We've been replacing appliances recently and let's just say things haven't gone smoothly.
We bought a Samsung Range in January and it started throwing errors when we used it as a pizza oven (480F then cook for 3 minutes). First of all Samsung's website is a mess of broken links. I know because the emails are also a mess of broken links. I put in a repair request for the error code and the ticket was closed with the comment operator error - they actually didn't email me with that information so I didn't find out for weeks🙄 I called to find out what that meant but because I had to swirl around the garbage that is the Samsung website I was pretty out of patience when I finally spoke with a customer service rep. I asked if they were saying I was too stupid to use an oven correctly. The answer turned out to be I was too stupid to be able to use THEIR oven correctly and they weren't going to tell me how to fix that until they had wasted a service call and unnecessarily replaced a control board. They didn't even tell the appliance repair guy until I put in a third ticket for the same thing and I dropped him a text. Turns out you can't preheat a Samsung oven to high temperatures then switch to broil without triggering an error. They could have included that information with the ... oh wait they didn't bother to email me they closed the first ticket.
Next up BestBuy. I ordered a dryer (not Samsung) and a washer showed up. I didn't take possession and called to file a ticket. No email to confirm I had filed a ticket or what reparation steps would be taken. I called every day and got the usual - it's been forwarded to a department, with random tidbits of collateral information. When will I get a replacement? You'll just have to wait; we have to make sure the carrier returned it to our warehouse!?!? By service rep 4 I was livid when they said they had to confirm it was in the warehouse. Keep in mind they had documentation that I refused the delivery so it wasn't at my house. This person insisted corporate HAD to follow their procedure to find the dryer. I said their incident investigation wasn't my problem. They also asked why I would want an email...sure I'm going to trust a company that just delivered the wrong item, still has my money, and forwarded my case to someone in a group who may get sick or quit or whatever and I'm not going to find out until I realize after Christmas that I never heard back because I got busy. But they did tell me that after they take 5 days to investigate they deliver the correct item in 2 days way better than the fuzzy next available truck. Also since I was ready to cancel the appliance they marked the ticket as urgent.
So here's a tip on how to communicate with Boomers. Most of us have email...you know that because you keep asking for it. When you do something with a ticket autogenerate an email with a reference number and details on resolution steps with a timeline.
As for Samsung and BestBuy - I'm not boomer enough to destroy stuff I already have from them but my new dryer will not be a Samsung product and I likely won't buy appliances from BestBuy again even if, by some miracle, they actually deliver it 2 days after their 5 days to investigate why the wrong product ended up at my house. To be fair - it probably will because I've been an asshole about this entire episode. Not an absolute one because I haven't been asking for discounts and free extended warranty and stuff.
