Customer service!
 

Hey,
A few years ago I bought a used SubZero refrigerator off of craigslist, it was the perfect size for our kitchen. The frige had been working fine until a few days ago. I got up and went to get milk for cereal and the top was warm, dang, right before a 4 day trip too. I called a local repair company, booked till fri(it was monday). Chit! I decided to call SubZero the company, got a service rep who walked me through a couple of trouble shooting paths. I hung up and dove in and started tearing it apart. Got to the first item(defrost timer) and it was warm, called them back and he said "that year had problems with the timer) he checked the local west coast parts houses and determined that the local shop had the part, he gave me the part number and away I went. I got the part and it didn't fix the problem, called SubZero back and got a different tech, who looked up my fridge by serial number and said that the only other part it could be is the thermostat. He checked the number and determined that the local parts house had one and gave me the part number. I went down and got the new part and the fridge is good as new! Old school customer service at its finest, no goof ball in Bangalore India, a good ole boy in the USA who wanted to get a customer and his 20 year old SubZero back online! I will buy another when this one finally dies!
Hola
eric

i will remember this...i was wanting a sub zero fridge when i replace my fridge...

Nice to read a story about a company doing a good job.

Cool. Ever notice that when a company does the right thing you tell the story once, when they do the wrong thing you tell it 10 times? case in point (sorry for the hijack):

Last week I was doing my expense account and noticed there was a $25 charge on my corporate credit card that was bogus.
I called B of A on their 24 hour hotline.

After about 10 minutes of punching 1 for this, 2 for that, the computer voice told me that I was being transferred to a company representative for further assistance. Finally.
On the other end after about 20 rings, another computer voice told me they were closed and told me to call back when they were open.
24 hours my butt.

On Monday, another 10 minutes of computer BS and when I finally talked to a real person, he said I need to contact the vendor and try to straighten it out with him. It was a freaking immigrant taxi cab driver who tried to rip me off.
I paid him $29 on a Monday, and a week later (after I was already home) he submitted another bogus invoice for $25. Prolly thought I wouldn't notice.
So I'm supposed to call him and tell him he got caught so he can cover his tracks and get away with it scott free pretending it was all a misunderstanding? That makes allot of sense.

I'm tempted to call the San Antonio police and file a formal complaint.

Same subzero is still in service. Had 1 system evap and recharge and oil change, numerous thermostats and defrost timers, once they started making them in China and Mexico the quality dropped significantly, if I get 4 years on a thermostat that’s good defrost timers are more random, had 2 duds in a short period, last one is 3 years old.

We bought our fridge 25 years ago when we moved to this house.

About a year ago for the first time ever the fridge was just not cold. The freezer was.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1695823996.jpg

I dug around online and found a common cause is the defrost heater. I pulled the food out of the freezer, and took off the back panel, and I decided it looks a bit frozen up.

Out came the heat gun, and I got it defrosted.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1695824113.jpg
I found the problem. After 25 years the heater fried itself.

I ordered one online, and when it arrived a week later there was some frost to defrost, but not a ton. Swap in the new heater, and all is fine again.

I love that old fridge. The ice maker works great, and has no expensive filter to replace regularly. No internet connection of electronic touch screen panels, just a good reliable system. With new fridges at the cost of a decent used car, we will stick to the one that works.

20 year + old Kenmore.

Never had any issues over the 20+ years.

Still chugging away.........

Nice, good customer service is a great thing.

THere are a few sites around the 'Net that have folks that help troubleshoot appliances. THose sites are associated with appliance parts houses. I've probably used them at least half a dozen times over the last 20 years to fix refrigerators, dryers, dishwashers, etc.... Get on, provide your problem or stick it into a search or in some menus, provide your appliance make and model and you get something similar (that sort of problem is usually caused by a faulty boobalator valve.
"THe part number for the boobalator valve for an Amana Whizbang 9000 is ABC123, and you can buy it here for $22.99."

I suspect it has saved me a lot of money over the years, Very nice that you were able to get similar service from a manufacturer.

I have new SubZero, six months old. I get a random 'wrench' symbol on the indicator panel, and a beep every sixty seconds.

SubZero has wifi diagnosis, so I connect and look, there's no fault showing.

I phone for service 'we have no idea what's wrong, we can be there in a week'. WtF? It's a $20k fridge that promises service excellence. A week of beeping? No remote support? No suggestions?

I was able to reset the fault myself, but it has happened twice since then. The 'Zero' in Sub-Zero is their customer support rating from me.

But, it is an excellent fridge otherwise, I have no other complaints. None.

As far as just the customer service thing in general, Valentine One is at the top of wonderful ratings.

On my trip to Palm Springs this summer it was often 107 or hotter, and in the car it would be 140 degrees. My rear view mirror fell off, and I have my V1 mounted to the factory mount, attached under the mirror. When it fell off, it broke the mount for the V1.

I sent them an email and asked the price to get a new one. Their reply is we will ship one out to my house, no charge. I replied that would be great, but I am in California on a vacation trip, and would really appreciate having it shipped to my hotel so I can have it for the trip home.

They shipped to my hotel, to my attention, 2 day shipping, all for no cost. Now that is great customer service. I had to buy a scraper, and the rear view mirror glue. Careful scraping of the glass, and the puck to get it clean, put the drop of glue on and hold the puck in place for a minute. I let it dry overnight, and it held just fine. The Valentine 1 was mounted back in place, and all was fine. It was stupid hot out there working on it all but I got it done.

Don’t get monogram.
The drawer slides on my fridge freezer are NLA.
They want me to buy a new 10k freezer because of a sagging drawer slide.

I shimmed it with an 8c washer and it closes and seals. I’ll keep it until it really breaks.

We’ve had two new fridges stop making ice just outside the warranty period. As I don’t use ice very often, I didn’t fix it. New appliances suck.

I have an Amp Research folding step under the rear bumper on my truck. I left it down one day, backed into something and tore the plastic step off. Emailed the company asking to buy a new step only and they sent a replacement for free. I’ve recommended it several times to people.

My Lund tonneau cover never did fit right on my F150 when I installed it. About five years later, I asked about buying a new one and they sent a new cover for free. Fit perfect. I always recommend it as well.

I purchased a radio from Crutchfield earlier this year. I had an issue with the set up. Contacted their tech support. They answered the phone right away and figured out the issue within minutes.

Subzero and wolf are EXPENSIVE! And, I really do like the service and longevity of them.

I could give anecdotes. I am a fan.

Recently I had an issue with my Hobart mig welder . I called tech support and got through to an English speaking technician . In less than one minute he diagnosed the issue . It was operator error on my part 😩 .

He was professional and knowledgeable . It was a pleasure talking to him . It's amazing how great support is so shocking in many areas of our lives . We have come to expect poor or mediocre support as acceptable . It never should be .