Pipestone Area Chamber of Commerce

The customer originally contacted us on 7/18/after having completed a repair with LG directly. She complained to us that her unit was “too warm and no ice was being produced”. LG performed a repair in January that involved replacing the coils and filter dryer. LG covered this
under warranty as a courtesy despite the fact that this was a year old unit outside of its warranty period. The filter dryer and coils are components of the sealed systemWhen the entire sealed system isn’t replaced following a failure, the manufacturer will not warranty any parts or labor beyond days because there is likely a corruption in the system that will statistically create another failure within roughly days. When this customer called we respected her urgency. She was originally scheduled for Wednesday the 20th, however, we added her to an urgent cancellation list and showed up on site the same day. The notes from the tech are as follows: Notes added by tech *** * on 7/18/2:03:PM Ckd unit found fan in fridge is not runningThe filter fan and ice room fan working as well as cond fan and freezer evap fanWill replace cover w/ fan motorA quote was presented to the customer in person and emailed around 2:50pm to the customer. Our technician did not get approval for the repair at the time of the visit/diagnosis so there was a pre-explained charge of $for the trip and diagnosis. We were contacted on 7/21/for approval of the repair and placed the part on order to return with a deposit of $181. We then scheduled the return visit for 7/28/2016. The technician then installed the Multi-Duct Assembly which included the fan motor, fan and other small components. We charged a flat labor rate based on the Appliance Blue Book which constitutes a fair rate for repair pricing. Upon job completion we received a payment of $182.28. We warranty our repair for one year: parts and labor. The technician verified that the fan was operating which allowed for the unit to start cooling as well as start making iceWe were later contacted by the customer on 8/2/and informed that the unit was not cooling. We went out to the home on 8/5/under our warranty. The technician arrived on site and spoke to Mr*** (customer’s husband). Our technician, ***, explained that the sealed system repair (filter dryer, coils) had failed from the previous repair performed by LG. Again, there was a system failure which indicates a leak/corruption in the system and the compressor, evaporator and other components had failed. All of these components tested properly during original diagnosis. When speaking to the customer, *** indicated that LG should be contacted to attempt have the repair covered under warranty as LG did a partial repair which was now outside of the day LG warranty window. This would be a costly repair and we wanted to try to save the customer money. Based on this discussion, we did not prepare a quote for that repair. The part we replaced was functional. The unit was also making ice We received a call from the customer on 9/2/informing us that she contacted LG, they repaired the sealed system for $274.95, and it was now cooling. However, the customer was upset that she had to pay for the LG repair in addition to our repair. We requested that she send her invoice to us so we could verify LG’s work and determine whether it was related to our diagnosis or if it was related to the repair that we performed so we could offer her a refund if appropriate We later received a call from the customer on 9/19/2016. We explained that these are two separate issues and that our repair was necessary and was functional. LG’s original repair had failed and had created a larger issue. The owner attempted to call, but did not get an answer. We assumed that the explanation from our office was satisfactory and the issue was resolved. We then received a call from the customer on 10/7/stating that the issue was not resolved. *** *** started to backtrack and research the issue. *** contacted the customer several times to update her on the progress. The owner and *** both contacted LG to confirm the spend made by the customer, what was repaired, and we verified that our repair was working and necessary. When we completed our research and verification by LG, we contacted the customer via a conference call on 10/7/2016. The owner and *** spoke to the customer to explain the repair. On the phone, the customer claimed to understand the process but expressed disappointment that we would not refund her for our necessary repair. We offered to send her a Target gift card for the delay she experienced and our misunderstanding We take complaints seriously and strive to resolve issues as quickly as possible. We had been under the incorrect assumption that this issue had been resolved which was stated on the phone with the customer (available on the call recording). We incurred costs to drive to the home, diagnose the unit, research the part needed, purchase the part, return to the home, replace the part, and then test that the unit was operational. We then spent money to return under the terms of our warranty. Our return trip proved that we had done our repair correctly. We went above and beyond by recommending to the customer a way to cut costs and resolve a problem that we diagnosed that was unrelated to our repairThe LG technician verified that our tech was correct in his recall visit and that LG did the repair they approval based on the failure we identified. We will not pull out the part that we used for the repair as it is functional. We cannot return a used functional part to the distributor or manufacturer *** *** // AAA Appliance Service Center *** ** * *** ** * *** ** ***