We live in Los Angeles, and I have been a customer of Universal Appliance. It has been here a long time and looks to be quite nice and financially stable (of course looks can deceive, but...). I have a bluestar cooktop on order there (I bought it as a walk-in customer) and have had no problems. Customer service seems adequate for an appliance store.

I think the best protection when buying anything like appliances or furniture is to not allow 60 days to pass from the time of the credit card purchase. This way, if the item(s) are not delivered you can file a dispute claim with the credit card company and probably get your money back.

I would say that Universal is definitely a well-established, well-staffed upscale appliance store that shouldn't give you any problems. I wouldn't hesitate from ordering from them.

Have fun with your new appliances!

I am not-so-patiently awaiting the delivery of a Sirius range hood that I ordered from Universal on December 6. Supposedly it is coming on Wendesday this week, but I was concerned enough about the veracity of claims made to me by customer service that I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with US distributors.

I ordered the unit on Dec 6. According to the Sirius distributor, the order was placed with the them on December 17, then rescinded BY UNIVERSAL on Dec 20. After I made a number of calls to customer service at Universal at the end of December (none of which was returned, BTW - I finally resigned myself to waiting on the line to speak to the person who could "help" me), Universal placed the order again with the distributor on Jan 7.

I never got the same answer twice from Universal, which is why I was concerned enough to talk directly to the distributor. One time it was coming tomorrow, to be shipped out to me on the same day, then it was coming the end of February, then five minutes later on that SAME phone call it was arriving at their warehouse the next day.

I'll update as Wednesday comes and goes. One point in their favor is that they did NOT charge my credit card until they shipped the thing.

Pending the order arriving on Wednesday, I will say that Universal is merely okay to deal with (if it doesn't come on Wednesday, I will be posting "stay away" notices all over the place), but the 3-4 weeks delivery they say on the website is nothing less than a joke. Be prepared to call and call and call again, and if you need the items in anything like a timely fashion, my experience tells me that that will not happen.

Granted, we ordered a unit that has very few outlets for sales. The GE stuff should be readily available. The Zephyr I don't know.

Good luck!

Nica

I am not familiar with Universal but I do know GE generally keeps plenty of stock in their CA warehouse. All the dealers in my area can get them within a few days or a week. Not sure about your hood choice if that would be a problem or not. But I would probably try them.

jacobsmishpacha, mommycooks, and kitchenchaos,

Thank you for responding to my question.

At present I am torn between Universal and USAppliance. Price and the GE extended Warranty have me leaning toward Universal while reputation (or maybe good marketing) has me leaning toward USAppliance.

I will place my order with Universal, but may try to set some conditions (in writing, if I can) on communication and delivery committments. If I get a bad "vibe" I will pull the plug and go with USAppliance; their shippers offer shipment tracking features. Either way I will be using a credit card.

Thank you again!!!

FYI, one of the issues with Universal and delivery times is (according to my saleperson) that they warehouse almost nothing. So, your order is dependent upon the delivery by the manufacturer to Universal and then their delivery to you. If you are pressed for time, I would recommend that you order your items from a distributer who has them in stock.

I am also experiencing a delay in receiving my BlueStar cooktop, but it is not really Universal's fault- BlueStar promised it would be delivered in two weeks, and then delayed the delivery (without calling Universal) due to a production problem. BlueStar now is saying mid-January, but again it is really outside Universal's control. They suggested I could wait or order something else. What else can they do?

My hood arrived on Wednesday as (finally) "promised". So where I am relatively satisfied and am not posting "stay far away" notices, I still maintain that, in agreement with jacobmishpacha, if you need something in a timely fashion, order from someone who has it in stock. Given my experience with differing stories, I also would really question Universal's up-front-ness.

Their distributor is R&B in California - they have been really helpful in dealing with me as I tried to sort out the true story on my hood. Universal will not disclose the phone number (they probably don;t want people finidng out the true story!) but it is: 909-230-5420.

Good luck with it all!

Mommycooks,
Thank you for the follow up. I have decided to place my order with US Appliance for 3 reasons.
1. They have been "up front" with me on the items that will take longer.
2. Customer reviews.
3. Transit time/Distance...I live closer to US Appliance; I am in Nashville TN.

Again, thank you everyone for your feedback. Stay warm this weekend...LOL!

I ordered our double wall oven (Gaggenau 30") from Universal in October of last year, being "promised" delivery mid-November. It is now mid-January and I still am without the oven and, only because I keep calling them, did I learn that the oven won't be going into production until the last week of February.

In a word, I am pissed.

While I absolutely understand that it mostly is not Universal's "fault," I do hold them accountable for 1) they've never, ever contacted me to let me know about the delays and 2) every time I do call (almost every ten days) I am told by them (after being on hold while they call the Gaggenau distributor) "It's going to be shipped next week -- you'll receive an e-mail with the tracking info." Every time I've heard this. Every time.

So while it's not their fault Gaggenau is doing god-knows-what, I am annoyed that my credit card was charged promptly for the $5+K back in October, but Universal cannot even let me know there's a delay (and clearly there have been many if I'm calling every week or two!).