The worst customer service experience ever

Finally a full fridge after two months!

Before you read this post, please read my original post and the update about our Kitchenaid fridge. 


A few days after I posted the last update, the lady from Whirlpool Executive office (  Let's call her WEO lady because I don't want to give out her real name on a public forum. I am still nice even though she was very rude. I found it interesting that when I googled her name, I found two other blog posts by unhappy Whirlpool customers complaining about her attitude and Whirlpool customer service )called again with a new offer. Her new offer was to give us a different model  (not a built-in so it is cheaper) for more reasonable price, approximately the amount of money it would have cost us to repair the fridge had they had the parts. R and I decided to take the offer. Some friends suggested that we should ask them to reimburse money for the spoiled food and the inconvenience. We didn't because 1) I simply don't have the energy or time for more negotiation 2) The offer seemed like a reasonable one.

Kitchenaid refrigerator woes update

Someone from whirlpool office called today regarding our broken refrigerator. Their latest offer is that we need to pay $3000 to replace the broken refrigerator.  First they wanted us to pay $5000. Then $4000. Now $3000. She said that this is their final offer.  In the mean time we have been living without a proper refrigerator for more than a month. 

It is about time to take our business elsewhere.  We have bought about $20 000 worth of kitchenaid/whirlpool appliances when we bought the house. Let's see.. In the past 5.5 years since we moved into this house, the refrigerator broke and cannot be repaired, the dishwasher broke twice, and the spring mechanism in the built-in microwave broke twice. The first time we paid big bucks to repair the microwave thru a Kitchenaid service person. The second time we didn't bother to repair it.  Oh, the oven kept beeping at 10:00pm for no reason the other day, but we will ignore it since it didn't cost us anything. 

If you are in the market for any major appliance, don't buy Kitchenaid unless you are willing to buy brand new appliances every five years and willing to deal with their horrible customer service.

I am currently researching to find a good refrigerator in $1500-$2500 price range. We prefer bottom freezer, stainless steel, energy efficient refrigerator. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. I would also love to hear about your positive customer service stories. Do you have any positive stories to share (not just refrigerator related, but any positive customer service experience)?

Kitchenaid curse

If you haven't read my original post you can read it here.  There is also an on going discussion on Kitchenaid facebook page. 
 
Last night we had another adventure with another Kitchenaid appliance. I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. 

Yesterday at 10:15pm our Kitchenaid oven microwave combo started beeping with the msg " probe temp 160. Insert the probe".  The oven wasn't on.  When I used the oven the day before to make watillappam, I spilled some water inside the oven. The water evaporated quickly because the oven was working at that time. BTW, I have a great recipe for watillapaam. I'll post it some other day.

The oven microwave combo is another expensive kitchenaid appliance we bought from the builder when we bought the house 5.5 years ago.

When the oven started beeping I first pressed cancel. But the oven continued to beep. I tried pressing other (random) buttons, still the beeping continued. I found the user manual and looked for  information on how to cancel the message. Nothing.  That would have been too easy and Kitchenaid really likes to keep us on on our toes. Then I Googled and found out that the message was probably displayed because the probe sensor was incorrectly activated due the moisture inside the oven. I have no idea why it took more than 24 hours.  Long story short, I let the oven run for 20 mins at 350 with the probe in. It seem to have worked.

Phew.. I was able to avoid another salesperson visit, and customer service phone calls and associated expenses for now.  Should I dedicate my entire blog for Kitchenaid nightmares?

Kitchenaid Refrigirator woes

Our built-in Kitchenaid refrigerator came with our brand new house we purchased in April 2007. The builder's cost for it was $6988.00.  A month ago it slowly started dying. When we noticed the first symptoms (the intermittent alarm sound, the digital display flashing, the refrigerator section slowly stopping to function etc.,) we contacted Kitchenaid customer service.

The technician who came to examine the refrigerator told us that the control board needed to be fixed and ordered the part. He came back after a week with the new part. But the part didn't work with our model. He then called Kitchenaid in USA and found out that Kitchenaid doesn't make the control board for our model anymore. The technician said it is due to a factory closure in Japan.

He told us that we needed to talk to Kitchenaid about our next course of action and left.

We called Kitchenaid customer service again; they first told us that they can't do anything because the refrigerator is not under warranty.   After much pleading they finally told us that they can deliver a similar model  if we pay $4000. The same model costs around $7000 at Appliances Canada.

We are family of four with two small kids, and have been without a refrigerator for more than three weeks now. As you can imagine it is a frustrating experience.

Besides, when we bought the $7000  energy efficient but expensive refrigerator we expected it to last at least ten years, so it makes no sense, neither financially nor environmentally, to be forced to buy another refrigerator so soon.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation?   All our current appliances are Kitchenaid  and Whirlpool. Is it time to look for another brand that lasts more than 5 years?

Timeline:

1. Oct 10 :  Drafted the above letter and first send it to Ellen Roseman of Toronto Star.  
2. Oct 11 :  Ellen responded the next day. She said she has heard similar appliances related concerns. She also said that she would ask her Kitchenaid contacts about this case. I sent her the model number and my address as per request.
3. Oct 14 : I posted the above message on Facebook on Kitchenaid Canada(facebook)'s wall. You can click on the link to see my post and on-going discussion.
4. Oct 16 : Kitchenaid Canada(facebook) replied on Facebook and asked me to send a private message.
5. Oct 17: I sent a private message to KitchenaidCanada(facebook) . I included the original ticket number, and our model number.
6.  Oct 18 : Kitchendaid Canada(facebook)  responded to say that Customer service will contact me shortly. They asked for my contact info.
7.  Oct 18: I sent my email, home number, and cell number to Kitchendaid Canada(facebook).