Maytag Saga

Just got back from Sears. Had to buy a new refrigerator. The old one was only 21 months old, but it died, compressor seized up, and since I didn't buy the extended warranty, I either had to pay what the fridge cost new to repair it, or buy a new one, so we bought a new one and got a great deal at Sears. They are even going to deliver it tomorrow! The next day! 

Maytag, which is Whirlpool, won't stand behind their products. We expected to pay for repairs since we didn't buy a service agreement, but we never expected a major part like a compressor to take a dump before the $1500. appliance was less than 2 years old. Home Depot sold it, but they can't do anything. 

Sears, even though they are made by Whirlpool, will stand behind this new appliance, and I did opt to buy a service agreement. I am 64 years old and I don't ever remember having a refrigerator die like this. I realized that I never had that experience before because we, and our parents before us, always bought our appliances at Sears. 

It was in November of 2011 when we purchased new kitchen appliances. If I remember correctly, we went to Home Depot because they were having some sort of a sale and we actually got a few hundred dollars off for buying three appliances, a microwave, a stove and a refrigerator.

It was the microwave that petered out and quit, and although we don't use it a lot, my daughter and the Grandkids that live in the same house with us, use it. The one in question was a built-in that came with the house when we purchased it in March of 2009.

We went to get a replacement for the microwave and we saw this really nice stove. We like to cook with natural gas and we had a stove, but the one we had was old and had been moved around quite a bit. It was also the cheapest model stove you could buy and it was poorly insulated. It had absolutely no frills like a timer or thermometer. It seemed like a good time as any to replace that old stove while the appliance sale was going on. The model we bought was made by GE and the price was good as it was on sale, so we bought it.

The refrigerator was also on  sale and with the purchase of the other two, we saved another hundred bucks. That, along with my 10% discount for being a disabled veteran, gave us a pretty good deal. We did purchase a service agreement on the stove because it had a lot of electronics on it. We didn't on the microwave because we could replace the entire microwave for under three hundred dollars, the service agreement was half that, so we opted out.

The refrigerator? Well, as I mentioned, I never had a refrigerator go out in my lifetime. A switch here or a control there, but never a compressor. Guess what? We were really surprised when everything in the freezer started to thaw and the whole thing died.

The repairman from the appliance store came out today to take a look at the Maytag. He tried to jump start the compressor and told us it was dead and seized and would not start. He told us it was junk and that a new compressor would be upwards of $700.00 for the part, plus the labor at a small town rate of $80.00 per hour. You'll probably pay more per hour in  Minneapolis or St. Paul.

We called Home Depot. They sell them, but don't service them. They tell you up front not to call them, but rather call the manufacturer for repairs. Since we didn't buy the service contract that goes beyond the one year warranty period, the warranty was non-existent after 1 year from November 2011.

We called Maytag, but couldn't get through their automated phone system. We did a "live" chat. The minimum wage phone correspondent answered our questions, but offered nothing as far as even a chance to talk to someone in a position of accountability. In other words,  "No", we couldn't speak to a supervisor. The phone call center clerk was as far as we get to go when dealing with a problem with a Maytag/Whirlpool appliance.

In the meantime, everything we bought and put in the freezer was salvaged by some quick work. We have a second refrigerator in the downstairs and it was almost empty. It's filled now, but that made it quite a nuisance to go up and down a flight of stairs, a chore i don't do well anyway, to fetch the milk or orange juice.

It's been like this since Friday morning. Today is Monday, and Sears will deliver the new refrigerator tomorrow, and they apologized that they couldn't give us a firm time as other deliveries that were scheduled might take longer than expected in some cases. We were more than willing to accept that. We'll be home tomorrow and be waiting for the new fridge.

I am disappointed with Maytag/Whirlpool. I didn't expect a new refrigerator or to do the repairs for free, but I thought they would at least be sympathetic to our plight. Well, I got news for them, I can't put them out of business, but I'll be grinding on them about this for a long time to come. If I stop one person from buying a Maytag I'll be happy. 

Maytag Sucks, pass it on.

Peace anyway, (except to those that make the policy at Maytag.)