Here's my experience taking my 6 month old Roomba vacuuum cleaner after it stopped working back to OBI (MPARC) where I bought it 6 months back. I carried both my proof of purchase and the warranty issued by OBI (valid for 2 years from date of purchase)

To my chagrin, the service counter refused to take it and wrote out an address where I need to take it (somewhere in vorderwald). When I asked them where it was, both ladies discussed among themselves and gave me the classic shrugged shoulders look. What I missed seeing during the entire discussion was
-a smiling face welcoming a customer at the desk
-any concern for the customers plight
-while writing out the address, the lady opened one file and then realised it was the wrong file and made a classic exasperated expression (hand raised, rolled up eyes etc.)

Question: weren't they supposed to take the package and get it repaired anyways ? (another explanation opportunity lost due to language barrier across both sides of the counter)

Another question: why does Interdiscount print the payment receipts for expensive goods bought from their store on poor quality fax paper with poorly printed ink that eventually disappers after 1 year ?(hardly brings up the image of swiss quality) frankly, I can do without the red sleeve, but give me a better quality bill anyday (recently lost an opportunity to apply for insurance refund on my stolen camera due to the fact that my receipt now looks like a plain sheet of faxpaperon both sides)

I think I will now trade off all my future swiss electronic shopping to EU places with worldwide warranties and VAT refunds

You state the language barrier WAS an issue there, and maybe this is the main reason why the whole thing got off on a wrong foot. I don't want to defend my compatriotes,but I would suggest to you ,that you'd try it again but this time take a family member/friend/workmate etc with you who speaks the language well.
This does not mean or insinuate that you are not capable!!!! But in cases like this it often can work wonders and in the end it can turn out as no biggie at all.................
I often do this for my english speaking neighbors and IMVHO it works very well.
As for the Interdiscount receipts,I also got fed up with that,and as soon as I purchase an expensive item there, i photocopie the receipt and tack them together ( copy and original) fold it and put it in an enveloppe,coz said paper i.e. the print,lasts longer and remains longer readable when stored in a dark place.

Happy Sunday anyway

EE

You have a contract with Obi, not with some other company - so yes, they HAVE to take the Roomba back and get it serviced if you want them to do so.

However, I also have a Roomba and according to the warranty card that came with it, you have a pick-up and return warranty with the official distributor in Switzerland. Just give them a ring and they will come by and pick your vacuum cleaner up for service. That's what I'd do if mine broke.

regards,

dawiz

To the Roomba owners, do those things cope with going from to floor to rugs ok?

Off topic I know, still slightly swiss related due to the ammount of laminate floors here.

Ours copes rather well - but it doesn't like long fringes. I usually use a ruler to push the fringes under the carpets before I let the roomba loose.
I generally don't think the roomba is a complete vaccum replacement. We use it mainly for two of our four rooms where the cats are all the time. The brushes do a great job removing cat hair from carpets.

regards,

dawiz

I am interested in other peoples experience with their Roomba. Mine stopped after about a year and a half. I bought mine shortly after the guy upstairs bought his and they both went wrong at approximately the same time. With mine, the brush stopped turning round. It was actually due to hair and threads getting caught up in the brush. I tried to clean it but my cleaning was not good enough. Now I have cleaned it very carefully, the brush turns but the battery does not charge up properly no matter how long I give it. I had left it unused for a few months which I read damages the battery. For the guy upstairs, it was his battery that failed on him. Neither of us have carpets, just parquet flooring and slate tiled flooring in the kitchen and bathroom areas. These machines are very useful but disproportionately expensive in Switzerland for some unknown reason.

I ordered a replacement battery the expensive way (from a shop) in the hope of getting a freshly manufactured battery. I wanted a rapid charger but they said they don't sell them in Switzerland. Apparently they can burn through. It should come in a week. I'll let you know if I can get it all working properly again.

I don't know about Roomba but we have a Miele "parquet" which copes well with floors and rugs. There's a special detachable head for parquet but there's also a combi head which does both. You do have to use your foot to click a switch on the head to retract/extend the brush as you move from one to the other.

On the warranty question I've only ever returned under warranty something I bought from Fust and they picked up/delivered back with no problem.

I don't think I've had "service with a smile" at OBI so these days I go to the Coop instead.

In my experience after 15 years in Switzerland, out of 100 meetings with customer services in CH, 90 follows your pattern. You'd think I'd gotten used to it by now but every time I get surprised *stupid me*. So don't take it personal is all I can say.

Oh, and I speak fluent German btw so any language barrier it ain't.

Ah, a customer service thread - just what I need!

I need a rant, I invite others to do the same. Feel like venting.

So I went into Migros to pick up some dinner (on the move). I saw the salads were 50% off so I bought one. I walked for about 30 seconds before I realised she'd charged me full price, so I went back. The interaction went something like this (with the same lady who'd served me just a minute beforehand):

Me: Hello again. Sorry, but there's a sign on the salads saying they're 50% off and I paid full price (telling her how much I'd paid to remind her of what had happened a minute before). Could I please get the money back?
Her: Oh no, they're not 50% off.
Me: But the sign says they are...
Her: (She goes to check) OK, where's the receipt?
Me: (I look in the plastic takeaway bag, my handbag, my wallet, my pockets) Sorry, but I can't seem to find it. (Obviously she didn't give me one)
Her: Well, I did give it to you (condescending).
Me: Well, I don't think you did. I only walked 30 seconds up the road, and if it's not in any of my bags or pockets, you probably didn't.
Her: I did. (She walks off and fafs about for a bit - a good couple of minutes). Here. (She gives me the money I'm owed). You should know that normally without the receipt, we don't do this.
Me: (sarcastically) Oh well how nice of you! Thank you soooo much!

I walked back the same way and checked the pavement for my receipt. It wasn't there. CLEARLY she hadn't given me one. And even if she had - is her memory really so bad she couldn't remember a minute beforehand? I mean, it wasn't even busy....

I understand company policy and all that, I had to get the manager a few times when I worked in the café for incidences like this, but her attitude really pissed me off. The cow.

Ah... rant over. Lesson learned - will check the silly woman gives me a receipt next time! Or doesn't charge me full price when it clearly states that it's 50% off.

Stand your ground firmly, well done!

I think you're lucky to have gotten the refund without a receipt

I am indeed. I was unlucky to have someone who didn't give me a receipt serve me. Gah, I've been in a punchy mood recently and didn't need it! Hope she enjoyed her little power trip.

I think I know what happened while she was faffing about... I think she went to her coworker, explained that she'd just served me and knew full well I was in the right but asked officially what she she do, and her coworker told her not to be a dick. At least that's how it's playing in my head.

EDIT: As I said, I understand company policy. What I object to was my extreme politeness being met with contempt! As soon as she started being rude to me, I think my smiley, courteous demeanour visibly and audibly changed.

"told her not to be a dick" Huh??

Yeah, I don't believe in gender barriers for insults. Women can be dicks and men can be sluts as far as I'm concerned!

You're lucky to get your money back. When this happened to me with a half price pack of yogurt, and I noticed at the till, and I had the receipt, the miserable cow behind the till told me to walk to the back of the shop and get another pack for free rather than her having to do the paperwork to give me the money back. Obviously, I made her do the paperwork.

And as to the OP of this old thread, OBI are pathetic for customer service. I have seen sales clerks literally duck behind some shelves rather then come answer a question in the paint aisle.

Once, when I was asking a question about some kind of method or product to detect if there was asbestos in tile grout, a sales guy told me not to worry as you only find asbestos in really old houses from the 1800s.

The other week though, one guy was so super helpful, really above and beyond, and I was so shocked I just kept thanking him for being so helpful. It's like I've become some kind of abuse victim...Stockholm syndrome.

New entry to the List of The World's Shortest Books: Customer Service In Switzerland. Seriously.

What a biyatch!!!

It's just because he only speaks German and thought you want to ask him something in dialect!!!!

You pay a little bit more but get far better service (and qualified people) go to Bauhaus.

Gah - yet again had crappy customer service. Went to Migros and was overjoyed at all the reduced items. However, I'm aware from experiences at Coop that they don't always see the stickers and one of the packets was orange (same as the sticker). Anyway, the till lady scanned it through and I asked her if she'd noticed the sticker. She got irritated and said yes, and I pointed out that I'd been looking at the thingy where the price comes up and it was full price and she got really shitty with me and said "I saw it, ok?". Sure enough, when she gave me the receipt, that particular item wasn't reduced...

Yeah, I bought that. Tried to take it back for a refund and was refused.