A tale of a DOA dishwasher
Last week, I spotted an interesting post on Consumerist.com about a dishwasher purchase gone awry. The buyer related the following tale, and while his story, the beginning of which follows verbatim, might not be common, there are some shopping lessons to learn from it:
"This past weekend, I purchased a $1300 dishwasher from Sears.. They delivered it Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after order. Great! However the dishwasher that they delivered was defective, I immediately called the store where I purchased it, and spoke with the Sales lady.. She told me that Sears has outsourced their customer service to a company called OneSource and that I that she couldn't help me. . . . "
(Read more about the disheartened buyer's experience and the dozens of comments that ensued. Long story short, the guy is expecting a replacement dishwasher to be delivered on July 1.)
Many commenters urged the dishwasher buyer to use the charge-back feature of his credit card, which would give him the right to dispute a charge if he were dissatisfied with the quality of a purchase. But as we pointed out in an article about the consumer rights you have when you shop with a credit card, there are limits to charge-backs, including:
• You must have made a good-faith effort to resolve the problem directly with the merchant before disputing the charge.
• The charge must be at least $50, and the transaction must have occurred in your home state or within 100 miles of your current billing address. The transaction location depends on your state or other laws, which complicates matters, especially if you make a purchase online, by phone, or through the mail.
• The geographic restrictions and the $50 rule don't apply if the card issuer or close business partners sold you the product or service and also do not apply to billing errors.
One way to avoid getting stuck with problem appliances is to inform yourself about the products and the brands you're considering. There are no guarantees you'll be satisfied with what you buy—indeed, Kenmore dishwashers have not been repair-prone, based on more than 112,000 reader responses about dishwashers to the Annual Product Reliability Survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, as detailed in our Brand Repair History. But you might be able to avoid getting stuck with an underperforming item or an unreliable brand.
Read our expert advice for buying appliances, and if you're in the market for a new dishwasher, visit our product page to find the latest report and Ratings (with Brand Repair History, available to subscribers). Look for our latest review of appliance retailers and the services they provide in the August 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, online and on sale in July, and see how we test dishwashers (right).—Gian Trotta
Essential information: Read about a plan by Sears to start selling its brands at other retailers. And use our Home Improvement Guide interactive to take a room-by-room tour of the top-rated appliances and most cost-effective improvements you can make to your home.
Posted by: alba | Jun 27, 2008 2:26:09 PM
His first mistake was spending $1300 on a dishwasher. Wow!
Posted by: Jason | Jun 27, 2008 4:18:42 PM
I am going through this exact same thing right now, but at least I can use my sink - the installer left the new faulty washer in place.
Posted by: donna sherman | Jun 30, 2008 12:02:04 PM
I purchased a small tv from Sears several years ago and had it about a year when lightning ran in on it and then, of course, it just didn't work. I took it to Sears and they said there was a device at the base of the plug that stopped the lightning from running into the tv, so I asked them to replace that device. They told me the price would be $150.
Shocked, I said I could buy another one just as cheap, so why have a device in the tv anyway? They just shrugged and said they didn't know. I told them I would go to Walmart and get another one, cheaper, and to just give me back the tv. They didn't want to do that. They wanted to keep it. But, I insisted.
I paid off their Sears card and told them what they could do with it.
It doesn't sound like things have gotten much better.
ds
Posted by: Lorraine | Jul 10, 2008 7:15:30 PM
I was happy to see and read your new issue that addresses dishwashers and quickly went to the Sears website to look at the top two Kenmores you listed for sale prices. Our old model is starting to leak water from the seam at the bottom panel and need to find a replacement soon. When I looked at the 22-36 reviews of them on their own site, I noticed that the cheaper one had problems with loud noise and some technical issues while the more expensive one was very quiet but the latch couldn't stay shut to save its life and the control panel is so sensitive that people were continually turning it on when they stood at the sink and brushed the control panel. Did you get the only model with a latch that worked? Now questioning what the heck to buy.
Posted by: Lorraine | Jul 11, 2008 10:18:14 PM
I was happy to see and read your new issue that addresses dishwashers and quickly went to the Sears website to look at the top two Kenmores you listed for sale prices. Our old model is starting to leak water from the seam at the bottom panel and need to find a replacement soon. When I looked at the 22-36 reviews of them on their own site, I noticed that the cheaper one had problems with loud noise and some technical issues while the more expensive one was very quiet but the latch couldn't stay shut to save its life and the control panel is so sensitive that people were continually turning it on when they stood at the sink and brushed the control panel. Did you get the only model with a latch that worked? Now questioning what the heck to buy.
Posted by: Jeanie Clendenny | Sep 3, 2008 12:01:05 PM
Has anyone had problems with Maytag Dishwashers? I have one that is less then 4 years old and I have about 7 or 8 service calls on it. The first 3 or so I paid for myself. The last ones were on ther extended warranty I was urged to purchase by my repairman. The last repair call was for the handle in front broke. Well the Extended Warranty people said they did not have enought money to repair the dishwasher in the account and would buy me out. What good is an extended warranty. Worthless after a while. I need help as to what I can do.
Posted by: Tom Beazley | Oct 6, 2008 1:40:34 PM
The handle on my Maytag dishwasher broke last week. When I removed the door panel, I discovered that a plastic pivot that is molded into the door was broken, and the only way to repair it would be to replace the entire door. Even if I bought a new handle assembly, it would not be possible to install it in the old door.