washer was a defect when i got it.
Complaint
Debra Miller
Country: United States
THE WASHER WAS BROKE WHEN I GOT IT THE SERVICE MAN CAME OUT CHECKED IT ORDER A DRUM AND ALL THE BARRINGS HE SAID THEY WERE DESTROYED,THAT WAS 3 WEEKS AGO I CALLED THEM TO SEE WHAT THE HOLD UP WAS,THEY SAID IT WAS ON BACK ORDER.I HADN'T HEARD ANYTHIG.I CALLED AGAIN STAYED ON HOLD 1:45 MINUTES,THEN CALLED HOME DEPOT WAS TOLD IT HAD BEEN DISCONTINUED AND THEY WERE DELIEVERING ME A NEW WASHER AFTER I HAD TO CALL CONTINUSLEY AND STILL NOT HAVE RECIEVED A NEW WASHER YET. I THINK IF I PAID 1,600.00 FOR THE BEST WASHER AND DRYER I SHOULD HAVE ONE THAT ACTUALLY WORKS! DO NOT BUY ANYTHING THAT IS MAYTAG BRAND,I AM CALLING MY ATTORNEY TOMMOROW AND GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PROBLEM!
Comments
I purchased a Maytag 4000 series washer in May of 2012 and never noticed any loud noise coming from the machine. Over a year I got used to it becoming progressively louder, but I never thought much of it. Now it's June of 2013 (1 month out of warranty) and the machine finally failed halfway through a cycle. For reference, the model # is MHWE450WJ02 and the serial # is CS12102342. I pulled the back and top panels to inspect the damage. As expected, there is about 15 degrees of deflection in the driveshaft, and a rusty watermark leading from the bearing center down the outside of the tub. Bearing failure, plain and simple.
My first call to customer service was short. They refused the serial number I gave them under some accusation that it wasn't valid. I had repeated it back to the rep twice, but it still wasn't excepted. He requested that I send the original receipt in and that it would take two days for them to process the email. I sent in the email with a scan of the receipt along with a photo of the model/serial/PO #s taken from the back panel of the machine.
My second call to customer service took forever. Luckily the email I had sent was processed for the rep to use. He quickly entered in the information and the system immediately recognized my serial number. This was my first hint that there were some defense tactics in play. With the info in the system, I was finally able to state my problem. I kindly stated that my machine was defective from day one, had degraded over time since the day it was purchased, and is now unusable after 13 months. I asked for a service repair to be paid for by Maytag to repair the machine. He stated that there was only a 12 month warranty, period, and that nothing was covered beyond that. I pleaded again that the noise and vibration occurred within a year, but no progress was made.
I then reminded him that the warranty is NOT just for 12 months, but drops off in what's covered in years 2-5 and 6-10. I told him that the rear half of the tub includes the bearings as one assembly, and that it should be covered as part of the tank. He went on hold for a few minutes and then came back to tell me that the bearings still weren't covered. Again, another questionable play on their part.
Then I asked him if it falls under any kind of recall. He goes on hold again to check. When he returns he mentions that there have been other bearing recalls, but not on my model number. Hmm, I wonder if that's because I bought the decorative brown colored machine, and not plain white? Yet again, more diversion.
I'm fed up and low on options at this point, so I ask how much a repair will cost. He gives me one option for a regular service call, and another option to order the service plus plan. A regular repair would be a $129 flat rate plus parts from $200 to $400. The service plus plan would be $329, but it would cover the repair in full, plus any repairs in the next year. Keep in mind that I paid $700 for the unit new. I really was hoping to get this fix done free, but it seemed that they were unwilling to make good on this. I didn't want to walk away yet, since I have a brown dryer that wouldn't match any new washer I bought. Also, note that Maytag goes through local appliance tech companies for service calls. They go out on site, make the determination of the damage, call Maytag for authorization, perform the work, and wait for reimbursement. This will come into play later.
I caved and ordered the service plus plan and set up the appointment. What really threw me off is that he told me that he deliberately was going to exclude any mention of the bearings in the service call. This was because, and I'll try to match words as best as I can, other techs see this particular issue and refuse to service the units. He said that this way I would have a better chance of getting a bad diagnosis from the tech. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I hung on the line to get all of the appointment info. I had to rush to work because this call had taken an hour, but I did some thinking throughout the day.
I finally got the service contract legalese in my inbox this afternoon and had a chance to read through it this evening. It notes that their limit to liability is the less of 1) the labor and parts to repair my washer 2) 75% of the price I paid for my machine ($525), or 3) the price of the service contract. My service appointment is on June 27 2013, so I'll see how that goes and post here later.
As a side note, I also got a call from the local tech at home while I was out. I wonder if that was them preemptively trying to gauge the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if they were calling to tell me that I was wasting my time.
I've been contemplating today whether I've just thrown more money down the toilet. The only thing that motivates me to continue this debacle is that they must be doing the same to keep up. When it's all said in done in a month, I'll have paid $329 for the plan. They'll have paid $129 for the tech, and I assume $200 for parts.
In another 9 months when that goes, I'll probably get the buyout for $525, recouping the $329 from the plan and getting back another $200 that actually starts going back against the purchase price of the washer.
In the end, this washing machine will have cost me $350 a year, or roughly $30 a month. It's about the same as a laundromat, but barely more convenient considering weekly drives versus all of the run-around. I'm disappointed to say the least. Hopefully this info is useful to others that follow in that you know what to expect from Maytag customer service. I'm convinced that they know this is a bigger problem than what they allude to. If nothing else, remember that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I may have given in for now, but I'd be willing to litigate if the opportunity presented itself.
I waited for two days and called back on a Saturday. I was told that it wasn't a regular working day for the decision makers, so I would have to call back Monday. On Tuesday I called, and talked to an Assurance rep for about 5 minutes to explain the issue and clarified that no work had been done on the washer. After going through an authorization or two, she refunded my $330 that I had spent on the service contract. For me, this was all I was hoping to get from the service contract. I had assumed from the start that Assurance wasn't interested in exceeding their limit of liability under the plan. Once again, the fine print states that it's the lesser of the repair cost, depreciated replacement cost, or the price of the plan. I had broken even on Assurance as far as cost goes, and also got an unbiased assessment of the damage.
Now it's the 15th of July, and I've been without my washer for about 3 weeks. I'm split between the cost and effort of repairing it myself, or the cost and effort of getting a remedy from Maytag. Since the tech had ordered a replacement tub, and the warranty covers tub parts for 5 years, I might have a shot at getting Maytag to spring for free parts. It would just be the hassle of swapping it out. More to come.
The dryer door opens does not remain closed....enough to stop the machine and leave me to discover wet clothes. The washer is the SLOWEST thing on the planet, taking 45 minutes to wash a load of clothes.
I hate these products. I wasted my money. I'm going to have to sell this crap, take a loss, and replace with conventional machines (NOT MAYTAG) in order to have a satisfactory experience with clothes washing.
Maytag Front Loader 3000 series
Model no. mhwe300vw00
Please include me
Email: carlomoretti1970@gmail.com