Michael writes bought an electric paint roller to get through the huge amount of painting required to make his new house look nice. Eventually, its motor died, leaving Michael and his wife without painting power. All was not lost, however: Michael had saved the receipt, and the roller had a two-year warranty. A two-year warranty that the company stands behind. Now Michael has an even better roller, and wanted to share his experience with Consumerist.

Every now and then a company gets it right with customer service. My wife and I moved into our house in March 2009, and one of our very first purchases was a Wagner Power Roller – a machine with an electric pump that pumps paint through a flexible tube and into a roller for painting the bare white walls of our home. We had great success painting most of the house and recently got the machine out again to finish one of the few unpainted rooms.

The Power Roller was fine for the first day or so of the most recent painting job, but then the motor began to die. It got to the point that, if we held the roller arm in just the right position and pressed the pump button, it would pump paint for a few seconds before dying. In the wrong position, the pump would make one feeble whir and then quit.

We checked the manual and discovered that the machine came with a two-year warranty – excellent! I called Wagner to ask what I should do for warranty service, and they gave me a phone number for a local servicer. When I called that number, though, the person who answered said that Wagner was mistaken – they did not service Wagner power rollers.

Frustrated, I called Wagner again and explained the situation to another customer service rep, Kim. Kim didn’t bat an eye and immediately offered to send us a brand-new machine – although, she explained, it might not be the same exact machine we have because they don’t sell that one any more. She gave me a fax number and asked me to fax (to her personal attention) my contact information and a copy of the receipt from the purchase (good thing I keep those!).

Three days later, UPS dropped off a brand spanking new Wagner Power Roller Max at our front door. The new machine has features that the old one didn’t – it’s a better product. Kim didn’t demand that I send back the old machine or take it to someone who could verify the problem – she believed me when I said that the motor was dying and took care of the issue right then and there.

I highly recommend Wagner, not just for the quality of their machines (our first one only died after many, many, MANY hours of painting) but for the quality of their customer service.

What a great story. Happy painting!

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