People all over America say they love Amazon and like to share their stories and experiences. Here’s one such story that highlights what it is about Amazon’s service that makes it stand apart – about a multi-generational family of eight and their new refrigerator.

With a household of eight (3 full-time working adults, 1 part-time work-from-home mom, 2 teenage kids, and two grandkids), going without a fridge is not an option, so when theirs broke, it was a shock for them to discover that it would take more than three weeks to get a refrigerator in their price range delivered from any of the surrounding stores – including Sears, Best Buy, Lowes, and Home Depot. Unless they wanted to spend $2,500-$3,000 on a “Ferrari Fridge” they would be without for nearly a month – and living out of a cooler that required daily bags of ice for a month was simply not a possibility. As Amazon Prime members who buy everything from groceries and clothing to electronics from the digital store, it wasn’t a big leap to decide to check Amazon for a fridge.

Is where I am

Searching for a fridge on Amazon was easier than driving from store to store, especially since they live in a small village about 40 minutes from the nearest shopping area. On Amazon, they were able to quickly compare specs, sizes, availability, and price on a variety of fridges. Even more convenient was the ability Amazon offers of being able to filter the search parameters so that they could quickly see only the kind of fridges they wanted to shop for – black side-by-sides with built-in filtered ice and water. They had identified three brands they were willing to consider buying online based on the brand’s reputation – GE, Kenmore, and Frigidaire. As it turned out, the same Kenmore fridge that would have taken 3 weeks to get from Sears could be delivered – for free – from Amazon in less than a week, and Amazon’s delivery company would remove the old fridge for no additional cost. Sold!

Everything I need to know

Unlike their last store experience trying to buy an appliance, where they felt pressure from a sales person to buy out of their price range or make a decision on the spot, Amazon offered no pressure as they researched the options. All of the information they needed – from the size of the fridge to energy usage to customer reviews – was available at their fingertips. What might have taken an entire weekend of shopping to sort out in stores was done in less than an hour online. They were even able to pick the date and time of delivery.

End to end customer care

Amazon outsources appliance delivery to an outside company. As soon as the purchase was complete, they received an email from Amazon confirming the order and the time and date of the delivery. They then received a follow up email from the delivery company with a confirmation of the time and date of the delivery along with clear, precise instructions for measuring their existing fridge to make sure it could be removed. A subsequent follow-up email was sent a few days before the delivery to confirm the date and time along with instructions for measuring the space to make sure the new fridge would fit. The email also included clear instructions about how to prepare the fridge they were taking – to have it empty, unplugged, and disconnected from the water supply, as well as making sure the water supply was turned off for installing the new fridge.

Any qualms they had about a third-party delivery service were assuaged before the drivers even arrived with the fridge. They received a courtesy call the evening before the delivery making sure it was still a good time to deliver. The morning of the delivery, they received a call from the driver approximately 30 minutes out. The delivery itself was right on time, and the men who delivered the fridge were clearly experienced. Their old fridge was out the tight space and out of the house without so much as a bump or scrape against the door frame; the new fridge was brought in with the same ease. The delivery people attached the water supply, leveled the fridge, tested it to make sure it worked, and provided detailed instructions about how long to wait to put food in, how many gallons of water to run through the filter before drinking any water from the fridge line, and how much ice to throw out before it was safe to use. The delivery men were polite, professional, and fast – and clearly cared about making sure their customers were happy. They answered their questions, provided all the paperwork and warranty information, and thanked them before leaving.

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