We are liveaboards. - Hickshause
We are liveaboards. We have lived the last 4 years on a sailboat. We recently purchased a 45’ motor vessel and have moved to it. Our refrigerator started leaking coolant. The refrigerator is not original to the boat, didn’t fit the space well and had an option for running on propane that we don’t need. We do not have propane on our boat. We decided it was best to replace the refrigerator. We checked West Marine, if we ordered it there it would be shipped from the factory and could take up to 10 weeks. As I said, this boat is our home. That’s a long time to be without a refrigerator so we checked Camping World online. Camping World had some in stock in the warehouse so they might be able to deliver one to the local store faster than West. Camping World online would not allow us to filter refrigerators based on dimensions so we went to the local store in Myrtle Beach to see if we could get a list of refrigerators that would run on 12V DC or AC. We had the dimensions of the space. We identified the location of the AC outlet, took pictures of the inside of the cabinet and noted that there is a hose at the back for our air conditioner and we can’t crush it so we reduced the depth based on the size of the air duct. We went to Camping World to order a fridge, hoping to get some guidance on the best options.
We did the same for the washer/dryer combo. The one that was original to the boat stopped working and the previous owner removed it. We want a new one. We came prepared to order both and look at options for a reclining loveseat. We were coming to Camping World because you have AC/DC appliances and we share the challenges of getting large items into small spaces, like in the RV world.
When we arrived we went to the parts counter, not sure if that was the right place, but hopefully she would direct us to the right place. There was nobody at the counter or standing in line. We told the lady at the counter we needed a refrigerator. She asked what model we were replacing and my husband said the one we have is not original. She told us we were just going to have to get that original model some way or she couldn’t help us. We tried to tell her we had the dimensions. She cut my husband off mid sentence and told him it didn’t matter. My husband told her the original model was discontinued. She said they have a list of replacement models for discontinued models. At that point my husband walked away I asked her again if we couldn’t talk about models that fit our dimensions. She told me it’s just not that easy. I asked why. She said you can’t just pull one out and put another in. I asked why again, hoping I could understand the issue and start a dialogue. She said you just can’t, they have different power options. I told her we needed AC/DC. She said it just don’t work like that. She had to have the original model.
Our boat is a 1989 Bayliner 4588. Just like a gearhead who wants a modern stereo in his vintage corvette, we anticipate updating our wiring and modifying our cabinet to accommodate a new fridge. We will look at the specs of the new unit and run the appropriate gauge wire, the gauge of the wire is dependent not only on the unit, but also the distance from the unit to the breaker. We will need to put the right size breaker and we will need to put the right kind of connectors for the AC connection to terminate the new wire or splice the wire. We know we may need to add some trim to the cabinet to accommodate a deeper unit. We came there hoping to have a conversation about best options, kno it wasn’t going to be plug and play. We never got that opportunity.
We came home, looked online. Found one with a larger capacity for our dimensions. We don’t love it, the freezer is on the bottom. We ordered it to the tune of 2K because we called the company, sent our pictures of the inside of the cabinet, had a conversation about options and this was the one with the largest capacity they have that won’t stick out too far and fits our available width, so we bought it. It isn’t perfect, but someone at that company took the time to help us find the best option they have available.
I called the Myrtle Beach store the next day to talk to the manager. She told me that it’s Camping World policy to not order a fridge if we cannot provide the model of the original unit. I told her that the issue was the rudeness of the employee at the desk. She said she was following policy. I asked what about people doing van builds and converting busses. She said that’s the policy. Refrigerators are high dollar items and they aren’t returnable so the policy is in place to protect your customers. She also said another customer called in to let her know the lady at the counter had done her best to help us. There was a man that walked up toward the end of the conversation. He wasn’t there when the lady at the counter cut us off mid sentence repeatedly. We probably were already irritated when he started listening, but we didn’t arrive as irritated potential customers.
I work is custom service for a software company. I think she didn’t understand the power connections or other specifications well enough to explain them. She doesn’t really understand why you want the model of the original unit. I’m in that position frequently. I don’t write code. Sometimes I have to connect our customers with someone more knowledgeable than me to help them. She could have said we get the best results when we have the original model number as a reference, but let’s see if we can help. She could have at least talked to us about our situation instead of just saying she can’t do anything without that model number. She could have asked us to return on Monday and have a conversation with one of your service techs. Maybe we would have needed to pay for their time, at least that would have given us options. Your manager could have explained that special orders are non-returnable. Instead we were told to take our business elsewhere. We did and will continue to in the future.
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