Suning.com Shopping Experience – A God-like System and Incompetent Teammates

Last update: The person who came on Saturday didn't come, and the system notified me that it was rescheduled for Sunday. Then, in the middle of the night, I received a text message saying that someone else had come... This time, the new person called me in the morning and proactively scheduled a time with me. Their attitude was completely different from the previous ones... When they arrived, I found out they were Suning.com's own repair personnel. Their overall quality and manner of speaking were completely different from those "pretentious and cheap" people. Not only did they install it, but they also explained how to use it to my dad. After inquiring, I learned that Suning.com has its own official staff, but due to staff shortages, they've added outsourced personnel. They are unaware of each other's existence; the official system only assigns them tasks.

To be on the safe side, the official dispatch system first sends you outsourced personnel; if you're not satisfied with their service, they then send you trained and controlled high-quality repair personnel. What a gimmick!

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Update continues! The official customer service said they would call me between 9 and 11 AM today to expedite my order, but I didn't receive a call, only a text message saying they had changed delivery personnel! No one called me until noon, so I had to call my delivery person, who knew nothing – no location, no information about what I was installing, no delivery time. Then he said he was unavailable today… Why isn't Suning.com called "Suning Already Purchased"? – Suning.com is so hard to install!

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Today I'll share my experience buying appliances from Suning.com after returning to China. (And, as usual, a bit of SEO...)

Domestic e-commerce platforms in China are doing very well, offering reasonable prices and fast logistics. Basically, you can buy something one day and have it delivered to your door the next, with delivery and installation completely free. This is almost impossible in the US, where the installation fee could be almost the same as buying another appliance.

I bought a new refrigerator and washing machine for my parents during this trip back home, purchasing them both from Suning.com. Delivery and installation were scheduled for the next day. The online shopping experience was excellent overall, but the offline experience was far from ideal. The delivery personnel were very unprofessional, and the installer not only failed to show up for three consecutive days but also rudely told me, "I'm going home now, go ahead and complain."

First, something seemingly insignificant: delivering large appliances is indeed quite tiring, especially since my apartment is on the top floor without an elevator, making the deliveryman's job extremely difficult. Personally, I don't mind paying for delivery and installation, as it involves labor, but since Suning.com covered everything, they should have done a better job (we don't even know if it was added to the appliance price). The deliveryman was punctual and worked very hard, but he kept grumbling and complaining… This… ??? Imagine a black person with a question mark in their mind???

Suning.com's system is generally good; I had already scheduled an installation appointment before delivery. The refrigerator was fine, but connecting the water pipes for the washing machine was quite a hassle. The installer was scheduled for 4 PM that day, but I was told he was in Xiaoshan and his electric scooter was broken and he didn't have time (why would you be in Xiaoshan???). So we rescheduled for Wednesday, but he didn't come. We rescheduled for Thursday, still no luck, then Friday... and still no luck... Finally, he said the above. My dad left work early every day to wait, only to be disappointed each time. This kind of service is truly unacceptable.

I'm not worried about the official service of platforms like Suning.com at all. After all, the market is highly competitive these days, and every platform is optimizing its service to win over more customers. So, I went to their official website to try and file a complaint, only to find that the only channel was human customer service. It seems that selling is their main business, while delivery and installation are outsourced services, and they have very little control over these aspects.

I tried contacting customer service to report the situation. They were very experienced in this area and their replies were very polite, calm, and full of routine. Eventually, their telephone customer service contacted me very quickly. It seemed like the official team was going to intervene and expedite the order. However, they wouldn't let me change the person or schedule a fixed time. It seemed like they didn't have enough assembly staff. I wonder what kind of attitude the installer will have when he comes tomorrow.