Fred's Appliance — Local services in Kalispell

If I could select negative stars, I would. This company is so poorly ran. It's just bad business. This may not be the fault of the Kalispell staff specifically. But the company as a whole. Their repair/service center is run out of Washington State - and this is the section of business I have a problem with. Our dishwasher broke in early October. It took 23 days for someone to come and diagnose it. This trip cost us $100.00, and we were told we would get a call once the part came in and quoted the cost for repair. One-month timeline in this valley is long but standard for most repair services. So all is well so far. One month later, just before I realized that I'd be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for our family without the use of a working dishwasher, we made the call to check in on our part. Again.. I'm still on board with the one-month timeline being reasonable for our area.. but we thought a check-in call would be a good idea. We were told that our technician left no notes on our repair ticket and was no longer with the company - therefore, they declared the job "done." So, no parts got ordered. No calls were made. Our dishwasher was fixed according to the paperwork. This may be an honest mistake. Bad business #1. Suppose your technician was no longer there. It might be a good idea to go through his book of business to ensure people had been taken care of properly. Bad business #2. The notes from our initial call were in the call log for our repair request. The door was tripped over, and body weight came down onto our open dishwasher door. The door hinge was bent and broken, and the sensor and suction were not working. You'd think that with notes like that.. and a ticket comes back blank.. you'd take a second look. Or ask questions? How could a broken and bent door be fixed without any parts.. I do not repair dishwashers for a living.. but I feel like this would raise suspicion to anyone who looked at it.

They made us wait another month for a new technician to come out. While making me feel guilty that the new technician will be out $100.00 because they were so generously waiving the fee for a new diagnosis. One month later. Nearly Christmas. The technician comes out to look at the dishwasher. He was here for less than 10min. All he did was ask me what the last guy said. He opened and closed the door a few times. Didn't try to turn the unit on, or test it, or anything. Just assumed what I said the last guy said was correct. I questioned this, and he just said, "Oh yeah, that looks to be right. I can tell by opening the door". Ok... I asked him to call and order the parts needed while standing in the kitchen to be sure we wouldn't have another blank ticket scenario. He did, and then he left.

Bringing us to today. Our appointment day. Our part came in two weeks ago, and somehow, we got an appointment in two weeks' time instead of a month. HAPPINESS!... They called us yesterday afternoon to confirm the appointment this morning.. they said they'd call first thing in the morning to give us the appointment window. I took the day off of work.. No call. WE had to call them at 9:30 am to find out what was happening. The guy is a no-show. And there is nothing they can do but reschedule us for another two to three weeks out.

Fred's Appliance lacks communication and customer service. Their service department speaks with the attitude that they know they are one of the only options around, so they can just continue to treat customers this way. We, the customer, pretty much have no choice but to use them. Their managers are rude and unreasonable, offering no rectification for their bad business mistakes. As of right now - Fred's has scammed us out of $100.00. I will be disputing the charge until services...

Worst experience I have ever had with an appliance store. Run, don't walk away. We were remodeling and purchased a range top $2,850. One specific need was that the range top come with griddles. The store associate assured us it did. While we were there, my husband quickly searched online and could not find a griddle that was made for that range top. The store associate assured us that it did and said she had other avenues to get products that we were not privy to. So, we went ahead and ordered it (it was not in stock), as well as a $1,200 vent hood and $239 duct cover. Delivery would take five weeks. On week four I called to check on things and make sure everything was still moving along. That is when it all fell apart. The range top was not made with matching griddles. The store manager, Brian, got involved. He was very professional and accommodating and was able to order a different brand that was actually better (for the same price) and put a rush on it. Sounds great, but there were all kinds of mix ups. The range top was delivered, then for some reason sent from Kalispell to Missoula. It was then sent back up to Kalispell. We called to pick it up and were told it was buried with inventory. This was at about week 6 or 7. The vent hood and duct cover were still MIA as well. We finally got all of the appliances, but the duct cover was damaged. At this point, it was late in the game and we were not happy. My husband brought it to Fred's and they agreed to take it back since it was damaged. But it would be 8 weeks to get a replacement!!! My husband got online and ordered directly from the manufacturer and we had it to our house in three days. Meanwhile, our sales association said she credited the $239 back to our account for the duct cover. It is now January, 25th and still no credit. I have called the store and the sales associate says she has done it. But she hasn't. They are polite, but polite doesn't cut it when you screw up so much and don't credit an account when you say you have. I filed a dispute report today with the credit card company that works with Fred's. I have yet another call in to the manager regarding this and have not heard back. I feel sorry for anyone that shops there because if they buy from the floor, it may go smoothly, but don't order anything and don't expect any help once an order has...

I have had good experiences with Fred's in the past; however, my latest experience has been quite negative. I selected a range and was told that it was not currently in stock and a special order would take 4-6 weeks, 8 weeks at the most. My sales person assured me that he would stay on top of the order and keep me informed of its status. The range arrived 18 weeks later, and I had to wait an additional 2 weeks for delivery and installation. 4-6 weeks became 20 weeks.

I do not fault Fred's for the delays, as I understand just about everything has been delayed in the last year due to parts, shipping, COVID, labor, etc... My frustration, which could have been avoided, was with the total lack of customer service and communication. I began calling my sales person at 8 weeks post order - Not available, left message, no call back. I called every couple weeks thereafter and got the same response - crickets. I did go into the store at week 14 and spoke with someone who told me he never would have told a customer to expect delivery that soon, which means I was mislead from the start. He did check with the GE warehouse and found that my range was there and due to be shipped. On about the 16th week, I did get my salesperson on the phone. He assured me he would check to confirm if the range was truly at the warehouse and due to be shipped. He would call me right back. Again, crickets. One week later, I again called the store and spoke to someone who informed me that, miracle of miracles, it had arrived that day! So much for my sales person who was going to keep me informed at every step. I still haven't heard from him that it has arrived.

I had no issues with the delivery and installation service. However, I purchased a part initially that was not needed for installation and was to be refunded. Now, two weeks later, I have not received the refund to my credit card and have called the billing department numerous times only to get a message that no one is available to take the call, please call back. Obviously, I am extremely frustrated with the lack of customer service and poor...