Hacker News Reader

Comment by riddlemethat | Hacker News Reader

We bought a Bosch dishwasher from Costco in January. It was defective and wouldn’t start after 10 days. Costco replaced it. The replacement came with a big gash on the front off the truck so we refused it and Costco sent a third replacement. Again, it was the same model and again it wouldn’t start after another 30 days. Costco took it back. No cost to us for any of these delivery or install attempts.

We bought a different model from Costco and it’s been rock solid. I expect I will never buy a major appliance from any other retailer as long as Costco continues to care like they do today.

View on HN

> I will never buy a major appliance from any other retailer

Weird. You experienced failures of the manufacturer (failure to start) and the warehouse (huge scratch), and are still singing someone’s praises.

It sounds to me like the brand’s quality assurance is low and the retailer also isn’t taking care of their stock.

If I had to take three days off work to accept these deliveries, doubtless I would have a very different conclusion from yours.

He's singing the praises of CostCo, which made him whole.

Any dishwasher could have these problems; any warehouse could. How the seller handles the situation is key to whether you use them again.

CostCo has built a huge reputation for being trustworthy as a retailer. If they get purchased by private equity, I will stop renewing my membership, and think about how close the country is to decorating lampposts.

The issue is that with a sample size of one (or three), then it is basically bad luck. If you get a bad unit (or a good unit) it doesn't really tell you much how reliable the other 100,000+ units are and how reliable the brand is. If you have a product get damaged during delivery, it doesn't really tell you much how reliable the other 100,000+ deliveries are.

But most people have had a problem with some product they purchased and a company that stands by things and gives no questions asked support is very valuable.

Yep, I'm pretty much a lifetime member of Costco if this sort of prioritization doesn't change. A recent article put it well "Costco is the anti-Amazon".

I say this as a happy customer of both, though. I don't seem to have the problems others do with horrible products from Amazon, but I suspect my purchasing habits might be different as well.

> I will never buy a major appliance from any other retailer

That's called stinking thinking.

What is the alternative? Trust has been built, as long as the trust is not eroded it is safer than any other retailer?

No one means that in the literal sense BTW it is shorthand for.

"The next purchase I make will be through X to avoid having to search for a new retailer"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com