Don’t get stuck with a lemon
Push appliance makers for replacement product if your problems persist
You have a major appliance, still under warranty, that is acting up. Despite several repairs, the problem keeps coming back. Are you entitled to a replacement? That’s a tough question. Unlike in each U.S. state, Canada has no lemon laws requiring manufacturers to buy back defective cars or appliances if they can’t be repaired within a certain period of time.
Readers often tell me about refrigerators, stoves and washing machines that don’t work properly in the first or second year of ownership. Frustrated with repeated service calls, they plead for a new machine. Instead, they are shuffled back and forth between the manufacturer, the retailer and the authorized service provider.
Here are three cases in which I helped get finicky appliances replaced. Washer woes Claudio Moreira bought a Samsung front-loader washing machine from Lowes.ca in February 2016. By October, the washer started to leak.
“We called Samsung and booked a service appointment through a company called NEAS in Barrie,” said Moreira, who lives in Thornton, south of Barrie.
“Over the next few months, our washer has leaked many more times. We had a total of seven service calls through Samsung and NEAS. Various parts were replaced, but my family finds itself with a washer that leaks some days and doesn’t leak some days.”
Samsung told him the washer could be replaced only if NEAS wrote a report saying it was not repairable. The service contractor didn’t want to do so, since it couldn’t find the source of the leak.
“We feel abandoned,” he said. “My wife and I have spent countless hours on the phone and in person trying to get our washer fixed. An $820 appliance should last more than eight months and not leak.”
Samsung spokesperson Jennifer Groh helped escalate his complaint. One week after I intervened, Moreira’s problematic washing machine had been swapped with a new one. Stove stress Semir Kezazic had a problem with his $4,000 Electrolux stove, purchased at Home Depot and delivered last October to his home.
“The light in the oven goes on, although no one touches it,” he said. “It starts to warm the oven, since the heat is on, too. This happens randomly and even when we are out of the condo.”
Kezazic and his wife Mirjana are retired and both have a B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering. They were surprised when Electrolux asked them to provide a video to show when the problem occurred.
“Even if we were able to make a video of a completely random event, why is that important?” he asked. They felt there was a potential hazard that no one was taking seriously. Last December, Home Depot sent an electrician who said everything was OK and did not give a written report.
In January, two electricians checked the stove and spoke to Electrolux by phone. While they were finishing their paperwork, the oven light went on without anyone touching it. The stove’s electronic circuit board would be replaced, they were told. Until then, they had to turn off the breaker each time they left the apartment.
“Home Depot has been trying to help, but Electrolux still insists we have to videotape the issue the next time it happens,” he said in May.
Within days, Electrolux spokesperson Eloise Hale helped ensure they would get a new stove. She knows that customers who pay top dollar for an appliance deserve deluxe treatment.
“We appreciate you bringing these to our attention,” Hale said. Fridge frustration I also helped Jerry Brown replace his refrigerator, installed last February after a kitchen renovation. It’s a Frigidaire model made by Electrolux.
The fridge failed on May 12. Repair firm Elite Appliances told him it needed a comprehensive rebuild, since it had lost all the refrigerant gas and the compressor had been running for four days without lubrication.
“I would be left with a ‘rebuilt’ fridge and the balance of the warranty, not a new appliance,” Brown said. “I asked Frigidaire for a replacement unit, given the newness of the one we bought. They blew me off, saying I had a manufacturer’s repair warranty and that was all.”
After I got involved, Electrolux approved a replacement fridge. But it didn’t arrive until almost a month after the previous one failed. Frustrated by the delivery delay, Brown was preparing a case to file in small claims court. I wrote back to Hale, who helped get things on track after learning about the holdup.
“Under no circumstances would any managers speak to me. They would give no timeline when they would resolve things,” Brown said.
“For really good service, Electrolux would reimburse us for what we spent on a second-hand bar fridge and the food we lost.” Ellen’s advice Today, appliance manufacturers use more electronic components and introduce models more frequently than they did in the past. They are less likely to offer long-term warranties, or to stock parts for a long time.
If your appliance needs repeated repairs under warranty or soon after, keep pushing for a new product. If you get nowhere, try going to court. Ellen Roseman’s column appears each week in Smart Money.