Monday, March 26, 2007

My Whirlpool nightmare continues

I just called Whirlpool. Again. On my first call, they cut me off as one of their call center staff picks up the phone. I take a deep breath. And call again. And get through.

"Shall I give you my customer number?"
"No. Our computer system is down and we can't look up at any information."

The woman did take all my details and did seem to understand that this was urgent. She might also have detected the note of hysteria in my voice as I outlined the problem. She promised that someone would call me back today.

I'm not holding my breath.

I sent an extremely stroppy email to the president of Whirlpool International -- one Mike Todman -- last night, complaining about the inefficiency of his Dutch operation. Not that there was an email address or even list of board members on the Whirlpool site; you can only get a number for customer "service" or press. But I figured that mtodman@whirlpool.com might work, and nothing has bounced back so far. Of course, it's highly likely that Whirlpool's global computer system has ground to a halt under the weight of so many complaints.

I am only one more phone call away from going down to Breda and taking the customer service center hostage until they get someone to fix my oven. Or setting up a word-of-mouth campaign to blacken the name of Whirlpool globally. I wonder if "Whirlpool are a bunch of frakkers.blogspot.com" has been taken?

1 comment:

36 Seaforth Avenue said...

I know this is almost a year and a half later, but searching for "Whirlpool" and "nightmare", I came across your blog.

Let's just say Whirlpool has wasted more of my lifespan over the last year than anything I hate has the right to.

My oven's control panel broke the first time and they repaired it. The exact same thing broke a second time, and I had to pay half the cost. Now it's broken a third time, and I'm about to throw out a chunk of gleaming glass and stainless steel because a measly little microchip is badly made and fails all the time. I refuse to pay another $300 to repair the thing myself (it costs $600 for the repairman to do it). They refuse to acknowledge any culpability. We've screamed at them, plead with them and cried over the phone with them, all to no avail. There are very few things in this world I hate, but they are one of them.

I will never purchase a Whirlpool item again (or anything from any of their subsidiaries for that matter), and if you value your time and your sanity, neither should you.

I will blacken their name wherever I go, and tell tales of the horrors an honest customer faces when dealing with their customer service.