EAST COAST APPLIANCE INC

unknown

The price stood out. I bought a new fridge, new washing machine and a dryer, all at the same time.

East Coast has the most screwed up repair operation I have ever encountered! Stay far, far, away from them. It took them from May, when I first called them, until September to do the repairs, and only after multiple calls. The first guy they sent out didnt know what he was looking at; ordered the wrong part. The woman (or women) who answer the phone at East Coast were surly and uncooperative and obviously didnt care about their business. The second guy that came out actually was pretty technically competent, but even he diddled around ordering the correct part. Only he could schedule his appointments, the office could not seem to manage that, and he kept his phone turned off so you couldnt reach him to work out a mutually acceptable date. Horrible experience.

I called on Wed. afternoon and was told they could have someone at our house first thing next morning, which was impressive. price was $80 non refundable to diagnose, but put toward repairs if they were needed and approved by us. The tech came, could find nothing wrong, insisted he checked everything and went through a list of things he checked, and told my wife he only found a coin in the drain that he said was the problem, so the charge was only $80. He left and we put in a load, and it paused again. My wife called the office and was told they couldn't return until monday this time, and they were quite unfriendly about it. my wife explained the tech just left and we had a washer full of clothes and water that we can't open because it is front loading, and the rep sounded inflexibile, said she could talk to a manager, but just dumped my wife into a voice mail. My wife called the tech on his cell b/c he had just left 30 min prior and left a voice mail but she got no call back even as a courtesy. I was out of town on Friday and got a call on Friday stating it would be $240 to order some part and for labor, less the $80 we paid, and not aware that the tech had not returned to reassess i said ok. I too noticed that the rep wasn't very friendly. On sunday finally home i found out that the tech had never returned, so how on earth did they suddenly know it was some $150 part, if the tech swore he found nothing wrong? uninspired by the whole experiene, and not feeling any trust in the diagnosis or plan, we called the store to cancel. The man my wife spoke heard us out about our experience, conveyed some empathy about our poor experience, but we never got a call back about it. I called them in the first place because i bought my washer and dryer there and wanted to know if i had a warranty, and since i didn't and they said they could have someone out the next morning, I just agreed on the spot. never again. too many other good, responsible, courteous, trustworthy choices...

When I was at the property 2 weeks later I noticed the door was opening on the wrong side and there was a tear in the brand new vinyl flooring, just inches from the front leg of the refrigerator. I immediately called East Coast and told them what I found and that the property had been vacant since the delivery. She took detailed notes while I told her what had happened. I was told the manager would be notified and he would call me. I live in Northern VA and was in Newport News helping my daughter and her classmates move into the property. A few weeks later I realised the manager, Otto, had never returned my call, so I tracked him down. I explained what happened and he could not find any paperwork for the sale and delivery. All he was interested in was if the paperwork was signed. If so, then East Coast was absolved of any responsibility. He wouldn't budge on his position, even though it was obvious the damage had been caused by the refrigerator. I then wrote a letter to the owner of East Coast, Mr. Rob Nicholson on Sept 26th. I explained what had happened; that the property had been vacant; what Otto's response was; and that I wanted East Coast to replace my new vinyl. I included photos of the torn vinyl, using a white envelope behind the tear so it was clear how much was torn. I pointed out that East Coast has a 100% guarantee. I never heard a word from Mr. Nicholson. I had to make all the calls to pursue this and have come up with complete silence. I have a copy of the letter I sent to him if you would like it for your files.

East Coast Appliance was a very good company. They tried to fix my oven, but couldn't because it was too messed up. The thing I liked was that they were very honest with me, and they told me it would be cheaper to purchase a new oven. I felt their service call was very reasonable.