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September 19, 2008
Unfortunate experience with Drimmer's
I would like to share my recent very unfortunate and ongoing experience with Drimmer's, the appliance company on Coney Island Avenue. In June, we bought as part of a kitchen redo: a Gaggenau refrigerator ; its stainless steel doors ; a Bosch stove ; a Perla stove hood ; a GE Monogram microwave; and a Maytag washer dryer unit. The equipment was delivered in Aug. The total bill was over $11,000.
All the equipment except the stove and dryer turned out to be damaged or defective. The stove hood was dented, and the fan made a deafening noise. The refrigerator doors were dented. The trim on the microwave was peeling off. The washing machine wouldn’t run at all. The icemaker on the refrigerator didn’t work and the unit leaked onto the floor. We were told to call the manufacturers. Our contractor did so. He asked Drimmer's to replace the stove hood, but they claimed the dent was his fault first, then gave him such a hard time he bought a new one himself. The only things Drimmer's has replaced were the doors, but left the old ones in the hallway blocking the way. (Too big to dispose of ourselves.)
For the last month service people have come and gone for the refrigerator and washer, each claiming that a part is needed and promising to order it. Last night, my 8-year-old son opened the fridge door, and the 700-pound refrigerator fell on him. Miraculously, he was saved from being crushed only because the corner of the open door stopped the refrigerator from falling all the way.
We've called repeatedly. Our contractor even went so far as to go out to speak with Mr. Drimmer, the owner, and was told that “people buy Mercedes that don’t work. They call the company.”
There are numerous companies involved in this shipment, and it seems an astonishing coincidence that all of them happened to sell us damaged or non-functioning equipment on the same day. We've called Gaggenau, which asks us why the distributor won't replace the fridge. They're sending someone on Sept. 30. Meanwhile, we will have to buy a substitute fridge.
Comments
I went through the same nightmare of first calling Drimmers and getting the worst customer service (why would you hire a rude person to answer your calls?) then I tried visiting since I'm not that far by car. They are even worse IN PERSON! They made me feel like they were the only people with high-end appliances in Bklyn so I had to go with them. Fortunately I found a random company through a friend called EBA WHOLESALE BROOKLYN. They carry almost ALL of the same items, their showroom isn't as nice but they definitely were better customer service oriented. I made the initial contact via the phone then went in to check out the store, again...nothing to write home about BUT the prices were great and I got my high-end appliances without using DRIMMERS! The delivery was normal - had to pay a fee since they had to bring it up my brownstone stairs - $100. Here is the info, not sure if the salesperson I used TOM is still there but he was very helpul. I purchased a Subzero Fridge and 2 Kitchen Aid professional series stove and overhead mircowave as well as appliances for my rental apartment. Everything worked and is still working after 2 years.
Here is the info and please stop giving business to those RUDE DRIMMER people!
Call EBA ask for TOM, you can reach him at 718-252-3400 X136
or email him at salesdesk1@shopeba.com
I did all my research with pricing online then had them match or lower their prices...they had the best prices.
Good Luck,
A.S.
Posted by: adamkidron at September 19, 2008 8:07 PM
>Last night, my 8-year-old son opened the fridge door, and the 700-pound refrigerator fell on him.>
I'm reading Paul Beatty's 'Slumberland' which is possibly the funniest book I have ever read, but this story may top it!
Posted by: denton at September 19, 2008 8:47 PM
I had a great experience with them. Glad your kid is okay. How did the fridge fall over? I don't get it. Is it missing a leg or something?
So you want people to call your sales person. I must be tired. That sounds crazy.
Posted by: superstooper at September 19, 2008 8:57 PM
Oh wait, I fell asleep between two posts. I see.
Posted by: superstooper at September 19, 2008 8:58 PM
I don't know whether your problems had anything to do with Drimmers or not - it sure sounds like they didn't handle it well - but I have to say that in my experience, high end appliances have plenty of problems. We bought ours from Jimmy's in Bay Ridge - again, not that they had anything to do with it - but in the seven or eight years we've owned them, we've had: glass crack on a Thermador stove (replaced with GE), at least 20 service calls for a Viking refrigerator, and a Bosch oven that works sometimes and doesn't others. I've heard Sub Zeros can be pretty unreliable as well.............
Posted by: slopenick at September 20, 2008 6:28 AM
The difference here is that these appliances arrived broken, not that they didn't hold up on using. If you bought an appliance from J&R or PC Richards brought it home and found it was broken, you would bring it back in the box and they would give you a new one. They would not tell you to call the manufacturer on a new product.
Posted by: slopegrrl at September 20, 2008 10:28 AM
I'd think in this litigious climate, there'd be no way a manufacturer could make any appliance with any possibility of tipping. Refrigerators are quite stable do not have to be bolted down (unlike some ranges, which are lighter, and the moment caused by an oven door can indeed tip them over. If you step on the open door.)
So...details? Did something break?
Posted by: cmu at September 20, 2008 12:06 PM
I'll second adamkidron's recommendation of EBA on Nostrand Avenue. I've bought a number of appliances from then and consider them to be an excellent dealer.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 20, 2008 2:20 PM
Fridges and ranges most all come with some sort of anti-tip bracket that mounts to the floor or above the compressor of a fridge. Sounds like your contractor didn't install the fridge right. Drimmers can be curt, but I've had fine luck dealing with after delivery issues with them.
Posted by: bugleg at September 20, 2008 5:13 PM
Why would you do business with a company who's representatives are 99% curt ALL THE TIME with their customers. Drimmers was as will always be a nightmare unless top management changes or the company is sold and reorganized. I had a budget over 20k to spend on appliances and they still treated me like a piece of sh*t. I would never recommend DRIMMERS to anyone. Period.
Posted by: adamkidron at September 20, 2008 6:55 PM
I bought all my kitchen appliances from Drimmers about 4 years ago because they gave the best prices. I had absolutly no problems with Drimmers and found them most cooperative when I misplaced the service contract a few months ago. The only problems with my high end appliance occurred within the past year and were covered by the contract.
Posted by: yaakovdoe at September 20, 2008 8:33 PM
I'm really glad that your son is OK! Sounds like a call to the manufacturer is in order. I think that the company would want to know that the unit tipped over on someone. I'm curious to know thought if some kind of mounting or stabilizing bracket was not installed.
I have no high-end appliances, because I've also heard bad things about the reliability of these brands.
Posted by: BrooklynButler at September 22, 2008 10:51 AM
I had a great experience with Drimmers...from start to finish. I especially liked that they sent out someone to VERIFY whether the appliances (the refrigerator) would fit.
THat being said, I have had some issue with my refrigerator (a Liebherr, which I love), but I have had the service people out a number of times. I don't hold Drimmer's responsible for that, it's the service company.
I made sure that I was there when delivery was made AND DID NOT (in this case and others) take anything I was not satisfied with. I've pissed off more than one delivery person, but who cares, ONCE I SIGN for it, it's mine, and then it's a matter of fixing, unless you can get the dealer to trade. Were you there for delivery? Or did you rely on the contractor? Also who installed the equipment? If it was your contractor, they are responsible. I looked through the brochures for LOTS of equipment: ESPECIALLY for the large refrigerators, there's a LOT on stabilizers and brackets and the like. I think your contractor has a lot to do with your dissatisfaction. BUT there's a chance you got bum appliances too.
I didn't like EBA at all. THey were completely hard sell, and incredibly rude when I didn't want top top of the line on all my appliances...Except for the fridge, I went high middle. My best service though HAS to be at Sears...
Posted by: Minmin at September 22, 2008 11:37 AM
Have heard horror stories about Drimmer's, even though they often have the best prices. you should check apartmenttherapy.com for reviews - some of the stories are pretty outrageous. seems like drimmer's often deals in refurbished appliances--but doesn't tell the buyer. SHADY, SHADY, SHADY. We went with Gringer & Sons for this reason.
Posted by: North Sleeper at September 23, 2008 9:58 AM
Well, the end of the story is that after investigating, our credit card company charged back to Drimmer's the full amount of the defective appliances and an overcharge I discovered(we resolved the washer and microwave problem.) In other words, they took the money back from Drimmer's. It took a lot of persistence and documentation.
Now we have to get a new fridge and hearing what some of you say about the problems of high-end models, I'm thinking something more conventional would be a better deal.
Posted by: blulight at November 1, 2008 5:44 PM
I also have had very bad experience with Drimmers. In particular they caused damage upon delivering applicances and after agreeing to pay for repairs won't return any calls.
Better to go with a large seller like PC Richards who worries about their reputation.
Posted by: aabklyn at November 6, 2008 4:59 PM
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