ALBERT LEE MAJOR APPLIANCES

This is an update to the grumpy D I lodged earlier, which I am leaving extant below these new comments. After my repair, I first received a follow up call from a supervisor at ARH to check that everything had gone smoothly. I said yes - given that I was still not over what I regarded as Albert Lee's 'take it or leave it' silence. The following day I got a call from Albert Lee's senior service manager, who had been contacted by my friend at ARH. Boy, was he apologetic, and his tone sounded genuine. He's sending me a check to cover the cost of the repair, which, with his call, has gone a long way to restoring my faith in his company. As I said to him (and I know there's no easy answer to this) I'm still wrestling with the impression that service and repair hasn't found a way out of the '60's, when I would have been home all day, June Cleaver-ing away. Somehow, we have to find a way to start respecting the time of the homeowner properly, as most of us are taking time off work to wait for the technician to arrive. OLD REPORT> I called Albert Lee for an out of warrenty repair based on the service received when buying there. And the initial contact was good. Charming, friendly - three hour window for the technician to arrive, careful explanation of pricing. First visit, absolutely fine. Nice man, needed parts, my gosh, how expensive hinges are, fond farewells. And then I got caught in the changeover from Albert Lee wholly owned service to subcontracting with Appliance and Refrigerator Hospital. Now, I have to say that the repair man from ARH, recently employed by Albert Lee was also charming, polite and knew what he was doing. The administration of the repair during the changeover was, however, just ghastly. Parts were left behind, no-one knew what was going on -- and no-one at Albert Lee really cared. ARH did the repair at cost - but Albert Lee refused to give any compensation. Customer Service runs sales deep there, I think.

It was a fair price and they were efficient.

The sales people were very good. They were very knowledgeable and friendly. There were some communication issues with the people that came to install the device. The reason why our installation date was delayed by a week as the availability details from GE was not communicated to us. They were here when they said they would be here.

The experience was just fine. I called ahead and made an appointment with Roy (my contractor's referral). I had done a lot of research before hand so I knew what I wanted for most items. He helped me pick out my venthood by showing me items on the floor. The one I picked was high priced so he recommended a similar one that was much less expensive. He gave me a quote for both and let me decide with no pressure. I shopped at other stores in town and some items including installation beat his quote. He matched all the lower prices. My remodel was delayed by four weeks so they kept everything in storage without charge. The installation went well, They were late but called and let me know. The installation team was polite and courteous. Roy had ordered an incorrect installation kit but they got a new one quickly and came back to finish. Roy was very apologetic about it. There were no big problems so I can't speak to how they handle major issues. I am satisfied and would use them again.

They did a good job. They bent over backwards when I didn't like a certain aspect of the stove, and were able to solve the problem. They were kind to answer all my questions about my dishwasher and in turn were very responsive. They came when they said they were going to come, and did what they said they were going to. They were a very knowledgeable staff. They had a wide range of appliances as far as costs go and they were able to work with my budget.

There showroom is full of high end items on display. They were nice, but busy enough that it took awhile to get a salesman, Mark, to sit down with us. We had his whole attention, and it was helpful that I brought in pictures and measurements. He could tell we could fit in a 27" oven (ours was 26', and I thought we might need a 25"), and perceived that our 20 y/o GE and electrical circuit was probably 30 watt, a technical issue I hadn't thought of, and most new models need 50 watt. There are evidently not many 30 watt double wall stainless 27" models, but GE still makes one. Mark set us up for one, and the price with installation and taking away the old ones was within 10% of the online prices quoted by the big box retailers. We set up a date for a few weeks later. We had some email exchanges with Mark, answered promptly. The installers came on time, did a clean job, and it all came off without a hitch. We were pleased with the expertise, ease, price, promptness and service. They even called later to ask how it all went.

Craig Mims helped us purchase a new range. I was very impressed with the service. We would not be buying a top end range and help helped us just the same. He made recommendations that were within our budget and recommended only the extra options we need. He did not try to push us to buy more or purchase more than we needed. I was really impressed by the courteousy, professionalism, and effectiveness of the delivery. They were a little bit late on the delivery, but they did communicate with me about the expected delivery time.

They provide service right there. They can do their own repair work instead of sending it to different manufacturers of the appliances. It’s easy to deal with them. We have bought different appliances over the years that always had good rates and good service plans. Sometimes when we had to get the things fixed it was easy to deal with them. It’s been a good working relationship with them.

Walked into the store, and was very happy with the representative that took our order. We had shopped around at a number of appliance stores and she beat every price saving us a total of about $500 overall. We were just about to move into our house which had NO functioning appliances in it. When the time came for the appliances to be delivered, the delivery truck showed up late. They offloaded the appliances and then informed me that one of our pedastals was missing...not a big deal but irritating. So, they took the other one out to find out it was so bent in the side that if you were to put a washer or dryer on top of it, it would collapse...refused this piece of the delivery. Then came the stove, installed just fine and no problems here. Microwave was not going to be installed at the time so we checked it in the box and all was well there. However, then came the fridge. It came out of the truck and they brought it in the house, hooked it up, and asked me to check it out. Looking on the side, there was an EXPOSED dent about the size of a baseball. I don't know what made them think that was OK so we got their supervisor on the phone. We were moving in the next day with all of our food, had a dented fridge, but they were not going to let me keep it (because it was not in the condition I expected), leaving me with nothing to put my food in. After nearly 2 hours on the phone with supervisors of supervisors and calling supervisors at home, we finally got the OK to leave that fridge there until they got a replacement. Great. However, after they had left, I noticed that the ice maker was NOT in the fridge as I ordered. At the store, they did NOT mention to me when ordering that that was a separate item. It was in the freezer in the store so when I told the sales rep "I would like this unit exactly as is only new", nobody informed me that the ice maker was an additional $300. Had to call my sales rep and argue with her for another hour about how wrong it was that nobody informed me that the fridge I THOUGHT I had purchased was actually $300 more than what I paid for it. Eventually, I won and got my ice maker for free, the pedestals were delivered, and the fridge did not have a dent in it. Only took 4 deliveries to get everything but eventually it all got in.

Original installation - missing major parts (which I didn't notice until after it was installed); then after a few days an error code in the computer. The installer actually destroyed one of the few parts that was correctly installed because it was a thin plastic part that he said was packing material (it wasn't, it was a part that collects evaporation). The service department argued with me about the missing parts and said that his installer would never destroy a part, they are "experts". I would have had to take 2 days off work, one for them to see which parts were missing (even though I had come into the shore to show them whicch parts were missing, using the floor model to demonstrate), then for them to replace them. Some parts arrived via UPS, but not the important ones. Because I cannot take time off work to deal with such ineptitude, I was admitedly frustrated, but the service rep became sarcastic and hostile - this led to an argument over the phone. Her manager apologized, but did nothing to help me. They were not going to be able to come for over a week because they were busy, so I had to call another Fisher and Paykel service company. The guy I called (IR Repair) said that I'd obviously gotten a lemon. He backed me up when it came to proving to Albert Lee that they should replace the fridge. Then comes the rest of the horror story that was the replacement. The delivery of the replacement was 2 hours late, then they didn't listen to me when I said they should take the doors off because my doors are pretty narrow and involve stairs. So they banged up the fridge doors and scraped the handles. My efforts to get those replaced were botched. The day the new doors were to arrive, of course I had to take ANOTHER day off work), the horrid service rep called to say that they'd damaged the doors in transit so I'd have to wait another month or so. At that point I didn't care, I asked for some money back as a "scratch and dent", but they only gave me $250 for it. If I never have to speak to them again, it'll be worth it. Despite my pleas to two managers during this experience (Customer Service and Service), this was never escalated, no sincere apologies, nothing but frustration.

I found the whole experience just fine. Matt G. at the main store was the first person I talked to about dishwashers when I started researching them. He spent well over an hour with me, providing me with excellent information about numerous brands. I left, indicating I'd be shopping around and gathering more information about dishwashers as I hadn't had to buy one in 17 years. Incidentally, we have bought all our earlier appliances there and have been satisfied each time. We next went to the home show and looked at various dishwashers, including the Miele that Matt G recommended. I visited one other store in person and talked to a few other stores over the phone. I consulted Consumer Reports. I ended up going back to Albert Lee's store to look some more; while there, another customer gushed about how happy she was with her Miele. That pretty much gave me the final little push to order the Miele. After, I did an informal survey with various people and was very relieved to hear from them that they truly loved their Mieles too. Now, I'm a Miele believer too! I am surprised at the various negative comments I've seen in Angie's List about this store. Matt G could not have been a better business man; their installers did a fine job and were timely, on time, and thorough. They stayed for all my questions and concerns. I just thought the whole experience was very satisfying.

The price and the installation were both excellent. They had the product I wanted, scheduled an installation within 2 days. The installation went without a hitch. The installers were efficient, professional and courteous.

Overall my experience at Albert Lee was wonderful. The pricing was fair and the appliances are working well. I especially like that an employee came out to measure the space for the appliances in my condo.

I went with my parents to purchase this dishwasher and our experience with Albert Lee was up and down. The sales staff and store were awful. As soon as we walk in we had to take a number which really annoys me. The salesman was cold and didn't try to cater to us at all. When we were writing up the contract we had a new person who was working with us while he answered the phones. The entire purchasing aspect was awful. But the installation was wonderful. The worker that came was very conscientious. The house is older so he had to take some extra time and work around a few things but he did a great job still. It was obvious that he was doing the extra steps to make the installation very good. He was considerate enough to not put his tools anywhere they would make a mess and he cleaned up after himself everywhere he worked. He also talked my parents through how they could keep the dishwasher running the best. So the installation redeemed Lowes for us.

Salesman Bill Pinti was friendly and helpful even though we walked in to the Tukwila store seconds before closing time on super bowl Sunday. Delivery crew was on time and called 30 minutes before arrival as requested. Installation was quick and professional. A small amount of packing material was left in the street, but no big deal.

I had to cancel the order the day after placing it. They did it with no fuss and handled it professionally.

In my efforts to support smaller businesses in my local community, I was shopping around for an Energy Star Qualified Bosch Dishwasher recommended by Consumer Reports for our rental house. I decided to go with Albert Lee Appliances in Lynnwood because they had the Bosch dishwasher I wanted for a competitive price AND they would remove and recycle the old dishwasher as part of their installation fee. After purchasing the dishwasher, I was told that it could be delivered and installed within the next few days. Then, I was contacted 3 days later and told that the "warehouse" had made a mistake and that the dishwasher that I had ordered and already paid for, was not actually in stock. However, they did have an upgraded version of the model I had chosen; and although it would normally sell for $100 more, they would honor the price of the model I had ordered and deliver the upgraded (and in stock) model at no extra charge. I felt that this was a fair way to handle their error and I accepted this gesture. The delivery scheduling, unfortunately, did not go as smoothly. They scheduled the dishwasher delivery with my tenant and then my tenant took off work that day to await the arrival of the dishwasher. The delivery people did not show up on the appointed day and claimed that they had called the previous day to cancel. This simply was not the case and when I complained to Albert Lee's Lindsey Miguelena (Lynnwood) she made no apologies and again claimed that my tenant was notified the day before though my tenant has the phone message and the date stamp and time on her cell phone to prove that she was not notified the day before as they had claimed. So my tenant spent a day off of work and lost a days worth of wages, to await a dishwasher that never arrived. (Meanwhile, of course, my credit card had already been charged the full charge for the dishwasher and delivery.) The dishwasher delivery was rescheduled-this time it went smoothly. Overall, my experience with Albert Lee was disappointing. The good points are that they offered a fair price, offered a fair trade when the original dishwasher that I had ordered was not in stock, and carted away the old appliance to a recycling center. But overall, the customer service was minimal and curt at times, and they offered no apologies or any compensation for the lack of communication on the original delivery.

I searched all over Seattle for a new BBQ. Albert Lee had a top of the line Weber Genesis for sale. I bought it fully assembled and delivered at a great price.

I went to Albert Lee to find a non-standard small dishwasher for my little kitchen. I found exactly what I was looking for and the price was good for a GE Monogram appliance. Albert Lee delivered the dishwasher within a few days and the whole process was seamless.

I liked the appliance and the salesman, but the delivery was a bad experience.

I was in a hurry to buy a refrigerator because my old one died and I had nothing else, and I was expecting out of town guests. I researched refrigerators but not retailers. The sales process was good, but once the delivery started, it went horribly wrong. The first day I bought the fridge at Albert Lee because it was in stock. The third day the refrigerator was delivered by a guy who admitted he'd never installed one of these brands. Fridge was standing at an extreme list, he said his level said it's straight so my floor must be sloped (no). He would not straighten the fridge even though it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Shelving and bins were missing (another note to self, climb onto truck before they even take if off truck to inspect). He reached into fridge and yanked out a plastic humidity control part and crumpled it in his hands and tossed it before I could stop him. Parts are ordered. The seventh day the wrong parts were delivered. On the eighth day, I went to store to show them all the parts that are missing, and they don't believe me when I tell them that, incidentally, the guy destroyed that plastic part. Call from dispatcher to install parts (turns out she'd scheduled an appointment to have them tell her which parts to order, but wait, I just did that. A sarcastic yelling match ensued). I talked to two managers who only placated me and did nothing constructive. On the ninth day an error code came on. Albert Lee says I need to call somebody else because they don't have any service people available. On the tenth day, a service guy from the other company (I.R. Repair) comes and agrees with me that I have a lemon and I should ask for a new one (yay him). Albert Lee service manager asked me what the manufacturer (in New Zealand) said. I said "say what? " and some other choice things. After eleven days, I'm getting a replacement! On the thirteenth day, replacement is delivered 1 1/2 hours after the 3 hour window, as I waited with out-of-town guests, postponing our site-seeing trip. Dents new fridge on side of house and scratches the handle (they were sweet guys, but in a hurry because they were late). Day 14, they'll order a new door. Day 44, I'm taking another day off work waiting for new door. Phone call, door's not coming, it got dented in transit and she's not sure when a new one can be delivered. "OK", I say, "then let's call this a scratch and dent and you give me some money back and we'll be done with this". The poor underpowered customer service guy says Albert Lee's "policy" is that should have been discussed at time of delivery, but he'll see what he can do. After 44 1/2 days, finally, I think I'm getting some money back, I just want to be done with this. Guess what, they'll discount it $250.00! Wow! How generous of you Albert Lee! Let's see, just the vacation time alone is worth more than $83/day. They had so many opportunities to make this right and sometimes they almost came close, but they failed on every occasion.

The drying function on my washer/dryer combo unit stopped working and the warranty period had just expired. I called Albert Lee and the customer service agent was able to locate the information on my appliance by using my address identify the developer who renovated my condo two years ago. Very impressive! Although it was a bit challenging to actually schedule an appointment, lots of voicemails back and forth, their service department is often very busy, I was very pleased with the service I received. The technician they sent out was very polite and professional, and was able to effectively identify the problem. Although the cost of the initial service call was $15 more than another place I had contacted, I felt like the customer service and quality I got from Albert Lee was worth the peace of mind I got from working with them.

They have good sales service and their employees are all very friendly. All of them seemed very eager to help me pick out my dishwasher, they even gave me a discount.

The selection process went well with seemingly good advice from Aaron, our sales representative. We made final selections on the items we wanted and made a payment with our debit card. Aaron did say he may need to run the charge through 3 or more times because of a limitation on daily debit card charges but said it would be handled. A couple weeks later while I was out of town I got a call from my contractor saying Albert Lee was there to deliver my appliances and collect over $6,000. Further, the vent hood that I selected as a second choice because the first choice would take too long to arrive was delayed another two weeks. I had to call AL accounting to resolve the outstanding balance, select a third choice vent hood after being misled by Aaron and try tirelessly to find someone who would be accountable in Aaron's absence since he'd conveniently gone on a 3 week vacation. I also found out that the delivery people from Albert Lee were rude to both my contractor and wife, and gouged my hardwood floors removing my old refrigerator and putting my new appliances in the house. I finally got in touch with the store's manager to explain all that had gone wrong. He gave me asinine lip service and effectively did nothing to resolve the issues or make me feel better about having spent over $9,000 at his store. I asked if he could at least give a gesture discount on the vent hood I had to take as third choice after being told I would have my second choice available three weeks before it would actually arrive. Nothing. Albert Lee simply does not care about the customer experience, which is why I will never use them again nor recommend them to anyone. There are countless other appliance stores that charge slightly more for the exact same products but provide exceptional customer service. I won't make the mistake again of going cheapest and getting treated like a second class citizen. Save yourself the agony and avoid Albert Lee Appliances.

I initially purchased a dryer that would not work for me. When I informed them they exchanged it for the proper dryer and credited the difference back to me. It was a very pleasant experience and i would recommend them to others.