Oakville Appliance Centre — Local services in Oakville

I am local business owner and I like to support local businesses. So, I decided to purchase my dishwasher and refrigerator from Oakville Appliance located at 476 Kerr Street. It has been a terrible experience.

When shopping for a fridge, I found the fridge at Home Depot and they would have delivered the fridge in 2 days. My fridge was dying and I needed the fridge immediately. I called Oakville Appliance to see if they had the fridge I wanted (this was before knowing the dishwasher would be installed incorrectly). A guy by the name of Gary advised me that they had the same fridge but they would not be able to deliver it until the following week. When I told him I could not wait that long as my fridge was dying, he told me he would give me a “loaner” fridge until the new one came in. Although not ideal, I agreed as I would rather support their business than buy from Home Depot. This is were everything falls apart:

1. the loaner showed up at my house so dirty that it was unusable. It was disgusting. So while my food is melting on my counter and 2.5 year old is looking for my attention, I was forced to spend an hour cleaning the disgusting loaner before I could even put food in it. It was disgusting inside and out.

2. when I told the delivery guy that it was disgusting, he called Gary to tell him I was mad. Gary called me and for my “trouble” he tells me that “next time I come in, he will give me a free bottle of stainless steel appliance cleaner.” Seriously? My time and time lost is worth a lot more than that.

3. the guy who brought the loaner fridge did not level it and so the following morning I woke up to curdled milk and had to throw away food as the door did not close properly. It was open all night.

4. the fridge did not arrive for several weeks despite the promise that I would have it the following week.

5. the fridge showed up without the ice maker and the guy who delivered it had no knowledge of the ice maker. When I emailed Gary about it, he did not respond to my email.

6. I then had to call the store. I asked to speak to the manager and some guy (I believe he said his name was Fraser), said “I can help you” and when I said “are you the manager” he said “I can help you” (so that would be a no) and it was clear that he was not going to let me talk to the manager. When I told him the story, I did not receive an apology or any explanation for why my ice maker was not ordered (the invoice clearly stated the ice maker was an additional expense and I paid the additional expense) or anything other than “your ice maker will be here next week. We will call you when it is in.”

Not surprisingly, no one called.

6. I had my assistant call for me and they finally made arrangements to deliver the ice maker and have it installed. The installation guy came and told my assistant that it was a charge of $210.00 to install the ice maker. my assistant called Gary and suggested to him that the store should pay the costs is the ice maker installation to make up for the horrible customer service.

Gary’s response: “she bought a cheap fridge, I am not willing to eat that kind of profit.”

Seriously! I paid $2,000.00 for the fridge. While I appreciate that is not the most expensive fridge on the market, it certainly is not “cheap”. Not to mention that this is a product they sell.

7. The guy who came to install the ice maker quoted a price of 210.00. Then claimed it was $223.00 with HST. Then I went into my basement to find water leaking all over the basement from where they hooked it up the water for the ice maker.

I am still in shock about the “she bought a cheap fridge” comment. That is pretty outrageous. This company does not value its customers and has provide some of the worst customer service I have ever had. I am not one to write reviews but I just could not let this happen to...

UPDATE RESPONDING TO THEIR RESPONSE BELOW... Nope wrong. 3 years ago was their FIRST visit that I did not hear back from. Gary was just here before this past winter because I go to florida and once AGAIN they never followed up. I was waiting patiently for them to get back to me and I told them it was no rush because i would be leaving for FLorida soon... but... months and they still did not get in touch - for the second time and after the second visit... oh and by the way - I can tell that this is Gary replying because the tone and lack of customer service reply is exactly what I would expect from someone who yelled at and HUNG UP on their customer. Customer service? no I don't think so. Here is a picture of my very odd situation and Gary, the store manager, came out for the second time because the first time they never called me back to tell me what i needed so i gave them another chance.. When he was here, he mentioned he knew what was needed for the stove top. But he would have to get back to me about the oven because it is such an odd situation, and Possibly an odd size, I think he was worried mostly about the depth ... but I can not be 100% sure, regardless, he wasn't sure what would fit. He measured, apologized for not getting back to me the first time and said he would be in touch. He also needed to get back to me on pricing! (he claimed on our telephone call today that he DID tell me exactly what I needed at the visit but even if the thinks that is true - which it isn't - he did NOT quote me any price!) They never got back to me once AGAIN. I am not in a hurry and just called him again today and he lied to me on the phone saying that he told me what I needed and that I never called HIM back. Complete lie... he did not tell me what I needed for the oven ONLY for the stove, AND did not quote me any pricing either... not impressed. Not to mention he talked all over me and yelled at me on the phone and then...

Bought a high end dishwasher. The installation was poorly done and the dishwasher became loose. They outsource the installation the a third party and in that way have no responsibility for poor work. You buy the appliance and hire the installer right in their store. After that they don't want to hear form you. I called three times. On the third call I was assured the installer would come out. Never showed, never called. The store never called to follow up either. They sell quality appliances and are very knowledgeable and friendly. Once you are out the door, that's where it ends. In the end, I fixed it myself. Took twenty minutes. It's a shame with all the competition from online retailers that local stores can't compete. Service is the last defense. It is obvious they have thrown in the towel. My next purchase will be with a larger company that makes customer service a priority. Twenty minutes and even a slight amount of interest would have kept a loyal customer. I have been purchasing there since the early 80s. I guess all good things must end. So long Oakville Appliance. Think twice and read some of the other reviews...Oh, by the way Oakville Appliance, please remove me from your Valued Customer Appreciation Sale Mailing List. ...