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Black & Decker sucks ass!

American

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They are the worst at customer service. I purchased a dehumidifier in Nov 2020. Last month is stopped working, and displayed an error code advising the customer to call/email customer support. After two unanswered emails, I decided to call. Called precisely at 1030 EST (their starting time), and was on hold for at least 30 minutes before something happened where the systems said an error occurred, and it hung up. This probably put me further down the waiting list. I called again and was put on a long hold.
 
They are the worst at customer service. I purchased a dehumidifier in Nov 2020. Last month is stopped working, and displayed an error code advising the customer to call/email customer support. After two unanswered emails, I decided to call. Called precisely at 1030 EST (their starting time), and was on hold for at least 30 minutes before something happened where the systems said an error occurred, and it hung up. This probably put me further down the waiting list. I called again and was put on a long hold.
So...this is a sneaky way of advertising a dehumidifier for sale?
 
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They are the worst at customer service. I purchased a dehumidifier in Nov 2020. Last month is stopped working, and displayed an error code advising the customer to call/email customer support. After two unanswered emails, I decided to call. Called precisely at 1030 EST (their starting time), and was on hold for at least 30 minutes before something happened where the systems said an error occurred, and it hung up. This probably put me further down the waiting list. I called again and was put on a long hold.


How are they much diff from half of everybody else? Really.
 
Quality customer service is expensive and requires maintenance and attention to detail.

It's unAmerican!

Though to be fair, the worst customer service I've ever received has been in Belgium and Japan, so how's that for shattered stereotypes?
 
Buy cheap brands, get bad service.

This isn’t hard, dude.

Except B&D wasn't always a brand described as "cheap".
And, that advice isn't as golden as you might think either.
When we moved into our new home in Whittier in 2014, first thing we did after all the handicap accessibility remodels was to remodel the kitchen.
Out went the cooktop, oven and dishwasher, original equipment since the house was built in 1996.

Believing in past recommendations about so called "German engineering" we decided to purchase from Bosch.

1. The Bosch cooktop arrived missing a burner trivet, which is a round metal disk that helps spread the flame in a circular pattern around the burner jet.
Two of the burners suffer from not always lighting electronically no matter what one does. They simply light themselves on a whim, or we are forced to use a BBQ lighter.
Been that way since it was new and no amount of service calls (four to date) rectifies the problem, as it always reverts back to it's default fickle approach.

2. The Bosch oven is also fickle, choosing to suffer "software crashes" that require a visit to the circuit breaker panel to "reboot" it about two or three times a month.
The meat temp probe worked ONCE, the first time and has never worked since. Bosch refuses to agree that it doesn't work, they simply said that they think it works, period.
Obviously these dour German CSR's made up their mind that the customer is lying.
Das liegender Kunde!!! (the lying customer!!)

3. Our Bosch dishwasher has never worked properly, not even the first day.
Sometimes you open the door and click on the buttons to set up the wash and start the machine, sometimes the panel is simply unresponsive and will not permit you to do anything.
Try and come back later and maybe it will allow you to turn on the machine, if it's in a good mood.

Whatever you do, don't buy German appliances, at least not ones made by Bosch.
This so called "German engineering" is a myth and legend from the distant past.
 
@American

Is the dehumidifier still on warranty? If so is it a dealer's warranty or a manufacture's warranty? Phone up whoever issued the warranty and sort things out with them.

If that doesn't work out, then escalate. Call the B&D head office and give them hell. Say you will go to a local media source and share your story about their product and how they treated you if you don't get rapid service which provides you with full satisfaction. Tell them you will report them to the Better Business Bureau too. If they don't give you satisfaction, then follow up on your threats. They may not care about one customer amid many but they likely care about protecting their brand name.

Good luck and best wishes in this endeavour.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.
 
If you really want to get a brand's attention -- call them out on social media. That's where it's at.
 
Except B&D wasn't always a brand described as "cheap".
And, that advice isn't as golden as you might think either.
When we moved into our new home in Whittier in 2014, first thing we did after all the handicap accessibility remodels was to remodel the kitchen.
Out went the cooktop, oven and dishwasher, original equipment since the house was built in 1996.

Believing in past recommendations about so called "German engineering" we decided to purchase from Bosch.

1. The Bosch cooktop arrived missing a burner trivet, which is a round metal disk that helps spread the flame in a circular pattern around the burner jet.
Two of the burners suffer from not always lighting electronically no matter what one does. They simply light themselves on a whim, or we are forced to use a BBQ lighter.
Been that way since it was new and no amount of service calls (four to date) rectifies the problem, as it always reverts back to it's default fickle approach.

2. The Bosch oven is also fickle, choosing to suffer "software crashes" that require a visit to the circuit breaker panel to "reboot" it about two or three times a month.
The meat temp probe worked ONCE, the first time and has never worked since. Bosch refuses to agree that it doesn't work, they simply said that they think it works, period.
Obviously these dour German CSR's made up their mind that the customer is lying.
Das liegender Kunde!!! (the lying customer!!)

3. Our Bosch dishwasher has never worked properly, not even the first day.
Sometimes you open the door and click on the buttons to set up the wash and start the machine, sometimes the panel is simply unresponsive and will not permit you to do anything.
Try and come back later and maybe it will allow you to turn on the machine, if it's in a good mood.

Whatever you do, don't buy German appliances, at least not ones made by Bosch.
This so called "German engineering" is a myth and legend from the distant past.
I could be wrong, but I think my dishwasher is Bosch. Whatever the brand, it's worked great for 5 years.
 
Buy cheap brands, get bad service.

This isn’t hard, dude.
Really? So B&D is a bad brand for dehumidifiers? Do you know a better? This was ordered through Home Depot, but the return policy appears to be contact B&KD
 
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I could be wrong, but I think my dishwasher is Bosch. Whatever the brand, it's worked great for 5 years.

Go and check and please get back to us...can't you walk into the kitchen and have a look-see?
 
@American

Is the dehumidifier still on warranty? If so is it a dealer's warranty or a manufacture's warranty? Phone up whoever issued the warranty and sort things out with them.

If that doesn't work out, then escalate. Call the B&D head office and give them hell. Say you will go to a local media source and share your story about their product and how they treated you if you don't get rapid service which provides you with full satisfaction. Tell them you will report them to the Better Business Bureau too. If they don't give you satisfaction, then follow up on your threats. They may not care about one customer amid many but they likely care about protecting their brand name.

Good luck and best wishes in this endeavour.

Cheers and be well.
Evilroddy.


Don't forget Ripoff Report.

ripoffreport@2x_new.png


I've actually gotten some pretty amazing results from using them in the past.
 
Oh by the way, also don't ever buy a refrigerator from Whirlpool either!
Does it keep food cold? Yeah, does a damn good job of that, too.
So there's no doubt that they make good compressors and blowers.

But Whirlpool's fridge problems are simply bad design.

1. It is impossible to detach the various handling surfaces on the entire water and ice delivery mechanism for CLEANING.
Apparently the company feels that ice maker chutes and water dispenser spigots in the fridge door do not ever NEED to be cleaned.

2. The icemaker is incapable of doing the one job it was designed to do, namely dropping individual cubes of ice DOWN said chute and into your cup or glass.
Either the little ice door fails to open and the ice backs up in the door, or the cubes come out in doubles or triples, too large to FIT INTO most cups or glasses, or the cubes just shoot randomly at all angles EXCEPT directly into the glass, ending up in the door tray or all over the floor. This happens even if your glass is jammed directly against the chute! The cubes skip past the glass and bounce onto the floor.
By the way, it's great for the dog, she gets plenty of ice cubes to chew on. Your glass? Maybe not so much.
But since you can't detach the hardware and toss it in the dishwasher, you may just want to slide open the icemaker mechanism and get your cubes there so they don't slide down the disgusting chute to begin with.

UPDATE: Turns out you CAN detach the ice chute but not by hand unless you're a Lilliputian, but the water dispenser spigot requires you to almost disassemble the entire door, so you can only wipe it down.
A good design would allow the entire ice and water delivery section to be tossed into the dishwasher, ice door and all and snapped back into place.

But then again, a good COFFEE MAKER would allow you to do the same thing and as far as I know most "Keurig inspired" style machines do not allow that either., which is why we do not own such coffeemakers.
 
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They are the worst at customer service. I purchased a dehumidifier in Nov 2020. Last month is stopped working, and displayed an error code advising the customer to call/email customer support. After two unanswered emails, I decided to call. Called precisely at 1030 EST (their starting time), and was on hold for at least 30 minutes before something happened where the systems said an error occurred, and it hung up. This probably put me further down the waiting list. I called again and was put on a long hold.
I totally sympathize. This spring I had a B&D iron that died after 6 weeks or so. I had to hover over that warranty claim like it was a toddler walking next to a cliff.
 
It’s been my experience that all customer service is hit and miss these days. It’s like when you get average or better service at a restaurant, you want to give the server all your money!

To the specific brand, B&D was a quality product many years ago. I wasn’t aware they made humidifiers. The brand has slipped badly in the last two decades. My experience is limited to battery operated power tools. I used tools professionally for many years and it is pretty easy to tell when the quality slips. Dewalt is a B&D stable mate and I have had very good success with the tools and the service. Example: I had a mid range Dewlat drill/driver with two batteries and charger. I probably had it over ten years at the time. One day the battery wouldn’t pull out of the charger. It had swollen up and was not going to come out. I called Dewalt CS and they told me of a recall on the batteries and the charger. Took my info and inside of a few days, there were the new parts. The rep was polite and helpful. It helps if you are calm when you get a hold of the rep. That doesn’t help if you never get through to a pulse, though.

IIRC, B&D, Dewalt are all part of Stanley now......
 
IIRC, B&D, Dewalt are all part of Stanley now......

Ohhhhhh....I think I am beginning to understand the Black & Decker problem now.
It's BEEN well over forty years since I lived in Maryland and I get the impression that Black & Decker is no longer a "Towson, Maryland" company manufacturing at that factory.
So, am I correct in guessing that "Black & Decker" is really now just some name and that the corporate HQ just hires jobbers to slap together cheap crap made in China?

I shouldn't be surprised, of course.
The Black & Decker I grew up with, everything was MADE at the factory in Towson.
I even knew people who worked there, I also knew older people who raised their families while working there for decades.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised if the entire factory is gone and only the corporate branch remains.
 
Really? So B&D is a bad brand for dehumidifiers? Do you know a better? This was ordered through Home Depot, but the return policy appears to be contact B&KD
Betcha bought it because it was a great deal.

Because B&D is the ‘value’ brand in electrical tools.
 
Betcha bought it because it was a great deal.

Because B&D is the ‘value’ brand in electrical tools.

There are tools built for occasional use and those built for people making a living with them. I used to make my living with tools.

That being said, there was a tool that Home Depot was carrying that caught my eye. It was a combination spindle and belt sander. I knew from the display that it wasn’t the most robust tool available, but the price wasn’t that bad and I was only going to use it occasionally. They had one in the computer, but couldn’t find it on the shelves. Finally, an eager-beaver type found the lone ranger on the tippy top rack and got the rolling fork lift thingy to retrieve it for me. I took my new purchase home and opened and set the tool on a table.

I made sure that all the pieces and parts were attached and then got a scrap of wood to see how the sander worked. I plugged it in and turned it on. The machine made strange noises and after a few seconds let all the “factory smoke” out. Everyone knows that when the “factory smoke” has been released from an electric/electronic appliance, there is no further remedy......

Back to Arthur Blank’s we went and got a more robust appliance elsewhere......
 
Oh by the way, also don't ever buy a refrigerator from Whirlpool either!
Does it keep food cold? Yeah, does a damn good job of that, too.
So there's no doubt that they make good compressors and blowers.

But Whirlpool's fridge problems are simply bad design.

1. It is impossible to detach the various handling surfaces on the entire water and ice delivery mechanism for CLEANING.
Apparently the company feels that ice maker chutes and water dispenser spigots in the fridge door do not ever NEED to be cleaned.

2. The icemaker is incapable of doing the one job it was designed to do, namely dropping individual cubes of ice DOWN said chute and into your cup or glass.
Either the little ice door fails to open and the ice backs up in the door, or the cubes come out in doubles or triples, too large to FIT INTO most cups or glasses, or the cubes just shoot randomly at all angles EXCEPT directly into the glass, ending up in the door tray or all over the floor. This happens even if your glass is jammed directly against the chute! The cubes skip past the glass and bounce onto the floor.
By the way, it's great for the dog, she gets plenty of ice cubes to chew on. Your glass? Maybe not so much.
But since you can't detach the hardware and toss it in the dishwasher, you may just want to slide open the icemaker mechanism and get your cubes there so they don't slide down the disgusting chute to begin with.

UPDATE: Turns out you CAN detach the ice chute but not by hand unless you're a Lilliputian, but the water dispenser spigot requires you to almost disassemble the entire door, so you can only wipe it down.
A good design would allow the entire ice and water delivery section to be tossed into the dishwasher, ice door and all and snapped back into place.

But then again, a good COFFEE MAKER would allow you to do the same thing and as far as I know most "Keurig inspired" style machines do not allow that either., which is why we do not own such coffeemakers.


My experience with several brands of refrigerator in-door ice/water dispensers is they all have the problems you describe. I'll never have another. We have a Samsung with icemaker (not in-door dispenser) that drops ice into a bin in the freezer drawer. Just slide it out, use your glass to scoop up some ice, and draw some water out of the kitchen tap - whole lot easier than clearing jams in the dispenser or chasing ice cubes around the floor.

We've also had several brands of coffee makers, the old fashioned kind where you put grounds in the basket, water in the reservoir and it perks the coffee into the pitcher. About as fancy as we get is a programmable one that turns itself on/off. They all seem to live only about a year, so we get cheap replacements at Black Friday sales (save the old pitcher - they come in handy for other uses). Cleaning is easy-peasy - just run a 25% vinegar solution through it.
 
We've also had several brands of coffee makers, the old fashioned kind where you put grounds in the basket, water in the reservoir and it perks the coffee into the pitcher. About as fancy as we get is a programmable one that turns itself on/off. They all seem to live only about a year, so we get cheap replacements at Black Friday sales (save the old pitcher - they come in handy for other uses). Cleaning is easy-peasy - just run a 25% vinegar solution through it.
I buy coffee maker cleaner made for drip machines. I clean the machine with it once a month and the coffee maker lasts for years. You can usually get it as supermarkets in the coffee aisle.
 
They are the worst at customer service. I purchased a dehumidifier in Nov 2020. Last month is stopped working, and displayed an error code advising the customer to call/email customer support. After two unanswered emails, I decided to call. Called precisely at 1030 EST (their starting time), and was on hold for at least 30 minutes before something happened where the systems said an error occurred, and it hung up. This probably put me further down the waiting list. I called again and was put on a long hold.
Ah! So that's where the IRS has been recruiting their people from.
 
It’s been my experience that all customer service is hit and miss these days. It’s like when you get average or better service at a restaurant, you want to give the server all your money!

To the specific brand, B&D was a quality product many years ago. I wasn’t aware they made humidifiers. The brand has slipped badly in the last two decades. My experience is limited to battery operated power tools. I used tools professionally for many years and it is pretty easy to tell when the quality slips. Dewalt is a B&D stable mate and I have had very good success with the tools and the service. Example: I had a mid range Dewlat drill/driver with two batteries and charger. I probably had it over ten years at the time. One day the battery wouldn’t pull out of the charger. It had swollen up and was not going to come out. I called Dewalt CS and they told me of a recall on the batteries and the charger. Took my info and inside of a few days, there were the new parts. The rep was polite and helpful. It helps if you are calm when you get a hold of the rep. That doesn’t help if you never get through to a pulse, though.

IIRC, B&D, Dewalt are all part of Stanley now......


Yup - the following may be of interest...

power-tool-brands-parent-companies.jpg


https://www.protoolreviews.com/news/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/43632/
 
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