If it's on their dime I'd probably get the new one. What I don't understand is why they didn't make you a touch up vial while they were coloring the fridge. I might forgo the scratch and dent rebate if they could supply the custom color.

A lot of it is context. Oh, look, that scratch is where Rover was teething on the fridge. And this dent is the last time Tommy dared play hockey in the house. I'm not sure how the twins survived, but all that happened was this little scorch mark. That's family history. What's see! this is where the delivery guys banged it into the door, mean to you? Not a warm fuzzy, right?

I (respectfully) have a different perspective. Life is short; landfills are overflowing; mistakes happen. I would take the $400 discount, touch it up with close-enough paint and move on. No one but you would ever notice, I'll bet.

I'm so sorry! Ours is not a custom color, and delivery was scary enough even though we have French doors.

Really, there is no way for you to get touch-up paint with a RAL color? I would hate to send it back. Maybe pursue the touch-up paint more. It has to be out there.

I know I will cry when we get our first scratch/ding.

I have accepeted a damaged fridge in the past (simple ole Kenmore). But a Big Chill?? I think not. The company is already charging a huge price to put the pretty doors on what I think is a Whirlpool fridge. 10%, plus no touch up paint is not sufficient in my book.

When the shop guys scratched my beautiful mother's day bike, and then offered me a discount plus paint, I hesitated. I didn't really want a scratched bike. And then thank goodness the manager came forward and said, "I think your first scratch should be your own. Guys, get her a new bike." I'm so glad they did. (I've since added about 5 scratches, but they don't make me grumpy or sad because they are mine. Scratches made by the incompetence of others? That makes me grumpy and sad/mad.)

You can probably match the paint pretty well, but I feel irked that they only offered you 10%. That is what I got on my scratch and dent Kenmore, but somehow I feel like a luxury item like a Big Chill deserves more. (I don't think the fridge is going to the landfill. Big Chill will just resell it--repaired or not.)

Listen to your gut feeling, whatever that may be. Cause if you don't, you will keep "hearing" it down the road when it is too late to do anything about it.

Keep us posted...

francy

Its not going to end up in a landfill in any case.

Life is too short to accept a special order damaged before it is ever used. It will end up at a discount place or the company will sell it at one of their storefront outlets as a second.

I think it would have taken me more than a $400 offer if the delivery guys scratched mine on delivery (that barely covers the delivery charges). How much does your contractor think it would cost to get it matched? I think that if you decide to accept it that you counter their offer so that in addition to the $400, they include the cost of getting it "fixed" as that could end up costing you most, if not all, of the $400 they are willing to rebate you and you would then still be out for the cost of your time and aggravation.

I would not accept it. It's one thing to initiate wear and tear yourself. It's another to spend top dollar and have the delivery guys or installer do the baptism. Have them take it out and sell it as a scratch and dent to someone who would think it a blessing to buy that fridge at a discount. Even if you have to wait 6-8 weeks for a new fridge (and end up scratching it yourself the day after delivery), at least you'll never look at your wonderful Big Chill as expensive damaged goods -- at the hands of others. .

Oh I'm so sorry that happened! It's a lot of money for a frig...don't think I would want that special baby all scratched up from the get go.

Oh no! I know how much you wanted it and to have it so close, and then damaged. :( indeed.

I hope it works out.

It seems like if you sent it back they could do a quick paint repair, it's not like the whole frig needs to be repainted. Is that possible?

Thank you all for chiming in, and for the support, whatever we end up doing. The delivery guys were clearly annoyed at me for watching everything they did (and reading them the directions from BC) but I really think if my contractor or husband had been here they would have been more careful and that bugs me almost as much as the scratch(es). I'll post a picture from across the room in the morning-the photos really do make it look worse than it is (my husband came home after seeing the photos and was shocked that it was not as bad as he thought.)

That said, I looked at my receipt and the $400 doesn't even cover the shipping, so I'm less happy with that result. I'll call BC in the morning and get my options better delineated. I'm thinking of asking for the $400, for them to supply or cover costs for the matching paint, AND to maintain the option to return if the repair is not satisfactory. I think that's fair. They have been great to work with so far and seem to want me happy. We'll see!

In the course of building our house, if I returned every item that got a minor scratch during transit or installation, we'd finish the house in 2012.

The scratch is minor. No one will notice after it's touched up. The scratch and dent offer is a bit insulting however - you get a bigger discount at Sears Outlet on a run of the mill Amana.

I'm going to agree with dyno on this. My miele 42" cooktop had a dent on the back corner, and I really dreaded sending it back just for that (AJ Madison). Then I'd have to wait for re-delivery.

My GC took the cooktop and got his auto-body guy to do a fix on that corner and you would never know it had ever been dented. It was done in an afternoon and back the next day. That is way better than weeks.

I'd go the auto-body paint match-up route. Sometimes you just cannot "sweat the little things". In the grand scheme of your kitchen, that is pretty minor. I'd save my "issue bin" for bigger things -- trust me, there will be some.

I don't know - I'm of two minds here. My kitchen has largely been installed with my soapstone, etc. and while my contractor said "no one will stand on the counters! Why would you think that?!" someone did since there's a shoe print on the corner over the blind cabinet! Lucky it didn't break because it's a very soft stone. I don't think I have a cabinet that doesn't need touch up paint. There are two gashes in my soapstone...

This whole house renovation is costing my family an entire *year* of my husband's salary. Somehow, when I look at it in that perspective, I want to be the one who scratches and gashes rather than clumsy people who seriously just don't care about *my* things that cost me more money than I've ever spent in my life!

If I'd paid $3K for a fancy fridge, I'd want a perfect fancy fridge. You're never going to get a "factory finish" on the scratch and that's probably going to make it *more* obvious.

This is tough, but I think I'd opt for getting a new one. The extra weeks waiting won't matter in the long run. The autobody paint job sounds good, but how would you get it there? It's not like it's a toaster you can throw in the car and drive over. Even if the GC can put it in a truck for you, what if it gets scratched again en route to, or at, the autobody place? Big Chill won't take care of that.

I'd get a new one AND ask for a vial of touch up paint. Giving you the touch up paint for free can be their way of making up for the weeks you have to wait for a new one.

It's a tough decision, and you have my sympathy. We had something similar happen and in hindsight, we should have sent it back the day of installation rather than letting them fix it. They dinged & scratched one of the french doors on our fridge. We agreed to a replacement door instead of the cash offer or replacing. My husband didn't want to risk more damage to our new bamboo floors, which they also did. The 2nd door came damaged, and after it was installed the ice maker & water only work after opening & closing a door every time you want water. We are lucky to get any ice. I demanded a new fridge after that repair, they said no, have to try to fix it again. Tomorrow the 3rd door & new ice maker get installed. If this works, we will keep it and also accept the 5 year extended service/warranty plan they offered. If not, I'm going to have to fight for a new one. No one can promise a new one won't get damaged the same way. They sent an artist to repair our floors with filler & paint to match the grain. Good luck with your decision!

I would definitely tell them I wanted a new one. As previously mentioned, a touch up is not as good as the original paint job. If you ever had a car repainted, you will know what we are talking about. I had a brand new car that got overspray on it at work when they were painting boxcars. It couldn't be buffed out because it was some kind of special 20-year paint that bonds with the surface. The new paint job, even though it was done by one of the best guys in the area, was not nearly as good as the original. You will never be happy. I know it seems like FOREVER to wait on another fridge, but a year from now that time will be like nothing and you'll still have a damaged fridge.

Same thing happened to me on delivery of a much less expensive refrigerator several years ago. They offered the discount - interestingly, not much less than you are being offered, but I refused. It would have bummed me out every time I looked at it.

Thanks again for all the input. This is a shot from in front of the range:
{{!gwi}}
From that distance (about 4') it's not so easy to see. (At least with an iphone) I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm waiting to hear from BC after I talked to them today, and sent pictures. Of course I would love for it to be perfect, and actually waiting for a new fridge would not really be a big deal. Right now the fridge in the living room is pretty convenient! On the other hand, if we can repair it in a way that will not make me frown every time I see the scratch remnant, I could be flexible. I want to see the repair before I close the door on a replacement.