Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Ironing Things Out

I'm not quite ready to get one of these yet...

Last week I told you of the end of my steamy love affair with my six-month-old iron and said that I'd keep you updated with how Customer Service dealt with my problem...So here's the latest...

I contacted the customer service department at Black and Decker online and told them that my six-month-old iron had completely stopped working (it was totally kaput!) and that I felt that they should replace it. They answered me the next day and asked for some info on the model number, where I bought it, etc and shortly after I emailed that info to them, they answered and said that I was eligible for a replacement iron. All I had to do was to send a copy of the receipt, cut off the end of the plug and send it (not the whole iron) back to them...AND they wanted me to send a check for $7.50 to pay for shipping the replacement iron to me. I immediately responded and said that I was happy to hear that I could get a replacement and was more than willing to send them the plug...however, I was not willing to pay for the shipping since it was not my fault that the iron needed to be replaced. If they didn't waive the shipping fee, I was going to take the $7.50 and put it toward the purchase of a new (non-Black and Decker) iron and that I was going to advise my friends not to buy a B&D iron either.

I was willing to wait until the end of the long holiday weekend for a reply, (although I'd put money on the fact that the place where customer service is located is not in a country that celebrates our Memorial Day...) and yesterday afternoon there was a message in my inbox saying that they would waive the $7.50 shipping fee. Yeah!

So, for now, I'll give Black and Decker a good grade for their service...but no promises about whether or not I'll give their product a good grade. That will have to wait until I use the replacement iron for a while. I'm hoping that the first one was just from a bad batch.

By the way, while I was waiting for this to be settled, I checked the reviews on Amazon for the iron and noticed that there were FOUR reviews about the same problem I had with the iron...all written AFTER I had bought mine late last year. When I had done my initial research, most of the reviews were positive.

I'll keep you posted....

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Now that is wonderful customer service!

Anonymous said...

Anya, I've had trouble with B&D irons too, purchased at Wal-Mart. And other brands bought there also. I won't buy them any longer there. I think they sell seconds. I have another one I paid over $60 for at Dunham's, a T-fal, and that doesn't work right either. I have stopped using the steam on a cheap one I bought for my sewing room because it doesn't work right (I forget the brand of that one) and I use a spray bottle of water with it instead of steam. Works just fine that way but we shouldn't have to do this.
Diane

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I have gone through numerous irons also and have not had a lot of luck with them. You have gotten good customer service and hope the replacement iron will work for you. I use to have much better luck with irons - say 20 years ago. I do not think irons are made as well now as they use to be and they want way too much money for the really good ones in my opinion.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Needled Mom said...

Interesting. Glad to see that they waved the $7.50 and hope the new iron performs better for you. Thanks for the update.

Heather said...

I have a Sunbeam Steammaster than I bought ages ago (probably 7 or 8 years) and its done several headers on to the floor and still works. Love it.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I hope this iron treats you better Anya. I have a B&D too that I won't brag about.

Barb said...

very timely post as I am in the market for a new one. Still doing my research. Thanks