Appliances just aren’t what they used to be
There’s a sense of urgency when one of your trusted household warriors suddenly stops working
Appliance woes are a recurring theme among my readers. I’m talking about washers, dryers, fridges, stoves and dishwashers.
The major complaints about major appliances: 1) Nothing lasts as long as it used to. Instead of getting 30 to 40 years with a household machine, you are lucky to get 15 to 20 years. 2) Manufacturers give only one-year warranties, often forcing you to dispose of fairly new appliances because repair costs are high and parts are in short supply. 3) Retailers sell extended warranties for up to four years, but these service plans are expensive and rely on repair providers that are not always reliable.
There’s a sense of urgency when a trusted household warrior suddenly stops working.
There’s also a question of how many technicians’ visits you have to endure.
What if your appliance can’t be fixed? Are you entitled to a replacement or refund? And at what price? Take the case of Tony Lombardi, who bought a Bosch Silence Plus dishwasher in January 2017 for $1,450 at Lowe’s Canada in Belleville, Ont.
Eighteen months later, an error code came up and the machine stopped working.
Bosch said the one-year warranty had expired. It referred the couple to Lowe’s repair contractor, Transglobal Service. The couple paid $180 for a new part. But the error code came back within four minutes of operation.
Tony and his wife Sara have four children, ages 8 to 16. They wanted a dishwasher that worked properly after their previous dishwasher flooded and ruined the first floor and basement of their house.
Transglobal made several attempts to fix the error code problem, but the family was still washing dishes by hand at the end of November.
I found Bosch, a German manufacturer with a reputation for quality engineering, hard to reach. So, I contacted the retailer instead.
“Providing excellent customer service is of utmost importance to us,” said Lowe’s Canada spokesperson Andrea Danielle Wong. “We have communicated with the customer in order to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and are now looking into having a new dishwasher delivered to the customer’s home shortly to replace the defective one.”
Lombardi said it was a huge relief not to worry about the machine breaking down again.
“We are hosting 18 people on Christmas Day and know the new dishwasher will be very helpful.” Dina Simon was unhappy with her Whirlpool washing machine, purchased at Hudson’s Bay Co. in 2015. She paid $1,400, plus $260 for four years of extended warranty coverage.
“From the first day, it made a horrible noise when spinning, like a rocket taking off,” she said.
“It doesn’t happen every time, but often.”
Four house calls later, the loud sounds continued. Technicians diagnosed the problem as overloading the washer (balance), underloading the washer (balance), rattling hoses in the back and an uneven floor.
None of these fixes resolved the problem.
Simon was shouting with glee after I sent her complaint to HBC and its repair contractor Warrantech.
“They have offered to pay us the original cost of the machine. We can now purchase a new one that will work properly,” she said.
Greta Linton had a breakdown with her Maytag washing machine, bought from Home Depot in 2015.
She complained that Comerco and Transglobal, the companies that handle the extended warranties on the retailer’s behalf, were slow to provide help.
When she called on Aug. 1, she couldn’t get a technician until Aug. 15. He needed a part and promised to come back in a few days.
The part didn’t arrive until Sept. 15 and a technician came to her home only 10 days later. He concluded it was the wrong part and ordered a new control board.
Linton wrote to Jeff Kinnaird, president of Home Depot Canada, saying she was 84 years old and tired of dragging laundry to the laundromat.
“I had six visitors for Labour Day weekend. You can imagine how many sheets and towels I had. Please, please help me.”
After two months of “stressful nagging and badgering,” she asked for a new washing machine and got a full credit.
She bought a new machine, again at Home Depot, but opted not to buy an extended warranty this time. My advice: Ask the retailer for help when the manufacturer says no. When you pay $1,000 or more for appliances, you’re entitled to get more than one year’s worth of proper functioning from them.
Think twice about buying extended warranties. They’re a big profit centre for retailers and don’t always provide the quality of service you expect.
Finally, buy warranties only from retailers you think will survive. When Sears Canada closed most stores in 2017, all its extended service plans were shuttered. Customers had no recourse, except to ask their credit card companies for a refund.