Note: This is a many-part series. Please also see Part I, Part II, and Part III.
So far, readers, you know that my husband and I purchased a buffet and hutch that we had to put together ourselves. When we opened the box, not only did we find no assembly instructions, but there was also some parts missing. This is the final part in this series.
On Wednesday, February 22, I stated that I spoke with a customer service representative who said that the hardware would take one to two weeks to be delivered. Imagine my surprise when a DHL delivery man knocked on my door at exactly 10:05 a.m. today and handed me a small package. At first I was confused because the only thing I remembered ordering this week was a DVD for my daughter. When I took the box out of the packaging, the lightbulb over my head lit. Ah ha! The missing hardware to our buffet with hutch!
I opened the small box and then pried open the styrofoam packaging to find not one set of hardware, but two! So they even sent us a spare set — how nice! I was so excited that I decided to put this piece on by myself and surprise my husband. Then, I took a step back and realized that even if I knew where my husband’s drill was, I had almost no idea how to use it. I think I’ll just wait until he gets home and let him finish the job that he started. No sense in ruining a perfectly good product.
I will now reiterate some tips that I have mentioned before in dealing with situations where you are an unsatisfied customer.
1. Stay calm. If you get too heated, you may end up making an enemy of the company rather than a friend. See Step 2.
2. Be polite. When you speak to the person in charge regarding the situation at hand, you will most likely get more cooperation if you are not screaming into the phone (or in the person’s face).
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for a refund or a replacement product if it is not offered to you. If you have followed Steps 1 and 2, whoever is in charge of the situation will most likely be willing to honor your request. In my case, they must have been following protocol and offered to mail out the replacement parts.
4. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome, contact a corporate manager or the Better Business Bureau. That will most likely get the attention of the company.
