The Great Dryer Saga
Mrs. JD bought a new Samsung gas dryer from Home Depot after BestBuy failed to deliver and install the same model she bought a few weeks earlier. BestBuy cancelled a promised 1/31/2019 installation appointment
with no notice when the installer decided he didn't want to work on New Year's Eve. So, after getting a refund from BestBuy (and selling all our BestBuy stock), she went to Home Depot on Coursey Blvd. in Baton Rouge and
bought the same dryer again.
Home Depot promised delivery on 1/8/2020, two days after purchase. But the installer postponed that morning due to "a death in the family," and Home Depot rescheduled delivery and installation for 1/11/2020. After connecting
the gas line and vent, the installer turned it on to test. It made a brief rattling sound until he adjusted the leveling feet and the sound abated. After he left, JD washed a load of clothes and then tossed them
into the brand new dryer. The rattle and noise were back, and loud! Attempts to adjust the leveling feet were ultimately fruitless. Only a bit of hand-squeezing at the back of the dryer cabinet seemed to help. Give the video a listen.
Mrs. JD called the service number, and was advised of an estimated 40-minute hold time. JD called the installer's cell phone, but he was nearly back home in Lafayette by then. He told us to call the service number, for which
Mrs. JD was still holding. As of now (late afternoon on 1/11/2020), we have only a promise to return our call on Monday, 1/13/2020, to see if anyone can come have a look at the dryer before Monday, 1/20/2020. Stay tuned!
1/12/2020 Update: Had to turn off the gas to the new dryer before bed last night. Our noses told us something was leaking. Still no contact from Home Depot.
1/13/2020 Update: Another day with no contact initiated by Home Depot. So we called them. No replacement dryers are immediately available. They are backordered. An appointment was available no sooner than two days hencce,
Wednesday, 1/15/2020, for someone to come out and check the installation. But aside from the gas leak, it's doubtful that anything about the installation is causing the awful racket from the dryer. It clearly has a problem. With no clear path
to an immediate replacement or fix, we decided it was time to have Home Depot remove the dryer and give us a refund, so off to the store we went.
Customer Order Specialist Yolonda Hayes listened to the story while attempting to phone Samsung (we think) to verify that a refund was an option for us, since we had complied with the timely notication preocedure. She said a refund was
an option, pending the outcome of the "installation check" on 1/15. We made it clear that we did not want a replacement dryer with an unknown availability date, or a repair attempt of some sort on a brand new dryer. She said it was up to us.
So the plan is to wait for the installation check, get the refund, then reinstall our old, sort-of-working LG dryer while we attempt to find a matching Samsung from a dealer who can actually deliver a working one. Tune in on Wednesday, 1/15
for the rest of the saga. Meanwhile, Geaux Tigers!
1/15/2020 Update:
Home Depot's delivery team just left. The wrong gas line fitting had been installed. They replaced it with the correct one, and it seems to have solved the gas leak problem. But the horrendous noise
is still present. The team says that's a defect in the dryer. Arrangements were made by Samsung to pick it up and take it away on Saturday, 1/18/2020. They had offered to send a repair man, but we told them we felt no obligation to accept a
dryer that was defective from the start and had already discussed a refund from Home Depot. Stay tuned to see if we ever get a dryer from someone that works!
1/15/2020 2nd Update: Home Depot's Yolonda Hayes called to check on the outcome of the installation check. We told her the result and about our chat with Samsung. Ms. Hayes called Samsung to confirm, then called us back just
a bit later to say Home Depot had already credited our credit card for the purchase price. Kudos to them for doing it ahead of the actual merchandise return. Ms. Hayes did exactly as she had promised. Meanwhile, this afternoon, before we had
had heard from Ms. Hayes, we made a third purchase of this Samsung dryer from Conn's Home Plus. They had them in stock. Delivery and installation by them is set for tomorrow afternoon, 1/16/2020. If it works, we'll be happy customers. Tune
in tomorrow and find out!
1/16/2020 Update: It works! Conn's Home Plus delivered a Samsung DVG45R6100 gas dryer an hour or so ahead of the promised delivery schedule (we bought it yesterday). No gas leaks. No awful noises. No problems. Hallelujah!