Thanks for the heads up. I bet she loses some business from treating you this way. A google search will now come up with this thread... heh heh heh.

Has anyone ever reported a business to the BBB? Does anyone know the process and what happens? Thanks.

Oy, I'm so sorry you're going through this. :( Honestly, with a paper trail as comprehensive as yours---and the *check* they wrote, no less!---I would think you'd have an extremely good case, if you do have the energy to sue. (And not just in small claims court, either---that sounds like out-and-out fraud, particularly if it turns out that you're not the only one whose warranty went unpurchased.) At a minimum, you might send a strongly worded letter from a lawyer, if you have a friend who'd do it or a local firm that might charge a minimal fee for it. I have to think that, if they have their own legal counsel, they'd see pretty quickly that there's no chance they could win the case.

Definitely do report it to the BBB, though. They'll open a complaint and the business will have an opportunity to resolve it with you; if it's not resolved to your liking, it stays on their record. Quick glance at BBB shows that they do have a number of complaints (including several for failure to honor warranty) but that all were resolved. Sounds like that should be the first stop for you---good luck!

The BBB is a mixed bag - sometimes nothing happens - also I believe that filing with the BBB may preclude you from other recourse. Aren't you a lawyer sue36 or am I mixing you up with another Sue? If so, it seems that small claims court should be a piece of cake for you.

I'm really surprised to hear this. We purchased all our appliances from ABT including a GEm onogram all fridge and all freezer.

Within two years BOTH appliances were not working properly and GE refused to fix them both, claiming they were working within acceptable paramenters.

ABT went to bat for us,too them BACK at their expense, gave us a FULL credit towards two new appliances even though we did not have the extended warranty, which BTW, they added free of charge to the new appliances.

I really hope you can get it sorted out. If you want, email me your contact info. I live near the owner and I know someone who knows him so maybe I can help.

Thanks for the support. Yeah, the check for the food loss. I forgot to mention that Vicki told me they are generously allowing me to keep that, they won't make be give it back. Unbelievable.

Yes, I am a lawyer. I also told Vicki this. Which was when she told me I couldn't sue them. I am a technology attorney (IP, licensing, contracts, etc.), not a litigator (but I have done court work in the past).

One thing I am going to look into is jurisdiction. When I purchased the fridge I lived in Mass. but had it shipped to Maine (where I was building). Mass has a law that allows you to sue for triple damages (called 93A). It might be advantageous to sue in Mass. because of that. When they sent me the food check they actually sent it to my old Mass. address (the bill to address) and it was returned to them. They then called me and asked me for my new address (which was the ship to address) I provided it and then sent me a second check.

Loves2cook4six, I thought ABT was going to do the right thing in my case as well. Once they determined they never purchased the warranty they agreed to pay for the repairs (I gave then the approximate price, the actual price was $10 less). No argument, no fight. They said to send them the bill. I asked about the food loss and they offered the $200. It was only after I sent them the two receipts for the repair that they reversed course.

Before I knew about their failure to purchase the warranty I paid for I had already found a KA authorized repairman. Now, if I had known they wouldn't pay for it I could have used someone else. We have a family friend who used to own an appliance store and he is a repairman. And my BIL is an electrician and is qualified as well. Both would have cost less. But I used the authorized shop because this was supposed to be under warranty.

I successfully used the BBB. My Amana heat pump shelled out after the first 3 months of its life. Amana home office told me tough luck. After I got the BBB involved they were calling and writing wondering what they could do for me.

Just search for BBB and then follow the directions there for filing a claim. Easy and it didn't take long to fill out the form.

You know, this would be a great story for your local news station. We have a "7 on your side" on Channel 7 in the SF bay area. I'm sure they would jump all over to cover the "can/should you buy major appliances from Internet retailers" angle.

Just had to chime in to say that, unlike Pinch me, I had a bad experience using the BBB to resolve a dispute. The BBB has no enforcement authority so even if you go to binding arbitration and get an order against the business, if the business refuses to comply you still have to go to court. (This is what we had to do.) The experience was very frustrating, disheartening, and a total waste of time.

Because of my experience, I don't give much weight now to a BBB rating unless it's a negative rating--then I'd go running away from the company. Also, when the BBB says that a complaint is resolved, it doesn't mean that it's been resolved to the consumer's satisfaction. Same thing with "closed" complaints. Member businesses pay to belong to their local BBB so it's more like a chamber of commerce than an objective judicial body. Just my two cents!

Thanks for the advice Meg, I appreciate it.

A business responds to the BBB in writing about a complaint. Any written response to the BBB automatically closes your file. The business has the right to write a response saying anything at all. In the meantime, some businesses will try to fix your problem to your satisfaction; some will not try at all.

Notably, though, the listing for a company will say how many complaints were resolved to the customer's satisfaction and how many were simply "closed." I always assume closed to mean not adequately resolved and thus a potential flag, though I suspect in some subset of cases it also means that the complaint itself was unfounded. But I'd rather err on the side of caution and assume the former.