Spencer's TV & Appliance — Attraction in Glendale

My experience with Spencer's TV was a lesson in the importance of hiring people who believe in helping their customers & not just making money. My husband & I were in need of a set of front-loading washer & dryers. I settled on buying from the Arrowhead store of Spencer's TV & Appliance. They had good prices & the models I was looking for were in stock. I bought the units from Russ, the salesman. Delivery was within the week & the installer, Robert (& a helper) came out to install them. They did [what I thought was] a great job with no hiccups. When they were finished, he explained that both units were running & to let them run through their cycle before using them. When the cycles were finished I opened the doors to discover that they opened into each other and banged together, instead of opening away from each other so you could transfer wet laundry directly into the dryer easily. I learned later that my washer/dryer hookups are the opposite of most people & what is standard these days. The washer lines are on the right & the dryer vent is on the left, which is how the units were installed. Unfortunately, the door on my washing machine couldn't be flipped, so the machines needed to be installed opposite of the hookup locations. Sadly, Robert never mentioned the issue & didn't talk to me before installing to offer solutions to fix that matter. Since this was our first time buying a new front-loader set, I never thought to ask about the swing beforehand or check the doors when the installer was there. I discovered the problem as soon as the cycles were done & I opened the doors of the units. I immediately texted the Service Dept but didn't get a response. Then I called & left a message for Russ to let him know about the issue. I followed up with a polite text with the hope of hearing back later in the day. I received a text promptly, that he could set up a service call to get it fixed. Then...crickets... It wasn't until 5 days later, when I called the store that I was able to track him down. When I did, he basically told me it was my fault that they had been installed wrong because I didn't tell the installer that our hookups were backwards [which I didn't even know] or check the swing of the doors before the installer left. He gave me the number of an outside person who could switch the units for a fee, but he wouldn't schedule Spencer's to come & fix it for no charge. [So here's the question: Was he in partnership with this outside person & getting kickbacks or did he just not care about his customer, now that he had the sale & commission?] I soon realized that Russ wasn't willing to resolve the problem, so I decided to call the store manager. I called later & left a message for him. I waited several days again with no response, then called back to ask for the manager again. A sales rep named Dan happened to answer the phone. As I tried to leave a message for the manager Dan asked if there was anything he could do to help. I briefly explained my issue, thinking that it would still need to go to a manager since Dan wasn't my sales rep. To my surprise, Dan said he would check into it. Later that day he called to say that he could schedule a service call to resolve the problem. Today service reps, Brandon & his assistant arrived early & were friendly & so helpful!!! They were able to get the position of the units switched within about 20 minutes & everything was resolved. Brandon apologized that it wasn't installed correctly in the first place & made sure I was satisfied before he left. I was extremely disappointed in the sales rep, Russ' negative attitude & lack of customer service. Our first installer, Robert completed the installation but would have saved time & money for the company & a lot of headaches & follow up for me, if he had just discussed the problem with us before putting the units in. Dan & Brandon are the kind of employees that I would love to have on any customer service team. They both deserve a...

Our Whirlpool Dryer was no longer heating, so we went up to the Spencer's location on Arrowhead this past Saturday to purchase a new one. In the past we have bought all of our appliances from Spencer's stores, whether it be washers, microwave ovens, refrigerators, dryers - after our experience this past Saturday I am not so sure they will be getting any future business from us.

First we were greeted by a kid who had very little experience about dryers or their dimensions (we needed to be sure it could fit in our laundry room), nonetheless we decided to take a chance on one of the dryers when we discovered that because we hadn't made a purchase in recent years, our Spencer's card was no longer valid. OK, so we we tried to reapply.

First off, in the past, Spencer's applications were on paper and the sales staff would either "walk" you through it or were helpful in filling it out. Now, it is on smartphones. NOT COOL when you cannot read the print as you're typing it out, and we RECEIVED NO ASSISTANCE AT ALL (until almost at the end, and as noted below it was minimal at best)*. And if you are applying through a smartphone you must give out the smartphone number, not your home landline even if it was the landline number you've used for past applications.

Despite a history of paying off all of our Spencer's card purchases we were denied a new card because of that mistake. Throughout it all, no other staff - or management - came by or cared to assist us* until at the end one of the other sales staff, an older man came by and said "you should use your card more often" - he did offer to call their credit company for us on their phone, but when we spoke to the credit rep he dropped the call, and once more the Spencer's crew were unresponsive.

We're seniors and it was very hard to go through the process of reapplying through a smartphone with little or no help from Spencer's staff - and it seems there were NO managers available (if one was even there he never came by to help).

Bottom line - the sales staff at Arrowhead seemed more interested in making a sale than helping a customer - Spencer's employees supposedly run the company. They WOULD have made a sale if they had taken just a little more time to help out two elderly folks coming in from the heat to purchase a dryer but found filling out an application on a smartphone challenging - and they offered very little assistance if any in helping out repeat customers.

It was an upsetting experience, and while Spencer's may be cheaper in cost, the lack of respect and courtesy may drive our business elsewhere.

Spencer's prides itself on saying "You have a friend in the Appliance Business". Some friend...NOT. Mr. Biederbeck, Spencer's President, may very well be...

My recent experience with Spencer's TV & Appliance turned out to be a real letdown. I was just trying to add a new fridge to my home, and instead, I ended up in a frustrating loop of rescheduled deliveries, damaged goods, and a customer service that seemed to not really care about my time or satisfaction.

The fridge arrived damaged after several delays, and when I called Spencer's right away, their response felt dismissive. They implied that by accepting the delivery, I was okay with the damage, which didn't sit right with me at all.

Trying to get someone out to check the damage was another headache. Their scheduling system is a mess, completely inflexible and impersonal. It hit a low point when a service tech called me early in the morning, saying he'd be right over, which clashed with my kids' school run. Despite explaining my situation, the tech just didn't get it and ended up hanging up on me. It was both unprofessional and disrespectful, adding unnecessary stress to the whole ordeal.

And if that wasn't enough, sorting out a replacement for the damaged part is turning into a long saga. Depending on who you talk to at Spencer's, you get different timelines ranging from 8-14 weeks. The lack of consistency and the hoops I'm jumping through just to fix a brand-new appliance are beyond frustrating.

I wish I could give this location 0 stars. The sales part of the experience was professional and efficient, which would be the only reason for 1 star. Everything that came after the sale has pretty much been a never ending nightmare.

So, if you're thinking about buying from Spencer's, take my story as a heads-up. It's been quite the journey of poor service and dealing with a damaged appliance right out of the gate. I hope sharing this helps others make more informed decisions, ideally with less drama and frustration than I had...