My concern with floor models for a W/d would be (a) how much were they moved around sans shipping bolts at the store, and (b) how many people have hung from the doors to test their strength (this is something people here often say they do).

10% off is not a great deal - you could try for 30% off. - DR

"(b) how many people have hung from the doors to test their strength (this is something people here often say they do)."

This is probably exactly why the washer door is a bit out of alignment!

As is it's costing me $627 for the dryer and $711 for the washer. Do you think I should ask for additional discount off that or just ask for new machines?

This is just me, of course, but I would contact the store manager and give him a piece of my mind before insisting that the units be picked up and a refund promptly provided. If you're already having problems, who knows what problems you'll have in a year when the warranty expires.

If you do choose to keep the floor models, I would ask for 30% off (not just 10%) AND the inclusion of a 3 year extended warranty FREE OF CHARGE. They will most likely balk, so tell them to pick them up, get a refund, and buy from a merchant who will treat you like a real customer.

I would return them, you did not pay for floor models. If your Lowes of Naperville is the store by me (in IL) you can go to Lowes of Bolingbrook. It is on Weber Road just south of Boughton. They had the Bosch 500's in stock last week. Call first, ask for Harold, he is very knowledgable. I bought a 500 there and traded it for a Whirlpool Cabrio because I was having a vibration problem. I had no problems at all with the store. Some of the intallers were a different story, just make sure you have read the articles here on leveling front loaders.

You could also ask for Joe if Harold is not there, I personally always try to talk to Harold. Good Luck.

steffan88:

Do whatever it takes to get those machines out of your sight.

You can also verify the age of the unit by reading the serial number. To check the age of the unit, read first 4 digits of serial number, ie: FD 8304. Add 20 to the first 2 digits: 20+83=2003, year of manufacture 2003. 3rd & 4th digit = 04, month of manufacture, April.

Most dealer display units I have inspected were toast, so I would suggest you do as sshrivastava recommends if you must have them... Go for the 3 year extended warranty!

Wow, I would absolutely not put up with that especially from Loews. That is just terrible customer service & I would insist the pick those up and exchange them for new product immediately. Obviously these are hard to come by & they substituted figuring you wouldn't notice. Makes me think twice before shopping at Loews.

I appreciate all the feedback. Reading all this just makes me more upset. It looks like the manufacture date is April 2006! I'm absolutely going to demand that they send me new replacements or get a refund.

This is why I shop at ABT. They have always gone the extra mile.

April 2006? Didn't this line first appear in July 2006? - DR

I just posted in the thread I started that I was finally able to get satisfaction from Lowe's here in Gainesville. The 500 washer is back-ordered to eternity and the other nearby stores refuse to drop ship/transfer the ones they have in stock to our store (where I'd placed a larger order and recvd a discount as well as the financing deal). I finally hit the wall and asked them to give me the 700 instead, for the same price, plus the 10% off, plus the financing deal.....and shockingly enough, they bit! It is set to be delivered later this week! So as long as no snags are hit, life will be good!!

The washer is FD8604 so according to svcmgr's formula the manufacture date would have been 04-2006. I didn't see any serial#'s around the door of the dryer.

I used the washer yesterday with 2 pairs of jeans and a few other misc clothes and it was knocking loudly during the high speed spin. Sounded rather unsafe so I canceled the final spin cycle.

I'm going to stop in the Lowes after work today to talk to a manager.

stefan88:

The model/serial tag is located at the 6 o'clock position on the dryer, just at the bottom of the dryer door opening.

The "Warranty Serial Number" beginning with "FD" immediately follows the model number.

There is also a "Factory Serial Number" on the same tag which follows the FD number. The factory serial number includes additional information, such as the factory code, indicating the factory location/country, etc.

But, first 4 digits of the FD number show date of production, using the formula I have provided previously.

Your washer was built in April of 2006, according to the date code you have provided. When Lowe's first offered this model is not shown on the serial tag.

Good luck with Lowe's and keep us posted.

I stopped in the Lowes again but the guy in appliances wasn't able to help much. He took down my information and promised to have their "specialist" call me tomorrow morning.

The dryer seems to be an FD8607.

When I bought my machine at Lowes my salesman told me that the first 7 days you are guarunteed no-hassel return on your purchase. You do get 30 days to return, but after the first week you will probobly have to make more noise about it. I can't understand why they are giving you trouble about thier mistake. Every person in the department should know what is going on in a case like this, that is how it worked when I was in retail.

Alright. I finally got a call from Craig at Lowes. It sounds like they have no problem taking back the demo machines BUT they're saying I'll have to pay regular price(998,848) for the new one's.

I said I would have no problem paying what I paid for the demo's + 10% because that's what I originally paid. That would be 774 and 697. Basically that was the ABT sale price - 10% per their price match policy. But the guy was trying to tell me on the phone that price was for an "old version" of the 500 series. It sounds like these guys really don't want my business.

Regardless, I've got a 9am appointment with Craig tomorrow to take care of the paperwork for the return.

Well I took time out of my morning to go visit Lowes for a 4th time to finally get this resolved satisfactorily. I told Craig I wanted to return the demo's and he said he'd enter the request in the system. The people that actually do the pickup are supposed to give me a call to schedule it. Briefly he attempted to try to talk me into buying the silver set of the 500 series or the whirlpool sports but I wasn't even considering it.

I thought about fighting to have them send me new replacements for exchange but at this point I'd rather take my business elsewhere. Never before have I had such a hard time making a major purchase.

Also this morning I surprisingly received an email reply from lowes.com. The night that they delivered me the demo's instead of new units I filed a complaint on the feedback form of the website.
"Thank you for contacting Lowe's and sharing your experience with us.

We have forwarded your e-mail to your local store management to make them aware of the situation. They will contact you within 24 hours."

I finally got a call from a manager at the Lowes tonight. I assume in response to the email from lowes.com this morning. The guy I talked to (Chip) was surprisingly easy to deal with. I re-iterated the whole story to him. He was the 1st person who actually asked me what it would take to fix the situation and seemed genuinely concerned with an outcome that would make me 100% happy. It always seemed like the other guys were doing anything they could to make me keep these floor models. I told Chip I wanted new replacement machines and free installation. Which he agreed to! He has 3 washers in stock right now and 3 dryers on order so I'll probably get the exchange for both next weekend.

I wish I could've talked to this guy last saturday! The situation would have been resolved right away. Instead 1st guy totally denied it could happen and told me to call a service tech. The next guy admitted he sent me floor models and told me I could have 10% off or potentially wait weeks for new machines. And the 3rd guy from appliances wanted to charge me extra for the new replacements because they had the redesigned feet, dampening,etc. compared to the nearly year old demo model. I don't understand why nobody wanted to get a manager for me right away. Maybe they really wanted to get rid of those floor models??

Anyway I'm just glad it sounds like this situation is finally resolved. As long as they follow through and get me the new w&d by next weekend I'd be happy with the end result.

Congratulations Stefan. I have always heard that whenever one is having difficulty resolving a customer service problem it's best to escalate "early and often".

Take care, Bill

Congrats! Whenever you have a problem at a store, it's best to ask for the store manager, or even owner, and deal with them directly. They are usually much more concerned with keeping you happy than the front line folks.