Bonaire Evaporative Cooler – Example of Poor Customer Service

I paid $5,000 for a new Bonaire Evaporative Cooler. The motor seized up during a heat wave, and it was only 4 years old. I phoned Climate Technologies (the company that builds Bonaire Evaporative Coolers) who said the earliest they can get a technician to my home is 7 days. I phoned their competitor and they were able to get a technician to my home in 2 days, so I had Climate Technologies’ competitor fix their cooler.

The technician replaced the motor and said the water pump is noisier than usual but it is working ok at the moment. I am grateful to my insurance company who paid $1,100 for replacing the motor, and I only had to pay $100.

I wrote a letter to the Climate Technologies Managing Director complaining about his product only lasting 4 years, the delay of 7 days to get a technician, having to pay $100, the water pump being noisy, and his website www.bonaire.com.au promising “……. so you can rest assured you’ll stay cool for years to come” (I would reasonably assume that would mean more than 4 years).

All I received back from one of his staff was a letter telling me how much they would have charged for a new motor, that I should have had the cooler serviced once a year (not that that would have helped for a seized motor), they couldn’t send a technician for 7 days because there was a heatwave and they were busy (even though their competitor sent a technician within 2 days), and they value my feedback (but didn’t do anything about it!).

Here are a few things they could have done in response to my complaint letter:

To back their product:
Provide a 5 year guarantee on the new motor (this would not have cost them anything because the motor should last more than 5 years).

To provide good customer service:
Send a technician to check the water pump (this would be of minimal cost to them).

Go the extra mile:
As a gesture of good faith and the inconvenience I experienced, provide me the $100 I had to pay to replace their faulty motor.