On Christmas day, the oven of my 20+ year old gas range stopped working suddenly with the turkey partially cooked. On Boxing day, I searched online for a retailer with stock of a suitable ranges. Lastman's Bad Boy claimed they had 6 of a particular range coming in mid January, and if I ordered right away they would ensure one is allocated to me. So I placed the order. They verbally promised the range by January 15.
Then January 15 came and went with no word.
What followed was an agonizingly difficult effort to get someone from Bad Boy to communicate. Several phone messages and several e-mails went unresponded to. I spoke to someone at head office finally who assured me she would look into it and call me back.
Not a word did I hear.
The order support department had a phone queue. I waited the first time for 30 minutes, without an answer. The second time 45 minutes, no answer.
I called the store and they just put me on hold and left me there.
It was clear Bad Boy was making it intentionally difficult to communicate and actively frustrated anyone from calling.
I had found another merchant who had the range in stock and could deliver it next day. But I wanted the Bad Boy order cancelled first.
I waited 90 minutes on hold, listening to a most annoying music track that makes "it's a small world" a delightful change.
When I finally got a person on the line, he simply said they had ordered the product specifically for me. As such all sales are finally and the order cannot be cancelled. He refused to do anything else.
I started an email and telephone campaign demanding the order be cancelled.
By January 28 someone from head office finally called me. He said they have a corporate policy never to cancel an order. He said he would get me a range. He promised to call me the next day., He gave me his direct line number. I called him the next morning and said even if he finds a range, I won't take it. I didn't want to do business with Bad Boy. I insisted I want the order cancelled. He refused. he said he would call me back in the afternoon.
He called me back, offered several inferior products before finally acquiescing and agreed to cancel the order.
Here a copy of my email that I think might have turned the tide:
"It's a fact I was given a delivery date of mid January, albeit verbally, but I was given this assurance before I ordered the product from you. In this way you have missed your delivery date.
I have always been quite aware of the market conditions the pandemic has caused. I was careful to search out a merchant with a product that was either in stock, or was receiving the stock imminently.
Your sales staff made false representations to that end to induce me to order the product from you.
From your email response you continue to misrepresent the situation. To put it bluntly... you can't be trusted.
I want to believe that the supplier is delaying shipment. But my enquiries with other merchants is they have stock of the particular item. Yet another fact you have misrepresented.
I could order the product from another merchant, but you won't release me from my order.
I want to be patient and wait for the product to be delivered from you, but I have no confidence of when I will get it. I have a range that died on Christmas day. I need the replacement NOW! I don't have the luxury of patience.
Consider that, whenever the product does come in, you will almost certainly find someone else to buy it. so it's not like you are losing money. But you are losing a great deal more by continuing your current course of action.
So, please release me and cancel my order. "
The entire process took over a month.
I have since read many reviews about Lastman's Bad Boy, and there is a common thread:
Their salespeople use pressure tactics and misrepresentations to induce customers to give them the order. Then they make it difficult to communicate with them. There is absolutely no integrity in their business.
The better business bureau currently has an alert to consumers about them. I invite all to read it.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,200.00