DISCUSTING SERVICE FROM HIRSCH'S FOURWAYS

I recently bought 2 items from Hirschs in Fourways. I was told the driver would call an hour before. The driver called on his way and the address was wrong even though I specifically explained to Hirschs that there are 2 different streets with the same name and mine was 'xyz'. But alas, they got this EASY piece of information wrong. All they did correctly was take my money.

Anyway, the items were delivered and looked ok. The delivery men were friendly and efficient. Everything looked ok on inspection as they unwrapped everything etc. I was asked to sign, which I did and that was it. Hours later, when I went to put the food in, I noticed a small dent on the inside of the fridge at the top. I cannot fathom how it could be dented in that place. This prompted me to examine the fridge in detail. There was still some small styrofoam and plastic pieces on it which I removed. One, I discovered, was a chip and not a piece of plastic. Then I noticed a small - but very significant - dent on the right upper corner of the freezer. This had obviously been dropped VERY hard, although again, I do not see how it could sustain such a dent and not be dented in the (upper) fridge part in the same vicinity. I opened the freezer, only to find scratch marks if looking at the open door from above. As if the door had been rubbing against something (where in fact, it should not even touch anything).

I called Hirschs immediately, this mustve been about 6 hours after I bought it. I asked to speak with a manager – JEROME is the manager there. All he did was ask for the invoice number, my name an phone number, for the floor salesman to call me back. I did not need to speak to a floor salesman (????), when you CALL a manager, you clearly want to speak to a MANAGER.

The floor salesman (Ibrahim) called me back and asked if/why I didnt check it when it was delivered. I said I did, but not to that extent. I reminded him I paid for a brand new item and this was clearly either used or had undergone I dont know what to obtain these obscure dents/scratches etc. He spoke to me as if he was doing me a favour by agreeing to replace this item. It was ridiculous. I told them they could send someone immediately to my house to inspect it. They said no.

I dont care if I missed any marks (whatever) on the fridge when it was delivered. It was all done so quickly, it seemed ok and off they went. I did notice, and only thought about it afterwards because of the flaws, that after I signed, the one delivery guy wrote on the paper that it had been checked, when neither they, nor I (sufficiently, apparently) did check it. I only took note of it as he asked to borrow my pen.

Additionally, in the section where I sign (& fill out) I saw the next day on the new invoice, there were about 5 check boxes to say there were no dents, etc. I had not checked any of these the day before.

I felt that the dents etc were so EASY to overlook, that when the delivery guys came the following day to drop off the NEW fridge, I actually asked them to look at the fridge to check for any flaws. They saw NOTHING. Until I showed them. Incidentally, I requested the fridge be dropped off early as my food would be going off (despite ice) and would need to throw things away.

I was again told that the driver would call an hour before and I did tell them - thats what you said yesterday and it didnt happen. NO response (or apology) for that. The same thing again.....I had heard nothing by 11am and it was a Sunday. I called the MANAGER - again, and what did he say - just that it will be delivered today. Thats it. He said the salesman would call me back and I said no, what for? To tell me its being delivered? I said that wasnt necessary. Somewhere about 1pm the salesman Ibrahim called to say the delivery guys were on their LAST delivery and AFTER that they'd come to me. Nice customer service.

When you deliver a used/battered fridge to a client, I believe you should apologize and promptly fix the problem. Isnt this in ANY industry? I do not need a salesman from a shop to treat me like Ive done something wrong. He even had the NERVE to tell me that after I sign for it - that its my {problem} (I cant remember his wording but that was the gist of it). It was appalling, and the manager was NO better.

This time, when I checked the fridge, I checked EVERYTHING (obviously). I also noticed that before they even came to my house and unwrapped the fridge, ALL the checkboxes had been ticked - both on their part of the invoice - as well as MINE. I am pretty sure another party can not make a claim FOR me. And before any of us had even LAID EYES on the fridge they'd checked, for ME (and Hirschs), that it was FINE. REALLY? You took it upon YOURSELVES to make a statement for me? Underhanded, to say the least.

Hirschs - what kind of business are you running!!! Yes, you may say I should've checked it properly. But as I said. The following day I asked the new/different delivery guys to check it to see if they would see any (of the 4) flaws in the fridge and they too, saw none. I asked them to please RELAY THIS to Hirches!!!

What annoyed me the most of all of it - was that the manager JEROME clearly did not want to speak to me. All he wanted was to pass it onto a salesman. It was not HIS PROBLEM!!! I did not call the salesman, which I easily could have, I called the manager.

You delivered me a sub-par product. Then you acted as if you were doing me a FAVOUR by replacing it with a NEW fridge (since I paid for a NEW fridge). You could not get my address right and neither set of delivery men called an hour beforehand. Plus - you left my fridge to be delivered LAST. Customer service??? You checked boxes which were meant for me - I did not say the fridge was fine as I DID NOT CHECK THE BOXES. You can tick yours - but NOT the CUSTOMERS. Seriously, YOU CANNOT DO THAT. So Hirschs is not only RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL, but they are also UNDERHANDED too. You do not write ANYTHING on an invoice which is meant for the customer. SLIMY underhanded obnoxious rude people.

DO NOT USE FOURWAYS HIRSCHS.

I did NOT want to use them, but someone from a different city said how excellent they were. Obviously the FOURWAYS branch is different and is dependent on the management (or lack thereof).

To top it off I never received a phonecall asking if I received and was happy with the fridge. Which shouldve been by the manager.

You customer service is appalling - please go on a course which teaches you how to treat customers - those are the people who pay you to do a JOB. An easy one at that!!

You dont sell a SH*T product then attempt to make the CUSTOMER out to be in the wrong. You APOLOGISE and rectify the situation IMMEDIATLEY.

Oh - and I did ask Ibrahim if there was a way they could look up my old washing machine (the other appliance I bought) and the kg's it handles - I could not find it on the internet nor even in the manual. I needed one the same or larger. Ibrahim said it was 6kgs so I took another 6kg washing machine. My A*S its 6kg, So, while the washing machine was (is) fine on arrival. It is far smaller than the one I had so thank you Hirschs for the misinformation.

You guys are USELESS and your customer service is shockingly appalling!