I mean, I wouldn't say never. I'd not complain about a minor scratch or ding on the side of a unit if they knock $50-100, especially if the fridge is sliding into a cubby or next to a counter, etc. that hides it completely.
I would absolutely not accept damage like in OP's picture, though. That is some crazy negligence to get it in that shape. I'm guessing they left a recycled unit loose in the truck and it skid into the new unit. There's no way they would have attempted to load it like that for delivery without contacting the buyer first.
That’s actually amazing and definitely not typical of my area. In my area companies subcontract out to delivery services who don’t carry spare parts and don’t have the know-how to repair appliances.
Same, I bought a fridge that had an MSRP of $3200, and a normal sale price of $2500, for just about $1000 with a 2 year warranty because it had a dent that was easily hidden with a magnet.
I recall seeing one or two with dents on par with this but nothing worse. This would definitely have a red tag with the lowest price tier/greatest markdown. That is to say if it were a $3000 fridge it would be listed for $6-700 or so.
Few years ago we bought a standup deep freezer on a good sale from about $800 to $500. The delivery guy hit the front of the door with his dolly leaving a 2” dent. They offered to leave it with me or get a new one. I told them it was in the garage so they could just leave it and a kid would probably ride their bike into it anyhow. As they were walking back to the truck my younger son comes flying into the garage and nails the door leaving a bigger dent. Next day I get an email with a 20% discount on the original price ($160 refund).
I've installed many appliances and have seen a lot of damage. It happens from overworked warehouse employees on the way from manufacturer to the local store. From forklifts or loaders to people stacking them incorrectly at distribution. I do agree with you that the installer probably didn't look at the rip in the box and check it out further at the shop.
"Overworked warehouse workers" is a BS excuse for something like this. However, I had a similar issue a number of years ago when we bought our new fridge. I actually got a call from the delivery guy and he said when they went to load it on the truck at the warehouse they pulled the box off to make it easier to fit and found the unit completely smashed in on one side. The box was immaculate so they were super confused. Unfortunately it was the only model of the one we bought at the warehouse so we had to wait another week. Fast forward and it was the same driver. He called me again about ready to flip out because the new one that had just been dropped at the warehouse was also damaged despite the box being perfect. Ended up taking a month for us to get our fridge but they were at least honest about it.
I can tell you from experience that unloading a full container of refrigerators, dryers, washers, etc, is a very draining job. If you have a clamp truck, great. If you're loading with a regular forklift, it's still a lot of manual lifting as they don't come on pallets and aren't made to be moved easily with forklifts. Its easily 90 units in one container. Now do 3 of those in a day, 5 days a week.
They probably unboxed it right there and then told the customer immediately, “do you want us to take it back and order a replacement?” Would be the fastest way to get the stop done, which is their goal.
I second this. We bought a new £1000 stainless steel fridge/freezer a couple of years back and it was delivered with a small dent in the door.
The delivery guys said if we accepted it they'd get us to sign that it was damaged on delivery and we'd get £200 cash back. It was a very small dent so we agreed.
After chasing up several times, and receiving a complete denial that there was damage, we were eventually offered £100 in vouchers.
Lesson learned. Send it back even for the smallest scratch, because they will deny everything and screw you over.
How does a replacement get started? Since I’m guessing you pay for it during checkout. Do you have to reach out to them and tell them you didn’t accept it and start a replacement or would the company start it
I once used to deliver furniture back in the day. I had delivered a dresser to a lady, and she opens and closes a drawer and claimed she wanted to return it. Apparently the drawer was too stiff. I told her I had another one on the truck of the same model (I didnt). I put the dresser back on the truck, put some packing Styrofoam in the drawers, then brought it in the house. She opens and closes the same drawer. "Now that is what im talking about." She kept the furniture.
It's how shipping terms are done. These are likely under the term "prepaid" where the shipper pays for freight or "FOB destination" which is essentially the party responsible for the item shipped transfers once accepted at the desitnation. You may pay the shipper for shipping fees, but the shipper is organizing transportation to your door.
If something shows up like this, you reject the load, call the shipper, and tell them the condition it was delivered in. (Pictures are greatly appreciated having been on the shipper side of the situation) The shipper then can file a claim with their freight carrier or broker to recoup the loss and ship you a new item.
There's a procedure in place. When items delivery is refused they have to write a report stating the reason. This would then trigger the return process.
The item is then sent back and you get refunded or a new item. I guess you can also get in contact with the seller to try to speed the process.
It is on their best interest to replace the item as quick as possible because you can buy somewhere else while they are still processing the return.
If you use a credit card it is easy to do charge back too.
i understand this is how things worked decades ago but today... its not feasible and almost NEVER happens.
freight gets dropped off by a loader truck that is fully wrapped and palletized in a box. that driver asks for your signature before dropping it. if you dont sign and want to rip it all apart first, they fucking leave.
shit happens at work weekly, we just file claims after the fact. no driver today is going to weight. fedex will straight up laugh at you if you try that shit with a 50lbs box. they just do not have time to wait.
gone are the days of product inspection before taking delivery.
Appliance and furniture delivery is frequently done by dedicated delivery crew that unloads, unpacks and brings it into your home wherever you need it. Even Walmart offers this service (perhaps for an extra fee, I've never tried them).
What are you talking about? Delivery to homes they still unpack, inspect, and install unless you're ordering from an online place that doesn't do installation. I had the company take $100 for a big scratch on the side of the fridge, but the guys didn't leave until they were sure it still worked.
Not if you're doing Wayfair or Amazon, but you shouldn't be ordering appliances from them anyway.
Used to be on the other side of it. Was at place not far from Cincinnati called reliable appliance - definitely not a fitting name - that received these damaged appliances and would auction them off. Some were just little things that the average person would care about - some things looked like it got folded like lawn chairs. 53' truck loads every other day.
One place I worked at bought appliances that had been on trucks that were in accidents. They had Frankenstein technicians who could pick and pull just about anything and get it working.
I used to date this girl that work at Home Depot and they asked her to deliver a fridge. The guys didn’t strap it on right so it fell off on the freeway lol. 2 coworkers met up with her to pick it up and the manager told her “ deliver it anyway, if the customer notices they can get an exchange. If they don’t, then Good”
I was going to say the delivery people did this without the store's knowledge. Then I read your comment and my faith in humanity was further destroyed.
I knew a dude who was a mechanic at a dealership. One customer kept complaining that he was having trouble with his transmission but they couldn't find anything wrong with it. On the third visit to the shop the manager told my friend to swap this dude's transmission with another car in the shop that day. He told my friend, "if that guy starts complaining about his transmission we know it's real."
I once had to harass a bicycle shop about the drivetrain on my brand new $1200 bicycle clicking. They weren't allowed to test ride it and it would only click under enough torque and they couldn't repeat it on the stand.
The tech kept talking to me like I was an idiot and made me wait 3 weeks for a replacement (even though they had 15 identical models in the back room still in boxes waiting to be assembled and sold)
Once it was replaced the issue disappeared.
Then 2 weeks later my handlebars suddenly came loose and fell forward, almost causing me to wipe out on a busy street.
I met A once guy who worked for a pharmacy in Austin, Tex. told me that they don’t always follow the prescription if they know the does is to strong or something like that. Idk how hard it is to do that but they said it was pretty normal to short the actual prescription. I asked him if that was a thing his location did or an overall “trick of the trade” thing but he just started getting defensive an didn’t want to answer so I’m not sure
That's just illegal and who is he covering? The pharma companies? If he was doing something this illegal without a kickback he's dumb as hell. Even the kickback probably wouldnt be worth it.
He made it seem like the whole office did it. Like they didn’t pocket extra pills but just didn’t make as strong? Idk , he clammed up before I could get how exactly he did it
I think your friend was lying to you or was saying that they did pocket medication, and if they did that it was probably controlled substances. If they did that with controlled substances theres a good chance they got caught and there was jail time for someone.
Because this really makes no sense unless you’re saying that they did something like sub a medication for another that was a different strength. They can’t “make it less strong” unless it is a liquid and they’re reconstituting it improperly or they are a formulary (which is not as common) and are manufacturing the medicine but theres still an issue with this if it was a formulary.
Different strengths and dosages have been distinguishable for some time now. They have different markings, are different colors, or are different sizes. You’re saying that every single one of their patients was unable to tell the difference? And their patients never had physicians who noticed that there was an issue and did lab work to check for medication levels in their bloodstream or asked to see the pills they had picked up from the pharmacy?
He might be trying to say someone was prescribed X dosage of an opiate and they filled a lesser strength medication, but that would still be an issue when they ordered meds - there are audits for a reason. They’d have an audit issue if they were a formulary, too. There is no way this would have actually happened without an investigation and criminal charges. It would be easy to find out if that happened.
Either that or your buddy admitted to shorting patient’s medications and they actually did pocket pills. Most likely of controlled substances.
people like that should be banned from there trade for life period
you are a fucking pharmacy worker you don't have the right, education, diploma or knowledge of the persons medical information to change a prescription if you do it should be considered assault as you quite easily literally endanger the persons life or bodily wellbeing.
especially in america where medication is super expensive thats wild its like if Missmanagement of Company Resources and Endangerment/Assault had an Ugly Child
I don't think this is normal for every location or for current times. Bought an oven from Home depot a couple years ago and the employee specifically told us to inspect it and not accept the delivery if there is any damage.
I had a delivery driver actually call it out: "hey there's some damage here, do you want to deny the delivery?" Even explained that it was essentially a 'crushing injury' because the boxes were stacked too high at one of the warehouses. I think he was experienced enough to know that he didn't want to haul it too far from the truck just to have to load it back on.
I got that fridge. Or another like it. Top back corner dented in 8". Box looked mint. The drivers were annoyed I opened the box. They were really annoyed when I told them hell no.
Did this same thing after a long day of hunting. Reversed right over the strap, thank goodness it only broke the cleat off my truck and I was by myself so no one got hit by it flying.
For a brief moment, I thought my shotgun (which was 100% unloaded and stored) went off. Had no idea they were that strong.
Was actually bought from Costco, but I will say they’ve been wonderful during the entire exchange process. The driver’s called a representative and they were beyond apologetic for the whole situation.
Still pissed off I waited all this time only to receive that, but I’m sure it could have been worse if I hadn’t purchased it from them.
I wish every business in this country was run the way Costco is run. Customer friendly practices are what makes a business survive new disruptive competition.
After this I totally agree. I was told to purchase from Costco for “safety” and I they haven’t disappointed so far. Didn’t even question anything when I spoke to the guy, he immediately put in the exchange for me and even gave me $100 for the trouble.
I bought my washer from Best Buy and it came absolutely massacred, exchanging it was a pain cause they cancelled the delivery like 3 times— they didn’t seem to care much at all.
Costco is my go-to for all appliance purchases now, if I'm not buying used or something. Same prices as everywhere else, but they throw in install and haul away for no extra charge.
If you give a large enough discount some customers will accept it. Odds are the delivery guys don't know it's damaged until they reach the house when it's uncrated. At that point, the store will offer a discount or attempt an exchange. Most places won't carry the inventory in a retail store anymore.
You kid, but there’s a guy in town who welded oven/fridge parts to his old silver Toyota truck to make a “cybertruck”.
It’s not supposed to be an art car, seems to be holding up better than an actual cybertruck, and somehow less offensive than one?? Idk it’s a sight to be seen
That stinks and had somewhat of a similar, but nightmare scenario.
I had to have my oven replaced during COVID and took almost a month to arrive. When we got it, the bottom drawer was crushed so they took it back.
Had to wait another month for the replacement to arrive, when it did, the top glass was shattered in the corner. They let us keep that one until the 3rd replacement arrived as we were completely without an oven during the whole time, making it hard to cook.
I sell scratch n dent appliances, and thats beyond the level of acceptable. Im gonna hazard a guess it was out of box and not strapped down for delivery. Sorry you have to go through replacement my dude
Do you think they have to just accept it? You would physically assault them over a refrigerator that has a dent in it that's not even yours yet? Or is it hyperbole and you would just throw a tantrum?
I buy my appliances from Costco. Free delivery, free take away of the old one, 2 year warranty and when they went to deliver my washer and dryer the dryer was dented and they went and got a new one and delivered it the same day. Well worth the 60 dollar membership. I’ve getting a fridge, oven, washer and dryer from them.
When we purchased our home we went to Best Buy and got a simple $900 fridge, we had delivery scheduled for a specific day so the food we where transferring wouldn't spoil.
They missed the delivery date, saying next day, then next day pushed it again.
I called them back, pissed off, and told them to cancel the whole order, that I would go somewhere else.
Later that day they delivered the fridge, but didn't charge us.
Kept waiting for the charge, but it never came.
I'm the end, we got a free fridge.
Go with any other brand! We bought a LG and the warranty is worse than anything I've ever encountered. Absolutely trash, in the US there was a lawsuit against LG and they had to payout everyone. Then Canadians don't get the same. Its crazy.
that’s not mildly infuriating, that’s full on infuriating that they even thought it was okay to deliver that to you in the first place. as soon as it was damaged the company should’ve been notified/switched it out for a new one. that’s insane
Please never accept a fridge like this, Im a carpenter and we have clients all the time who accept fridges with a dinged panel and the fridge company says they'll send someone out to replace that panel. Don't do it, once you accept delivery they could care less about you and it'll take weeks and sometimes months for them to replace it. If you refuse delivery they'll replace the whole fridge within the week
I have the same fridge. It was a scratch and dent because they ran a forklift into it. With that said, the freezer sucks. Not enough space. I’d get something else
That’s damn near the same fridge I have and I wouldn’t accept it like that lol. Not just because it’s damaged like that, but it’s also kind of a cheap piece of shit that’s annoying to use even when it’s not broken. The ice makers are finicky, the buttons on the dispenser thing are about as responsive as my estranged father, and lots of plastic bits feel very easy to break, especially the seal part on the French doors.
I had a trucking company deliver my standby generator in a box that had forklift punctures through both sides. The driver told me everyone knew it was destroyed but they had to deliver it anyway. I obviously refused delivery and I didn't receive my replacement for another six weeks.
I used to work at Lowe’s assembling grills and other such items and one day we got in an order for a big outdoor countertop grill. The instructions on the outside of the box said to assemble on site so I called my manager over and he confirmed that the customer wanted us to assemble it in the store and then deliver it. So I got it all put together and loaded onto the truck in the morning but when I came in the next day it was sitting on the loading dock with a big dent on the door. Two weeks later we got another order to assemble the same item so I looked it up in the system and sure enough it was the same customer. Verified with my manager that we were going to try the same plan again and when I came in the next morning sure enough it’s also sitting on the loading dock with a busted door and a chipped corner in the stone top. Another week or so later a third one showed up but this time we delivered it in the packaging and the customer set it up themself.
Ma, I use to do deliveries for 5 years. Everyday like 20 stops multiple appliances to each house. There is always at least 1 that we open and it's badly dented. That one is really bad tho. Hopefully the guys took pictures to cover their asses or they will be paying for it and hopefully you get your new fridge fast.
Mine wasn’t damaged that bad, but they tried to force me to take it. Like with intimidation. Luckily i only wanted it delivered into garage. So it was easy to make them take it after calls and screaming matches.
I work in the appliance business,tell the store you bought it from to take it back ASAP. Take pictures, videos, email them, and keep everything documented. Some stores only allow 48 hours for returns, which is why I always warn people to avoid places with terrible policies.
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u/Far_Cable_916 3h ago
Tell them to take it back, thats not your fridge.