Gulgren Appliance — Local services in Crystal Lake

Buying Small at Gulgrens on Black Friday Should have saved $200 BUT NO SAVINGS NO Dryer COST ME $250 MORE!! Went in after stopping by 3 Big Box stores to buy a dryer Felt compelled to Buy Local and Small having done business for decades with Gulgrens I went here to buy. Salesman Gary and Owner Mike G were sitting at desk tell them my choice Mike says Glad for the opportunity! Give me a price about $50 more than Big Boxes I think Hey I will get awesome service from the small guy give up the $50! and delivery by end of next week (ThrusFri) Longer than Big Boxes would have had Wed or Thurs BUT I go with the sale. Gary charges my CC and I have a delivery date All Good I think NOT Wed rolls around have not heard anything decide to check Garys on the phone OK Call back Thurs leave messages to call me back no Call Back! Call early Fri get Gary can't find my file Has to call Rep Wait a few hours No call back So call Gary again Dryer not available needs talk to rep will call me back NO Call Back Fri or Sat OK I need a dryer! Text Mike owner to see if he can get something going Gary calls Rep now gone for a week ask Gary for options says other one on back order and Literally tells me to go back to Big Box see if I can get one there! REALLY! They had them on Black Friday they had inventory at everyone! and imagine that they are all gone a week later! Gary had charged me for a dryer he had no clue if he could even get! Now have to get a refund for the aggravation! Go to Grand Appliance talk with Jack tell him dryer number of what I am looking for comes right back with it's discontinued can never get again! Why didn't Gulgrens know this! Jack right away gives me tons of options choices went on website can see what is in warehouse NO Sorry Now we cant get it! EVER! The real kicker came back to Grand with wife deal with Tom Manager extremely knowledgeable sets me up with a GREAT Dryer will have it Thurs! Guaranteed! Cost me $250 more but have a way better dryer! A week after Black Friday I did expect to take a HUGE hit and lose the savings I had, I have been soured now I may never buy Small Local again! It's Obviously Now to me Big Boxes have their own inventory and the ability to warehouse items Sales people are very up to date on every aspect of selling and details what's new what's discontinued Better technology just left me with a feeling of being taken care of instead of taken down the primrose! As for Gulgrens I should have read reviews first from previous reviews they have issues these days. The no return calls not being proactive and maybe Gary checking on Mon or Tues to see if my Dryer was in stock and not waste over a week of my time and money would have nice! I wish now I would have just bought from the Big Boxes on Black Friday and been done with this! Saved money not cost me money No customer needs all this stress and aggravation in their lives when just buying an appliance! It can be so easy and Gary made it so difficult for us. This is my account of my experiences at Gulgrens Appliance with Gary and Mike G on Black Friday 2017 very disappointed to...

Do not use Gulgren for appliance repair. Had an issue with my washer that was only a few years old. Was told over the phone I would probably need a new pump because it was continuously draining. They sent out a young and inexperienced technician who worked on the washer for a LONG time. He told me it’s probably the pump so I paid quite a bit of money to have it replaced. A few hours after he left I found two sopping wet bath towels of ours behind our laundry room door that he took off the top of the dryer (in a folded pile of nice towels!) and used to mop up some terrible smelling water from when he disconnected the water line. Ok, I’ll look past it because I’m just happy to have a working washing machine. It fixed the problem for a few weeks and then immediately returned. I called Gulgren again and was told over the phone we were within the 90 day warranty period and they would come back out. I confirmed over the phone there would be no charge for the second visit. They sent out the same technician who again worked for a LONG time taking the washer apart. After quite awhile he came out and showed me a small piece of piping that had a minuscule amount of buildup in it and said that was causing the problem. I asked, are you sure that small amount of buildup that was in no way blocking the flow of water would cause the washer to completely not work, and was told yes. He took the piece and was literally able to wash it away in the bathroom sink in about two seconds (not without leaving a huge mess of water on the floor in the bathroom of course). Whatever, if it fixes the problem. He left and I was hoping that was the end of it, however, I received a voicemail from someone else at Gulgren later that evening saying I owed them money for the visit because the little piece he washed in the sink was different than the pump issue I had before and he really didn’t want to make the technician pay for the visit. It was honestly shocking and the most unprofessional voicemail I have ever heard. Fast forward after using the washer for less than a handful of loads and the issue resurfaced. I definitely didn’t call Gulgren back. The other company came out, found it was a water level sensor malfunctioning in about 10 minutes and was able to order the part and install it a few days later. I was told I probably never needed a new pump and he never would have jumped straight to that expensive repair. I small $40 sensor later and I have had no issues with my washer since. Not before pouring hundreds of dollars into a big mess (literally and figuratively) with Gulgren....

Clothes washer broke. Had to call 3x to get a response about repair. Busy time of year, crazy days - fine, no biggie. Ended up having to replace washer, ordered it and made it abundantly clear that installation was going to be a big job to the salesperson and 2 different delivery people who said “no problem.” (Had to call them every step of the process btw, and didn’t receive phone calls back on most occasions when promised.) Delivery day set and I call that morning to confirm but am told someone called in sick so they had to reschedule and would call me back. No big deal, crazy times. No call came to reschedule. Called and nobody was available in the delivery department so asked to speak to manager (yes, I’m a Karen). Manager was rushed and cut me off multiple times, said he would look into it and call me back and let me know if there would be an additional charge for delivery/installation (?!) because of the setup. He calls back an hour later to tell me they can squeeze me in in 2 days (like he’s doing me a favor after THEY canceled) and there would be an additional $100 charge for delivery because of my setup. I made it clear that the location was a challenge every step of the way and would have been fine with additional charge at any point until after you cancel on me and THEN want to charge me more?! Um, no. Went with Gulgren’s (initially) because “shop local” “they’ve been around forever”, etc. Sorry to say that Home Depot has my business for appliances now and...