Arrowhead And Sparkletts Customer Service Doesn't Hold Water
Until recently, our office found the promise of bottled water service too convenient to ignore, even with mounting environmental concerns over the wastefulness of the plastic bottles and research that found spring water neither tastier nor healthier than tap water.Representatives of the two major water delivery companies, Sparkletts and Arrowhead, regularly stop by our small office building in downtown Los Angeles to sell their service over their competitors, which is annoying enough, but just as often an Arrowhead rep would stop by to ask if we wanted Arrowhead water, despite the fact that, until recently, we already had it. The same was true when we used Sparkletts; their representatives seemed clueless about who their customers were.
We ordered Sparkletts, a division of DS Waters, early last year, and were quoted a monthly price for cooler rental and water delivery that seemed reasonable. Within two months, however, Sparkletts was delivering more water than we asked for or not delivering it at all. Online management of the account proved useless, as water would come (or not) regardless of the adjustments we made to our online account.
After a bill of more than $150 appeared for water we hadn't received and service we never got, we cancelled our account. We even paid the bill. Phone representatives scheduled and then rescheduled pickups of the cooler. No one ever showed up. Finally we managed to collar a delivery person who took the cooler away and gave us a receipt, months after the scheduled pickup date.
An Arrowhead representative came by a few days later. At first we were reluctant to renew water service, but he listened to our concerns and guaranteed better service than his competitor. "It's a friendly competition," he said. "We always steal each other's customers." He even set up delivery to my home.
At no point in the few months we used Arrowhead did they ever get a delivery right. In fact, we did a little research to see if they were, in fact, the same company as Sparkletts, as both companies demonstrated the same lack of customer service. Too much water would come or no water would come. Starbucks coffee would be delivered (and billed) when none had been ordered.
But we were lazy, too; our own complacency profits companies that provide poor service. It is the same principle that has made a cash cow out of gift cards and extended warranties; it has been estimated that as much as 40 percent of gift cards go unredeemed. Easy money.
It was easier, too, to pay a high bill than spend time tracking down a customer service number, complaint line, or supervisor's e-mail.
But when our cooler stopped dispensing cold water, we reluctantly sprang into action.
An Arrowhead phone rep told us our cooler would be replaced the next day. This was surprising, as no one in the building had seen their Arrowhead guy for several weeks (this was all right, too, because everyone was already overstocked with water). But no one came.
Then we called back. The Arrowhead phone rep had no record of our call. We decided to cancel our service. Her supervisor got on the line and then informed us that Yes, there was a record of our call about a "leaky cooler." Nope, we said, there was no leak, it just didn't dispense cold water.
She reduced our bill to $28 (from a dumbfounding $93), cancelled our account, assured us that the call had been recorded, and guaranteed that the coolers would be picked at my home and our office on February 14. No one came.
A week later we e-mailed Arrowhead. Their response was:
Dear Valued Customer,No one came on the 21st, either. Today we logged into our (discontinued?) Arrowhead account and found that our bill had doubled to $56, and that deliveries were still being scheduled.
Thank you for using arrowheadwater.com. We apologize for the inconvenience
caused. A service order has been placed to pick up your Hot & Cold
Cooler on 02/21/08.
A representative is required to sign the receipt for pick-up. If this
date is not convenient, please respond to this email or call on Customer
Service Center at 800-950-9393 to select another date.
If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us. We appreciate
you for choosing Arrowhead as your water service provider.
Sincerely,
Simi. T.D.
We sent the following letter:
Dear Arrowhead,We enclosed a bill for $400, 200 bucks a month for each cooler. Maybe they'll surprise us by paying it? It could happen.
As you know, I cancelled my water service on February 12 due to poor customer service. This has included inaccurate deliveries, missed deliveries, and overbilling. In early February I called to replace a water cooler that was not dispensing cold water. I was given a date when a new cooler would be delivered, and it wasn't.
At that point I called customer service to ask when I would be receiving my replacement cooler and why - again - a representative failed to show up or even call. At first, the operator had no record of my calling. Then her supervisor got on the line and said that Yes, we have a record of your calling about a leaky cooler.
At that point, since it was clear to me that you didn't know what you were doing and that you didn't care about your customers, I cancelled my service. I stayed on the line as the supervisor reduced my bill to $28. She then scheduled a date when my cooler would be picked up, two days later.
I asked her if she guaranteed that, and she said Yes.
Then, when no one showed up, I wrote you a letter. You then responded that you would pick up my cooler on February 21.
As you would not be surprised to know, no one came. No one bothered to call. And today, when I logged into my account, I saw that my bill had increased!
There are many other customers in my office building who have had similar problems with you and your lack of service. A neighbor who moved out of her office months ago still has several Arrowhead empties outside her door. That is a great advertisement for your company. Myself, I placed my broken cooler outside the door for a week before I realized you had forgotten.
And at least once a month someone representing Arrowhead comes to my door and asks if I want water. You don't even know who your customers are.
I demand that you erase my bill, cancel my account, and take my water cooler away. I am also attaching a bill for water cooler storage.
We're buying a Brita filter.
Labels: arrowhead, consumer, consumer outrage, customer service, environment, office, sparkletts, water
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