12/1 #5
Well that stunk. We bought our new dryer on Friday. Advertised price at Sears: $375. However, because of the low amount, home delivery and installation cost $70 (in addition to the $30 power cord and the $15 for hauling away the old one)--home delivery is free if it appliance itself is $400+. The next cheapest models were $450, so the difference would have been negligible. Delivery was set for today.
Truck arrives, guys come and haul away the old one. Upon taking it down the stairs (our washer/dryer is on the second floor), they discover that they will not be able to get the new one up because it is 0.5 inches wider than the old one which they just barely had clearance for. They needed to reschedule installation so that we could remove the handrail because to wait would have thrown them off-schedule (they are given 12 minutes on a standard install). Couldn't they just lift it over the handrail like the last time? No, because of liability.
So they will return tomorrow morning. On top of that, they left the new one (because it had already been unpacked) in our entry way. Sigh. I take a look at the handrail which has been in place since my home was built in 1971. The bolts had been painted over several times and there was no way that they were going to come off--I almost broke the steel handle for my ratchet trying to do so.
If we couldn't take the hand rail off, there was no way they were going to install it.... so, my wife and lifted the thing ourselves, negotiated the u-turn in the stairwell and now have the new dryer upstairs side by side with the washing machine. If I hadn't paid $70, I would just finish it myself by connecting the vent and plugging it in--but I paid for installation so I want them to at least do the bare minimum of what they're supposed to do. The whole point in paying for installation, for me, is because I knew what a pain it was to get the appliance up the stairs--and we had to do it ourselves anyway.
I certainly hope they follow-up to check on how the service went, because I'm going to give them a piece of my mind.
Sorry for the rant.