A while way back, our bathroom mirror/medicine-cabinet/light source became unhinged and let go of two of its mirrors, leaving storage shelves of toiletries and medication and cuticle oil (three scents!) on disagreeable display. The other day, a Wayfair ad for precisely the item I was looking for – a modern mirror/medicine-cabinet’LED light – went on sale for about $600. (Don’t even ask the original price.) After scouring the specs and comparing with some other offerings online and in person, I decided this one looked like the best of the lot, so I read through the fine print of the “professional installation service” they offered as that’s always a concern. The policy read as such:
This item requires installation. We recommend adding professional installation so you can enjoy your item quickly, conveniently, and safely.
-
1 – Pay a fixed price for your professional installation service.
-
2 – Schedule a service appointment that works best for you. You will receive an email confirming the date and time.
-
3 – Your fully-equipped, background-checked pro will arrive and complete your service to perfection.
Sounds great, right? And they even posted a glowing review by Cindy D. Of course, I wasn’t content to rely solely on Cindy, so I clicked the ‘Learn More’ tab to read the fine print, which included the following: “Service pros are not responsible for disposing of packaging materials or moving the item before or after assembly/installation. For plumbing or electrical installations, there must be an existing line or the pro will be unable to complete your service.”
That sounded good – we already had the existing hardwire line that was used for the previous light. I reached out to check if they removed the existing product (as I’m not an electrician or handyman and I figured we would have to phone a friend to get help with that). The bot at the other end indicated that we were responsible for removing the previous item, and moving the new object into the room where it’s being hung. Fair enough, so I made the order and our friend Jim came over to remove the light and mirror we had hanging there.
Product arrived perfectly assembled on Wednesday as scheduled, and the installation appointment, now parceled out to Angi and our local “pro” was set for Thursday morning at 7 AM. I had to go to work, so Andy, recent recipient of hernia surgery, had to get up and wait in the front room for the “pro” to arrive. By 8:30 no one had arrived, and at work I received a text: “Hello Im with ppl services i apologize for the late message I arrived at ya location and for some reason my phone would not llet me contact you or the number did not work I’m tryna to contact now to see if you want to reschedule or to cancel”
Three lies in a first text is a big red flag. No one arrived at our location as my husband was sitting in the front room with a very big view of our driveway and street. (And simply ringing the doorbell would have been an easy fix.) You did not try calling my phone, and my call list will verify that, and my phone is working fine. Receipt of this text also indicates the communication was entirely possible. I wrote back and said someone was there waiting, then followed it up a few times with no response. A few hours later I tried texting again and got the following: “Sorry, this number is inactive” with a link to an Angi support page that said it was unavailable.
After going through an impossible process of setting up a new appointment, I came to find out that they were only sending one person for the rescheduled appointment for this Saturday at 10:30 AM. Three phone transfers and multiple conversations later, Angi said that someone had made an error in dispensing only one person for the job, so I would have to cancel the appointment and set up a new one for two people and pay for all this out of pocket.
This was a big item. 48 inches wide, 32 inches tall, and 115 pounds. One person could barely lift the unwieldy thing, much less install it. At least, that’s what sense told me. Angi put the blame squarely back on Wayfair for not setting up the original appointment correctly. This is when Wayfair got involved.
I explained that I had purchased a professional installation, and assumed that that meant the requisite number of people with the requisite knowledge of installation would be sent. Sending one person with the task of a “mirror wall hanging” seemed to indicate they had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of their own product, and no idea that it needed an electrical hook-up as well.
A long afternoon of text chatting with WayHelp Wayfair’s Social Media bot, who later became Alicia, Bill, Kallie and Jacob (I’ve got the screen-shot receipts to prove all this, and more) resulted in them unable to work with Angi to set up a two-person service, and putting it back on me to cancel the first rescheduled date, order a new one for two people and pay out of pocket, after which they ‘may’ reimburse me. I asked about the electrical aspect, to which they replied “What Angi would consider installation would be hanging the cabinet but not the electrical aspect.”
So they are planning to have one person hang this enormous item, not connect it electrically, and call it a day? That’s Angi and Wayfair’s apparent answer. I reiterated that this was an item that required electrical work – hello, it’s a light! In their own explanation of what they don’t provide it says, “For plumbing or electrical installations, there must be an existing line or the pro will be unable to complete your service.” There is an existing line right where the item is to be hung. But alas, installation is just hanging this thing, so Andy and I will have to find an electrician to do that. (At one point one of them suggested that we have someone on hand who might help with the lifting – I’m out of town that day and my husband just had hernia surgery, so that seems dumb.)
We should have just done the work ourselves and not even bothered with the installation fee, but I’m waiting to see how tomorrow works out because I ordered this with the good faith that the product and service would be rendered as represented. The last that Jacob said was that “I think we can wait until March 2nd to see if this item can be assembled (installed) by one professional.”
Spoiler alert: it can’t.
If I’m wrong, I’ll happily update this post accordingly.
And if I’m right, I’ll also happily update this post accordingly. Watch this space!
And if by some miraculous miracle Wayfair and Angi decide to treat this customer with the basic services that have been purchased, then I’ll be happy to take down this post. Until then, the search engines for ‘Wayfair customer service’ or ‘Wayfair nightmare’ or ‘Wayfair awful service’ or ‘Angi fraud’ or ‘Angi terrible service’ or ‘Angi sucks’ can rev up for anyone considering a Wayfair installation service.
UPDATE: Saturday morning, March 2, arrived, and with it the second ‘pro’ that Wayfair had hired from Angi. He was great – and he confirmed what I had told Angi and Wayfair multiple times: the item could not be hung or installed by one person. Well DUH! He also said that Wayfair and Angi had been pulling this sort of thing many times, only requesting one person for jobs which needed multiple people to complete. There’s much more to say about the chats I had to have with Wayfair and Angi, and if they fail to appropriately correct this maybe I’ll post those receipts. People love to read about such drama!
UPDATE #2: After several disappointingly rude discussions with Wayfair and Angi, on chat texts and on the phone, which took up two days of time and increasing aggravation, I requested the refund on the installation service, which I think (can’t be sure until it goes through) is happening. We will find our own installer, which only delayed our bathroom from being functional, but I simply don’t trust Wayfair or Angi to do this properly. I posted a new blog to give a quicker synopsis than this lengthy entry offered, and shortly thereafter I got a message from Wayfair saying the following:
“I have been speaking with my manager regarding your displeasure with the Angi installation service, and what was included. Wayfair, would be happy to help, with providing a discount on your order, so you could hire someone locally. I do see the Angi service was refunded ($72.35) already. We would be happy to issue a discount of 30% on that bathroom cabinet… which would have us issue a refund back to your card for $181.43. I look forward to your response.”
I thanked that final rep and said I appreciated their help. What baffles me is why they think paying me back $250+ is better than simply contacting their service company (Angi) and having them send two people instead of one based on my original request. I asked why there was such a change in tone and practice with this discount offer after days of questionable correspondence. They replied:
“On occasion, we do not always solve issues correctly, and do apologize for that! We looked at it from your perception, and too were frustrated that Angi left you hanging not once but twice. In addition, all the added time you have spent on this order, we felt a discount would be the best way to help. I do want you and all customers to return to shop with Wayfair.”
We shall see…
