Lets start with the online choices. They were fine, although choices were limited with Covid. The store was closed so we had to order online. We did our research and went with a Frigidaire Range and Microwave.
When we called, a sales rep picked up on the first ring. Everything was ordered, paid in full and scheduled for delivery in 3 days. Delivery was perfect, and I even tipped the drivers an additional $40.
THEN, the horror show begins.... The microwave was different from the online picture. We never took it out of the box and asked our sales rep to exchange. He advised there would not be any problem and not to worry about the "restocking fee". Yes, we didn't do our research well enough, so hopefully this will help YOU. They have a restocking fee of "25% that MAY apply to your order" The key word is may, although it should say "WILL APPLY".
We fought and fought for 10 days....however, let me not get too far ahead.
The range was put in place and turned on. It sounded like an air compressor, it was so loud. We contacted our sales rep, and he advised "we aren't a service company, you need to contact the manufacturer". We haven't used it and contacted Frigidaire. Two days later (still haven't used the stove) the service tech arrived. He was a great guy, and told us that he hears all kinds of problems and unhappy customers with Canadian Appliance Source (CAS). The service tech advised that the "motor was gone" and needed to be replaced. He advised not to use it until it was replaced. Three days later the new motor was in and I "helped" him replace it. Accidentally the service tech (a contractor for Frigidaire) scratched the handle. No big deal, it sucked, but he was a nice guy (my wife was more ticked off). He left after a short test and everything seemed fine. That night we used our stove for the first time in 5 days. While the oven was warming, the same sound started. We shut it off and contacted our sales rep. He directed us to their "customer service dept" NOBODY answers this line. We left a message and....."due to high call volumes, somebody will get back to you within 3 business days". Several calls to Customer service are unanswered, messages left with our sales rep not returned and every time you call the main number it's a different sales rep that answers every time on the first ring. Explain the situation and the response is "you need to contact your sales rep or customer service". This company's own sales reps state over the phone "you aren't the first person to complain about our customer service, we hear these complaints all the time".
Apparently now we have become customers from hell as nobody will take our calls.
We finally received a response from Customer service who said they would waive the restocking fee on the microwave but only do an exchange. No problem, but we don't want a stove that was never used and broken from the manufacturer, repaired and still broken. Their response was "it's out of the box, so it's used". We can only have it repaired. We explained that we will pay the $800 restocking fee (25% of the stove) and just get something different. We weren't asking for our money back. We then said we would take an LG range, microwave AND a fridge from them. No luck or return calls.
Under the Ontario consumer protection act you have 30 days for an exchange or refund on a "defective product". As we were now on our 28th day with no return calls or information, I loaded the stove and delivered it to the Whitby location. A delivery person took it in the back door, and I walked to the front to get our money back. The sales rep in there told me that he hears these complaints "all the time" and he was so sorry what we were going through. He also advised that "somebody should have told you to just fill out a "request to return form" We did it online and I left without my range OR my money.
Low and behold, the very next day we received a response from customer care, "you were not authorized to return your product, please pick it up immediately".
Approaching 6 weeks now with NO range or microwave and still waiting on our refund for the microwave. Mastercard is dealing with our Range thankfully.
We ended speaking with Frigidaire that advised since we no longer have the range in our possession there was nothing they could do, which made sense.
The Frigidaire rep DID however say "I have heard these complaints so much about this company. I would advise next time to go to our dealers like Lowes, Home Depot and Costco where you would have had at least 7 days to return with little to no problems"
Beware of Canadian Appliance Source!
This has been pure hell for 6 weeks from a company that ONLY wants the sale.
