Sierra West Construction

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/10) */
Contact Name and Title: Deanna [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@northcoastlighting.net
RE: [redacted] order
In November 2014 Suzanne from North Coast Lighting met with Dr. [redacted], his wife and a representative...

from the builder. They spent a couple of hours picking out fixtures. They wanted brass fixtures. They could not find brass fixtures for some locations in the home so Suzanne showed them a line of fixtures with a different finish, it is called Persian white. She told me they were thrilled with it. All items chosen are gone over repeatedly, written down in detail (which I have copies of) the totals are given and the order is agreed upon. Their allowance from the builder for lights was $4000.00 and overage is billed to the customer. The lights were paid for by the builder. On December 16th an additional sconce was ordered in the same finish, with a picture sent and agreed upon. The order was delivered 1/23/2015. In May I was told they were not happy with the persian white finish on the fixtures. All other fixtures they received on the order they are ok with. They refused to move in due to the fact they were so distressed over the finish. It is not our policy to accept returns of light fixtures that are hung. It is not any manufacturer's policy to accept back return of fixtures that are hung, unless there is a warranty issue in which case a full credit would be refunded. We honor all manufacturer warranties. We state on our invoices this policy. After speaking with the manufacturer they agreed to make an exception to keep the customer happy. There is nothing wrong with the fixtures but they said if I return them in their boxes with all parts they would give me credit minus 30% restocking fee. I explained in an email to Dr. [redacted], which I will forward, that I will accept the fixtures back under these conditions. I documented the return fee 30%. I asked if he agreed to this and I offered to help him pick out new fixtures in our store or I would drop off catalogs to them. We arranged pick up of the fixtures a couple of times. In June first and then the date was changed by Dr. [redacted] to July 9th after the electricians took the fixtures down. After inspecting the fixtures to return them we noted that several small knobs that went over screws, a few ornamental pieces that hung on hooks and the original down rod was missing. These seem like small issues but they need to be repurchased in order for me to make the fixtures complete to return. Also, the original boxes were discarded when the fixtures were installed, I expect this and I am providing boxes large enough to return to the manufacturer. I sent another email to Dr. [redacted] explaining the missing items and the deduction of $75 for this expense before mailing his check. I heard nothing back from him and I mailed him the refund check which he cashed. In September I received an email from Dr. [redacted] in which he stated for the first time to me that the fixtures were not the fixtures he ordered originally. I was shocked. The builder agrees he ordered these, our notes and invoices state he ordered these. I believe they were not happy with the finish of the fixtures they chose and I made an exception and agreed to take them back. In 21 years of doing business I have never been accused of making up orders and delivering them. It does not make any sense to do this and I would not ever do this. I immediately called Dr.[redacted] and discussed the email and his concerns. In the end I stand by my facts of the order and how we handled it. I am sorry he is upset and I stated such to him. I did tell him I would consider refunding him back the $75 for the missing parts. At this time I am waiting for the manufacturer to determine whether they are giving me credit, I have not received any credit back at this time. I will attach emails with correspondence as back up of events.
Sincerely,
Deanna [redacted]
North Coast Lighting, LLC
OFFER:
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This is not the truth, and this case made me wondering about business ethics with the operations in this store. As Deanna mentioned in her response, we wanted brass fixtures, and they insisted to sell us something else, and showed us a picture with Brass Fixture. However, what was installed was different than what they had showed us. After that I lost the trust and did not want to deal with her, and she was insisting. Once she realized we are not buying from her, Deanna voluntarily deducted $617.54, and said this is their policy, and when I mentioned that was their own mistake she refused to accept their mistake. Then again, deducted another $75 for missing parts. While I watched their electricians as replacing the fixtures to make sure no parts get lost, and they nicely packaged them so there was no missing parts. I called her few time to go to the house and pick up their stuff, she postponed few time. I am living in South Bend Indiana, an hour and fifteen minutes away from the new house, and was trying to check again and see if there was any missing parts. However, she had already deducted on her own. Later I checked and found no missing parts in the house. Since we did not buy their fixture she tried to deduct our money and making different excuses, and this is not ethical. I keep telling my students character, competency and commitment as the attributes for success in business and leadership, and consider business ethic as the foundation for character and success. I am hoping that Revdex.com help us to enforce business ethics in our business operations and do not let a business owner to retaliate a customer who does not like a specific product by overcharging the customer and making excuses to cover up their push to sell their products and their own own mistakes.
Thank you,