Help with Plessers.com Zephyr hood return/exchange

10 years ago

Hi! We ordered a hood and in-line blower from Plessers.com. The contractors opened the hood box when it arrived and said it was OK so I signed for it. However, when they took it out after the weekend. They noticed that the hood was bent. They said that corner was in the bottom so they hadn't noticed it.

Secondly, they found a way to use the external blower instead of the in-line that I had ordered. Previously, they said I would have to have a soffit with the external and it would blow out directly onto the patio but (only after I received the unit), did they come up with a better solution. Therefore, I am exchanging the in-line for an external blower

Plessers agreed to take the hood return (after emphasizing that we should have refused delivery). However, it's taking at least 10 days, just to get the detailed shipping info. They will pick up the old units when they deliver the new blower. I am grateful that they are taking the return but at the same time, I really need a hood/blower. I gave them my credit card to charge the external blower so that at least I can get a credit of 75% of the inline blower (they're charging a 25% restocking fee plus $100 shipping). They said that the blower was back ordered and would take 4-5 weeks. That means we miss Thanksgiving and Christmas. :( I am assuming that the new hood will take at least as long.

Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? Do I call Zephyr or would that make matters worse? Plessers said they called the factory and I was under the impression that these were custom build to order. However, the serial # on the damaged hood had a date in 2012. Maybe even Feb 2012.

They also said that if there is a problem with the second hood, they won't accept the return unless I refuse delivery. The hood simply arrives so it is highly unlikely that the contractors will be there. While I can try to open it myself and inspect for superficial damage, I won't really know. It comes with a 10 year warranty so I suppose I could only be out the delivery charges. Do you think it is likely that the 2nd hood would be damaged?

Would love to hear how some of you have worked the system to get faster delivery. I know, should have ordered from the local store, but Plessers is also a retail store and the people I've been in contact with have been very nice, it's just that the process seems extremely slow.

Thank you!

This post was edited by CT_Newbie on Fri, Nov 15, 13 at 16:05

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Comments (4)

julieste
10 years ago
I recently ordered a Zephyr hood from Plessers and luckily had a good experience with a problem-free hood. It did, however, take perhaps a week longer than they had initially told me.

Frankly, I don't know if the problem is Plessers as much as it is Zephyr. We actually checked into ordering our hood from our local appliance store. They checked their inventory and would also have had to special order from the factory. Thus, figuring we'd be looking at close to the same wait time for delivery and saving quite a bit of money, we ordered from Plessers. So, I really don't know if you'd be getting a lot faster service if you'd ordered locally. Some of these appliances just aren't sitting on the shelves of appliance store warehouses waiting for an immediate pick-up.
CT_Newbie
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks NeedInfo, the odd thing was that the date of mfgr was 2012 which to me, indicated, it wasn't custom ordered for me. Did you check your serial # and date? Just curious if it was 2012 or newer. I suppose they could have some sitting as "inventory" and the replace the inventory with the custom order and ship out the old one.

At any rate, I'm happy to report that Plessers confirmed that the ordered BOTH the new hood and the external blower so I should get everything in 4-5 weeks. I am anticipating slight shipping delays due to the holidays but at least they didn't wait to until they got the old hood to order the new one.

I decided not to call Zephyr as they might have a bunch of orders under Plesser without names or it might even be for a reseller who than sells to Plesser.

Thanks for the interesting comments/feed back. And ENJOY YOUR HOOD!
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julieste
10 years ago
Our hood is now installed, and I don't see a visible serial number or manufacturing date on it.

To me there is a difference between a custom order and a custom manufactured product. Custom order means they order something they normally don't keep on hand. Custom manufactured means they don't actually produce an article until there is an order for it; I believe this is referred to as just in time manufacturing. (But I certainly could be wrong.)
CT_Newbie
Original Author
10 years ago
That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.