ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES I’VE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE!
Written: Nov 17 '06
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Please read this before you purchase ANYTHING from AJ Madison (AJM)! It’s rather lengthy, but it will tell you just how incompetent they are. On May 25, 2006, I purchased a Whirlpool gas range, refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave from this company through the internet. The prices were impressive and the website appeared reputable.
In the remarks section, I specifically included instructions, “Please call well in advance to set up delivery date so I can arrange for time out of the office.” I’m military and it’s not easy for me to get time off. Also in the remarks section I stated, “The apartment is on the third floor, no elevator.” These remarks seemed to have been ignored.
To AJ Madison’s credit, the appliances shipped within just a few days of my internet order, but they did not call before shipping. I received a call from the delivery company – Yellow Transfer (YT) stating that my appliances were ready for delivery. I told them I was not ready for the appliances, so they said they would have to put them in storage. I asked them why AJM did not contact me before shipping and they said they knew nothing about that - only that the appliances were there and ready for delivery. The appliances subsequently went into storage with the understanding I would call when I was ready for delivery.
On April 19, I was ready to take delivery of the appliances and then the difficulty started. I first called AJM to let them know I was ready to have my appliances delivered. I got a voice message saying they were closed until April 21. I next called YT and they couldn’t find my order number.
After an interminable wait, they located my order number, but said that they couldn’t deliver my items because they were in storage and couldn’t release them without permission from AJM. I called AJM back and left a message to please call me as soon as they could.
On April 21, I called AJM again to initiate delivery and finally reached a surly customer service rep. They told me to call YT. I stated that I already had and they were waiting for a call from AJM. AJM said they would call the delivery company for me and to wait for a phone call. I never received a return phone call from AJM or YT on the 21st, 22nd, or 23rd – a full weekend.
On April 24, I called YT to see if they had received permission from AJM to deliver my appliances. They said they had not, but they would contact AJM and call me back. I ended up having to call them back at the end of the day. They told me they had received permission to deliver my items. We agreed upon an April 26 delivery date.
I took the day off from work and waited on my appliances. I called YT at 10am to make sure I was on the schedule and they told me that there was a problem. They didn’t realize that I was on the third floor with no elevator. They would have to get permission from AJM for a stair-climber. As I said before, I had told them in the remarks section that I was on the third floor and no elevator.
I waited all day for a phone call from YT or AJM, but received none. I called YT, but they had not heard from AJM. I called AJM myself, but they were already closed. It wasn’t even 4pm yet! I left a voice mail.
On April 27, I called YT again to see what the status was on my items. They had received no word from AJM yet. I called AJM again to see what the problem was. I couldn’t reach a human being and kept being put on hold forever. I never did speak to anyone at AJM on this day.
On April 28, I started the phone calls again. Still couldn’t reach anyone at AJM and waited on hold forever. Finally, at 2pm, YT called to say they had permission to deliver my items. We agreed upon a 2nd delivery date of May 2.
Given that I had had so much trouble up to this point, I called YT on May 1 to make sure I was scheduled. They assured me I was. I took ANOTHER day off from work to receive my items. My time frame was 10am to 2pm. By 4:30pm, no one had shown or called about my delivery. I was thoroughly disgusted at being stood up twice. I called AJM to complain, but of course they were already closed! I left a message.
First thing the next morning, May 3, I called AJM to talk to them about my delivery. When I finally reached a customer service rep, she wasn’t very helpful and was almost rude. She told me that there was nothing she could do about my problem and that would have to be referred to a manager. There was no manager available at the time, so I had to leave a message.
By early afternoon, I had not received a phone call from a manager, so I called again. Another rude customer service rep. She did, however, promise to leave another message and assured me that someone would call me by the close of business. I never received a phone call from anyone to discuss the matter. It was at this point I called my credit card company to have the purchase removed from my card.
On May 4, I waited all day for a phone call from AJM, but did not receive one. On May 5, YT called to ask me if I still wanted the appliances!!! I asked the rep what happened to the first delivery date, but she couldn’t tell me – only that she would be happy to schedule another delivery date for me. I told her I was no longer interested in the appliances and I couldn’t reach anyone at AJM with whom to discuss the matter. I told her to send the appliances back.
Miraculously, three and a half hours later, I received a phone call from Irving Gross – a manager at AJM – inquiring as to why I didn’t want the appliances anymore. I explained the whole thing to him and he just couldn’t understand that I couldn’t keep taking off of work to receive appliances that might never get delivered. We argued for 20 minutes. He offered to give me a discount and work something out with me, but it was just too late. If only he’d called me back the day of the “non”-delivery or even the next day, I’d have been happy to work something, but I had no confidence that my appliances would be delivered.
He told me that if I didn’t take the appliances, I would be charged for delivery both ways and a restocking fee, in addition to the storage fees. Mr. Gross also accused me of refusing the appliances without a good reason and not giving him an opportunity to correct the problem. When I asked him why he had not returned my phone calls, he stated, “I didn’t feel the need to call you back.” That’s a direct quote.
I know this sounds like more of a delivery company problem than AJ Madison and it was, but when I tried to get the problem resolved through AJM, I was roundly ignored. I’ve been through arbitration with VISA over this matter and they sided with AJM. I’ve contacted the New York Better Business Bureau to file a complaint and am now in the process of securing legal defense to get my money back.
Their “attorney” offered to “write off a great portion of their damages, and refund me my transaction minus (-) the following: $455.40 restocking fee, $974 shipping expense for both directions, $172.38 storage fee, and $500 legal fees.” I would love to know what their “damages” are since they still have the appliances and my $3600!
This is what you can expect if you deal with this company. I strongly urge you to go elsewhere if you need appliances. I wish I would have read the reviews before I dealt with this company. I certainly would not have ordered ANYTHING from them and do not recommend them to anyone. On their website, they promise 100% satisfaction, but that is a complete fallacy, at least where my issue is concerned.
AJ Madison’s shortcomings are: limited business hours, poor customer service habits/rude customer service representatives, and unethical business practices.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Dishwasher, Stove, Refrig., Microwave
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ajmwingnut
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