Tuesday, November 3, 2015

SAGA OF THE SHARP MICROWAVE/CONVECTION OVEN!

06/29 – 08/06/2015 - It's not all Pickleball!!  At the end of June, our 15 year old Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven went out!  We were in big trouble because we use it every day.  We went to Kaeser's RV Service in Ashland that we have been using for service for years.  They said they do not handle microwave ovens but when we got one, they would install if for us.  They did contact Sharp and got the replacement part number R1875.  Sharp indicated that the oven was carried by Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc, etc.  We also called Lazy Days in Florida thinking we might get them to replace the oven when we got to Florida later in the year.  They indicated they replaced our style oven with Sharp R1875-T for a cost of  something over $700.

I went on line to find out the difference between Sharp R1875 and R1875-T used by Lazy Days.  I thought that was important!  I discovered the difference was R1875 was made in the USA and cost about $350.  R1875-T is made in Thailand and cost over $550.

We spent the next couple of days going to the above-mentioned stores.  Surprisingly, none of the stores had the oven in stock or at their warehouse.  We would have to order the item (R1875-T) for about $550 and pay about $200 shipping.  That's crazy!!  The salesman at Wal-Mart suggested that we buy one on Amazon.  In fact, he went on Amazon.com and found several Sharp Microwave/Convection Ovens for sale.

We were not familiar with ordering items on Amazon so we took the item numbers to Ken's son Mike and had him place the order for us:  Item R1875-T  Cost $528.55  FREE Shipping  Shipping address:  Kaeser's RV Service

When the package arrived at Kaeser's, we took our RV to their service center to have it installed.  When the men opened the package, this is what they saw.  A big hole in the front vent panel!!

  

And further damage on the side.


I was scared to death!!  I had never ordered anything from Amazon, much less returned an item!!  What to do??   Fortunately, one of the men at Kaeser's found a tag on the package indicating the item was shipped from O, J. Commerce in Philadelphia.  And, there was a phone number!  We called O. J. Commerce and told them of the damage.  They were the nicest people to work with.  Immediately offered to replace the item, and we did not have to bother to return the damaged product.

A few days later, Kaeser's RV Service received our second oven from O. J. Commerce.  When we opened the packaage, this is what they saw:  A crack in the front ventilation panel!!


And more damage on the back.


I called O. J. Commerce again and told them of the damage.  Although they were very nice to work with, this time we decided to cancel the order and they refunded our payment!

To add to the confusion, since Mike had placed the original order for us, all Amazon.com email correspondence was addressed to him.  In the meantime, Mike had to go to the hospital for surgery, so he was not even at home to receive their emails.  And there were numerous emails!!  We had to wait for Diane to get home from the hospital to pull up Mike's emails so we could know what was going on with Amazon.com!!

I decided to order the Sharp oven from Tiffin Motorhomes, but they only had the item in stainless steel.  We did not want a stainless steel oven.  So vetoed that idea!!  What to do??!!

I, myself, went on line and ordered a Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven from guess who??  Amazon.com!!  Item R1875-T  Cost $528.49  FREE Shipping  Shipping address:  Kaeser's RV Service

A few days later, Kaeser's RV let us know that the new microwave had arrived.  This time, when the men opened the package, this is what they saw:  The entire front glass window was crushed!


There was no further damage to the Microwave.

Again I called O. J. Commerce and talked with the same gentleman as before.  Again, they would replace the item.  A few days later Kaeser's RV called to say:  "Your Microwave is here but it is a Humidifier intended for someone in Wisconsin!!!"  The tracking number matched the number for our item; can't imagine what happened!!

O. J. Commerce said they would try to track down our item, but a few days later we received an email from O. J. Commerce saying they were refunding our payment of $528.49.  August 3rd the refund was received.

Since O. J. Commerce had not requested the return of any of the items, we decided we could create a new Microwave with the three damaged Microwaves we had on hand.

Ken took the front ventilation panel from the M/W with the crushed glass window and put it on the M/W with the least amount of damage to the frame.

An almost-perfect Microwave/Convection Oven for FREE!


On August 6, Kaeser's RV Service was glad to install the M/W for us and get rid of this problem once and for all!!!

Thank you guys for working with us on the Saga of the Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven!!!

1 comment:

irishrovers said...

How could you wait this long to post this amazing story?? ;-)
Glad it worked out finally.
Dick