Problem Solved: A half-baked LG refund on my failed microwave

Q: I purchased an LG NeoChef Microwave earlier this year. It failed within a month or two. I contacted LG and the company promised to refund the purchase price.

I sent LG proof of purchase and pictures of the model labels to their online portal, as requested. LG said it did not get them. I sent them again via the site — same response.

I asked to speak with a supervisor on the phone. A representative said none were available. I reached out to a customer service executive by email, who requested I forward her the proof. I sent the same documents. She then emailed me and said they had all the documents they need to proceed with my refund.

It’s been more than three months since I initiated the request for a refund. I have emailed, live computer chatted, telephoned and sent emails to their website. They have promised time and time again that someone will get back to me. No one has.

I would like a check for the full amount of the original microwave price. This is what they have promised from day one. I have spent hours and hours on the phone and probably the equivalent of a lost day’s wages. Can you help?

Mary Biber, Westland, Michigan

A: LG shouldn’t have sold you a failing microwave, of course. But if it did — and if it promised you a prompt refund — then the least it can do is follow through. Ah, but it’s never that simple, is it?

First, you had technical problems when submitting your paperwork. I think you might have been able to fix that by switching web browsers. Forms are temperamental, a fact I know from many years of receiving help requests through a form on my nonprofit consumer advocacy site. Sometimes, you just have to switch from Chrome to Firefox and it works.

Once a supervisor from LG acknowledged your forms, it should have taken two weeks, not more than two months, to issue your refund.

Perhaps the web form isn’t the only thing that doesn’t work at LG. You could have appealed this to a customer service manager at LG. I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the LG executives on my consumer advocacy site.

One potentially complicating factor: In addition to a $187 refund, you also requested compensation for your lost wages. Typically, companies don’t compensate their customers for lost time, although they should. Adding that to your request might have slowed down the process.

I contacted LG on your behalf. A representative called you and agreed to send you a check for the full amount you had paid for the microwave, as promised.

Christopher Elliott’s latest book is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). You can get real-time answers to any consumer question on his forum, elliott.org/forum, or by emailing him at chris@elliott.org.