If you have been around me at all lately you may have already heard me ranting about LG Canada. I share this post with you so that you can make an informed decision the next time you are making an electronics or home appliance purchase.

In November, I purchased a 32″ TV for my husband for Christmas. I was so excited because we often don’t exchange gifts at all and to surprise him with a TV for the bedroom was exciting. You can imagine my disappointment when he went to hook-up the television and it didn’t work. We contacted the company I bought it from and were told to deal directly with LG and this is where the nightmare starts….

LG set-up a case number and told us to take it to one of their local certified repair agents, which we did. It was deemed unrepairable and a replacement claim was submitted. Since the beginning of January, we have spent endless hours on hold and in debate with LG. We’ve been given the run around, false promises and an unending list of reasons why we had not yet received a replacement TV. As you can imagine, my frustration level was well over the top. If I had to go on hold one more time and listen to LG’s jargon about how at LG (Life is Good) your time is valuable…it might have sent me over the edge.  They are by leaps and bounds the worst company I have ever dealt with. The only experience that even comes close is the contractor we hired to do our bathroom make-over a few years back. He would be right up there with LG as the worst in customer service, but he represents himself and his own reputation with his poor work ethic and dishonestly. LG is what I would have expected to be a reputable company.

A few weeks ago,  I was told that although they most likely have a replacement TV in stock, the inventory wouldn’t be entered into the data base until near the end of April and it would only be then that they could reserve a TV for us. Did you know there is a television shortage right now? Me neither, I was surprised that LG, a television manufacturing company has had difficulty keeping TV’s in stock and it takes upwards of a month to update their inventory on the computer. Are you kidding me?

Of course at this point, there is nothing on this earth LG could do to win back my support. At this point, my best guess was that they could care less about their customers and would do absolutely nothing to make this right.  I figured if I was really lucky I might get my dudd television replaced in time for a Father’s Day gift – how lovely!

If LG were to sweep in and grant me a wish to make all this go away…what would I wish for?

First Choice: My $420 dollars back plus some extra cash for all of the headaches and stress they’ve caused. This would allow me to go and buy a Samsung! I will never purchase another LG product again.

Second Choice: How be don’t get too caught up on finding a comparable TV that is in the “system”…since I’m being forced to replace my LG televisioin with another, how be they try to regain some customer trust and do the right think by upgrading my television to something bigger and better? Seems logical to me. I’m sure that the money it would cost them will be nothing compared to the “free” negative advertising I plan to do for ….like ever!

The interesting thing is that I don’t think LG actually cares about its customers or the service they receive. After that conversation, I requested yet another jump up the rung in the customer service department. I was told a request would be put in “today” and once the manager reads it over, he/she will decide whether it warrants a follow-up call or email from them. If not, it will be re-routed back to the same incompetent department I’ve been dealing with for weeks. Let’s just say that based on my experience so far, I would be very surprised if the managers will be any more effective than their teams. Update: true to form, we never heard from anyone in the management team.

I called back with a request for a phone number and contact information for my lawyer to proceed. Interestingly, things seemed to begin to move much quicker at this point. Suddenly, there was a newer model that was put on reserve, but could only be sent once the old television was sent in. I reminded them once again, that I didn’t have the TV, their certified service agent here in Winnipeg did. They said they would contact him and have him return it. Once it was received they would send out the new one.  After a week and a half, I decided to call the service agent to see if and when he had returned the television. Surprisingly (NOT), he had not been contacted by LG, but had received a new television from them with no paper work or information attached to it. His best guess was that it was mine! So, on Thursday, April 23rd only 4 months after Christmas, LG finally came through and gave me a television of comparable value to that I had originally purchased. No apology, no credit voucher or gift certificate or any other compensation for the hours of headache caused over the last 4 months. Disappointing to say the least.

Summary:

I’ve always heard that LG products were quite good. I guess that if you are lucky enough to purchase one that has been made well and works effectively – you’ll probably be pleased with the company. However, if you should end up on the otherside and have issues – don’t hold your breath on getting them resolved anytime soon. All you have to do is visit LG Canada’s facebook page to see that I am not alone in the experience I’ve had with their customer service department. So, if you are in need of something new, make an informed decision about your purchase.