of the reason was the delivery fees online for the others were quite high and I didn't really want to pick it up myself.
Well, Sears let me down. They said it would be delivered the 4th. They sent me a shipping confirmation on the 1st, but they really had shipped previously and UPS had tried to deliver three times and failed so they returned it back to Sears. Was a very frustrating online chat with their customer service, and a subsequent frustration on the phone (even the guy on the phone said he would be p*)*d off). I would have been looking out for it or at least the notice downstairs if I had known. They agreed to credit me 5% for my troubles ($7) and give me a 10% discount on my next online order which I think is important (the online part).
So, off I go today on another adventure. I assumed I would be able to get this fridge at Sears and maybe instead of paying delivery I would get a small hand truck at Home Depot that could always come in handy. (Not sure for what.. but heck you never know when you might need a hand truck!) Oops.. Home Depot must be having a clear the warehouse sale cause they have appliances sitting all over the store and they have a 4.5 cu Vissani fridge that has a real freezer compartment and fridge on sales for $178. The hand truck is $29.
So, I look and pace up and down the store and decide that I was sold on the Kenmore so let's go look at it. Off I go... and all is well I really don't think it is made any better and the in store price was $199 and the online price is $149. So, I would be truly getting less for more Sears was off the table. Sears is pricing differently online vs. in store even though you can pick the same appliance up at the store. I don't think this is smart.
OK, so so far.. sporting fans.. the Vissani at Home Depot is a winner. But, I had seen a Frigidaire at Lowes that I liked but their delivery fee is $79. (Turns out over $349 and delivery is free.. keep up this will be important in a moment.). The frigidaire looked solidly built and I liked it. The 4.4 CU Sqt was $179 and I thought there we go. I think it will fit in my car, hand truck and that seems like a good idea. Oops, Brian looks up and there is a 4.5 CU FT Frigidaire and it has the freezer on the top the way the Visanni looked and I keep playing Funny Girl in my head. She was so happy with a Frigidaire (Barbra Streisand playing Fanny Brice singing I'd Rather Be Blue Over You for you unaware folks)
and I thought I would pay a little extra and maybe it is made better. How much better? $299. So, back to pacing I go.. and I think about it and read online reviews some good one or two bad.. and I know that box won't fit in my car. So, I ask how much is delivery $79. Yes, and didn't seem any desire to see the insanity of it since for $349 would have been free delivery which by the way is getting mighty close to a small full size fridge which I thought would fit in my closet.. and so I thought to pay more than double including shipping was pretty crazy.
So, yes sports fans, I ended up back at Home Depot. Had to take it out of the packaging to get in my car... and off it is in my closet. So far pretty quiet.. and the reviews are pretty good. Less than an hour in the house and the freezer feels pretty damn cold.
Lessons learned:
* Lowes needs to rethink shipping for a sliding scale as things get more expensive till they are free. If she had met me half way I might have bought the Frigidaire.
* Two, Sorry Fanny, but I think they are all manufactured by the same company as the top of them all look quite similar.
* Home Depot won on price, but nobody asked to help me really... even as one clerk saw me struggling to get it into my car.
* Sears tried to make good, but they just aren't playing as if they want to win in this marketplace. Makes me sad, and frankly pricing differently ($50 more in store) between store and Internet is not smart.
* This was one item that Amazon didn't have a price advantage and shipping was prohibitively expensive. A little attention from the normal retailers would be wise.
* Anybody nearby that needs a hand truck for anything up to 300 lbs... you know who to call!
I wanted a small fridge for my guess bedroom to put in a closet. Somewhere to store extra drinks, wine, and such when not needed and to empty some of that (including beer and wine I am not drinking right now) out of the fridge in the kitchen.
So, I started on-line to see what the options and alternatives are. Call it a drink cooler and prices go up, call it a wine cooler and oh boy, but an ordinary compact fridges range between 2 and 11 cu ft and they seem to be manufactured by all the major brands.
I started out going to home depot, Lowes and Sears about a month ago and after thinking and looking I settled on a 4.4 cu ft. Kenmore as I have said before I am quite happy with my Kenmore appliances. Part of the reason was the delivery fees online for the others were quite high and I didn't really want to pick it up myself.
Kenmore 4.4 cu. ft. Compact Refrigerator - Stainless Steel
Well, Sears let me down. They said it would be delivered the 4th. They sent me a shipping confirmation on the 1st, but they really had shipped previously and UPS had tried to deliver three times and failed so they returned it back to Sears. Was a very frustrating online chat with their customer service, and a subsequent frustration on the phone (even the guy on the phone said he would be p*)*d off). I would have been looking out for it or at least the notice downstairs if I had known. They agreed to credit me 5% for my troubles ($7) and give me a 10% discount on my next online order which I think is important (the online part).
So, off I go today on another adventure. I assumed I would be able to get this fridge at Sears and maybe instead of paying delivery I would get a small hand truck at Home Depot that could always come in handy. (Not sure for what.. but heck you never know when you might need a hand truck!) Oops.. Home Depot must be having a clear the warehouse sale cause they have appliances sitting all over the store and they have a 4.5 cu Vissani fridge that has a real freezer compartment and fridge on sales for $178. The hand truck is $29.
Vissani 4.5 cu. ft. Mini Refrigerator in Stainless Look, ENERGY STAR
So, I look and pace up and down the store and decide that I was sold on the Kenmore so let's go look at it. Off I go... and all is well I really don't think it is made any better and the in store price was $199 and the online price is $149. So, I would be truly getting less for more Sears was off the table. Sears is pricing differently online vs. in store even though you can pick the same appliance up at the store. I don't think this is smart.
OK, so so far.. sporting fans.. the Vissani at Home Depot is a winner. But, I had seen a Frigidaire at Lowes that I liked but their delivery fee is $79. (Turns out over $349 and delivery is free.. keep up this will be important in a moment.). The frigidaire looked solidly built and I liked it. The 4.4 CU Sqt was $179 and I thought there we go. I think it will fit in my car, hand truck and that seems like a good idea. Oops, Brian looks up and there is a 4.5 CU FT Frigidaire and it has the freezer on the top the way the Visanni looked and I keep playing Funny Girl in my head. She was so happy with a Frigidaire (Barbra Streisand playing Fanny Brice singing I'd Rather Be Blue Over You for you unaware folks)
Frigidaire 4.5-cu ft Freestanding Compact Refrigerator with Freezer Compartment (Silver Mist) ENERGY STAR
So, yes sports fans, I ended up back at Home Depot. Had to take it out of the packaging to get in my car... and off it is in my closet. So far pretty quiet.. and the reviews are pretty good. Less than an hour in the house and the freezer feels pretty damn cold.
Lessons learned:
* Lowes needs to rethink shipping for a sliding scale as things get more expensive till they are free. If she had met me half way I might have bought the Frigidaire.
* Two, Sorry Fanny, but I think they are all manufactured by the same company as the top of them all look quite similar.
* Home Depot won on price, but nobody asked to help me really... even as one clerk saw me struggling to get it into my car.
* Sears tried to make good, but they just aren't playing as if they want to win in this marketplace. Makes me sad, and frankly pricing differently ($50 more in store) between store and Internet is not smart.
* This was one item that Amazon didn't have a price advantage and shipping was prohibitively expensive. A little attention from the normal retailers would be wise.
* Anybody nearby that needs a hand truck for anything up to 300 lbs... you know who to call!
Comments