Anyone else have a terrible time with Viking customer service?

13 years ago

My hood went up about a month ago, the filters that came with it don't fit at all, and the box that came with it says "filters, spacers, and instructions" but it only came with filters nothing else. I bought the thing brand new from a local viking dealer. Supposedly the dealer said the sizes of the filters are correct and they don't know what "spacers" are. It would need something in-between the back end of the filter and the mounting strip (if that makes sense).

Unfortunately the dealer that I use is not the local distributor. There is another company who deals with local customer service issues. I have called them multiple times, left at least 3 messages with their service department, as well as spoke to the parts guy who says I might need to buy new filters to make it fit (isn't this thing still under warranty?!) I didn't spend all that money to have to buy more stuff for it just because they didn't package it right.

I have called Viking a few times and they have always directed me to this distributor saying they are the ones that need to fix the problems. I haven't been able to get a solid answer off the Viking technical service line either. My builder and installer have talked to them for a few minutes and they always say "we can't take care of the issue from here, you need to call the local distributor". The problem is not going to fix itself and I've told Viking that the local people don't return my calls.

Sorry for the huge rant here but I feel like I can't be the only one who has had problems. I feel like I'm getting the run around on this issue and that Viking doesn't seem to care that their product came incomplete, or that their distributor doesn't care about their customers. Anyone have advice for me?

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Comments (4)

plllog
13 years ago
Oh, dear! I've had two customer service encounters with Viking in the last year and they were superb both times!

You might try going to the contact us/customer service page on the Viking site, and e-mail one of their product specialists from there. It sounds like you're not getting through to the right people on the phone. I agree that they should have someone you can call who can take care of your problem, but since they don't, e-mail might work by getting you through to the right person who can help. Maybe.

Good luck!!
jgopp
Original Author
13 years ago
Okay well just posting a follow up here. I have contacted my local distributor about 10 times now, left messages with the "service" guy telling him they need to come and look at it. Called my appliance dealer and she called me back 2 times to tell me she can't get in touch with them. I'm getting so tired of this problem. Viking emailed me after my original complaint on their website and asked me for some basic info which I relayed to them but never heard anything back.

I want this hood out of my house now. I have never had a worse time getting customer service to fix something. I'm so disappointed since this was a major splurge in the kitchen.
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arlosmom
13 years ago
jgopp, I have a Viking hood. Would it be helpful to you if I took pictures so you could figure out what's missing? When I take out the filters for cleaning, there are side pieces and a center piece that would definitely qualify as "spacers". I also probably have the instructions somewhere which might provide part numbers. Just let me know if this would help.

Sorry about the hassle you're facing. If there is any option for returning the hood, you might want to think about it. Not to add insult to injury, but I'm not crazy about the performance of my hood. It's noisier than I'd like, and I don't think the draw is all that good. I wish I'd done a little more research before selecting the Viking.
rococogurl
13 years ago
Perhaps a buyback would be possible. The hood is returned to the dealer as defective (parts missing) and the dealer credits you and returns the hood to the company. You purchase a different hood from the dealer. Dealer must make this happen with the company.

This was done for me with an oven.

arlosmom and I feel the same way about the same thing.

Anyone else have a terrible time with Viking customer service?

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plllog

jgopp
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Anyone else have a terrible time with Viking customer service?

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plllog

jgoppOriginal Author

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rococogurl

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jgopp
Original Author