We were referred to Billa Appliances by a friend, were told their price was good, so does the customer service.
We purchased both the refrigerator and range from Tony, and mentioned to him that it’s a townhouse and the kitchen was on the second floor; and Tony stated that not to worry, the movers will take good care of the appliances.
When the movers arrived, the first thing they said was “if there’s any damage to the hallway, wall, floor or appliances, they’re not responsible for”. Then they looked at the hallway and measured the width; after 10 mins of chitchatting among themselves, they took their time to remove the doors of the refrigerator. After half an hour of removing 3 doors, they started to move the fridge. I asked if they have lifting straps to help them carry the appliances and they said they don’t as they’re "professional movers". But all they have were their hands and gloves!?
When they’re carrying the fridge up to the second floor, they dropped the fridge a few times on the stairs and made a couple scratches and dents on the fridge and a chip on the wall along the staircase. Once they settled the fridge, I took some photos of the damages, one of the guys asked why I was taking photos, I told him I needed to show Billa the damages, and his response was “OK, I DON’T CARE”.
They then went back to the van to get the range. Said the same thing that they’re not responsible for any damages. Seems like this time they had a better handle of the range than the fridge, only dropped the range once but didn’t make any more scratches or dents. Thank GOD!
We understand they cannot be responsible for all the damages they could have made for all the deliveries they do. But they need to respect Billa, their company (if they are not part of Billa), the customers, the properties and the appliances. They represent Billa at the end of this customer experience, they cannot just simply say “I’m not responsible for anything” and think that’s OK for any consequences.
Another thing that I was not impressed was their attitude, they did not even apologize for the damages they’ve made. This type of attitude will not last them long in the business. We brought brand new appliances, and now there are scratches and dents. We don't know if they are part of Billa or they are an outsourced third party moving company. So we can only report this incident here with Billa.
I called Billa right away to report this incident to the reception, and then got a call back from BJ to discuss the details. I appreciated their follow up. All I was told at the end was "we will make a note on your profile, next time you come, we will give you a good deal". I am not too sure if I would go back for my next appliances, I'd rather pay a bit more with the customer service I deserve and a brand new appliances which it was supposed to be, instead of getting a slightly cheaper price on one that have scratches and dents.
Lesson Learned: make sure you ask if the movers are real professional!
