This is where my frustration really turned to Viking. The microwave was delivered, and the installer was at my house. First, he decided to tackle the 48" side-by-side refrigerator. He unpacked it and found neither door opened properly. The hinge at the bottom of the freezer door was installed incorrectly, so the door, itself, did not open but a few degrees. The refrigerator door opened half way, but the hinge sounded like it was surrounded by broken glass. I called Barron's, they called Viking, there was some back and forth, Barron's and Viking wanted to send people out in a week or two to assess, but, reluctantly, Barron's eventually decided to make it right by delivering a replacement refrigerator a few days later. Viking did not initially step to the plate. In fact, the Viking rep told me in a strongly worded declaration that the appliances were yet to be installed and, therefore, Barron's problem. Ultimately, I did not know who was responsible for the defective refrigerator in my possession. But, to the point of this post, Viking sold to Barron's, who then resold to me, a very expensive and very heavy paperweight. The outcome: I had to wait for the refrigerator before the installer would come back out, but the dishwasher and microwave were installed that day. Other than a loose dishwasher handle, which I was able to tighten, these appliances were fine.

The following week, the installer was back at my house. He installed the refrigerator and told me that while the doors opened and closed as they should, the doors did not line up top to bottom. They were out of axis and considerably so. A call to Barron’s left me assured that this would be easily addressed by their service department. I was not thrilled that I needed to have a repair person out, but, at this point, their response was satisfactory. I won’t refer to this refrigerator as defective like the last; however, it was the second very expensive Viking refrigerator delivered to my door that should have failed QC. Doors not lining up, that’s a problem that I wouldn’t expect from a mid-range GE or Whirlpool (two very good brands, I’m not bashing them in any way), let alone a high-end Viking. The outcome: another missed day of work to meet the repairman.

That same day, the installer installed the range but, wouldn’t you know it, there were a few problems. Besides the loose handle that he quickly tightened, the door, and this is the best I can do to describe the situation, was loosely sitting on the hinge. The hinge itself was tight, but the one side of the door wasn’t really connected and didn’t make a tight seal to the oven. When I say it wasn’t really connected, the left side of the door sagged by ~ ¾ inch. The installer did not want to mess with it, and I don’t blame him. Additionally, the bottom of the inside of the range was considerably off center. This was just a cosmetic thing, but come on. The outcome: although I already needed the repairman to come out and fix the refrigerator, I was out of a functioning oven for a few weeks.

As it turns out, the service Barron’s uses does not work on Viking, so, when they eventually sent someone out, they sent the Viking repairman for the region. This was The guy, The Viking guy. Since I was unable to be there that day, my general contractor let him in. I had specifically told several people at Viking what the issues were, including the person who runs the show at the Viking service company. They even had pictures that showed the issues. The Viking repairman was there an hour or so and called me as he was leaving. Apparently the oven door and refrigerator doors were fixed, but he noticed a plastic clip was broken or missing from the range drip tray. He needed to order another and would be back after it arrived. I got home a few hours later and was able to tell within a few seconds that neither door issue had truly been addressed. The oven door was still as loose as it had been, and the refrigerator doors were still off, just in a different plane. The Viking repairman was ineffective in fixing either problem. The outcome: more repairman visits and more time without a functioning oven.

At this point, I called Barron’s to let them know about my dissatisfaction. Barron’s agreed to send out their own service person. A week or two went by before the service rep was at my house. He first tackled the oven door. The door was removed, the inner panel of the door was subsequently taken off, and the issue was immediately clear. There was a screw missing. It didn’t fall off. It wasn’t there, and there was no way for it to fall out of that space. He replaced the screw and the door was fixed. This was such a simple thing that made such a visible and functional impact on the product. How did that unit make it through Viking QC? Finally, more than a month after delivery, I had a functioning oven, albeit with a cosmetic issue inside. The outcome: no more oven worries other than the plastic clip.

Next came the refrigerator. The Barron’s repairman adjusted the doors again and successfully reintroduced the same misalignment that was there prior to the Viking rep’s visit. The repairman then told me that he had done what he could do. Outcome: same status as before.

Another call to Barron’s and Viking, and Viking agreed to send someone out after some pressure from Barron’s, which was brought on by my complaining to Barron’s. I got a call from the same Viking service rep, who said that he would come out when he got the plastic piece for the range that he had ordered weeks before. It still hadn’t come in at that point. I asked for a timeline but wasn’t given one. I called Viking back and complained. The Viking customer service rep agreed this wasn’t right and told me that she would push Viking service to come earlier. Her advocacy apparently fell on deaf ears. I waited about a month before I needed to take another day off of work to meet with the Viking repairman, who showed up plastic clip in hand. This was despite multiple calls/emails to Barron’s/Viking. The repairman fixed the range in a few minutes and then shifted his focus to the refrigerator. He manipulated the doors using several adjustments for a good 30-40 minutes but was unable to get them in plane. Finally, he said he did what he could do and took some pictures and measurements for Viking. At that point, two repairmen were unable to fix the issue and said that there was nothing left to do. The repairman said that he would submit everything to Viking and that I would hear back shortly. The outcome: a lot of frustration with no real change and waiting on a phone call.

A week or so went by before I heard from Viking. According to Viking, and I quote, “the unit is functional.” Viking is unwilling to replace the unit. They concede nothing can be done, but insist the unit is functional. Barron’s agreed the doors should sit flush. The units on the showroom floor had flush doors. The units in pictures on the website had flush doors. My unit, however, did not. I did find out that the Viking repairman blamed the doors on the cabinetry. The opening for the refrigerator was apparently too small. He tried this excuse with me, but I explained to him that, despite his years of experience, basic physics excludes his convenient choice of a root cause (for what it’s worth, I have a terminal degree in a scientific field that requires a deep undestanding of applied physics). Moreover, I know that the
cabinet space was not too narrow, I pushed it back into place, and the cabinet was built specifically to the specifications of this particular model. Because this is a built in refrigerator, The Viking service guy needed to uninstall the unit to confirm his suspicion, but he told me that he doesn’t do uninstalls/reinstalls. Fair enough, but then I was in a catch 22. Viking used him as the expert to assess responsibility, but the expert won’t do what it takes to reasonably confirm his diagnosis. Therefore, Viking feels exonerated. I would need to pay an installer to uninstall the refrigerator, have the Viking serviceman back out to see that the opening is large enough, and then pay the installer to reinstall the unit. This would all take weeks, cost hundreds of dollars, and lead to more refrigerator down time.

Yes, there was and still is one more lever to pull. I could dispute the charge through the credit card company. As tempted as I am to do so, it would ultimately lead to more down time without a refrigerator and could end up in court. I have thrown my hands up and accepted defeat. The ultimate outcome is this. I will never buy another Viking appliance, and I will never step foot into another Barron’s.

Friends don’t let friends buy Viking.

Dispute the charge and include documentation. Try to stay concise.

The credit card company will try to negotiate on your behalf. Some companies are better than others though.

So, no guarantee you'll win the dispute. But it tends to light a fire under the dealers behind and often gets them to start doing what they should have done all along.

“Dispute the charge and include documentation. Try to stay concise.”

Agree 100%, especially the concise part. I couldn’t get through your three long posts, and the first paragraph of the first post summed it up anyway. If I couldn’t get through your lengthy treatise, the people you need to be on your side won’t read it either.

Duh. Reading comprehension and about 100 posts on these forums would have saved you. At least you are willing to put this out there. Probably for others who won’t bother to read and research either. But, it’s out there.

Can I ask how much time has gone by since the first installation started? Unbelievable. And more unbelievable that they haven’t remedied it. I think I’d start posting on their Twitter account at this point...

Drive by poster, just found Houzz looking for places to dump a poor review that could have been avoided with a little research.

Haha... I see this forum is no different from all the others. Well, I guess I should say some people on this forum are no different.

Monday-morning quarterbacking aside, thanks for the encouragement to dispute the charge. I'm working a different angle right now. Some of you may get that.

My primary motivation, however, is to share a story that could help someone else avoid a similar headache. When you do a Google search to look for Viking reviews, you inevitably end up on a site like gardenweb or another one of a handful of forums. The opinions seem to fit in one of three catagories: pre-merger (2013), which tend to be less than positive, just after merger, which seem to be mixed, and more recent, which are fairly positive. Like I said in my very first sentence, I thought Viking issues were in the past. I was wrong.