When anyone buys something, most decent stores allow you to return the item if you are not satified with it within a certain time frame. Enter Brault and Martineau. A store that is not shy to state, albeit after the fact, that the store does not have a return policy. That to me rings foul and leaves an awfully bad taste in the mouth. Almost every other large brick and mortar store has a acceptable return policy in place.
It began yesterday when they delivered my brand New Maytag Bravo Series dryer. Because I was working from home, I had them simply plop it on the floor in the hall where I would install it later on after work. I did my quick inspection for scratches or any other damages, signed the papers and went back to work.
Later on that evening, I tried to slide it into the first of 2 doors into the laundry room and to my dismay realized, "crap, it does fit throught the door". I proceeded to remove the door and to my horror it still wouldn't fit. Now it starts to get ugly. Here I am with a brand new $800 dryer that won't fit. I measured and realized that if I take off the back heat plate, it may fit. Being concerned about voiding the waranty on a zero day item, I decide not to.
I call up Brault and Martineau and talk with the manager. It's the end of the day for him, as well as I, and I can tell by his tone that I am putting him out. I explain the problem and he tells me that I should have measured first. In retrospect, maybe I should have and will most likely do so the next time around. The question that comes to mind and the question I pose is, how does anybody get that dryer to fit. I have had several washers and dryers and have never had any issue whatsoever. After talking to him for a couple of minutes, he tells me that the only option he has to offer up is to return the item at a $100 restocking fee, plus a $75 pick up fee. I offer returning it myself but he says the store does not allow it.
What I don't understand is how they can sell something that won't fit into most homes and worse yet not even warn the naive consumer about it. Furthermore, not having a return policy is a joke. What if I didn't like it for some reason, any reason. I have the luxury to make these decisions in most any other store. I have even heard of people returning things for spite. Yes, I am a big Seinfeld fan.
I ended up calling customer service to complain about it. Basically customer service is just a useless service with some women who could barely utter a coherent sentence in english. She basically said, I need to call back the manger. I explained that no headway was made with him and that I'd like to escalate it to someone who may be able to help. As it turns out, Brault & Martineau customer service isn't that someone.
What really grinds my gears is I'm basically stuck with the item and will have to take my chances disassembling the unit to get it in the laundry room and risk loosing out on any warranty it may have had.
Brault and Martineau's lack of interest and exceptionally weak after sales service is appalling and pathetic. In the future, I am going to steer clear of this establishment and go out of my way to convince anybody I ever meet to follow suit.
