Donatucci Kitchens and Appliances .... rip-off Refrigerator

Several appliances were purchased from Donatucci's kitchens and appliances on 3-10-00 amounting to over $4,400. Our home is currently under construction therefore we felt it necessary to be present when the items were to be delivered as the construction workers were present but were busy finishing up construction on our home. My mother was phoned and told that initial delivery would be Monday 3-20-00. She was then phoned on Monday and told that the appliances would be delivered Wednesday, 3-22-00.

On Tuesday 3-21-00 unbeknownst to us (no prior agreement had been made for this date), the items were delivered. The delivery persons from donatucci's removed the itmes from their respective boxes and brought them into our home with only constructions workers present to receive them (this was reported by the construction workers). The boxes were left outside. Tuesday during the day, but mostly during the night it was a tremendous downpouring of rain. This resulted in the boxes being completely destroyed, therefore they were thrown away.

We were notified on Thursday, 3-23-00 by our contractor that the refrigerator was too big to fit into the kitchen area designed for it. Donatucci's was phoned when we returned to our temporary home, however, they stated that because the box was thrown away, they would not be able to exchange the refrigerator. They suggested that we call GE, as that was one of their products, and ask them to authorize for the refrigerator to be exchanged. The GE representatives were very cordial but explained that this was in fact a problem of Donatucci kitchens and appliances and should be handled by them. Donatucci's was phoned on several occasions thereafter and even met with in person however they refused to exchange or refund our monies because of the destroyed box.

If Donatucci's had delivered the items on the scheduled days, or made arrangements with us prior to dropping off all $4,400 worth of items, we would have been present to inspect the items and retain their packaging. Also, Donatucci's was given a diagram from our contractor of our kitchen that was currently under construction at the time. The diagram listed measurements of the kitchen space so that the correct refrigerator size could be purchased. However, they apparently ignored the diagram. In addition to that, they delivered our products on a day that we were unaware of, it rained and the boxes were thrown out. Even if they were saved, they would not have been sufficient to repackage anything. Is this our fault? What should we do?

We will now have to purchase another refrigerator that fits our kitchen construction. We would like for our refrigerator to be picked up and fully refunded as their is nothing wrong with it. It is just not in its original packaging-no fault of our own. Your advice would be greatly appreciated on this matter and "please help me get my money back."

I can be contacted at joy.graves@jefferson.edu