[Let me begin this post by stating that what follows may or may not be indicative of hhgregg as a whole, or even the particular store I visited. Maybe it's just me. I just wanted to share the (bad) experience I had.]
Our microwave died. So we wanted to buy a new one. Makes sense, because of the convenience factor of warming things up quickly, like one of the many cups of "hot chocolate" my kids ask for during the course of the day. And when they say "hot chocolate", they just mean milk with Nestle Quick in it, warmed up to slightly above room temperature.
But that's a different story.
We had looked in a few different places around town, and even online, for a new microwave. We put it into our monthly budget, even, to make sure we had the cash available to us for this expense. Basically, we were prepared to buy a microwave. (And fast--we had been without a microwave for nearly a month! Unheard of in this day and age!)
So for whatever reason we decided to buy one at hhgregg. A new store had been built near our house a couple of years ago, and I had purchased a TV from there back then.
As it turned out, the microwave we decided on buying was not in stock, so they had to special order it. This is where things got a little dicey. My wife had talked to a very nice salesman the day before, and when I went to place the order the next day, that same salesman had not started working for the day. So I talked to another salesman, but I mentioned the first salesman's name and showed his card to the second salesman (the card also had information about the microwave we wanted to buy). Well, the man I spoke to put the card in his pocket instead of returning it to me. I believe that hhgregg operates on a commission basis, and my thoughts were that this second salesman wanted to get the full commission so he didn't want me to have the first salesman's name handy. I asked for the card back and he obliged, but it left me with a sour taste in my mouth--and I hadn't even completed the sale.
So this second salesman puts in the order, informs me that it's not in stock and should be about 10 days before it comes in. Same with the trim kit.
[In case you don't know, built-in microwaves are really just counter-top microwaves that are put into a cavity and finished with a "trim kit" which makes it look as if it is flush with your cabinets.]
I pay for the whole thing up front, receive my yellow copy of the receipt (noticing that the salesman had put 7 days instead of 10 days for my order to make it to the store), and I go home, happy that we'll soon have a new microwave. The salesman even assured me that he would call when it arrived.
Fast forward 7 days. No call from the salesman.
Eight days after the sale (I gave them an extra day--is that so wrong?) I called to inquire about my order. One of the options on their phone system is tracking your order, or some similar-sounding name, so I chose that option. It went straight to voice mail, indicating that "that extension is not available". I figured that they were busy with another customer, left my name and number, and waited for a return call. After about an hour (I think--I don't recall exactly) and no return call, I called again, and chose customer service this time.
I got put on hold while they tried to figure out where my stuff was. I held for probably 15 minutes, with various hhgregg advertising blaring into my ear. Occasionally the phone would ring on the other end, followed by what sounded like someone picking up the phone and putting me right back on hold. That didn't sit well with me. I'm a consultant and I needed to get my work done--if I'm not putting in hours toward my project then I don't get paid, after all!
I finally was told that the microwave was in the warehouse, not at the store, and that it should be on the next day's truck. I was instructed to call back the next day after 1 PM, since they should have the inventory there by then.
At 1 PM the next day I called back and was informed that the truck had not arrived. I should call back after 3 or 4 that day.
I think it was about 3:30 when I called back. After another 20 minutes or so of someone "tracking down my order" and listening to the hhgregg commercials instead of hold music (personally I would have preferred music) I was finally told that the microwave and trim kit would not be in the store until Saturday--another 3 days!
Fast forward to Saturday. My wife called the store this time and verified that everything was there, so I drove to the store with my younger two kids, handed over my yellow copy of the receipt, and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally someone was nice enough to come over and tell me that they found the microwave but they were still looking for the trim kit (this was after waiting for about 15 minutes). I asked them if they could go ahead and bring out the microwave so we could get it loaded into the car. "Yes, you can pull your car around," was the reply.
I went to the car, loaded in the kids, got them buckled, folded the stroller and put it in the rear, folded the back seat down so there would be room for the goods, and then pulled to the front of the store, where I sat, with the engine running and air conditioning going (it was hot outside after all) for another 5 to 10 minutes!
Finally they brought not only the microwave but also the trim kit out, I signed for it (by this time I was too annoyed with waiting with small children to worry about actually inspecting the goods like the small print above where I signed my name indicated that I was doing), and drove home, relieved that we finally had our new microwave.
Fast forward a bit more, to after dinner and after the kids went to bed. I started installing the microwave. Long story short: I had the wrong trim kit!
So I took the trim kit back the next day, indicated that it was the wrong one, told them the correct part number (that was on the manufacturer's web page on a link from the microwave's information) and did the exchange. I spoke to yet another person for all of this (the "Operations Manager", whatever that means), and he told me it would be about a month to get the new trim kit, but that I should call to check on my order every few days.
That's when I told him that I absolutely HATED calling the store. I related to him how many times I had held for someone to tell me anything about my order. He didn't seem too concerned. I told him I was at the point where I just wanted my money back and that I would order the trim kit (the correct one, mind you) online.
His reply? "This paper shows your return. This paper shows the order for the new part. Sign here."
I just about lost it, but I decided to remain cool. I went ahead and signed, but I drove home rather perturbed. When I got home, I found an online store which had the same part for sale with no tax and no shipping fees for about $24 less than what I had paid.
I called hhgregg back the next day (it was late by the time I returned home) to cancel my order. I ended up speaking to the same person I had the day before (the "Sign here" guy), and when he asked why I wanted to cancel I told him that I found the same item online for less and that they could get it for me in less than a month. He asked the price, and I told him, thinking that he might match it. Instead, he wanted me to talk to some other person to complete the return, but she was busy right now so could he have my number and she would call me back?
I did that and finally got a call back about an hour later.
Long story short: hhgregg might be OK to buy things at if they have it in stock. If you have to special order something then, based on my experience, I would recommend that you go somewhere else. Way too much hassle for just a microwave and trim kit.
So as it stands now, we have the microwave but I'm waiting for the new trim kit to arrive and I'm waiting for my refund from hhgregg. Hopefully the refund will come before the online store charges me for the trim kit!
Sorry this post was so long, but I expound on things that strike a nerve with me! Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. And if you have any horror stories to share about hhgregg, write a comment to this post.
[UPDATE: hhgregg refunded my money on the same day that the online store charged me for the new, correct trim kit. I received the correct trim kit about a week after I placed the order. I recommend Home Everything for kitchen appliances! They didn't charge me shipping on my order, either.]
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