Sears/Kenmore rant

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu ........ (Now this is a rather weird thing. The parts supplier has a pact with the service repair businesses that it will not sell to the public... The theoretical reason being that the public should not be allowed to deal with the possibility of allowing environmentally harmful gasses into the atmosphere, and that parts should only be sold to certified technicians. {different reasons, different states} .) In my case, the dealer told me to wait until all of the service guys had left.........

I've encountered this with furnace parts, too. You'd think it was a nuclear reactor. Even the HeVAC forums are tight lipped to homeowners.

[Midpack]

Always helps 'to have a guy (girl)...' in most walks of life.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO We had a similar result with Sears. My BIL's stove went out. Sears techs were called, they came out and (after $99 service call) determined it was the control panel board that was fried........

I had a similar experience - the Sears washer control panel board was only partially functional, but just out of warranty. Cost for board was $250. I put the part number into eBay auto search and it notified me of one for $75 a few weeks later. Easy installation.

[Stanley]

I have a number of Kenmore appliances and they have worked very well over the years. They tend to be in the basic to mid-range levels where they have some nice extras, but not a lot of fancy gadgets. They are all from about 2005-2006.

When I replaced my washer/dryer combo I heard the same thing about the new models not being built as well as the older ones so I had better buy that service contract. If I had followed that advice, I would be out about a thousand dollars for nothing, zero, nada, benefit. One thing I wonder about is that the salesperson never mentioned this new level of unreliability until after the decision to buy had been made. Imagine that!

The fact of the matter is that service contracts are a big profit center for retail sales. Thus, it is logical to conclude that in the long run, they cost the consumer more than they save.

[kaneohe]

We've had a Kenmore Elite French door refrigerator for a number of years.
Just FYI in case you have the same problem.........it went wacko cold once freezing the refrigerator compartment.......learned in real life that water expands when it freezes and cracks the water filter. Learned (too late) from the tech that sometimes (often) you can correct problem by rebooting (unplugging for a minute or so) just like the olden day computers. The Express Freeze has happened once since then and the reboot worked so a
handy trick to file away.

[Dawg52]

My mom used to buy appliances from Sears. Most stuff she bought lasted pretty much the normal life span. I have mostly bought from Lowes. No complaints with them either.

Sounds like you got a lemon. Which can happen anywhere. But it would irk me too if I felt they were pumping up the replacement parts, especially on a fairly new refrig.

[Walt34]

Ditto "they don't make 'em like they used to". We've been in this house a bit over ten years and we've replaced an 18-month-old Sears clothes dryer, GE dishwasher and microwave, replaced the refrigerator motherboard, and we're about to replace the CAC.

It is understatement to say that I am not impressed with current appliance quality.

[Mulligan]

My stove, fridge, dishwasher, washer/dryer, and over stove microwave are all kenmore. No product allegiance, they were all just the cheapest of the cheap. All of them over 10 years old, with no problems. I always heard cheap dishwashers break down quickly, but this one hasn't.

[richfei]

Kenmore fridge and dishwasher, GE stove and microwave. Bought new 15 years ago when we moved in. Not a single problem. Computers on the other hand. Different story. But those are easy and cheap to replace

[rbmrtn]

I wonder if some of the problems of late are due to more electronics like PC boards and electrical spikes/surges. Just like a computer, appliances should be surge protected. I see newer homes now have whole house surge protection installed at the breaker panel.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbmrtn I wonder if some of the problems of late are due to more electronics like PC boards and electrical spikes/surges. Just like a computer, appliances should be surge protected. I see newer homes now have whole house surge protection installed at the breaker panel.

I've wondered the same thing. Installed a good quality surge protector on my washer and the circuit board still failed just out of warranty.

I also installed a surge protector on my furnace when it was installed and its circuit board also failed, though the part cost was covered by warranty.

[rbmrtn]

Did any of the devices you used come with a warranty for protecting the equipment that was plugged in ? I saw a recent episode of "This Old House" where one of the guys mentioned he had installed a whole house device after losing all of his smart appliances after a lighting strike. A quick look seems to be the "smart" electronics are more problem.

Surge Protection Safety | Home Surge Protection | HouseLogic

My kitchen was all whirlpool, 12yrs no failures yet...

[frank2009]

I'm done with Sears. My front load Kenmore washer broke after the warranty period ended. The repair man from Sears looked at the washer for a minute, said he couldn't repair it, and charged $75 for the service call. I had to call Sears for a refund on the service call and received it. It was later determined that the washer had a bad motor and needed to be replaced. The washer was 3 or 4 years old. Sometimes I think these appliances has gotten so complicated that the repairmen just don't know how to fix them.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frank2009 I'm done with Sears. My front load Kenmore washer broke after the warranty period ended. The repair man from Sears looked at the washer for a minute, said he couldn't repair it, and charged $75 for the service call. I had to call Sears for a refund on the service call and received it. It was later determined that the washer had a bad motor and needed to be replaced. The washer was 3 or 4 years old. Sometimes I think these appliances has gotten so complicated that the repairmen just don't know how to fix them.

Not positive, but I've read that the major parts of most appliances like motors, transmissions, etc. would cost as much to buy & install as a new appliance. Unless it's something minor (thankfully sometimes it is), there may be no real alternative to buying new...

[HighRoller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBAustin My experience is that both the quality of Kenmore products and of Sears service has declined so dramatically over the past 10 years that I will try my best to avoid both going forward, although in the past we had excellent experience with both and bought Kenmore whenever possible. Bah, humbug Sears.

Me too! About a year ago, I bought a new side by side Sears refrigerator/freezer with an icemaker and in-door water dispenser. When I got it home the refrigerator/freezer worked OK but it would not dispense water or ice. I called customer services the same day I bought it and was told they could not take a service order until the unit had been running for 24 hours. So the next day I called back (since it still wasn't working DUH!) and they said it would be about 30 days before a service man could come out for warranty repairs. The repairman finally came out (over a month later) and made some adjustments to one of the internal relays. (no new parts) Now, I can understand and accept that sometimes new things need adjustments but waiting for a month to get a new product repaired is not acceptable to me. No more Sears’s products for me.

[rbmrtn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Not positive, but I've read that the major parts of most appliances like motors, transmissions, etc. would cost as much to buy & install as a new appliance. Unless it's something minor (thankfully sometimes it is), there may be no real alternative to buying new...

Sometimes that is true. Had a TV that was basically just one PCB board, the board cost more than a new flat screen. But I just looked up the motor for the washing machine, it's $120, for sure replace before buy another machine.

[golfersailor]

We have bought most of our household appliances from Sears with very little problems. That being said anything now being made now is very expensive to get repaired. So much electronics with specialized circuit boards. Repairmen not being trained properly etc. Had a 5 year old HD Sony TV go out and the repair cost was out of sight!!

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbmrtn Did any of the devices you used come with a warranty for protecting the equipment that was plugged in ? I saw a recent episode of "This Old House" where one of the guys mentioned he had installed a whole house device after losing all of his smart appliances after a lighting strike. A quick look seems to be the "smart" electronics are more problem. Surge Protection Safety | Home Surge Protection | HouseLogic My kitchen was all whirlpool, 12yrs no failures yet...

In my case both boards had a partial failure. The washer only worked on some cycles and the furnace worked fine, except would not come back on after a power failure unless reset. So, it would have been hard to blame surge protector like if device was smoked.

[Redbugdave]

Thanks for the tip on parts through Ebay. Never thought about that, before.

[pb4uski]

Got an email from the warranty claims administrator today indicating that payment of my claim in full was in the mail. Less than a week after I submitted the claim! All I did was include a note with the story on the fridge (when and where I bought it, the term of the warranty, details on the repairs) along with scans of all the documents that they asked for. A pleasant surprise.

I'll have to remember this if I have another major purchase that gives up the ghost shortly after the maufacturer's warranty expires.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski I just recalled that I paid for the fridge with my Discover card, which offers to double the manufacturer's warranty, so the repair costs should be covered under that since it is within 2 years (2 x 1 year manufacturer's warranty). I just called Discover and filed a claim. I suspect it will be a long drawn out process but maybe I'll get something back from it. Has anyone else ever filed a claim under these extended product warranty programs through a credit card? First time for me but it sounds like if everything is in order then they reimburse me for my repair costs.