You asked for it.
After years of turning them down, I finally decided I'd get a hot tub for my family. I ended up at Dynasty World Of Spas, and they had a lot to offer that some of the other's didn't (in terms of quality and longevity). I worked with a person who called himself one of the owners, to ask some questions and make sure we were getting the right tub. I selected a hot tub that seemed like the right one for us.
I was surprised that there was no offer to come out and assess the area to ensure that everything would be a fit and that we were getting the right tub. Why would you NOT do that as a standard practice? So, I asked for this to happen. The response seemed awkward - it really felt like doing this was a huge inconvenience for them.
I asked for the measurements required to get the thing into my yard, because there are some awkward areas and juts that need to be accounted for. I got those numbers - I needed 42" clearance between walls/fences/etc to get the tub in standing on it's end, and I needed 96" clearance height. I checked these and we had enough room. I was concerned, however, about a couple of areas where room might be tight during the move, and reiterated that it would be best if someone could come out to validate this. I stand convinced that this should be mandatory, on the part of the vendor, before completing a sale - you know, to make sure the customer gets what he's expecting, has paid for, etc. I called back asking again for someone to come out, and again it was a lot of "If you have the 96" and 42", you're good" - but I insisted, and they said they'd have someone come out and do that - someone would call me later that week, if I recall correctly. I dropped a 10K deposit on the tub.
I did not hear back from anyone, so I called again. The fellow I spoke with on the phone sounded like he would rather be having his lungs removed through his eye cavities than be helping me, but I wouldn't let him off the hook. He asked me for the spelling of my name, then got it wrong and pulled up someone else's account. It was quite literally the equivalent of "My name is spelled J-O-H-N-S-O-N", and he saying "Got it, Mr. Cooper, I'm looking at your invoice now". I had to spell my name for him four (4!) times, until he finally broke and said something to the effect of "I will have to have someone call you back". He assured me that would be the same day; funny, I didn't feel reassured at all.
To the surprise of no one, I didn't get a call back, and a few days later, I still hadn't heard anything. I called the store again and got someone who sounded way more interested in helping me, we'll call him Todd. He said he'd get on it, and I ended up with his personal cell phone as well in case things went south. I was feeling much better about my chances.
At some point, in the interim, I received a call from a lady in Red Deer, apparently the head office and where the deliveries are scheduled from. Let's call her "Abby". She was very impersonable, another person who really sounded like they would rather be doing anything at that moment than talking with a paying customer (I mean, they've already paid, so why do I want to waste any more time talking with them)? She offered to coordinate the trip out, but because I already had a local person seemingly on top of it, and because I'd been left waiting for others to no avail several times, I'd stick with the commitment I already had.
(Are you beginning to see a problem here?)
However, no one called, no one came. I ended up calling Todd's cell number and he said he wasn't surprised and that there were some people there who had been providing poor service for awhile and he was going to talk with someone about this. In the interim, he would come out and do the assessment that afternoon. Lovely!
He came out, and confirmed everything would fit. He was nice, apologetic, and helpful.
I then booked a delivery date, Friday August 8, between 11AM and 1PM. The delivery was incumbent upon my return from holiday and my digging and burying a ditch for the power cable. I got the work done, and left on vacation. I made arrangements to leave early for my vacation, so that I could be home to help with the hot tub installation and prepare the area for my family to arrive home. I also have 2 daughters with birthdays in the ensuing weeks, and they were thrilled that they could each have a hot tub party for their birthday.
I received a call on Thursday August 7th, and was told that the delivery schedule had been messed up and would it be OK if they arrived early - between 8-10. While this was an inconvenience for me (you know, the paying customer), I told them that would be OK, but to call me ahead of time to make sure I was around as I had some errands to run close to home. She told me they would call about 30 minutes prior to arrival - perfect.
So, Friday the 8th rolls around. It's 9:00 and nothing yet, so I drive to a store 10 minutes away. I get a call from the delivery person (we'll call him Gord) around 9:30, and I prepare to drive the ~8 minutes home. Gord sound irritated that I wasn't there, and that there is NO WAY they can get the hot tub in. We talked for a minute, that we'd had a measurement and an assessment done - by them, and I told him I'd be home shortly. He seemed to understand, and seemed frustrated - not at me, but at whomever had failed to tell him to call ahead, and at whomever had not done a good enough job of scoping the site.
I could understand at a high level what the challenges might be, but also have the flexibility, as house owner, to make accomodations - for example, there is a stair case coming from the upper deck to the ground that may or may not be in the way - I have plans to replace it next year, so I'm in a position to say "Hey, no problem - I'll tear that straight out and away we go." There are other areas of my yard that are more than flexible to make this happen, but I wanted to look at the options. He was going to call the manager in the meantime.
I got home 10 minutes later and Gord was gone. GONE. Didn't wait for me, didn't call - just on to the next jog. I wanted to better understand what problems were in front of us, so that I could work on solutions. I did not get the opportunity to do that.
I cannot recall if "Abby" called me, or if I called her, but according to her, we should have had Gord come out, not Todd. She had offered to do this, and it was basically my fault for choosing Todd (who I have no reason to believe was not qualified) over the person she offered. We discussed what a foolish position that was for her to take, and that I had been more than patient, more than done my part (actually, pretty sure my part only involves paying you the money I owe you and providing you with the information and access you need), and that I expected a solution. All I had heard thus far are loose depictions of the problem, and a basic feeling that "I had screwed up and they were going to lazily, reluctantly, sort of, pseudo-help". Which is not a particularly comfortable position to be in, given that I've done absolutely everything in my power to make sure this went smoothly.
RE: leaving right away - they later told me that the delivery guy is really busy. Well, I should hope so - everyone is busy. We are all busy. However, we are also bound by our agreements, not to mention MORALITY, to deal with things as they come. I imagine the installation would have taken an hour or so of their time, so not sure why the sudden need to race away. 15 minutes could have saved you a lot of hassle. That is is a week later as I write this and nothing has happened is negligent and abusive.
I'm told by "Abby" that "we'll need a crane". Now, I have no idea what that means, exactly - does a crane need a road blocked off? I don't have an alley, how is that going to work? How far can a crane reach? She doesn't know anyting about the crane side of the business (she actually said "you know as much as I do about it" - what a ludicrous thing to say to me, what possible gain could be made of saying you don't understand a key aspect of your business that you are expecting me to pursue?), and that someone (we'll call her Rachel) will be calling me back to discuss that. I chose not to hold my breath.
Tuesday the 12th rolls around. I still haven't heard from anyone. So, I call the CalGord office and ask to speak with the manager, we'll call him "Barry". I want to make it very clear that Barry has been amazing through this - he listened to me, and he heard me. He understood that all I wanted was a little time with Gord to look at the area together and formulate a plan. He was going to get the right person to call me back.
I get a call shortly after from Rachel. It's not often you feel like someone is trying to suck every ounce of positivity and hope out of you; this was one such time - just a really horrible-sounding person overall. I don't recall being afforded the opportunity to finish a single sentence on our initial call - everything was an interruption. Her tone was aggressive, here's how the call started:
"Hi Cale, it's Rachel. I've been away, and I'm really backed up. I'm sorry I didn't call you the exact instant I got back in the office." I'm not going to fib; I sensed that might have been sarcasm. Her position seemed to be one of a martyr, that she was going out of her way just by calling me - I really felt like I was keeping her from something important. (Rachel, for future reference - it's known as "bedside manner" - when the patient is sick and scared, try and raise their spirits instead of delivering the death blow). She was quite insistent that I'd told Barry that a crane was not an option. I told her that I had never told him that, and that I wanted to explore options. She reiterated that I'd insisted on no crane with Barry, and we seemed to be moving backward instead of forward. She seemed to want to explain how this was really all my fault, and I found her impossible to work with, said "You know what - I don't want to continue this discussion with you, please have Barry call me", and hung up. I decided not to wait for her to choose to pass along the message. I called Barry and explained what had happened, told her that Rachel instisted he had told her no crane, which he didn't understand either. He would call Rachel and sort it out.
I was very clear with Barry - we go forward, not backward. I'm not interested in what has happened, what should have happened - only that I wish to work out the best way to fix the problem so we can all be happy. I mentioned that there were some options in the yard that I could look at, perhaps removing the stairs, and a few other options, saying only that we might be able to make it happen without the crane. I wanted someone here to walk through the site and lay all the options on the table, then decide which was the way to proceed. Barry completely understood, and was very helpful. He also gave me his personal cell, and I could tell that this was a pain point for him but he chose to do it because it was the right thing to do. I appreciate this, still.
Rachel called me back again the next day. She started the conversation this way:
"Hi Cale, it's Rachel from Dynasty World of Spas. I'm the person you hung up on."
Then there was silence. I'm not sure what she expected me to do after telling her I no longer wished to carry on the discussion with her and to have Barry call me, but the only thing I've ever done when finishing a call is to hang up the phone.
I asked how I could help her, she reiterated that she was ther person I hung up on, and that she was calling back to work out a solution. She tole me that Barry was trying to save the crane cost and then attacked him and how he had handled our conversation. This didn't win her any points, I'm not sure what she was trying to accomplish. She continued to interrupt me, tell me that she's trying to help me - and wouldn't listen to "let's move forward, let's arrive at a solution". I finally told her that she was a very miserable person to deal with, very unsuited to a customer service role, and asked who her manager is, who she reports to. She very arrogantly said "It's me". She sounded like she was holding back laughter - "Gotcha, now what are you going to do!"
I was stunned, but should not have been surprised, given the rhythmic precision with which her operation functions. She continued to talk AT me with all the experience of someone who has never spent a minute of their life in a state of introspection, before I finally said "Now I AM going to hang up on you". I hung up while she was still chastising me.
She then called me back 3 times in about 5 minutes. Funny thing is, I was on a call with one of my customers, and couldn't take her call even if I wanted to - which I didn't. Found it in very poor taste to keep calling me, like a teenager who doesn't understand how to control her emotional response. She finally left a message saying that she felt it would be best just to get Gord out. Um, duh.
After my call with my customer, I called Barry - who, at this point, is thinking "I'm the middle man here" - and I told him "look - you are the only person who is being helpful, and I need you to own this. You apparently can communicate with Rachel better than I, so please let's let me work with Rachel through you, so we can all get this done". He agreed and has continued to be that conduit.
Barry would get in touch with Gord, and Gord would come out one afternoon this week.
Thursday (14th), I had not heard from anyone, so I sent a note to Barry saying I hadn't heard from Gord. Barry had given Gord my number, and he planned on dropping by on Friday afternoon - perfect.
Friday at 2:00 PM, and unsurprisingly, I have yet to hear from Gord, I send a note to Barry asking if he'd touched base with Gord. I'm told that he has my number, that they'd chatted this morning, and that Gord is planning on a visit today. I thanked him, told him I'd appreciate a time confirmation so that I wasn't stuck at home all afternoon, and he understood and would do his best.
At 3:00, Barry tells me Gord should be calling soon.
At 4:15, I tell Barry that I've still not heard anything.
At 5:00, I tell Barry that it is now Friday evening, when can I expect to hear from Gord?
It is now Friday the 15th, at 4:45 PM. I have not heard from Gord. I have sent Barry a couple of notes today, and he has tried to get in touch with Gord. I'm not sure if he's been successful or not.
At 5:10, I get a call from Gord, who tells me he never committed to arriving on Friday, and that he's not coming out today.
I spent 5 hours at my home on a nice day waiting for someone that would never come. Dynasty, you've proven, time and time again, that my time means absolutely nothing to you.
I ask you - is this how you'd like to be treated? Do you like having your time wasted? Do you enjoy having your plans, and those of your family, ruined by the carelessness of someone who was given the honor of accepting your hard-earned money? If so, head straight down to Dynasty Spas - they've got it down to a science.
This review has 3 images.
to view the gallery.
