Dear American Range:

I recently attempted to purchase an ignitor replacement part for my 36" residential range. I've owned the range for 5 years now I think. I had extensive conversations with the service and parts department when I originally received the oven over casters to replace some broken legs that came with the oven. So I've talked to JR, Bert, Alex, Shane, etc before.

I am writing to convey my confusion over how you provide the end user with access to oven/range parts!!!

ON my original phone call to order the part from American Range, you parts guy Jesse found the part number 'R10012' and referred me to some company named Bamco for ordering.

This was the first reference to this BAMCO company I'd ever heard in my life. As far as I know it's some random place you use . . . who knows why.

I figured it was just your guys' standard way of getting folks like me the parts they need to get their oven running again. I received no phone number at that time from Jesse and assumed it was due to the ease with which the number could be ascertained from a quick google search.

This was not the case. After repeated unsuccessful search iterations trying to find the company "Bamco" I had to call AR back. I asked the receptionist for the number. She gave me 818-414-9857. I immediately called this number (as I wanted to order the part but wasn't able to so far). I received a message that I was being transferred to a voicemail box. This seemed strange. Ok, so I called AR a third time and asked for Jesse. He gave me the following number. 818-363-6273. I asked if they had a web site and he said not to his knowledge . . .'no'. OK so I'm supposedly calling Bamco a second time now, just a different number than the first time.

I get an asian sounding gal with a strong accent of some sort, who immediately starts asking me for my name, address, phone . . . etc. I say to her very politely 'I am sorry but I am unwilling to give you any more private information unless you give me the part description for 'R10012'. She would not comply no matter how I pleaded.

My reasoning was, since I had no way of verifying this person had any connection with AR aside from a phone number I was given (and who knows what that's about???? as I had been given 2 numbers by your staff at that time, and had no confidence in the accuracy of the one I was currently using) I tried to explain that I had no bonafide evidence whatsoever that I was giving credit card information to a legitimate parts source for American Range.

This is not a small point. I have been ripped off before by someone gaining access to my credit card information to the tune of 5K. It's only by the grace of laws regulating these guys Despite their best efforts, that I didn't lose this money. I will not give my CC info to anyone I am not confidant about and a random voice on the other end of the phone unwilling to cooperate is not all that confidence inspiring yes?

Now. . . , if I had a website where I could verify the phone number OR the person on the line could correctly identify the part description from the part number I would be satisfied that I wasn't giving my credit card info, or any other personal info, to some random voice on the other end of the phone. Ok she wouldn't ID the part. So I asked her for the website address. Hemmed and Hawed about this. SO I then another spent 5 minutes trying to explain my reasoning why she had to identify the part for me before we could go any further. Finally she said 'I'm new here, I'll call you back' and that was that.

This episode in 'Dr. Mettrick's BIGTOP adventure trying to order an ignitor from American Range' was very annoying and time consuming and UNPROFESSIONAL from the standpoint of the poor sap trying to buy the stupid part. OK so I call back AR. I ask for Mr. Devorshian (I apologize if this is'nt spelled correctly the only way of knowing the name is from the phone blab while you're on hold). I get JR. I explain all the above. He shortstops the whole process right then and there!!! JR takes my order and tells me to expect an email for authorization later on this afternoon. He accepts some accountability and provides a handsome discount on the cost of the part.Thanks for helping me out with this JR!

Understand please my current attitude as I am composing this email is . . . . Ok but what I end up paying will be dependent on BAMCO understanding what happened yes? I have no idea if they'll be able to comprehend that the cost to me at this point . . . won't be the line item cost they usually charge so I'm anticipating and preparing for more hassle this afternoon. We'll see what happens.

I no sooner get off the phone with JR than the lady from 'BAMCO' calls back. I explain what the deal is about JR ordering the part for me and tell her that they don't have a web site. She says OH YES WE DO. OK HERE'S SOMETHING I CAN DO FOR YOU GUYS TO PERHAPS PREVENT OTHERS FROM GOING THROUGH THIS BULLDHIT.

Just so you guy's have this information, here's the website address for BAMCO:

http://sites.google.com/site/bamcousa/

JUST accessing this as a link on your website would save a s#*tload of trouble for us poor end users.

She proclaims in a mildly offended manner how she's not a thief, the company has been in business for 30 years etc. You know, I don't think she ever conceptualized that I was the victim here, I was being put in a bad position and NOT BAMCO. She also tells me there will be NO ACTION taken until they get the order from JR . . . several times.That makes not sense. What person would expect some kind of action to be taken on information not provided. I never gave her my address or my credit card information. How could any action be taken anyway?

That's where I am right now.

I also received a phone call from BEN asking me to convey what I'm writing VIA CC. I'll do that too.

Normally I don't go to this length to try and help the people that create such hassles. I figure I want them to keep their lame business model and continue making an aggravation by hassling other consumers until their reputation is in the toilet. After all, why should I take the time to explain what I went through as free consulting on the problems their business is generating for the end user. I want them to fail. I don't bother complaining and certainly don't spend the time; they have successfully trained me not to like them as business people. However, for me JR's accepting accountability was above this all to common 'take a dump on the consumer' business model I am constantly dealing with in this post-bush era. I sincerely hope you can do something to ease this process for others. That's why I'm spending the time. I know your company has a mainstream commercial line. However, make no mistake, I can afford any oven I want and after that purchase it's the service ithat's the name of the game. It's funny but companies don't seem to understand when they treat the customer poorly they loose that person for LIFE. A case in point,

I'm going to buy another oven because this one's useful life has expired. You know all about the hot knobs, the hot handle. Well, the door's busted, and this ignitor issue is an ongoing aggravation, the broiler never did work. I used it so rarely, maybe 3 times in the first couple of years that the broiler's breaking AFTER the warranty expired could not have been due to misuse. I asked AR to accept responsibility explaining that I never used the broiler but it didn't work when I needed it. You guys wouldn't hear of it. OK so you gave me the number of a service guy who replaced the ignitor at a cost of $250. I used it 3 times over the next year and the 4th time it broke again. After thinking about the issue I feel the problem is the door slamming open. You can't hold the handle cause it's too hot so once you are scorched @ 400 plus degrees! you quickly start to let go of it to avoid being burned. Over time the hinges start to allow more and more angle in the fall, until finally it slams open. The shock probably damages the ignitor as it's brittle ceramic. This is a design issue not a end user misuse issue. However, on my initial attempt to explain to you guys why I deserved to not have to pay to replace the ignitor, you wouldn't even consider the point as standing behind what you produced. It was an out of warranty issue plain and simple. Well it's broken again and this time I'll replace it myself.

Think about my position. I am a fair guy.

Would you ever buy another oven from that outfit? I mean most people live into their 70s if they're white and middle class. So you provide a bad experience and for the next 40 years the person resents your company. Not only will they never do business with you again but they'll bad-mouth you every opportunity they get. Both in person, and on forums. I don't know about you but I go out of my way to avoid being the one that creates that kind of bad feeling. The only people I know that take pleasure in doing so belong to the Tea Party. Are you guys members?

Dr. Jon Mettrick

Mettrick Consulting