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The Brick review: poor service! 17

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Author of the review
12:00 am EDT
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This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

I purchased 10,000.00 worth of kitchen appliances form The Brick in August 2006. The wall oven I purchased had a manufacturers defect, where everytime the self-clean feature is used the oven won't work afterwards. Kitchen aid has admitted that this is a manufacturers defect and told me on the phone that the oven is no longer made. In approx 7 months I have been without the use of my oven for approx 6 weeks in total, waiting for repair men, waiting for parts to be ordered, waiting for parts to be installed, etc. Each time the oven has broken down I have requested an evening or weekend service call, as I am not prepared to take more time off work and lose money to accommodate them. Each time they have told me that I can take a daytime appt or nothing at all. Each time I have had to take time off work, lost a whole days pay, and not been compensated by anyone for this. They have refused to replace the oven, they have refused to fix the manufacturers defect once and for all, they have told me that everytime I use the self clean feature this will continue to happen, so I have two choices, clean my own and be prepared to live without the use of my oven for approx 3 weeks afterwards, waiting for it to be repaired again, or never clean my oven. I purchased a 5 year warranty on this oven. The brick contracts their service to a company called Transglobal. Transglobal told me they are just a service company and if I have any problems I need to talk to the brick, I called the brick, they said, we're just the store, you have to talk to transglobal service. I am being given the runaround, I have an oven that will never work properly, unless I am prepared to never clean it, and the brick has taken my money and wiped their hands of responsibility. Isn't it illegal for a company to take your money, sell you a defective product, under warranty, and refuse to repair it once and for all or replace it? Kitchen aid says they know there was a problem with the self clean feature on these ovens, they stopped making them, but that they did not sell me the oven so they are not responsible. I have done a lot of research online, printed out piles of articles from other people who've experienced the same problem with these ovens, and have not gotten any satisfaction from the store where they purchased it, or from the warranty company, or from kitchen aid. How the hell can these people get away with this... where does a customer go for resolution to something like this. These companies are operating worse than the mafia and they're getting away with it.

17 comments
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roy juliusson
Quesnel, CA
Jun 25, 2013 12:41 pm EDT

trans global is rude for what you pay for warranty, They had canceled a work order for sofa and love seat, the sofa had collapes as did the love seat Im a small person it should not have collapes after a large amount of phone calls for 3 months the brick came and picked it up, But now with out furniture for a month now, The worst of it is this was a second set of furniture Now I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM FOR MY WASH MACHINE going on 3 weeks without a machine looking for a second hand one, Im on disabilty for many cancer surgeries these items were supposed to last!

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Iain Thistlethwaite
Surrey, CA
Sep 11, 2012 10:20 am EDT

I bought a washer and dryer from the Brick, Trans Global does not honor their warranty. They have left my dryer in pieces on my floor for seven months, after martha at the call center called me a liar and hung up on me. I still have a broken Maytag, and I will never buy anything from the Brick again. Worst shopping experience ever!

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TSCC
Barrie, CA
Aug 29, 2012 12:39 pm EDT

I agree and am currently in the midst of waiting for washer machine parts...Transglobal and the Brick both go down the drain with my washer. Anyhow, our details are the same only we are sending a formal letter of complaint to the Brick head office, Ontario Ombudsman, and the Credit Bureau of Canada. Put your complaints on Facebook to, for in this day and age of social media, unless you are tops in customer service ..social media will be the quickest way to bring them down.

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dweeb
Barrie, CA
Nov 08, 2010 6:10 pm EST

My Hitachi Projector bought from the Brick has been in for repair for 64 days and counting. The Brick doesnt call me back and every time that I go in they give me a new target date. The customer service at the Brick was extremely rude and the Manager I asked to speak with was even more so. Apparently no answer was the only answer and I was expected to accept it. I was told after 3 weeks that I would be credited the full purchase price. Then 60 days. Now they say there is no limit to how long they can keep it as long as their tech has deemed the product repairable and as long as the parts needed still exist.
Do not buy from the Brick.

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momof3inbc
Abbotsford, CA
Oct 18, 2010 3:54 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Having the same issues with my LG front loading washer for the past three years. Ongoing mold problems are just the start...now the machine doesn't advance cycles and doesn't drain.

First time TransGlobal sent a tech out he had no idea how to work my machine ~ left after 5 minutes stating that he hoped it was just a loose connection and didn't have time to stick around to see if my machine would actually drain or advance cycles.

Second time I requested a different technician ~ they sent the same technician ~ he called and told me he had already been to my house and there was no point in him proceeding with the appointment as he couldn't fix my machine ~ this was my 2nd day off of work ~ I informed him that he better come. He shows up again for about 5 minutes and orders parts (that will hopefully work).

I have been without a working washing machine for over 1 month ~ no sympathy from LG, the Brick or TransGlobal?

Family of five very disgruntled at the lack of customer service ~~~ when you purchase an extended warranty and spend $3000 on laundry machines...they better work~~~end of story~

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imancool
, US
Apr 12, 2010 12:46 pm EDT

We bought a whirlpool stove and samsung front loader washing machine from the Brick in Barrie Ontario.
Worst ever! the samsung machine has had a broken pumo twice allowing water to leak from the machine in the rinse cycle and the stove has a faulty exhaust that discolors the fromt panel.
I will NEVER buy anything from the BRICK again. As for the transglobal insurance they are the most insensitive bunch of people I have ever had to deal with.
May the Brick either shape up or GO DOWN!

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Hansen S
Calgary, CA
Mar 25, 2010 10:41 pm EDT

The Brick and Trans Global both sucks, poor customer service and refuse to provide service even you paid for it. I bought a fridge from Brick and they were so effecient in selling warranty but when time comes for repair they simply said contact Trans Global and Trans Global (scam company) they keep lie and telling repairman is on his way but never shows up. It seems repairman walking towards my home china.

My suggestion, never buy from Brick.

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Mrs. Publicover
Brantford, CA
Dec 10, 2009 11:20 am EST

Almost 5 years ago, my husband and I bought a new home and completely furnished it -top to bottmom- at the Brick in Brantford. We thought we were going to a good place. Boy were we wrong! My curio cabinet fell apart when we tried to move it -THE DAY AFTER IT WAS DELIVERED-, my pie-shaped coffee table was missing a wheel leg, the moving guys tore my wall going down to the family room and no pillows were delivered with my 3000 dollar sectional couch. With in 3 months, my brand new queen size bed was squeaking and making noises like it was 15 years old, the knobs for the dressers were all but falling off, the lazy boy feature on the sectional was broken and my stove wasn't working. We bought the 5 year extended warrantys with everything we purchased. We spent over $40, 000 in one day at that store! When I called the Brick, I got not no service. I was told to go thru Trans Global. What a joke. I waited weeks for them to come out. When they finally got there they told me my box spring was broken and that it would be replaced. When the new one came it was for a double bed. I called the brick to say that they sent me the wrong size and they argued with me! They said they have no record of me buying a queen size bed from them. My big screen TV broke within the first year and Trans Global told me it would be covered under my extended warranty. Nope, it wasn't. Apparently the bulbs are the only thing NOT covered by the warranty and it cost me $957.86 for a new bulb. I could have bought a new TV for that! So a very long story short---it has been 5 years and my pie-shaped coffee table still has a leg missing, my lazy boy recliner sits only upright (not so lazy after all), I have a Maytag stove on which I cannot use the self clean feature, I have afridge that just keeps on breaking down but they won't replace -even though their policy is that if it breaks 3 times, we will replace it- my walls were fixed by us at own cost because the Brick says they are not responsible for the moving company they use, I have a curio cabinet that has been glued back together and can never be moved for it will surely fall apart again. Lesson here: never go to the Brick if you want quality and service...or even just one of them because you will get neither!

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I Burgess
Ottawa, CA
Aug 25, 2009 6:42 pm EDT

we are having the same issues - we purchased a LCD tv from the Brick. We have been having issues with it for 7 months. everytime we called for service they told us we were out of their services area. I had to threaten to go to the papers and the radio before someone finally came to look at the tv. seven months later we still have a broken tv and were told today that it would take at least another 3 weeks before it was fixed. My boyfriend and I are fed up and we are taking the tv back to the brick. they can have it fixed.

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candy
London, CA
Apr 01, 2009 2:09 pm EDT

i purchased a fridge from the brick which has global warranty which has a 5 yr extended warranty, what a joke that is .the brick push there extended warranty on the customer, but their not to good at doing anything about it when its broke.its been 3 months now and im still waiting for a part to come in, which they say they dont make anymore, im tired of the run around, the lies they say when they call, all i can say anymore is i will never purchase another maytag product or buy from the brick ever again

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jeanette
Peterborough, CA
Mar 06, 2009 11:09 am EST

I purchased Maytag Washer and Dryer from the Brick in March 2007 and purchased the five year extended warranty through them which is with Trans Global. In the summer of 2008 the washer was making a terrible sound so the service company in my city that Trans Global deals with came and cleaned the brake of my washing machine and said if it happened again the break would have to be replaced. Just last month (Feb 2009) the machine was making that terrible noise again. After trying to get through to Trans Global for at least a week to obtain service for the machine I finally got through. The service company was to come on a Monday so I waited around all day and they were a no show. When I contacted the service provider the next day to see why they hadn't come they told me Trans Global had called them saying I had phoned them (Trans Global) to cancel my service appointment and that I no longer needed them to come. I couldn't believe it. The service company decided to come the following day and not take any calls from Trans Global in the mean time. The break, as well as the belt and bearing had to be replaced on the machine. Yesterday I received an automated telephone message from Trans Global that they are reviewing my service claim to see if they will cover the parts and repair. This is supposed to be covered by my warranty agreement and now they are reviewing the repairs?

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Mark
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Aug 28, 2008 7:32 pm EDT

I, too, have a horror story, terrible customer service example of The Brick and Trans Global Services. While I won't go through each irritating, blow-by-blow detail, let me just report that my 50-inch Samsung Plasma has not been functioning since June 4. It was physically gone from our home from Aug 19 to tonight. It seems to be working now, however, when the guy plugged it in, there were a couple of sparks so here's hoping...
I had the same hassle of service staff misdiagnosing the problem, promising parts were ordered when they weren't, waiting around for calls, trying to book after hour appointments or at least be given a decent timeframe when to expect someone to arrive, service line staff down East advising they only had email access to the Alberta service team, etcetera, etcetera. Same tune, different product.
I just want to add my voice to the "Don't trust the Brick or Trans Global" in a hope that there'll be better customer service in the future. At the moment, can't imagine buying from the Brick again or getting sucked into the extended service purchase with Trans Global that the Brick sales staff push. And for those who don't know, they are in the same family of companies, both part of The Brick Group as indicated on the privacy section of the brick.com website. Talk about misleading, overpromising and underdelivery!
“The Brick Group” as used in this Privacy Policy includes The Brick Group Income Fund, The Brick Trust, The Brick Warehouse LP (including its general partner), United Furniture Warehouse LP (including its general partner) United Furniture Warehouse (a division of The Brick Warehouse LP), The Brick SuperStore (a division of The Brick Warehouse LP), The Brick Mattress Store (a division of The Brick Warehouse LP), Trans Global Warranty Corp., Trans Global Life Insurance Company, Trans Global Insurance Company, Trans Global Services (a division of The Brick Warehouse LP), Midnorthern Appliance (a division of The Brick Warehouse LP), First Oceans Hong Kong Limited and First Oceans Trading Corporation.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, we, us and our mean The Brick Group, and you and your mean a customer or prospective customer of The Brick Group.

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Lisa Burness
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Jul 29, 2008 10:56 am EDT

The Brick are crap! Thats all I can say. I too bought a front loading Whirlpool washing machine with a 5 Year warranty from Transglobal.Most recently I have been waiting to date for 2 months for 'parts to come from Italy'! I could have swum to Italy sooner picked them up and swum back.
Front loading washing machine is using less water as promised... more ecomical...BECAUSE I CANT USE IT AGAIN!. This is the second breakdown I have had with this machine in 18months.No one will take responsibility, least of all the Brick. I have emailed the compliants department and suprise suprise no reply to date. They didnt respond to a letter sent when I first purchased the washer and the guys delivering took the bolts out beofre transporting it, didnt line it up and attached the hot to the cold tap!
What did I expect later down the road?

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Bob
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Jul 26, 2008 10:15 am EDT

I agree 100%. Transglobal sucks. My Neptune top loading washer overflowed causing thousands of dollars damage to my finished basement. An experienced tech could not find the problem with the machine. They took the machine to their shop and still could find no problem. Two techs from the company stated that they would not put this machine back in their own home. I called Transglobal and was informed that I only had a "repair only" policy at which time I quoted their replacement policy which I purchased from them and I had it and would fax it to them if they wished. They then skirted around that with a load of hogwash. I was then told by a Transglobal manager that the machine would be repaired and that's final. I said "How can you repair a machine when you don't know what is wrong with it and even the tech says that even if fixed he would not put it in his house"? Her response was that they will repair the machine rather than replace it. I then realized I was talking to a managerial repeating policy automated imbecile that draws a salary from Transglobal. The technician advised that he had ordered 4 parts which were backordered on a discontinued machine which may take up to six weeks to obtain. He wants to replace all the parts that water goes through, but not the computer with the automatic water level sensor which he advises "could" be the problem. I don't blame the tech as he is following this idiotic decision from Transglobal who are going to pay 850 dollars to fix an 1100 dollar machine that they cannot pinpoint the problem.
I went to the Brick in Belleville, Ontario, where I purchase the machine and spoke to the manager Mr Ken Wells who is a very personable and caring man. We explained the problem we were having with Transglobal and he did not say much in this regard but in my opinion I don't think he was impressed with Transglobal. Mr Wells immediately looked after our problem in a very generous way and we now have a brand new machine of equal value, delivered within 3 days to our house. All I can say is that The Brick manager, Mr Wells, took excellent care of us and restored our faith that there are decent people out there who are willing to work with you.

As for Transglobal they can kiss my &%#. The Brick should find another warranty company to deal with. If you do buy from the Brick, I suggest you do not buy the Transglobal warrant becasue it sucks. Shop around other warranty companies and take one out with them.

Again a heartfelt thanks to the Belleville Brick.

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marcella
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Jul 21, 2008 9:15 am EDT

I am also NEVER buying anything from the Brick again. We bought a Frigidaire dishwasher in May and have only been able to use it twice. We waited 2 weeks for Transglobal to somebody for the initial service call and then TWO MONTHS for the part to come in. The part conveniently arrived on the 60th day (the time which they say that they replace the item if the part has not come in). The dishwasher worked twice and started showing error again and so we called transglobal again. They scheduled a service call, the repair "technician" did not come. I called Transglobal a total of 7 times that day to find out what was happening. They kept telling me they were going to call me back because they were trying to get a hold ofthe technician. (All of the reps confirming that I had an appointment scheduled for that day). The final 3 times I called (by this time it's 1 pm) they told me that my appointment was the following day. I could not believe that they could reschedule an appointment without checking with the customer. Iquestioned this and asked them if they could see all the previous calls I had made that day. She rudely said to me that they could not send a techinician in if my appointment was scheduled for the next day and hung up! No apologies, no empathy NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. I called again to complain to the "manager' because I wasted an entire day wainting for their service and now, I was going to have to waste another one, plus the rudeness of the reps was astounding to me...and she hung up again. I am not filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I don't know what that will do, but I cannot just sit here and let another person be scammed as we were. No accountability, from neither the Brick nor Transglobal.

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Gisele Racicot
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Jun 15, 2008 4:17 pm EDT

ditto to all the above re the brick and Transglobal...that company is running a scam...the service guy barely knows what he is doing and at times he comes just to say, he forgot his tools in his other car !

I am again moving and definitely will not be buying from the Brick if only because they are dealing with Transglobal. However I hold the Brick responsible for not dealing with that company . And they always try to make you feel like you are the only one complaining...Well that is a laugh !

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Sam Smith
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Jan 23, 2008 11:37 am EST

I purchased a Maytag dishwasher from The Brick in 2005. My warranty is with Transglobal. Recently, my dishwasher began making a lot of noise when it was operating. The technician came in and said the motor would need to be replaced. We also mentioned to him that the wheel that holds the rack and the rack bracket was broken and needed to be replaced. After 2 weeks, the new motor, wheel and bracket had arrived and another technician came in to install the motor. When he took the dishwasher apart, he said the old motor was fine and that it did not need to be replaced. He said that there were food particles somewhere in the "trap" and that in future I should rinse my dishes before loading it into the dishwasher. Also, the wheel and bracket that were ordered were not the right size and that a new order had to be placed. Not only was I upset that the wrong parts were ordered and that I would still be without a dishwasher, but I was being chastised for putting unrinsed dishes into the dishwasher even though when I purchased the dishwasher I was advised that the dishwasher has a feature that grinds any small food particles so that it can easily pass through the tubes during the rinsing cycle.

Needless to say, it has been almost 3 months since my initial service call and I still have not received my replacement parts. The delivery of the parts has been delayed three times. When the parts finally arrived, I called Transglobal to schedule an appointment to have the parts installed. I waited about a week for an evening appointment only to have the technician call me the day of the appointment advising that he could not make it in the evening and that I had to call Transglobal to reschedule a new appointment. It appears that Transglobal cannot guarantee that you will actually get an evening appointment even though you call and request one - this was relayed to me by the technician and not by a Transglobal operator.

I will never again buy another product from The Brick or from Maytag or any other of their brands and I would discourage anyone else from doing so.