Who should have come out to do the repair? If they aren't authorized, why do they even have Sears' phone number so they can transfer people in this manner? (At least, what I gather is she called one number, and Matag transfered her to Sears).

Am I missing something? Did Maytag buy Whirlpool? I thought they were two different brands.

@ToddMU03: Whirlpool bought Maytag.

@ToddMU03: Whirlpool acquired Maytag in 2006. I thought it was a big deal, but maybe just in my family.

Because she purchased the Maytag at Sears. She should have just bought a Kenmore from the start because its made by Whirlpool (aka Maytag).

No Whirlpool bought Maytag before they went under. Sears also runs a service company A& E Electric (bought from Montgomery Ward) to service appliances that do not come from Sears. My impression is Sears wants to service everything from everybody whether they are authorized or not.

@jp: Not always. The Kenmore laundry pair I was going to get was replaced by a nearly identical Frigidaire set, and both had an Electrolux label on the inside.

Small Claims Court.

Sears has its own "repair-men" to do the work instead of whirlpool, in fact if someone calls and they bought their stuff at Sears, we were to give them that number.

This was when I worked there (in 2002-3) at least.

Now as for Reimbursement, sounds like someone screwed up. You could go to Small Claims but I'd try a EECB first.

@SacraBos:

I agree, it's under warranty.. I would be filing a small claims court suit.

Woah, $500 repair. 180 of which is parts - meaning they charged $320 in labor to replace a motor in a Whirlpool made washer? That's a 15 minute job, 30 tops. So Sears charges $640 an hour for labor?

Screw being mad at Whirlpool - be mad at Sears. Most servicers charge between 60 and 125 for trip and labor. What the hell happened here?

@jp: What larrymac said, plus that Kenmores have a half year warranty compared to a full year warranty with the regular brand. On top of which, you are locked into Sears service with the Kenmore Brand warranty.

This is strange since Whirlpool has bought Maytag and Sears is the authorized repair people of Whirlpool and has been for Maytag in the past as well. (Because Whirlpool makes a large majority of Kenmore appliances- esp washers and dryers)

Whirlpool is less than scrupulous in my eyes. A family member had a Kitchen Aid dishwasher go bad in a matter of a week or two of the warranty ending. They called the number and inquire if consideration would be given to repairing it under warranty given the timing. Whirlpool said the repairman could make that determination. Long story short, he came, quoted a cost and when asked about a warranty extension due to timing, he said he had no power to do it. At that point the unit was opened up and payment would have been due for the diagnostics, so my relative paid for a repair. Lying bastards denied they would ever have told my relative the repair man could have made the call to perform a warranty repair. I am not surprised they are trying to screw the couple in the article.

Well this all took place in NY. Isn't the cost of living much higher there? That could explain the high cost for labor!

. . . or maybe they got their Executive Repair-man out to do the work. . .

@Scuba Steve:

Though, in this case, the Olsens did write to the CEO and that still didn't produce the refund they should be entitled to, so maybe media attention was needed here.

She did that already...

@MustyBuckets: Either the elderly woman got ripped off on the charges, or Sears thought they could pass them on to Maytag.

Or Sears is really that expensive.

@antisane: Oops, I was confused about which CEO, but yeah in this case small claims court all the way. Although media attention is very powerful and I wouldn't be surprised to hear about someone calling her very shortly.

@SPENCERG: Indeed, in NY, (NYC specifically) it was $120 for the repair guy just to come out and see what was wrong out of warranty.

[Pavlovian response] Detrimental reliance! [\pavlovian response]

*goes back to studying for the bar*

FML

@SPENCERG: Copake is a small town near the NY/MA border. I'm going to guess the cost of living isn't that much higher there. However, the town is way the hell in the middle of nowhere, so travel for the repairman may account for this.

That's funny. The commercials show the Maytag repairman in a blue jumpsuit fixing everything but Maytag appliances. And their slogan is "Built strong to last long."

Here's one of their commercials:

Ah... I guess some of them have to break, huh?

@ToddMU03: Masytag, Whirlpool, Amana & Frigidaire are all essentially the same company.

Several years ago I had an issue with Maytag, and I filed a complaint with the BBB. Within 48 hours I was in contact with their Executive Customer Service department and they were able to assist me. It ultimately took 6 months, 5 BBB complaints and a new appliance to fix the situation, but it was ultimately fixed. Most of the problems I had were because of the repair company A&E Factory Service.

Maytag seems to care about their BBB rating, so it is worth a try.

@Rachacha: Frigidaire is NOT a part of Whirlpool. Any new appliance from the following brands is: Whirlpool, Estate, Roper, Maytag, Amana, Kitchenaid, Inglis, Admiral, and most Crosley, Kenmore, Kirkland, and the other few store brands remaining. Frigidaire is a part of the Electrolux group, not to be confused with the American Electrolux vacuums. Confused? There'll be a quiz shortly.

I am betting the warranty only covers parts, not labor on the motor. Typically manufacturers cover the first year on both parts and labor. After that it's usually specific parts of the machine only, not labor. The labor amount does seem abnormally high though.

Third. It's so easy to file suit.

It's a shame I work for Whirlpool in the UK, and not in America, otherwise I might have been able to share some insight on this issue.

Ya know. I am tired of crap like this. It's this type of business mentality that is making America fail. No one wants to make an honest buck anymore, do the right thing or stand behind their product.

*SIGH*

@calquist:

No, it was a big deal for us too. Our family bought Maytags for years, and almost all of the appliances in my house are Maytag. And by "Maytag", I mean *real* Maytag, not Whirlpool Maytag. I've never had a lick of trouble from any Maytag product I've bought, but I won't be buying anything from the "new" company. I figured quality would go down, and this article certainly seems to suggest that this is the case.

"Though, in this case, the Olsens did write to the CEO and that still didn't produce the refund they should be entitled to, so maybe media attention was needed here."

FYI - you are the media. Perhaps this is a case where a phone call from the consumerist might be appropriate...

I know you don't want to do that every time, but I think once in a while would be ok....

Adding them to my 'never-buy-from-them-again' list. Thanks for the info about Whirlpool/Maytag/et al, we have a house full of their appliances bought in 2002. Lucky for me I replaced the dishwasher this past November with a Bosch.
Besides, Whirlpool is over priced considering the breakdowns that occur just after the warranty expires - something I discovered when I researched the dishwasher replacement.

@Rachacha: kinda like Chevy, saturn, hummer, gmc, buick, cadallac...

Big guy! How could you do us wrong like this?

Bye.

Buy Bosch.

Two things: A&E factory service is Sears, they and Whirlpool went together and purchased the name from Wards when they went belly up. Also, if purchased at Sears, why not call them in the first place? They "Service what they sell".

Yes, always, all Kenmore's are 100% made by Whirlpool. Same with Kenmore refrigerators. Even all Kenmore Elites are made by Whirlpool. I should know, I used to work for Sears appliance dept. (sales) Frigidaire is NOT a part of Whirlpool.

Don't know what Sears you are shopping at but ALL Sears offers 1 year parts and 1 year labor on all Kenmore and Kenmore Elite appliances.

@jp: You have been misinformed. Not all Kenmore products are Whirlpools, I have seen my fair share of laundry products with a Kenmore Brand that are Frigidaire, and While you may have or may be working at sears, I know what I'm saying is true working at a small business that repairs Kenmore Products.
At a time, it was true, that most kenmores were whirlpools, but that is no longer the case.

Also, for proof, here is an recall notice from Frigidaire for Kenmore Wall ovens [www.cpsc.gov]

My dad and I begrudgingly bought 2 Maytag Washing machines a couple years ago (after the Whirlpool buyout) both have been decent machines but we were skeptical about the Whirlpool buyout. Reason we bought them anyway was because they were the only ones that fit our needs and our budget. So far neither have been troublesome. However, my next fridge will likely come from Frigidaire and my next Dishwasher will be a Fisher and Paykel 2 drawer rig.

As a Sears tech in Texas I am confused by the article. Sears is an authorized service provider for all brands when purchased through as standard Sears store. Your article states she purchased the washer through Sears and that the motor was under warranty. There should have been no charges to the customer if that is correct information. If the machine was purchased through ANOTHER RETAILER the warranty work COULD have been referred to A & E which is a Sears-Whirlpool owned subsidiary established to do factory authorized repairs inside other retail stores and for appliances purchased through other stores. These stores may find it objectionable for marketing reasons to find a Sears tech standing on their showroom floor making repairs to products at the behest of a factory appliance provider. There are some questions which come to mind in reading this article:

1.) When the call was set up what did the call-taker understand about the type of call it was to be?
2.) Did the customer have an established file in the Sears database showing this washer as a Sears purchase?
3.) Was the customer given an estimate for these repairs before the service and did she sign for that estimate to approve the repair?
4.) If the customer was presented an estimate and signed for the repairs did she tell the tech the machine should still be In Warranty and provide a receipt showing purchase date as well as the owner's manual showing what the warranty stated?
5.)Who told her to pay a Sears tech for a repair and then present the bill to Maytag for reimbursement?

Sounds like a comedy of errors on several levels.

Just replaced my 10-year old Magic Chef washer (yes they made washers, I know I know) with a Maytag.

So far so good, knock on wood. I will remember not to use Sears to come fix it.