GE's Washer Repair Service Puts Me In The Spin Cycle

Kay says GE is handling her washer repair about as well as Carlos Zambrano handled Opening Day. Repair techs have come out several times, suggesting various fixes, none of which have panned out. Now she wonders whether or not her washer will ever get repaired.

She writes:

I purchased a GE Washer for my family 10-11 months ago and it is great at breaking down. If there is anything I can count on, it’s that the machine will do it’s job in not functioning. In the beginning it would make loud clunking noises as it a part was dislodged. Soon after, the machine would stop spinning even though the motor would sound as if it were actually working. Moreover, water would be seen leaking from the bottom of the washer.

I have called customer service numerous times and on all occasions a GE technician would come out (at least 5-6 times now), inspect my machine and replace random components. So far the items that have been replaced seem to be: fuses, transmission, asm board, motor (twice). Essentially what happens is, different technicians would inspect the machine as it is still under warranty and a few weeks after it is repaired, the washer breaks down. On one incident, the machine breaks time 20 minutes after the technician leaves. Phone calls are made to customer service/consumer relations about once or twice a month and I now know my technician and consumer relations person by name. I can say for the most part, customer service handles my frustration quite calmly and seem to try their best to fix the situation but frankly speaking I want to see results.

About 2 weeks ago when the last GE technician came out, he stated the engineers wanted to see the defected motor and promptly shipped it out. Furthermore, I was told GE would ship a brand new ‘improved motor’ that was of a different model compared to what was previously installed. The installation was initially set up to done April 2, 2010. A few days before this date I received a phone call from consumer relations informing me that this part was on backorder and there is no estimated date in when it would be in stock. It is now April 6, 2010 and my family has been washing our clothes by hand for about 2 weeks. Is GE yanking my chain, waiting for the 1 year service warranty to expire? Well I actually purchased an extended 3-4 year warranty on top of that but I never expected this washer to be so problematic.

If you know how to wrangle GE’s customer service labyrinth, please leave some advice for Kay.

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