Poor GE Appliance Customer Service and Quality

[theo]

Sounds good, but...

In addition to - or instead of - an extended warranty, maybe get a homeowners warranty. The one I had services all appliances, water heater, HVAC, and plumbing, all for around $700 per year with a $60 deductible. When we first got it, our water heater died. Later that year, our HVAC system (not the fan outside) died. In those 2 years, almost $4500 in replacements, and we paid $760.

TS

I agree with OP that GE has increasingly become a really bad joke in the arena of "customer service" (not to even mention replacement parts access and availability). That issue entirely aside for the moment...

Who exactly is it that issues such "homeowner warranties" in the first place? National insurance companies? Local third party service companies? Who?

 

[laurac260]

I agree. I've come to the conclusion there are no reliable brands out there anymore. We built our house 15 years ago. The compressor in the Whirlpool side by side bit the dust at 4 years, 11 months and 4 days. Just a few days before the warranty expired on the compressor. The guy who replaced it told me they intentionally underpower the newer Fridges to get the Energy Star label. The second compressor lasted 10 years and we recently replaced the old Fridge because it was getting pretty loud.....plus, the kitchen had that 1980's retro look.

The Samsung that replaced it already has a fix-it ticket as the ice maker has a leak, which is causing the ice to fuse together in the ice basket. We bought the 5 year warranty because I just don't trust it to last. The sad part is, if it makes it 10 years I'll feel we've done well.

We USED to have a samsung refrigerator . It had the wackiest of all repair issues I'd ever heard. Hubby and I would wake to this god awful noise, sounded like someone was breaking in to the house. Turns out it was the ice maker, the maker would try to eject ice, but if the ice wouldn't come out, the ice maker kept trying and trying.. Many a night we'd have to get out of our nice warm bed to help "birth" an ice cube.

Finally I called for service... You know the drill, but finally someone came out and explained the problem... The computer was telling the water dispenser to dispense too much water , so the ice grew too big and the ejector could not get the ice to come out. The remedy? Replace the computer for the ice maker.

And my dad thought getting US KIDS to fill the ice trays was complicated!!

 

[MuranoJo]

Glad I read here first about the Samsung frig issues. Somewhere I picked up the impression they were the best, and on of our cousins has had one for a year or two and I haven't heard any complaints--I'll ask her this Thursday.

Meanwhile, that was the model I always thought we'd get when ours kicks off, but we'll have to re-think that.

 

[Passepartout]

I agree with OP that GE has increasingly become a really bad joke in the arena of "customer service" (not to even mention replacement parts access and availability). That issue entirely aside for the moment...

Who exactly is it that issues such "homeowner warranties" in the first place? National insurance companies? Local third party service companies? Who?

Maybe, just maybe, if Toyota would just build home appliances......

 

[dougp26364]

FWIW, I put in a warrenty service request online with Samsung on 11/25, the service tech called 11/26 and a service appointment was scheduled for 11/27.

 

[Tia]

Wishing there was a manufacturer of kitchen appliances that was worth buying that won't need repairs or ending up in the landfill too soon (sad). If part of it is the energy efficiency guidelines maybe that needs to be reconsidered.

Had a friend that retired from GE after 30 + years who said once several years ago "don't buy GE".

 

[yoohoo]

I too have problems with GE appliances. I consider my issues as poor design. We did a kitchen remodel replacing fully working appliances with stainless steel. The plastic on cooktop grills (I do not what else to call it.) is melting off. We called Home Depot where we purchase all of the appliances; they got GE repair out there. The repair tech's conclusion was that we were cooking with too high of a flame. He suggest that we not use the cooktop so much. They did send us additional grills. Also we paid extra for stainless steel. The only thing stainless steel around the edge; everything was black.

The next item is the built-in oven. The oven uses 220. The oven we took out had a 110 outlet for the microwave. We had to run a 110 line for the microwave. How much would it had cost to 110 outlet?

The last item was the microwave. The surround kit did not include any of the require screws to mount it. Home Depot stepped in to give all of the necessary screws. The latch of the microwave does not release readily; it not a major problem as we pry the door open.

We have not any problems with dishwasher. We do not use it much since we have so few dishes and wash them by hand.

 

[dougp26364]

Just had the repairman fix the issue with our Samsung and this is what he said.

1. He wouldn't have a Samsung in his house. Re: it takes weeks to get the parts from Korea.

2. ALL new refirgerators life expetency is around 10 years. Since the advent of government interference with energy ratings, all are now underpowered. One of the reasons new refigerators won't work in the garage is that they use to be built with compressors that were larger than necessary to run the appliance. To run the refigerator in the house would take maybe 20% of the compressors potential workload, thus you could stick them in the garage and they had enough power to take it. Now compressors opperate at nearly 100% of their capacity and, if you stick them in a hot garage they're quickly overwhelmed.

3. Old compressors had approx 2 lbs of freon. New compressors have approx 5 ounces of coolent.

Basically the government solved one problem, energy efficiency, and created another, more major appliances in the land fills. I'm not sure trading one for another was such a good option. On the plus side it's probably created more manufactoring jobs. I guess I should start a cash reserve in a saving account and base replacement on a 5 year cycle (end of the extended warranty), then keep saving to make up for the difference in cost assuming my new appliances last more than 5 years.

I will say that Samsung got on the issue and had the repairman at our door within days, not weeks. The CS process was smooth and essentially effortless. Part of that would have to do with the local appliance repairman taking care of business on his end as well as Samsung getting the work order out in orderly fashion.

 

[Ken555]

In addition to - or instead of - an extended warranty, maybe get a homeowners warranty. The one I had services all appliances, water heater, HVAC, and plumbing, all for around $700 per year with a $60 deductible. When we first got it, our water heater died. Later that year, our HVAC system (not the fan outside) died. In those 2 years, almost $4500 in replacements, and we paid $760.

TS

Not everyone is as "lucky" as you. I've had a home warranty for over 11 years and have paid more than I benefited. My central A/C is on its last legs and the fixes the service firms the home warranty company sent over the years to repair it apparently have made it worse. Now, the warranty company simply sent me a check for ~$350 and are washing their hands of the problems. It's looking like I'm going to be forced to buy a new unit, which costs in the thousands. I haven't yet cashed the check as I'm not sure yet if I want to pursue this issue with them or not. The last time I spoke with the rep handling this case they said they would send a second service firm out to get a second opinion, but obviously they thought otherwise. The irony is that the check included a letter which stated that we "mutually agreed" to end coverage for this item and cash out based on their estimate of their portion of the current repair...when we never agreed to anything, other than they would provide warranty service for my appliances.

Needless to say, I'm going to cancel this policy and self-insure my appliances in future.


Sent from my iPad

 

[artringwald]

I blame GE's problems on Jack Welch. While he was CEO at GE, he applied the principle of getting rid of the bottom 10%. That may work fine for a year or two, but then you're getting rid of good people. It can really be demoralizing for the workforce. Six Sigma was another big mistake. It's a good methodology when applied to process control, but when you try and use it in every department, it's a huge waste of time. He mand GE's financials look good, but really did long term damage to the company and many other companies that followed his principles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch

 

[jehb2]

New home. GE stove broke after 3 years. GE microwave and dishwasher broke after 6 years. No more GE anything for me.

 

[laurac260]

Glad I read here first about the Samsung frig issues. Somewhere I picked up the impression they were the best, and on of our cousins has had one for a year or two and I haven't heard any complaints--I'll ask her this Thursday.

Meanwhile, that was the model I always thought we'd get when ours kicks off, but we'll have to re-think that.

I think that, before you buy any appliance, talk to a repairman. They know the best ones. Those are the ones they rarely service.

 

[laurac260]

We had a GE profile dual fuel oven in the last house. I wanted a gas top and an electric oven, but didn't have the space for both. Dual fuel fit the bill but they are PRICEY.

It wasn't long before #1, the cooling fan went out. No, not the convection fan… these newer, "fancy" ovens come with a very high tech feature, that being a metal cover that rests over the bottom heating element so you don't have to see it. The problem with this is, it takes longer for the oven to heat up, and also the oven runs the risk of getting over heated. They "fixa fixa'd this" (to coin a famous Tugger's phrase), by adding a cooling fan. The problem with ours right out of the gate was, the cooling fan quit working. The oven would get over heated, then shut off (a safety feature). So you'd be cooking something, then the oven would just quit. So, that was problem #1.

Problem #2 was the mother board. Back in the day, the "mother board" was the board mother whacked you with when you got out of line. Now it's the fancy word for the "brains" of the oven. Ours went haywire. Again, oven would just quit, for no reason. Before the oven was a year old the mother board went out. That was $1200 clams!! If the appliance business is in the business of making crappy equipment and then offsetting it by selling consumers an extended warranty, I think they are losing money on that plan!

One day we went in to Lowe's and bought a microwave, refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher. All on the same day. The dishwasher was quickly replaced (nothing wrong with IT, just the salesman who failed to tell me that the Bosch would not dry plastic, as there was no heating element inside. Two kids in the house under 7 meant we had lots of plastic dishes--that unit went back the first week).

The only thing that didn't need any servicing was the microwave. Figures, the cheapest appliance…

 

[Sandy]

GE oven microwave combo

Brand new house 5 years ago. The very nice looking GE oven/microwave combo would not hold the temperature in the oven.

Fortunately (?) I bought the extended 5 year warranty. I have had the repairman out 5 times now. I set the temperature at 350 for example. Then I notice that it is not hot, but rather it is about 310 or so. But the temp range still shows 350. Cut the oven off, restart and it says "310" or so. Do this over and over again.

Repairman has replaced the electric gizmo, replaced the main component, pulled the entire thing out of the wall (two man job) and put it back in. Because I don't bake and don't need precise temperature controls, I thought this would not bother me. For example, I could put bacon in the oven (great way to cook bacon BTW) and go for my morning walk. Come back in and it was done. But now, I have to restart it before jumping into the shower. Still not done when I get out.

So after many calls, and reading through sites like this complaining about GE, I am giving up. I figure that if I keep getting them to come out to "repair" an unrepairable oven, it wastes my time. Plus, I think that eventually they will just drag me along until the extended warranty expires.

I wish there was some sort of lemon law for these things.

 

[laurac260]

Brand new house 5 years ago. The very nice looking GE oven/microwave combo would not hold the temperature in the oven.

Fortunately (?) I bought the extended 5 year warranty. I have had the repairman out 5 times now. I set the temperature at 350 for example. Then I notice that it is not hot, but rather it is about 310 or so. But the temp range still shows 350. Cut the oven off, restart and it says "310" or so. Do this over and over again.

Repairman has replaced the electric gizmo, replaced the main component, pulled the entire thing out of the wall (two man job) and put it back in. Because I don't bake and don't need precise temperature controls, I thought this would not bother me. For example, I could put bacon in the oven (great way to cook bacon BTW) and go for my morning walk. Come back in and it was done. But now, I have to restart it before jumping into the shower. Still not done when I get out.

So after many calls, and reading through sites like this complaining about GE, I am giving up. I figure that if I keep getting them to come out to "repair" an unrepairable oven, it wastes my time. Plus, I think that eventually they will just drag me along until the extended warranty expires.

I wish there was some sort of lemon law for these things.

Ah hah! I remember now! THAT is what was happening with mine when the mother board had to be replaced. I'd set the oven to 350, and when I opened it I remember thinking "there's no way it's 350 in there". It would heat up way too fast to have gotten to 350, and didn't feel that hot when the door opened. So, I'd shut the oven off, reset it to 350, the temp would say 280 or something, then quickly "heat" to 350.

Don't give up. Search this problem on the web, see how many other folks may have posted about similar problem, and keep hounding them.

 

[dougp26364]

I blame GE's problems on Jack Welch. While he was CEO at GE, he applied the principle of getting rid of the bottom 10%. That may work fine for a year or two, but then you're getting rid of good people. It can really be demoralizing for the workforce. Six Sigma was another big mistake. It's a good methodology when applied to process control, but when you try and use it in every department, it's a huge waste of time. He mand GE's financials look good, but really did long term damage to the company and many other companies that followed his principles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch

I noticed you Six Sigma comment. Our hospital is employing Six Sigma right now. Upper management thinks it's great. Those of us doing the work.....not so much. Trying to apply process control to patient care really isn't practical in most instances. There are far to many variables.

The problem in business is everyone attempts to think alike. Whatever the current hot trend might be is what everyone jumps on. Disney, Toyota, Microsoft, even the flying fish principle (or whatever it was called) about working together like the fish throwers in Seattle.

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." General George S. Patton.

 

[dougp26364]

Brand new house 5 years ago. The very nice looking GE oven/microwave combo would not hold the temperature in the oven.

Fortunately (?) I bought the extended 5 year warranty. I have had the repairman out 5 times now. I set the temperature at 350 for example. Then I notice that it is not hot, but rather it is about 310 or so. But the temp range still shows 350. Cut the oven off, restart and it says "310" or so. Do this over and over again.

Repairman has replaced the electric gizmo, replaced the main component, pulled the entire thing out of the wall (two man job) and put it back in. Because I don't bake and don't need precise temperature controls, I thought this would not bother me. For example, I could put bacon in the oven (great way to cook bacon BTW) and go for my morning walk. Come back in and it was done. But now, I have to restart it before jumping into the shower. Still not done when I get out.

So after many calls, and reading through sites like this complaining about GE, I am giving up. I figure that if I keep getting them to come out to "repair" an unrepairable oven, it wastes my time. Plus, I think that eventually they will just drag me along until the extended warranty expires.

I wish there was some sort of lemon law for these things.

One of the features I liked about Home Depot's extended warranty was the "no lemon" policy that states, if the same repair has to be made twice we'll replace the appliance. If it works it's a 2 stikes and the appliance is out. I'm hoping not to have to use that clause.

 

[ScoopKona]

Maybe, just maybe, if Toyota would just build home appliances......

Toyota doesn't. But it is possible to buy quality appliances. Quality costs money. People can't seem to wrap their heads around this sign:

That being said, still nothing but hate for General Electric and their cheap crap. Can't WAIT for my refrigerator to finally die so I can replace it with something that ISN'T cheap crap (everything but the compressor has now failed, three times).

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Toyota doesn't. But it is possible to buy quality appliances. Quality costs money. People can't seem to wrap their heads around this sign:

That being said, still nothing but hate for General Electric and their cheap crap. Can't WAIT for my refrigerator to finally die so I can replace it with something that ISN'T cheap crap (everything but the compressor has now failed, three times).

Shortly after I came over to the dark side and became a consultant, I learned the consultant's mantra:

"There's good. There's fast. And there's cheap. You can pick two out of the three. And if you want fast and cheap, I'll be glad to set you up with one of my competitors."

 

[artringwald]

Shortly after I came over to the dark side and became a consultant, I learned the consultant's mantra:

"There's good. There's fast. And there's cheap. You can pick two out of the three. And if you want fast and cheap, I'll be glad to set you up with one of my competitors."

I thought the dark side was management.

 

[antjmar]

One of the features I liked about Home Depot's extended warranty was the "no lemon" policy that states, if the same repair has to be made twice we'll replace the appliance. If it works it's a 2 stikes and the appliance is out. I'm hoping not to have to use that clause.

My lowes extended warranty has a clause like that also but I think its 3 times in a 12 month period.

Didnt matter for my $900 samsung front loader washer. First call (its 3 1/2 years old). They decided not worth fixing They are refunding my purchase price. maybe I got a lemon but I think I am going to avoid Samsung (and GE)

 

[Dori]

In January of 2012, we bought a new washer machine for our mobile home in Florida. It gets used for about 3 months each year (January to March). Up north, we have a top-of-the line Whirlpool, which is a piece of junk.

We went with a Roper, very basic machine. I tried to use it when we arrived here for a 2 week visit. The spin cycles (all of them) are shot. This machine has had about 6 months worth of duty in total since we purchased it. There are only two of us, so it's not getting a strenuous workout.

I called Whirlpool/Roper and of course, the warranty was only good for one year. She tried to sell me a package of services to extend the warranty for a year, for $300. We bought the darned thing on sale for $270!

What a rip-off these new appliances are!

Dori

 

[Sandy]

One of the features I liked about Home Depot's extended warranty was the "no lemon" policy that states, if the same repair has to be made twice we'll replace the appliance. If it works it's a 2 stikes and the appliance is out. I'm hoping not to have to use that clause.

I really need to find out if my purchase has this lemon clause in it. The oven came with the house, so I bought the extended warranty separately. I sincerely would like to get my money back and buy something at least keeps the temperature, what an oven should do.

Tonight I "tried" to heat a frozen lasagna. I kept checking every 10 minutes or so. The temp was beginning at 375, but it kept dropping. I had to reset it 4 times.

If I were a baker there was no way I could survive with this appliance. I guess since I am not a baker I have tolerated this appliance abuse.

 

[MuranoJo]

I think that, before you buy any appliance, talk to a repairman. They know the best ones. Those are the ones they rarely service.

Yeah, it was a repairman who installed our new dishwasher a couple of years ago who told us to hold onto our 21-year-old GE side-by-side. Although I'd love one of those new french door models, I think we'll stay put until we have to replace it.