Well, I called the CA brach for A&M Trucking yesterday after my original post and there was no answer.

This morning I received the following email message from Bryan at Plessers:
"Hi XXX,

It typically takes 5-7 business days for our orders to reach your local shipping terminal. I expect AM Home Delivery to be contacting you any day now to schedule delivery. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to get ahold of anyone at the California branch today. I left a message for our contact and he should be able to provide me with a more accurate delivery date. I will let you know as soon as I have more information for you. Thank you for your patience."

Plessers seems to be making an effort, so I waited...made some phone calls regarding my options...and then this email showed up around 4pm from Bryan:

"Hi XXX,
I am sorry to inform you that I have been unable to contact AM Home Delivery’s local scheduling department today. According to a representative at their New York branch, California’s phone system has been down. I am very sorry for the inconvenience but I unfortunately have no updated information for you. I will reach out to them first thing tomorrow and do my best to get your delivery scheduled as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. Feel free to contact me at any time.

Sincerely,"

Once again Plesser's is making an effort, but now the CA branch of A&M Trucking & Home Delivery doesnt even have a working phone?!?

I understand that phones & servers go down, trucks break down etc., but a non-updated tracking number and ZERO communication from A&M, combined with the horrible reviews on yelp and the BBB, is making me a little nervous. Today is day 15 since I placed the order with Plesser's and I was told to give it 2 weeks for the fridge to show up. So has anyone had to wait this long to hear from A&M Delivery regarding a delivery date?

~Savvy

Phones are down? Oh boy.

I'm pretty confident I could buy that fridge locally today and have it in my house by the weekend. For $2431, including tax and delivery. Which has me wondering just how much is to be saved by skirting around delivery restrictions and waiting for weeks to have something shipped clear across the country by an F-rated shipper. Also wonder what happens if it's delivered with a ding in he door?

Anyway, here's hoping the shipper's phones are "up and running" today and you get the call you're waiting for.

Our kitchen cabinets were 3 days late in arriving (after an additional week added at the outset over what they had estimated). Why? Well, when we finally got ahold of someone, we were told a) it was the weather (what weather? This is California, there might have been a little rain, but this isn't New England in January) and b) the truck broke down. I believe neither of those statements is true, and I didn't appreciate the fact that noone bothered to call us to tell us the shipment was delayed, so our contractor was on hold while waiting for them to arrive. Just commiserating!

cancel the order and buy elsewhere even if it's a little more expensive.

" ... Which has me wondering just how much is to be saved by skirting around delivery restrictions and waiting for weeks to have something shipped clear across the country by an F-rated shipper. Also wonder what happens if it's delivered with a ding in he door?"

Ditto that!

"cancel the order and buy elsewhere even if it's a little more expensive."

And that!

" ... but a non-updated tracking number and ZERO communication from A&M, combined with the horrible reviews on yelp and the BBB, is making me a little nervous."

Things could turn out well, but all signs point otherwise. Who wouldn't be nervous?

This post was edited by jellytoast on Thu, Dec 19, 13 at 15:18

Hi All,

foodonastump asked:
"Which has me wondering just how much is to be saved by skirting around delivery restrictions and waiting for weeks to have something shipped clear across the country by an F-rated shipper.

My reply: $500-800 was the difference. Not small change for us. I did give the local B&M's a chance, but they couldnt come close. Plessers had already purchased a bunch of these fridges, so I assume that enabled them to offer the lower price, as they had negotiated a bulk purchase.

foodonastump asked:
"Also wonder what happens if it's delivered with a ding in he door?"

My reply:
I wondered this too. That's why I called my credit card company and had my questions answered by a supervisor. I also read here and on the Plessers email to NOT sign the delivery receipt if there was damage of any kind to the appliance or our house without noting this damage on the bill of lading (delivery receipt). If you dont want to accept the merchandise due to damage, you note the damage and write refused (get a copy!). The shipper then takes the merchandise away and you are not held financially responsible. If you have any trouble with a damaged delivery, contact your credit card company and speak with a supervisor (preferrably before the delivery people leave).

sjhockeyfan, I hear you on the lack of communication. We wouldn't do this again if we had a tight, must-deliver-by-date. Or if we didnt have a working fridge.

weissman, canceling the order would have been the worst thing for us to do, as Plessers has a financial penalty for canceling once the merchandise ships. I imagine most B&M retailers do.

Everyone, thanks for the replies! I've been slow to respond as my carpal tunnel is acting up from having to move a whole bunch of stuff around to make room for the new fridge that was delivered yesterday, yeah! However, there is good & bad news from this experience.

I'll start with the good news: the KA KFCS22EVWH was delivered on day 16 (12/18/13) at 11:30 am by 2 very nice guys from A&M Home delivery. They showed up within the 11-3 scheduled window and called 10 minutes ahead to let us know they were on their way. They were polite, detail oriented and knew what they were doing. They listened well. The fridge was in pristine condition, powered on, and other than a slight bulge at the back top, which looked like it was caused by how it was assembled at the factory, was in great shape. I couldn't ask for better delivery people!

The not so great part was getting a phone call the night before at 8:30pm from A&M letting me know they would be at the house the next day from 11-3. When I said this was too soon for us to get the old fridge, and other stuff moved, the only other option given was an after Christmas date. So I took yesterday's date only because I had a flexible schedule that I could re-arrange. The gal who called (Daniella) was very polite and apologized for the last minute phone call. She explained that their system (including the phones) had gone down and they were doing the best that they could under the circumstances.

So, my grade for A&M Home Delivery is an "A" for the delivery guys and Daniella's communication to me on the phone, but an "F" for their technology and communication procedures. Total grade: C
My Recommendation: Only order from retailers that use A&M if you have the ability to deal with a last minute delivery date, dont need your item within a guaranteed time frame, and you're saving an amount of money that makes it worth it for you. They may eventually get a robust, reliable, tracking system that will enable them to give a consistantly appropriate heads-up, but from other reviews, and my experience, my opinion is that they cant or wont currently provide this level of service. However, they were polite, well-spoken people, and that means a lot to me.

My grade thus far for Plessers is an "A". They responded to my request for help with A&M. Their system provided me with a status email letting me know the fridge was in the hands of A&M, and they had THE best price, (assuming the rebates are honored). BTW, I gave 2 local retailers a shot and they couldn't touch the price offered by Plessers. We will definitely order other, non-rush appliances from them, if they have a better price than our local dealers.

Now, onto the bad news. I'd like to read the riot act to the people at Kitchenaid who are responsible for either the incorrect spec sheet, or the incorrectly built fridge. The fridge frame, sans doors/drawer is currently sitting in the entryway of the kitchen, (with just enough room for us to squeeze by) because it's too tall to slide under the cabinet that overhangs the space. I measured VERY carefully. Our cabinet is only 18 deep, so it will only cover the frame midway (hinges sit in front). The spec sheet says the frame (without the hinges) is 70 7/8" tall. This would have worked with our cabinet. Spec sheet calls for 1/2", but since the cabinet isn't covering the entire top and there's plenty of room around the rest of the fridge for heat dissipation, I figured this would be adequate. Buuuuuuuuuuut, our fridge measures 71 1/8" tall. I've adjusted the leveling feet. It wont sit any lower. So until we pay a cabinet guy ($$) to take down the cabinet and cut it down, we cant get the fridge into it's space.

So warning to all who consider a new fridge, the mfg. spec sheet dimensions may not be adhered to by the factory! You may end up with a bigger fridge than what the spec sheet states.

Thankfully we decided we would leave our old fridge in the kitchen, for a month or two, so we could make sure the KA doesn't have any issues. I will post photos and further review of new fridge once we get it up and running.

Thanks for all the positive wishes everyone. I love Gardenweb!

~Savvy