Beverage Factory

[acslater55]

This isn't a rant or anything just want to share my experience so far.

Ordered a Haier kegerator from beveragefactory.com on 3/14. No problems with the delivery on 3/24. I spent an hour putting it together, plugged the unit in. I hear a hissing sound coming from the back, and immediately unplug the unit. Thining what the hell was that? Plug it backin in the same sound. Traced it to a hole in one of the welds in the compressor and the refrigerant is leaking out.

Called them the next day. What I wanted to hear was: Oh my gosh sir we are so sorry we will send out a new unit immediately and take back the defective one instead.

What I heard instead: We will contact the Haier company about what to do, then we will get back to you. I asked how long that will take, they said they didn't know a few days. It is now 6 days, from when I called still no word from them. Contacted them again, they said it takes a week to hear from Haier and then they will tell me what to do.

So its likely to be at least 2-3 weeks while this thing gets resolved. Sh*tty customer service if you ask me.

If you buy a laptop from Dell and it doesn't turn on, they don't tell you to wait while they contact Intel on what to do. They take the unit back.

 

[wildwest450]

That sucks. I had good luck with them ordering my kegerator. Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. You need to start squeaking a lot more.

_

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Not trying to be a jerk, but Dell makes the computers, Beverage Factory doesn't make the Haier Kegerator.

I still think it is ****ty customer service, they need to stand by the products they sell, they can easily send the unit back to Haier for credit ,and supply you with a new one, my guess is they don't want to have to pay shipping for you to send it to them, and then shipping to send it back to Haier, but then again, Haier should take care of the shipping from BF to them, and BF should take care of shipping from you to them.

Also something to think about, maybe BF had it drop-shipped directly from Haier, regardless they sold the item to you, so ultimately they are responsible.

Hopefully they will take care of you and you'll be singing a different tune in a week or two, otherwise, I hope you used your credit card at least you can dispute the charge if necessary.

Good Luck!

 

[Malticulous]

Did you contact Haier? They might send a repair guy over to fix it.

 

[Golddiggie]

This is why I prefer to get things like this via Amazon... I got my current TV from them... When the first arrived, it ran for about 15 minutes, then died... Got a hold of them (entered my number in their page, they called within a couple of minutes) and they sent out a replacement right away. They also issued the pickup of the first one (same time)... The people delivering the TV brought it into my apartment and even set it up for me (they didn't the first time, so I mentioned it to the person from Amazon, they did it the second time)...

I would call back BF and start moving up the food chain... Keep going until you get someone that sends you the replacement and picks up the defective unit... OR get a full refund and have them issue a pickup of the bad one. No reason why you should have to wait WEEKS for them to tell you what they'll do to resolve the issue.

 

[Bitterbrush]

I had a similar experience with Beverage Factory. They are all good until you have a problem, then they fall asleep or something. I even bugged them and still very slow to get replies. I went to the manufacture (Taprite) with my problem and got instant results. Try contacting Haier directly and tell them about your problem.

 

[weirdboy]

I had something similar happen with a tower I got from them. One of the shank nuts was stripped and it was like pulling teeth to get them to stick one in an envelope and send it to me. I mean we are talking about a $.25 part at most plus USPS postage.

 

[Brandonovich]

This is why it is better to buy large or expensive items from a local supplier. Anyone you can stand eye to eye with will take care of you, and you'd be all set by now. Vote with your wallet and don't give your money to companies that can ignore you. You pay a little more here and there, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

This is why it is better to buy large or expensive items from a local supplier. Anyone you can stand eye to eye with will take care of you, and you'd be all set by now. Vote with your wallet and don't give your money to companies that can ignore you. You pay a little more here and there, but you get what you pay for.

Third option, build it yourself, and customize it to your specifications, might not get the instant gratification, but you will have a truly awesome item in which every time you pull the tap handle and pur a pint, you can think to yourself, "I made this!"

 

[acslater55]

Thanks for the replies. I just wanted to share my experience and give back a little since this forum has been so good to me. I can definitely say that I will never ever ever buy from them again, and I likely would have if this had not happened. I typically buy from local stores, but the price on this thing was too good to ignore and I thought I would roll the dice. I just encourage anyone else who is considering buying from beveragefactory.com to think twice.

If anyone who works at Beverage Factory reads this thread you better tighten it up.

 

[D-MOTITAN]

U need to just tell them u are going to return it. That is the one statement that gets company's moving. They all like u to deal with the manufacture. I tell them i bought the item from u....and if u dont correct this problem fast....I will be returning it to u.

 

[acslater55]

Going to do that today. Thanks

 

[bitmask]

I work near them so it's convenient to stop by and pick up stuff instead of having to pay for shipping, but I agree their cust service seems to be lacking.

I ordered some kegging stuff from them a few weeks back to pick up, and was called to be told that the ball lock QDs i ordered were backordered, and it would be 2 weeks before they came in. A few days later I went and picked up the rest, and they told me it would be 1 week before the QD came in. Better news then the first time. I got busy and let the two weeks go by, until I called yesterday. They said it would be another week before they come in. wth? If I knew it was going to be 3 weeks to begin with I would've just payed shipping from some other place (particularly since I ordered some other stuff from AHBS that will be arriving early next week).

 

[SirBC]

It "takes a week to hear from Haier"? Are they using a bear on a tricycle to carry messages back and forth?

 

[Golddiggie]

It "takes a week to hear from Haier"? Are they using a bear on a tricycle to carry messages back and forth?

Carrier slug...

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

Call your CC and see if you can get a local HVAC guy come out and have that bill deducted from what BF gets. Or just put a stop on the payment and see how fast it gets resolved. explain to the CC about the shipping costs.

 

[acslater55]

Ok so now its now April 4 and I have finally heard back from BF after 8 days. They are having Haier come to pick up the defective unit. But, they aren't bringing me a new one that day. Then I have to call BF to give them the tracking number then they will send me another unit.

So to get this resolved so far I will have to take 3 days off from work. And wait who knows how long. Here is the summary of the transaction.

3/10 - kegerator ordered
3/16 - kegerator ships after they have to wait 5 days for parts to arrive
3/24 - kegerator arrives
3/25 - call BF to tell them its broken
4/4 -finally get a response about what to do
4/7 - Haier comes to pick up kegerator
4/? - BF will send me a new one,

Likely 4 weeks from when it arrived will I actually have something that works. They aren't worse the hassle, don't deal with them. Just my advice. They are also useless on the phone. I had to ask specifically if I needed to strip the parts off the kegerator and re-pack it. The answer was yes, but they were going to hang up without even mentioning it. They are a PIA!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Ok so now its now April 4 and I have finally heard back from BF after 8 days. They are having Haier come to pick up the defective unit. But, they aren't bringing me a new one that day. Then I have to call BF to give them the tracking number then they will send me another unit.

So to get this resolved so far I will have to take 3 days off from work. And wait who knows how long. Here is the summary of the transaction.

3/10 - kegerator ordered
3/16 - kegerator ships after they have to wait 5 days for parts to arrive
3/24 - kegerator arrives
3/25 - call BF to tell them its broken
4/4 -finally get a response about what to do
4/7 - Haier comes to pick up kegerator
4/? - BF will send me a new one,

Likely 4 weeks from when it arrived will I actually have something that works. They aren't worse the hassle, don't deal with them. Just my advice. They are also useless on the phone. I had to ask specifically if I needed to strip the parts off the kegerator and re-pack it. The answer was yes, but they were going to hang up without even mentioning it. They are a PIA!!!!!!!!!!

ask for a discount if they are unwilling to provide one, just take your money back, and pay a few dollars more for the unit elsewhere.

 

[Keeblerelf]

i work for a retailer who deals in haier products...from experience i know i can contact them any business day during 'office' hours, and i can get results almost immediately...that's poor service/effort on BF's part if they cant get in contact for a week or more...hope it works out for you, but i'd strike them from my list of places to purchase in the future.

my $0.02

keeblerelf

 

[SirBC]

Yeah, I'd call and ask what they can do for you. If nothing, return it (check store policy first). If it doesn't work out of the box I'm sure your CC company would back you.

 

[samc]

Crap service sucks. When I ran my own business we jumped for our customers, just about what ever they needed they got.

Thanks for the heads up on another crap vendor. I'd for sure call, email & write to the CC company asking them to investigate the transaction.

 

[ceejengine]

I have to agree with all of this- I placed two orders with them, and one of them ended up on indefinite back order. The other was incomplete, and I had to wait another week and a half to get everything. Don't order from them!

 

[acslater55]

Ok so now its now April 4 and I have finally heard back from BF after 8 days. They are having Haier come to pick up the defective unit. But, they aren't bringing me a new one that day. Then I have to call BF to give them the tracking number then they will send me another unit.

So to get this resolved so far I will have to take 3 days off from work. And wait who knows how long. Here is the summary of the transaction.

3/10 - kegerator ordered
3/16 - kegerator ships after they have to wait 5 days for parts to arrive
3/24 - kegerator arrives
3/25 - call BF to tell them its broken
4/4 -finally get a response about what to do
4/7 - Haier comes to pick up kegerator
4/? - BF will send me a new one,

Likely 4 weeks from when it arrived will I actually have something that works. They aren't worse the hassle, don't deal with them. Just my advice. They are also useless on the phone. I had to ask specifically if I needed to strip the parts off the kegerator and re-pack it. The answer was yes, but they were going to hang up without even mentioning it. They are a PIA!!!!!!!!!!

OK make that 4/11 and they picked up the kegerator. Ironically exactly a month after I ordered a kegerator I am right back where I started with nothing. Great thanks!

 

[KYB]

I've ordered a lot of keggerator parts to build mine from BF. Great quick service. No issues at all. Sucks you had bad luck with them.

 

[mwhc22]

note to self... not ordering from beverage factory.
im cool with things being broken sometimes... but if it is the company better fix it with no hassle and not cause me more problems.

 

[sknyc]

I recently purchased a Rancilio Silvia V3 home espresso machine from them. The unit looks used. With the obvious are the dents and scratches on the front and tray. I contacted them, and they wanted photos. I sent them photos. They said they will contact the manufacturer. I called Rancilio who confirmed that this type of issues are handled by the retailer, not them. So obviously they are lying to me. This might very well be a used machine. What should I do? If I returned it, I already trashed all the packages. They will charge me 15% "restocking fee". If I keep it, it's used with the best bet of having the scratched pieces replaced. Any wise advise out there?

 

[samc]

If you paid by credit card, dispute the charges, save all correspondence and supply it to credit card company. Call Rancillo back and ask them to email or write you what they said.

I wouldn't let them get away with that kind of crap.

 

[sknyc]

samc: I would like to. It's going to be a tough battle. I have to prove that the machine is used. So far I can only show them the scrapes/scratches. What's under the hood is hard to tell.

 

[sknyc]

The customer rep wrote back saying that she would contact the manufacturer again and see what "they" say.

 

[The_Dog_42]

I ordered a bunch of parts from BF for my kegerator build. It included 2 tap towers, with additional perlick faucets. BF sent me the correct material, but didn't send out the chrome faucets that were supposed to come with the tap towers. When I called, they eventually fixed it, but it seemed like they were trying to keep the extra material because I wouldn't need it...I dunno, I'm probably overthinking this one, but it happened twice. I can't say I was real pleased.