fiundagner
Well-Known Fanatic
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
- Messages
- 210
My water heater went out over a month ago. I had a plumber come in and inspect it, and he told me it was a manufacturer?s defect in the water heater. Called up Lowes and filed a claim with them under the product protection plan. Never going to get one of these again from lowes. Spent 2 hours fighting with them over how they would reimburse me to start with. Finally got them to agree to send me a check instead of a Lowes gift card. Then the real fun started. First I had to have one of their ?approved? plumbers come out to inspect the water heater and determine that it really was broke. Ok I can understand that. They don?t want me conspiring to commit fraud. The guy they sent is the one who installed our dishwasher 2 units ago. The dishwasher that broke, because he screwed up and did a half arsed job, and that caused $3000 worth of damage to our kitchen. Ok I can live with this. It?s not like he is going to be the one to install this one.
Then I found out that Lowes is only going to reimburse me for less than half of what the water heater actually costs. See, when we bought it we had time to do our research. We just needed to upgrade our unit to a bigger model, so we had the time. So we found manufacturers coupons, Lowes coupons, and waited for a sale and ended up getting it for about half price at the time. Which is all they would reimburse us for. What we paid, not what it cost at the time, let alone the replacement cost. I was willing to eat this craptastic sandwich too, because I could almost see their point.
Now I have fought with the company for over a month, with 4 different people handling the case, and found out they are only going to reimburse me 75$ of the 225$ installation fee. Pickup and delivery are not covered (ok I?m willing to eat that again.). Disposal is not covered (wow, 3 sandwiches now. Starting to taste it). Post install inspection is not covered. Yeah, if the brand new unit they sold me leaks or is broken, I have to start all over again. Buy a new unit, etc, etc, etc? Oh really tasting that now. REMOVALE OF THE OLD UNIT IS NOT COVERED!!! Apparently the plumber is supposed to miraculously install a new water heater without removing the old one. I wish I had know this in advance, I would have had him peplum the entire house on Lowes bill, since only ?installation? charges are covered. Apparently removal of a broken unit is not considered part of installation.
On a side note, since it has been so long in coming, they promised to send the reimbursement check overnight express. It came presorted standard. Little bit of difference in delivery time there.
I called Lowes and talked to one of the many people who have had a hand in the reimbursement process. She told me to talk to their lawyers. This is flat out customer abuse in my opinion. When i asked to talk to her supervisor i was told she would transfer me to the legal department so they could "explain the language of the product protection plan. translation, we will weasel our way out of honoring the agreement. To paraphrase the quote ?you don?t like how we screw you over, sue us?. I cant afford to take on a multi million dollar corporation out of pocket, but I don?t think a complaint to the better business bureau or consumer reports is going to help at all. So, has anyone else had this problem, is aware of a class action suit, or knows a lawyer willing to take the case cheap?
Then I found out that Lowes is only going to reimburse me for less than half of what the water heater actually costs. See, when we bought it we had time to do our research. We just needed to upgrade our unit to a bigger model, so we had the time. So we found manufacturers coupons, Lowes coupons, and waited for a sale and ended up getting it for about half price at the time. Which is all they would reimburse us for. What we paid, not what it cost at the time, let alone the replacement cost. I was willing to eat this craptastic sandwich too, because I could almost see their point.
Now I have fought with the company for over a month, with 4 different people handling the case, and found out they are only going to reimburse me 75$ of the 225$ installation fee. Pickup and delivery are not covered (ok I?m willing to eat that again.). Disposal is not covered (wow, 3 sandwiches now. Starting to taste it). Post install inspection is not covered. Yeah, if the brand new unit they sold me leaks or is broken, I have to start all over again. Buy a new unit, etc, etc, etc? Oh really tasting that now. REMOVALE OF THE OLD UNIT IS NOT COVERED!!! Apparently the plumber is supposed to miraculously install a new water heater without removing the old one. I wish I had know this in advance, I would have had him peplum the entire house on Lowes bill, since only ?installation? charges are covered. Apparently removal of a broken unit is not considered part of installation.
On a side note, since it has been so long in coming, they promised to send the reimbursement check overnight express. It came presorted standard. Little bit of difference in delivery time there.
I called Lowes and talked to one of the many people who have had a hand in the reimbursement process. She told me to talk to their lawyers. This is flat out customer abuse in my opinion. When i asked to talk to her supervisor i was told she would transfer me to the legal department so they could "explain the language of the product protection plan. translation, we will weasel our way out of honoring the agreement. To paraphrase the quote ?you don?t like how we screw you over, sue us?. I cant afford to take on a multi million dollar corporation out of pocket, but I don?t think a complaint to the better business bureau or consumer reports is going to help at all. So, has anyone else had this problem, is aware of a class action suit, or knows a lawyer willing to take the case cheap?
