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
2 comments:
I went into Richelieu in Lincoln Park NJ on Friday about 4:30pm. I needed replacement slides for my kitchen cabinets. I had brought two of my existing slides with me to lessen confusion. Unfortunately, the counter person I dealt with was not helpful in any way, and he was downright rude. I know it was late on a Friday, but i would assume he is paid until closing which was 5 pm, so I would expect him to do his job until 5 pm.
I find this completely unacceptable customer service, and will look to take my business elsewhere. Many businesses are complaining the internet is taking their business, but when their customer service is so poor, and I am made to feel like I am bothering him asking him to do his job, what motivation do I have coming back to this supplier?
Richelieu has business policies designed to deceive customers. If they didn't have a stranglehold on distribution of certain product lines, I'd never buy from them again. As it is, I do everything possible to buy from ANYWHERE ELSE whenever possible & I recommend everyone else does the same.
I've been in the cabinetry & millwork industry for over 30 years & know several other shop owners that feel the same way as I do because of how they've been treated by Richelieu & PJ White (since being acquired). Even when I've politely, carefully & time-wastingly described my difficulties to their staff over various problems I've had, they've told me "we hear it all the time from customers" and "there's nothing we can do about it because it's our policy".
I'm not providing my name here simply because I'm a small business owner who can't afford to loose the ability to buy a few products that are only sold by them, should they get this & decide to blacklist me (something I would expect from them). But I believe that everyone should be aware of their practices. I've also noticed that there doesn't seem to be anywhere online where customers can voice their opinions & share their experiences - which alone says allot about them.
Here's an example: I purchased a very expensive piece of hardware & paid for it with my credit card in Nov. When I opened the package to install it I noticed that a piece of hardware was missing so I returned the entire item to them (at their request) rather than just going there & getting the missing part (or better yet, deliver it to me right away). As you can imagine, disassembling & packaging a large, complex piece of hardware back into its box & returning it to them was very time-consuming & disruptive to my project. Upon returning it, they acknowledged the missing part & had another complete item in stock, so I expected them to simply swap the defective one for the good one, but instead they told me I had to pay for the replacement one in full & that they would have to submit a request with another department for a credit to be placed back onto my credit card, & that would take a week or two. Even after discussing it thoroughly, I was given no options but to pay again for this item & wait for the credit. On Dec. 15th I received a credit invoice in the mail for the defective item, that looked like it was crediting my card, but the amount didn't appear on my credit card statement. So I waited & waited & finally on Jan. 23rd I called & asked where it was. They said they couldn't credit my card because they don't keep the number. When I asked why nobody told me that when I returned the item, they said they didn't know, & when I asked why I wasn't given the credit when I purchased & paid for another item with my credit card on Jan. 4th, he said "that information is on a totally different screen, so we wouldn't have even seen it".
I'm sure you can see the opportunity they've created for themselves to keep my money for the returned item had I not been diligent. Be careful, these guys are crooks!
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