It was last year, mid-December when I noticed a drip in the basement. The dishwasher that we bought 5 and a half years prior was leaking. It was dripping into the utility sink downstairs, which made me wonder how long this had been happening as we would have noticed a wet floor sooner, I would think. We had a list of other plumbing projects that also needed to be done so we arranged to have a plumber out to the house. Several projects accomplished that day, but when it came to the dishwasher he found a tiny leak with the water connection and surmised the rest was from having the 'air gap,' what I would call the overflow, for the dishwasher under the sink. One of the projects was a new kitchen faucet which also entailed placing this thing above the sink and not having a sprayer anymore, so he thought we should have no more issues. We had more issues.
The drip downstairs continued whenever we ran the dishwasher. We had the plumber out again to complete adding a gas line for a new gas range we want to get, so I had him get down in there and confirm where the leak was coming from. It was coming from the middle of the bottom of the dishwasher. I had to call the large retail establishment to get a dishwasher repair guy to come out, and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Keep in mind, several weeks had passed and it would be at least another until the repair man would be out, that was on January 12. He got right in there and came up saying we had the worst case scenario. The bill he put together to fix it was almost as much as the dishwasher cost when we bought it. We declined the repair and received a coupon that coupled with the estimate would give us 10 percent off a brand new one. He then shared his opinions and gave some advice that we did follow when purchasing a new one a few days later from this large retail establishment's website. I've linked to it before,
here is what we got. Part of our decision was that it also included a $150 rebate from the manufacturer as long as it was bought within a short date window and installed. It would be about 3 weeks before it would be available and a couple days then before it could be installed, on February 8, well within those dates.
On installation day I had taken off from work and they arrived earlier than expected. I was happy I could get this taken care of and have the rest of the day for whatever I wanted. But that didn't happen. Everything seemed to be going well, the old one out and the new one in, but when he went to test it there was no power to the machine. He told me he noticed something about the electrical box on the unit was, well, off a bit, but he popped it back in and thought all was well. He told me it was a manufacturer defect and I should call the store to have it exchanged for a new one. He specifically said not to let them try to send a repair man out but to get a new replacement unit. They said their notes would also say this, so the installers then went on their way and I had to get this resolved. Certainly not the free afternoon I thought I would have.
I started by calling the store, as the installers told me to, but as I bought it online I was transferred to their online phone line, linked halfway across the world. I had to first explain what happened to try to get this resolved without costing us more money. I would bring up the rebate, and get transferred. Start all over with another, and get transferred. This happened several times until I got rather upset and let the current thickly-accented agent know it, and got disconnected.
Now I was hot. I had a thousand dollar paper weight in my kitchen and I wanted this corrected - and now. I gathered up what I had, printed out my email receipt, and headed to the local store for this large retail establishment. At the store I headed to the large appliance department, and after waiting patiently for a bit was able to request to speak to a manager. I let the manager know what happened and my luck with their online sales customer support. Also my concerns about the rebate and other discount if they process this as I expected they wanted to. He looked at what I had, asked a few questions, and called their online sales phone line. This was now funny for me. He repeatedly explained my situation, who he was, and asked not to be transferred yet he was transferred several times. Finally he got frustrated, hung up abruptly and said he was going to the office to see if they had a different phone number or something. I waited patiently in the department, silently happy that he fared as well as I did with their phone services.
Eventually, after about 20 minutes or so, he came back out. He handed me my papers I brought, a very long receipt, and $150 in cash! He was able to find and access the online purchase and did some dodgy work with the numbers to make it even up for me. They would be calling me the next day to schedule the installation of the replacement. He, as the store, couldn't do anything about the manufacturer's rebate, thus the cash. I was shocked.
He made it right. I don't know how he'll put this in the books, but he made it right for me, the customer. I didn't expect this outcome - I expected to be screwed, but I was very happy and surprised and thanked him greatly. I even took his card, if the next installation goes smoothly I will write him an email to let him know and to thank him again.
The new replacement dishwasher is scheduled to be installed during this coming week. I don't foresee another issue, but if there is you can be sure you'll hear about it here.
My wife picked up the rugs downstairs but the ground is still frozen so as of yet there has been no water in the basement. Water runs downhill, however, and neighbor Dave's yard is definitely a low spot. Much more water and he may need to borrow the next neighbor's kayaks (by the garage).
I took a few pictures along the way. First, a stretch of the Capital City Trail that I've posted pictures of before, but without the massive wildflowers on the left and the community gardens on the right it looks a bit stark compared to summer. We usually see the bike paths getting plowed before our street is cleared. Madison has a great reputation as a bicycle-friendly city, and people take advantage of it year round.
