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My Rowenta Advancer Iron is a Lemon and Rowenta USA
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Here is the gist (if you came directly to this page instead of from the main page of The Drivel):
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Below: Read my full letter of complaint concerning |
28 Aug 2009 TO: Tom Patterson Dear Mr. Patterson, Here’s some customer feedback, in that rare form of an actual letter which you can hold in your hand, wave about and carry with you when you want to look busy. When anyone asks what you’re doing, you can say, “I’m thinking about this.” On 14 Aug 2009, my Rowenta Advancer Iron, while on the highest setting and after 40 minutes of use, began spitting out brownish liquid with small particles and ceased working. First, I double-checked all my connections and used a Kill A Watt™ P3 power meter to finally assess that the iron was no longer drawing any current. Then, I looked up my purchase PDF receipt. I purchased the iron through ShopRowenta.com on 26 Nov 2007 (and received it over a week later). Ah, a barely out-of-warranty situation - a situation where every customer wonders if the cost and hassle of repair is worth it - or - should I bite the bullet and just buy a replacement. But this is a top of the line Rowenta, not some poser. A Rowenta for cryin’ out loud! Raise the flag, we’re goin' in! So the next thing I did was search for Customer Service at ShopRowenta.com. I sent them an email and received this reply:
I followed the link they sent me and found a very awkward RowentaUSA website with a broken interface on Safari. It didn’t look or work any better on Opera, Firefox or Internet Explorer. That’s when I decided to call. (I had to wait until Monday - 17 Aug 2009 - to call - because Rowenta Customer Service is not available by phone on the weekends.) Your Rowenta Customer Service Representative was very polite. She told me to contact an authorized repair service in my area and she also provided me with your name and address. Based on how quickly my iron ceased functioning once out-of-warranty and the ping-pong nature thus far for resolving the problem - I knew this would be an experience worth sharing. I immediately called your authorized repair service: California Electric Service. I was told that since it was out-of-warranty, it would cost me 25$ to see what the problem was. (I already knew part of the problem - no current.) They also strongly advised that I send the iron to them using either UPS or FedEx and that they would call me when it arrived and they had examined it. I packed it in its original box (yes, I keep original boxes and their packing materials), then packed that box in another larger box with cushioning and sent it FedEx on the same day for $7.08. At this point, I have spent the time of one email, 20 minutes on an unusable website, one phone call, one toll phone call, time packaging the iron, a trip to FedEx and $7.08 out-of-pocket on my repair. FedEx tracking reported that California Electric Service received the iron the next day (18 Aug 2009). I waited. No call. Maybe they’re busy. A week later . . . On 24 Aug 2009, I called California Electric Service and my call was passed to three different people before they opened my box (while I was on hold) and it was only then that they would now start their inspection process (after getting my credit card number and making certain they had their 25$). I was also told that the warranty expired 21 March 2009 - just five months ago. When would they have even acknowledged that my iron had arrived if I had not called? I do not know this answer. My answering machine is on 24/7. No messages were left. So add another call for time and the expected 25$ - making my out-of-pocket total $32.08 thus far. They said they would call me after they had determined the problem and get my approval for any repair. I waited until 27 Aug 2009 and, again, I called them. I spoke with Mary. She put me on hold. When she returned, she said my repair job number is #1891 and that the PC board on the cord assembly is bad and has to be replaced. She told me that this was not a common problem. Lucky me. This iron has never been dropped and only tap water has been used for steaming. I am the only person who has used this iron and I use it 2-3 times a week, minimum. Oh, and the additional repair cost they require? $61.85 and I won’t get my iron back until “sometime next week”. So let’s total this: one email, 20 minutes on an unusable website, time spent packaging the iron, a trip to FedEx, four phone calls (three on a toll line), $7.08 shipping, $86.85 on my repair - for a total of $93.93 out-of-pocket plus time-spent. The iron originally cost me $119.99 (plus $11.95 for shipping). My Rowenta Advancer Iron has now cost me $225.87 plus aggravation of a most tedious nature. And what of my clothes and sewing during all this time? Because your authorized repair service still has my Rowenta Advancer, I’ve been forced to use my other Rowenta. The one I bought in 1993 in Minneapolis. The “burst of steam” feature no longer works after 12 years of use (which is why I purchased the Advancer) but it still works well enough to iron most of my clothes, just not as well for sewing. Will I ever buy or recommend Rowenta again? After having one of your latest top of the line irons fail after only 20 months of use and going through this time-consuming silliness and cost for repair - you tell me. After you think about this. Sincerely, my signature my printed name, address and email (for contact purposes) Addendum to the information in the above letter (5 days after it was sent): The above letter was a hard copy letter I sent (not an email). It was printed up on paper and mailed to Tom Patterson - Rowenta/Supervisor of Customer Services. |
Below: Read the email response I received two weeks later concerning the First Problem with my Rowenta Advancer Iron.(Please note that my hard copy letter is referred to as an 'e-mail'. Perhaps physical letters entering Rowenta USA headquarters become web mail after passing through their doors. Maybe they have a magic portal at their delivery door that they're not telling us about.) |
Subject Discussion Thread Dear Ms. DeVoss, We received your e-mail at our corporate headquarters. We thank you for writing to us and providing us with your feedback regarding a Rowenta iron. We regret to learn that you encountered any difficulty with your Rowenta. We make every effort to ensure the useful life of our irons through the choice of quality materials and extensive testing. As with most manufactured products, the life of a product will vary from owner to owner. Some variables involved are the type of water used, the storage of the product, how often the product is used, and the care given to the handling of the product. We appreciate this opportunity to reply to your concerns. Again, we thank you providing us with your feedback. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL. YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS EMAIL WILL NOT BE RECEIVED. Should you have any additional questions, please call 1-781-396-0600 with reference number 090910-000235. Our hours of operation are generally Monday through Friday from 8am until 5:30pm, EST. Best regards, [---001:001117:37243---] |
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