Warners Stellian Appliance Nightmare
10-13-2023
The Bottom Line is This: Don't Do It! Don't even think about buying your new appliances from this Retailer! Run away, drive away, escape while you can. Do not get sucked into the Warners Stellian vortex, of supposed best prices and unending rebates. Warners Stellian is a nightmare! They will threaten you with ultimatums, arrive with damaged appliances, poke holes in your walls, two of the three times, when six people, plus a plumber, 7 total, arrive to install your appliances, on three different days, and come unprepared to use longer bolts to install your Microwave. Seven days later when your appliances are all finally installed, and you apply for your promised rebates, the company, Warners Stellian employs to handle rebates, Nationwide Marketing Group,( who actually employs Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. to fulfill card services) will not provide the rebate as ordered, will stonewall you when you try to get what you ordered, and the Woodbury Minnesota Warners Stellian Sales Manager, Jason Weatherby, will not return your phone call, nor respond to your voice message. Your salesman at Woodbury Minnesota, Ben Drucker, will tell you that it is not his, nor Warner Stellian's problem.
You have been warned.
If you want to know the complete details of this tragedy , and have a lot of time, below is my tale of woe to date: It ain't over.
My refrigerator got old and tired, and quit working on Friday September 1, 2023. All six of the appliances in my townhome were 18 years old. I got advice from two family members, then looked online, at refrigerators. Warners Stellian was having their Labor Day Sale, plus offering multiple rebates. Oh my! I noted online that the Woodbury Minnesota store opened at 8:30 AM the next day. On September 2, 2023, I beat a path to Woodbury the next morning, parked my vehicle, and arrived at the door at 8:30 AM. Big mistake. I was told the store did not open until 9:00 AM. The start time on the web page said 8:30AM. ( I noted later that there are two different web pages produced by the company. One says 8:30 AM, the other says 9:00 AM.) I waited in my vehicle until 9:00 AM.
I was greeted at the door by salesman Ben Drucker, who noted that he had 18 years of experience assisting buyers. I told Ben the brand and model of the refrigerator, I wished to buy, a 22 cubic foot, side by side. Ben said that model, was not in their warehouse. Another buyer had just taken delivery of the same model, and it had taken 3 months to get here. I did not have three months. Using bagged ice cubes, in a picnic cooler, for refrigeration would get old, even for me, before three months.
Walla! They did have one model, of my brand choice, in the warehouse, a giant 28 cubic foot behemoth, that was a totally different style, and cost $500.00 dollars more, than the model I wanted. It had French Doors, and a lower unit freezer. That is not great for an old codger like me. (Think bending over every day to take out frozen meat, etc.) Ben said they could deliver the monster, on September 13th. The doors would have to be removed but they could get it into my townhome. Sept. 13th? Okay, I got myself into this jam, by waiting till my old unit bit the dust. So waiting 11 days for delivery was proper penance, I guessed. Wrong again.
Ben informed me of the current Labor Day Sale, and detailed two specific rebates, calculated the amounts, and I decided to bite the bullet, spend some money, and avoid having to go through this stressful process each time one of my other five appliances gave up the ghost, as I myself also got older, and older, and probably even less competent.
A tragic choice on my behalf. Remember that old Truism? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
So, I also chose a new range, microwave, and dishwasher,( I used the old one maybe 5 times in 9 years, just to keep the seals good, as I had read that one wants to do, if one prefers washing his dishes in the kitchen sink. You do know that hand washed dishes are cleaner.) I figured if I ever move out of the metro area, to escape the people of the metro area, the new owners will want a dishwasher, and they'll like the fact that all the appliances are the same brand. And so I added a washer and dryer too. Got out the credit card and paid. That's how we do it in America.
If the hook up for the water to your new refrigerator is not up to code, you have to get a plumber to install a new three dollar part, or they will not install the fridge. It's a complicated world. Warners Stellian has plumbers, and will update your connection for 300 bucks, Ben promised. I told Ben I would have to check mine. ( Jeez, and maybe clean out space in my unit so the delivery guys can get in the door. Yes. I do not clean. Hey. I do bathe semi-regularly. When you get older, you don't have to bathe every day. If you do, you will get even drier skin. Honest. You can look it up.)
Maybe I could get my brother to install it for me. (turns out he and his wife were on a well deserved vacation.) So I called Ben Drucker. It was his day off. Called again the next day, and ordered the plumber. It was only $241.00 not $300.00. Yay!
I also asked Ben about a third rebate, that I had seen online, on the Warners Stellian Web Site. Ben had not mentioned this 3rd rebate. With my six Labor Day Sale appliance purchases, that rebate was for 1000 dollars. Ben says gee willikers, did I neglect to mention that 1000 dollar rebate? Yup. You did Ben. Ben says yes, I am eligible. A small alarm goes off in my head. My confidence and my trust in Ben Drucker goes downhill, a bit.
Ben says that I will have to pay the $241.00 before delivery. I said I do not wish to drive all the way to Woodbury, for that. Ben says he will send me a link, and I can pay online. I say fine. It is just a bit after 9 AM. Ben sends me the link around 3PM that day, six hours later. So I think to myself, that there is no rush, I'll do it tomorrow. There is still a week before delivery. Tomorrow comes, and first I go down to Stillwater, and do some stairs. I try to do stairs, once every two weeks….in case I have to slay a dragon. I forgot to turn on my phone ringer. When I get home from Stillwater, and dragon training, I note a voice message on my phone. And I also turn the ringer back on. The voice message is from Jason Weatherby, the sales manager at Woodbury, Minnesota, who leaves me a polite, professional, ULTIMATUM! I pay the $241.00 by noon, or they don't deliver my six appliances as scheduled…in a week. He left the message at 9:47 AM. So he gave me 2 hours and 13 minutes to pay up. Really? They already had about $6,500.00 of my money. But I must pay the $241.00 before noon today, or they don't deliver in a week? I am not happy. I note that it is 20 minutes past the ultimatum deadline. I call Jason and swear two blue streaks at him. I inform him that they better deliver as scheduled, in a week. I give Jason my credit card info, verbally, and pay up. Done again, with some time to think about it, I would tell Jason Weatherby to stick it, and to refund me all of my money. That would have saved me a lot of grief. But, of course, the ice was melting in my cooler. So I swore at him, and then let Jason Weatherby walk on me. (Note: I was back at climbing stairs in Stillwater yesterday, 12 days later. Bring on the dragon.)
So I am not told about a 1000 dollar rebate, and then comes ultimatum time over a pittance? Warners Stellian is very good at getting paid.
The plumber comes the day before delivery. He is friendly, knowledgeable, and fast. He has people skills too. I like the plumber.
The delivery guys come the next day, on the 13th of September. They work hard, removing refrigerator doors, reinstalling etc. Four of the six appliances are installed. The bolts for the Microwave are too short, so that will have to wait. Installation was rescheduled for six days later. I have them put it on the floor, still in the box, so they do not have to haul it back to the truck, etc. When they unbox the range outside, they note that the whole side of the range is caved in. I go out and look. Yes. I agree with them, that will have to go back. Of course they have already unhooked the gas line, and removed my old stove, which is now down the stairs and outside. They will bring my old stove back in and hook it up, if I wish. They promise that a new range can be delivered in two days. I decide to be cooperative, and to just do without any range at all for two days. My old Microwave is still hooked up. And they have accidentally poked a small, 3/5 of an inch, but deep, hole into the wall near the bottom of the stairs, when removing my old refrigerator. (later, I see that there is another teeny, tiny hole farther down the wall). They took a picture of the bigger one, and sent it somewhere. They say that management and I will have to discuss that, and probably someone will have to come out and repair the hole, and repaint the wall.
They worked hard. I have spackling compound, and a bit of red paint, as I had painted that wall just 4 years ago. (I had painted my lower level, and the main level, with its 12 ft ceilings. When I got done, I sold that big heavy ladder. I was done painting 12 ft high walls.) So Instead of whining, I patched and painted it myself. If you examine the wall carefully, you can find the bigger repair. I am not a professional.
So I got 4 of my 6 appliances. The range was delivered and installed two days later, as promised.
Then the microwave was installed another 4 days later. That is three days of installations. Three different pairs of installation teams. After the Microwave crew left, (They were way early. Mine was their last install of the day, apparently they were independent contractors from California. They wished to get done and gone fast.) I saw that they had poked two small holes in the wall,above the range, but below the frame of the Microwave, and not said a word about it. They had not even wiped the wall clean of the installation dust and dirt. Maybe they thought I would not see the holes in the wall through the dirt? I was not a happy man, but I decided it was easier to just fix it, and paint it myself….. again. (Yes. The kitchen, and thus that wall too, is the same red. My mom liked bright colors. I get it from her. When I move the new owners can repaint.)
So I finally have six new appliances. Are we good to go? Get serious.
Ben who had neglected to tell me about the 1000 dollar rebate, had told me that I was eligible for all three rebates. I read the rebate directions. The directions on one of the rebates said that I could only apply for one rebate. Since I did not want to apply for a rebate, I was not entitled to get, and possibly ruin my potential for any rebate, I tried to get more information. No. I did not call Ben. He had already broken the trust, as earlier noted. So I called the main Warners Stellian Office, in St. Paul, and tried to talk to the General Sales Manager. Good luck with that. So, I told the secretary, the info that I needed, and she transferred me to another woman, who listened, was friendly, and suggested, that I talk to Ben. It turns out that she was the manager of the Snelling Ave. store. How did I get her? At Warners Stellian they don't want to talk to you, so they transfer your call…wherever. So word got to Ben, of course, and he called me the next day and explained, finally, that two of the rebates were Warners Stellian rebates, and that the other one, the one that said only one rebate allowed, was a separate manufacturers rebate.
So I send 5 pages of receipts each, and fill out application forms for three different promised rebates, totaling 12 pages, each. Yes. I did print copies of all of those pages, of all three applications. I can prove it. (Which I, of course, have told everyone, that I have asked for help, every time ,I have talked to anyone. And of course, none of them give a crap.) On all three rebate applications you are asked to indicate whether you want a virtual prepaid card ( duh? what is that?) or a physical card….which takes longer to receive. On each of the three, I indicate a physical card. I want to use my cards at the grocery store, so I can pay for food, chocolate, nuts and ice cream.
On October 3rd, I get an email notifying me that my application has been approved and congratulating me on my virtual card, which is here online. Just click below, where it says Redeem Virtual Card. WTF?
I call the Nationwide Marketing Group and get "Gustavo" who takes all of my info four times, I think it was actually five times, in a 12 minute call, but I am saying four, as I wish to be careful not to exaggerate, in which Gustavo's only objective was to stall, stall, stall. He never answered a question or even acknowledged the problem. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He ignored my request. I asked to talk to anyone else. He ignored me. I stated that I wanted a physical card, and would not accept a virtual card. I hung up.
Eight days later October 11, I called the only number I have for Nationwide Marketing Group, again, and got "Martin". Martin took all of my information, hemmed and hawed etc. I asked for his supervisor. He says he does not have one, that they are independent contractors, and that I should call card services. I told him I already tried that through the tape recording at Nationwide Marketing Group, and that the first thing I am required to do is enter the credit card number. I do not know it. If I click on the Redeem Virtual Card, to get the number, I will have just accepted their fricking virtual card, that I did not request and do not want. He finally says I should call Black Hawk, and gives me a phone number. Who is Black Hawk? I ask. He says that's the company that Nationwide Marketing Group has hired to handle card services. I say that I have never seen that name in any Warners Stellian info, nor in any Nationwide info, and am not calling a number I do not know, and then giving them all of my personal info, (because an English, as a second language, contractor, who has no last name, suggests that I call. Yah. Yah. Yah. Save the lecture. If you have to speak on the phone, to a human being, in this country, regarding almost all things, phone, internet, cable, online shopping, anything, it will be someone at some remote, far away place, who speaks, supposedly speaks, English as a second language.) Let's move on.
So I call my buddy Ben. It is Ben's day off, so I leave a detailed message on Jason Weatherby's recorder, asking for help and for him to call me back. He does not. Are you surprised by that? If so you are the only person who bothered to read this, that is in fact surprised.
Today, I call Ben and he answers the call directly, not the secretary. It is 9 AM and Ben is going to sell something to that caller. Nope. Its me Ben. Do you remember me? You sold me six new appliances, that cost me close to 7000 dollars, with installation costs. Subtract any rebates….hahahaha….. of course. Yup. Ben does remember me. I tell Ben the story of the virtual card, the impossibility of getting it straightened out through Nationwide Marketing Group. I ask Ben if he has heard of Black Hawk. He has not. But says I should call them, as rebates are not Warners Stellian's problem. I say they work for you, it is your problem and your responsibility. Ben disagrees. He says to call Black Hawk. I say that I will give him the number that I was given by Marvin, and he can call Black Hawk, confirm that they work for Nationwidewide Marketing Group, who works for you. Then send me an email so stating and include the phone number, so that I have a record tying them directly to you, and your employer, Warners Stellian. Ben says no. He won't do it. I promise Ben that I am not walking away from my 1000 dollar rebate. That I will post to Facebook, call the Attorney Generals Office, State of Minnesota, Consumer Affairs Division, The Better Business Bureau, and U. S. Senator Amy Klobuchar's Office.
I have not heard anything at all, as yet, on the second promised Warners Stellian Rebate, also processed by NationwideWide Marketing Group, of course. Stay tuned.
"Beware Warners Stellian !!!".
Feel free to share this tale, and to warn all of your friends, and everyone you meet on the street, about Warners Stellian.
