Avanti WineFridge

Just a complete rant that I will take down if the company makes this right...  If not, I'll post that, too, as well as a link to a website I'll set up.

(11/9/08 - NOTE:  They have sent a new unit which - so far - is working well; details below)

Anyway...  

Ordered an Avanti wine fridge mid January 2007 on-line while buying appliances for a kitchen remodel at our house...  It was delivered in February and installed mid March 2007.  

It stopped working while we were on vacation in July 2007.

After calling the seller (to find out they didn't do repairs) and then Avanti (who referred me to a local repair place for warranty work) we called A-Z Appliance.  They came out in August 07, took one look and said they couldn't fix it as it was the electrical panel and 'those always go bad".  They would order parts but 'they are terrible about shipping quickly".

The part was ordered but was back ordered and unavailable..  until December of 07.  A-Z came out and installed the part and left (no one was home).  

Obviously it still didn't work.  

Two weeks later they were back out to check it out.  They said it would have to go back to the shop... but they couldn't take it as the truck was full.  Later that week theyame out and took fridge in for repair.

I finally got them to bring it back in mid- Feb.  Happy to finally have a working wine fridge instead of a gaping hole in the cupboards as we did over the holidays, we were frustrated but finally satisfied customers.

The unit worked 3 months and stopped by the end of May, again.

After numerous calls to A-Z who wasn't sure what they could realistically do any longer, they said unit is defective with an internal leak and cannot be repaired.  A new one would be necessary.  With both A-Z and myself calling Avanti, in early August, Avanti called me to say unit cannot be repaired, per a discussion with the repairshop, and that new one is necessary.  I was to send $10. (?!) to them to do so.

Check sent the next day on 8/7.

Check was cashed by Avanti on 8/13.

By late Sept., I called A-Z and Avanti wondering why I had not heard anything.  Unable to get any answers, leaving many messages, I finally spoke to someone on 10/1 at Avanti who said it had been too long  and that the item was out of warranty!  No fridge was to be sent, despite cashing check, despite acknowledging it cannot be fixed, despite it never working correct and being out of service for all but 6 or 7 months of the 20 months I had it...

Getting past a customer service representative I spoke to Meaghan, ' a manager'.  After telling her the problem she said she would talk to A-Z to have them confirm the issue and would call me back.  I told her that no one ever called back and I spent a lot of time on hold at Avanti... She promised she would call back by the end of the day.

Obviously, she didn't.

I called that eve, the next day, and other times all week.  Always told I was being transferred in, it alwys was put on voice mail and no one ever called back.

Totally frustrated by the worse customer service I have ever heard about, I asked for her 'boss' and was told to speak to David ______ (head of dept., supposedly).  He instructed me to fax/mail a copy of the sticker from the back of the wine cooler to him and a new cooler would be sent out.  I pulled the unit myself, and then both faxed and mailed it.

Having heard nothing by the end of the month again, I called on 10/30 to check the status.  More time on hold to get through, more time on hold after speaking to a rep and giving her the RA number for the issue...  After being put on hold for some time, the rep returned and  told me she could not even locate the RA number for my problem!  

I asked to speak to David and was given - surprise - his voice mail.  I left yet another message.

As of 3pm I have not heard back from anyone...  We'll see.

More to come, I'm sure...

---

I received a call later that day from a customer service representative who asked if i would be home the following week, lol.   She mentioned I would receive a call from a trucking company about delivery as the wine fridge would be sent right out.

Sure enough, I received a call from a trucker the following week who wanted to bring the unit by.  I pulled the current one out, and wrestled it down the stairs myself in time for the new unit to show up that afternoon.   Bringing the new one in and setting it up (they are 54 bottle units, I believe) it appears to be working well.  While I wish the original unit had worked properly in the first place and that it had not taken so long to get the problem resolved, in the end they did do the right thing, thankfully... 

Tattoos...

I was reading a blog attached to a site about a new film, "Happiness Is...". While I haven't delved into it deeply enough to understand the relevance, I came across a posting about a tattoo experience which I ended up commenting on.

Anyway, I thought I would post my response here on my blog as well in case anyone has any comments or thoughts.

_______________

My tattoo experience was very different than that described above [in the posting] ... I am currently 46 and have two tattoos, neither of which I had on my 32nd birthday. Despite my family being one that frowned on tattoos, I always liked them. I had friends that got some after high school, some that got them in the military, a few that got a few in their college rebellion. I saw many I liked, but never any that I liked enough to want on my body for the rest of my life. I understood they were as deeply personal as something could get and therefor an item that one truly couldn't judge. One man's junk is another man's treasure, as they say. But I'd look at 18 year old guys with the Tazmanian Devil on their arm, or gals getting Tweetie Bird, and wonder if they would be happy about the decision when they were in their 50s, let alone 80s. I'd also see tattoos done by people that had no art ability at all and wonder how the recipient felt. Diamonds aren't forever... Tattoos are. Having studied martial arts for years, the appeal of the dragon and/or tiger were obvious, but didn't have enough personal meaning when I was young. So I didn't get one in my youth and as I started into my thirties it had been years since I seriously thought about getting one; the last time was when my father passed (I was barely 26) and seriously considered a memorial piece but still could not think of one I'd want forever. Then, at 32, I became a dad. I saw another new dad come in one day with a 'single needle' tattoo that was practically a photograph of his new born daughter. While not the style I liked for myself, I knew the tattoo artist had talent. We talked and that following Saturday I hopped on my motorcycle (another lifestyle choice my family wasn't happy with) and drove up to the tattoo parlor. No appt., no calls ahead, nothing. Very naive. Getting there so early we had time to discuss what I liked ('Japanese style'), what I wanted (a piece representing my new daughter and my deceased dad), size (a piece on my upper arm that could be covered by a short sleeve shirt and only visible if I was shirtless and therefor knew whoever I was with well, ie no business situations), and talked about specifics (ultimately deciding on a tiger protecting a Phoenix - the legendary bird that rises from the ashes, symbolizing rebirth). To get all that in I ended up getting a larger one than originally expected (from two inches above my elbow to the top of my shoulder. He drew it right on my arm, we made a few changes, he drew the details in a little more, and then started lining it all in. As it was such a large piece he said he typically would get all the lines in and then I would come back to get it colored. Since it was still pretty early and they were slow (the other artist in the shop was handling the other walk-ins), we did it all in one sitting. As he finished up with the black, doing some shading, I added my daughter's name and it is my favorite part, to this day.

 (This one took approximately 7.5 hours)

I did not find it particularly painful except when they were directly over a bone. I imagine an ankle or hip tattoo would not be the most pleasant experience, but I thought it was more uncomfortable than painful... Like someone scraping away at you. Nothing you enjoy, but not real pain, either. And either way, contrary to the posting, I didn't and wouldn't have felt the pain was a part of the experience or one of the points in getting it. You do it despite it, not because of it. At least I (and everyone I know) did. The only negative experience came the following day. Home and doing some work on the house, I had a sleeveless shirt on so it could heal and get some air. My mother came by to visit, walked in, started crying and said "There are two types of people in this world: people who get tattoos and people who don't. You just crossed the line." And she promptly left. She has come to accept it (she'll never like it) though. 

As far as the second tattoo, I didn't think I would ever get a second. I loved the first one, got a lot of compliments (from anyone except my mother, lol), but had no desire for any more. 11 years later however, at 43, my wife and I decided to have another baby. Sure enough, after my son was born I wanted to get another tattoo to have him with me - to be part of me - forever. I sketched out what I wanted (a dragon armband, Japanese style) and found an artist through some internet searching. I made an appt. and showed up, ready for my tattoo.... She informed me she was booked for over 4 months, this was a consultation appt. only, and took some measurements to do preliminary sketches! Boy, had things changed in the tattoo world! The rest is pretty similar to the first experience. No real pain, some discomfort, and another result I love and others seem to like as well. I had my baby son's name added at the end (within the dragon's tail, and my wife's name (within a red ball the dragon is clutching). I now have all three of them with me where ever I am or go.

(This one took approximately 5.5 hours)

Neither is visible unless I am shirtless, but they are there for me, no one else. Barring a third child there will be no more though...

I think... ;-)