Sometimes using a product can be frustrating. We report our complaint to the seller. It's reassuring when the seller actually acknowledges our complaint and responds. I'm pleased to report that Richelieu Hardware responded quickly and pleasantly to my complaint.
Below is a copy of my complaint submitted via their website and below that is their response. I don't expect the world to be made perfect. Sometimes an acknowledgement is all we frustrated customers want.
George
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To Richelieu Hardware:
Today I bought a set of Shelf Sides for a kitchen drawer. Your product number :TP10250030
The product appears to be good. After a lot of work, the drawer is opening and closing smoothly.
However there were some problems.
You might want to change the things that annoyed me with this purchase. They are detailed below for your understanding.
1. Screws were not included with the hardware.
This is the first time I have run into this problem. Imagine selling hardware without screws! Ridiculous. Of course there was no way I could have known about the missing screws. So you can imagine my frustration when I opened the package at home and discovered that the screws were missing.
Upon returning to the store (Home Depot) to exchange for a package with screws I was informed that this particular hardware from Richelieu did not come with screws.
Annoyed I purchased your brand of screws to ensure the correct installation of your product.
The packaging mentioned that "installation instructions" were on your website. The packaging did not say "Screws not included".
2. So I went to your web site and look for a tab or link that said "Installation" or "Instructions". I checked all the menus and could find no such link.
If you are sending people to your site to find instructions - perhaps you could show them a link that says that.
Then I put the product code in the search box and found the product page.
3. No sign of installation or instructions there. There were two tabs at the bottom of the page - Overview and Technical Documents.
If figured that Overview would have what I was looking for. When that didn't work in ongoing frustration I figured "well let's see what the technical documents are". I wasn't looking for technical specs but who knows what I might discover.
Surprise - here are the instructions under technical documents.
4. The instructions didn't help me much. More frustration.
They refer to Slide A and Slide B but did not show which was which. They referred to "the screws" but did not mention that the screws were not included or what type of screws should be used.
There are three different types of holes in the slides. There were no comments about the purpose of each type or suggested use.
I first attached the slides to the drawer by fastening the screws on the side. Then when I tested the drawer I discover that the screws interfered with the movement of the drawer. So I needed to remove those screws and fasten them on the bottom. If you told me this - I would have saved time and additional frustration.
What should have been a simple and quick DIY repair turned into a frustrating and very long job. What I thought was going to be a 30 minute task stole more than half my day.
I look forward to your reply.
George Torok
PS: In full disclosure, I will be posting this email and your reply on my Marketing Blog.
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Thank you for your email, I am are sorry about the delay of my answer, but I tried to call you a few times to give you the information and got no answer, I did not leave a message as I thought that it would be best to talk to you directly.
Richelieu hardware distributes hardware according to our distributor’s specifications. In this case part TP10250030 is not supply with screws as it is virtually impossible for us to know which material the slide will be installed in. As you might know, there are various screw types and lengths used to install drawer slides.
The types of holes in the drawer slides also have to do with the type of screw used for installation. The larger holes are used for “Euro screws”. These are mainly used by kitchen cabinet and furniture makers that pre drill the drawers before installation.
Your recommendations concerning item packaging, instructions and specifications have been forwarded to the product manager; we will keep them in mind for further web and product development.
Have a nice day
Regards
Vanessa Bureau
Richelieu Hardware
Services Web / Web Services
toll free CANADA : 1-866-832-4040
toll free USA: 1-800-619-5446
