Bells toll for the death of customer service at online companies both big and small, including Carvana, Raymour & Flanigan

CARVANA DISAPPOINTS: In mid-November 2021, I sold my 2016 Tesla Model S 75D, above, to an electric-car dealer in Nebraska for $10,000 more than I was offered by Carvana, the nation's biggest online used car dealer, which twice cut its offer to me. 

 

Ease of shopping

from your computer

doesn't always bring

special treatment

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- What a difference 2 years can make when you are trying to sell a Tesla to Carvana, said to be the fastest growing online used car dealer in the United States.

In November 2019, I quickly made a deal with Carvana to buy my low-mileage 2015 Tesla Model S 60, and pay off my remaining loan.

Then, on the morning I was going to take delivery of a used 2016 Model S from the Tesla dealer in Paramus, Carvana reps showed up at my home, handed me a check for $39,000 and drove the older electric car away.

Two years later, in November 2021, my original offer of roughly $43,500 for the 2016 Tesla was cut twice -- to $41,500 and then $39,500.

He said, she said

The fly in the ointment was the car's title, which took more than a month to get. I had to take a photo of the title and post it on my Carvana account before the purchase would go through.

The credit union that financed my loan -- which was paid off in October 2020 by my local bank -- said the title was sent to Spencer Savings, but bank officials insisted they didn't have it.

Motor Vehicle Commission offices in New Jersey no longer take walk-in business, and it took two appointments weeks apart, in Wallington and Jersey City, before I got the title and uploaded a photo onto my account -- on the eve of the expiration of my second, lower Carvana offer.

Sour milk

Still, Carvana's original offer of $43,500 expired like the fresh milk you left on the counter overnight, and was cut first to $41,500 and then to roughly $39,500.

I called Carvana headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., many times, but never got to speak to the same person twice. 

Finally, one told me my seeking three offers for my Model S, which had less than 13,500 miles on the odometer, led to two cuts in what Carvana would pay.

I went online and looked for another site that wanted my Tesla, and quickly got an offer I couldn't refuse from FindMyElectric.com -- $10,000 more than Carvana's twice-trimmed bid.

EXPENSIVE TOWEL HOLDER: A $1,900 built-in GE Microwave Oven from AppliancesConnection.com was delivered 2 days after I placed the order online the week of Thanksgiving, but we couldn't use the appliance except to hold dish towels before the free installation was completed nearly 2 weeks later.

Mattress woes

Last week, I placed an online order for a queen size platform bed with storage and a new mattress at Raymour & Flanigan, the furniture retailer, which offers free removal of your old mattress.

My total purchase was $2,680, including about $800 for the mattress, but when the latter was delivered the next day, the men who carried it into the house refused to take the old one away, despite repeated requests.

Finally, the delivery men said there was no room on the truck for the old mattress, a ridiculous claim since the new mattress was delivered in the very same vehicle.

All of this was related to me by my son (I wasn't home).

I called Raymour & Flanigan delivery and the woman I spoke to hung up on me. Calls to customer service haven't been returned.

I'm thinking of cancelling the order for the platform bed, and finding another one elsewhere.

OXO coffee maker refund

In early 2021, I had to pay about $30 in postage to return an expensive, difficult-to-operate 9-cup coffee maker I bought from OXO.com, and I didn't get the refund for about 8 weeks.

The coffee maker looked great on the counter, but the 9-cup capacity was on the low side, and I couldn't even figure out how to set the clock, so I returned it and resumed making coffee in an old 12-cup Farberware electric percolator.

In effect, OXO tells customers, How dare you dislike our coffeemaker?

The company made the return and refund process as difficult as possible. That's terrible customer service.

DAMAGED AND A POOR MATCH: The wood panels for our built-in Monogram refrigerator-freezer I ordered from The Home Depot in Hackensack at a cost of $1,977 were chipped badly and a poor color match for our kitchen cabinets (see photos, above and below).

The Home Depot

I went to The Home Depot in Hackensack to order wood panels for a new Monogram built-in refrigerator installed in our kitchen in July (the panels cost $1,977).

About a week ago, I got a call to pick them up, but when 2 of the 7 cartons were too big for my car, I was told I could pay $80 to have all of them delivered to my home less than 3 miles away or rent a truck.

I rented a small truck (final cost was under $30), but when I returned to the store to get a refund because two of the main panels were damaged and the color match was completely off, I was again told I would have to pay $80 to have them picked up or rent a truck to bring them back.

Finally, after the employee who rents truck called a supervisor, the store agreed to send a truck and pick up the panels from my home on Saturday.

We waited all day, but then got a call that the truck wouldn't get here and that the pickup was rescheduled for Monday.

READ: As Tesla's value soars, 

buyers of EV complain

 about poor customer service