Lots of people happily hand-wash their dishes because they don’t want a dishwasher. That’s not the case for one California man, who has washed his dishes by hand for more than a year even though he wants and can totally afford a dishwasher. In fact, he, um, had a dishwasher the whole time. It’s just that when he bought it from Sears, they sort of half-installed it and wandered off, and he couldn’t get anyone at Sears to help him. [More]
People Are Allegedly Preparing Salmon And Potatoes In The Dishwasher
By August 31, 2012
Real Simple has a list of things you can and cannot put in your dishwasher (Caution: annoying slideshow.) One of the suggestions stood out. Potatoes…? [More]
Over 1 Million GE Dishwashers Recalled As Flames Shouldn't Be Part Of The Rinse Cycle
By August 9, 2012
If it’s too hot, sure, you need to get out of the kitchen. But it shouldn’t be literally too hot because your dishwasher is on fire. To that end, GE is recalling around 1.3 million of its dishwashers due to a possibility for the heating elements to fail and cause fires. [More]
Sears Wants Me To Pay For Non-Installation Of Non-Working Dishwasher
By July 16, 2012
Like many Americans, William thought that Sears was a solid, reputable retailer. After all, they’ve been in business for a century and it seems like everyone had Kenmore appliances in the vaguely defined past. Then a customer like William, who has vaguely positive feelings toward the brand, goes and actually makes a purchase from Sears. That’s when everything all goes to hell. In William’s case, Sears wants him to eat the installation fee on a dishwasher they delivered to him that never worked. [More]
Leaky Dishwasher Wrecks Hardwood Floor And Ceiling Below, Sears Shrugs
By July 2, 2012
Sometimes, you buy a defective appliance and your only problem is that that the appliance doesn’t work. It’s sad, but you replace the item, either using a warranty or by purchasing a new one. Sometimes the company will stand in your way, and you have to fight them for a replacement. And then sometimes your defective appliance warps your hardwood floor, leaks through to your basement ceiling, and causes more than $4,000 worth of damage. That’s what happened to Nachos Grande and his wife (not his real name) when they bought a defective Whirlpool dishwasher from Sears. [More]
Everything This Appliance Delivery Service Could Screw Up, They Did
By June 13, 2012
When Sears sent a delivery service to Stephen’s house with a new dishwasher and fridge, he didn’t have ridiculously high expectations. He did expect installers to show up, not damage the new appliances or his home, not remove items necessary to install the new appliances, and bring all of the items that he paid for. They managed none of these things. And they were late. Now it’s three weeks after the delivery, and he still doesn’t have a working dishwasher. [More]
Since When Does Stainless Steel Rust?
By May 25, 2012
The point of stainless steel appliances, I always thought, is that they’re all shiny and metallic and don’t rust. The not rusting thing is kind of key. So he’s disappointed to see a smattering of rust spots on the front of the stainless steel Kitchenaid dishwasher that he bought less than a year ago. [More]
How A Few Minutes With A Screwdriver Saved Me $139
By April 16, 2012
We don’t begrudge Sears Repair–or, indeed, any business–a healthy markup on items that they sell. That’s how capitalism works, and capitalism is awesome. But Matthew must have felt insulted when the part his dishwasher needed showed up on his doorstep ahead of a return visit from the repairman. The part needed only a few screws to install…and, making things worse, was available $50 cheaper, for only $121, on Sears’ own website. It’s even cheaper elsewhere. [More]
Why Pre-Rinsing Dishes Is For Wasteful Suckers
By April 13, 2012
Maybe out of long-standing habit, you pre-rinse dishes before sticking them in the dishwasher. Stop it. You’re most likely wasting time and water by splashing water on there when your dishwasher is perfectly capable of removing crusted-on food itself. If it’s in working order. [More]
Where 'Delivery Date' Doesn't Mean 'Date When We Will Deliver Your Dishwasher To Your House'
By March 21, 2012
In Paula’s letter to Consumerist, she said something unusual that caught our eye. She sincerely wished that she had ordered her new dishwasher from Sears rather than Lowe’s. What makes a person express such crazy desires? She had assumed that the “delivery date” displayed for shoppers on the Lowe’s site stood for the date that the appliance would be delivered to and installed in her home. Not quite. [More]
Clean Your Dishwasher With Lemonade Kool-Aid
By January 7, 2011
You can spend a lot on fancy cleaners to get the scum out of your dishwasher, or you can just pop in two 10-cent bags of lemonade Kool-Aid in the soap dispenser. [More]
Maytag Dishwasher Possessed By Devil
By November 18, 2010
Katie’s Maytag dishwasher barfs water all over the place and has had multiple parts fail. Recently the company issued a recall for her model offering a repair or $200 credit but unfortunately her serial number wasn’t included in the list. Where’s that old Maytag guy when you need him? Oh right, forced into early retirement and replaced with an outsourced vendor. [More]
GE Recalls 174,000 Dishwashers Because You Don't Need Flames To Clean Plates
By October 26, 2010
It’s been a bad week for kitchen appliances. First Frigidaire recalls a ton of cooktops and ranges and now GE has issued a substantial recall on 174,000 of its Profile and Monogram dishwashers after learning of a potential fire hazard. [More]
New Twitter Friend At Sears Helps Reader Get New Dishwasher
By April 22, 2010
Remember Bob? He had an extended warranty on his Kenmore dishwasher, and Sears decided that it would much rather send repairman after repairman to fix his defective dishwasher–and reimburse him to pay someone to wash his dishes. Between following Doug Moore, SVP and President of Appliances on Twitter and writing to Consumerist, Bob is getting a new dishwasher. A functioning dishwasher. [More]
Sears Spares No Expense To Not Give You A New Dishwasher
By April 16, 2010
Bob tells Consumerist that his Kenmore dishwasher has several times due to the same problem–caused, according to one repairman, by a design flaw. It seems that it would be more cost-effective for Sears to replace his dishwasher with one that does not randomly die. Sears does not agree, and requires that an appliance fail four times due to the same problem in the course of a year before it can be replaced. When Bob complained to Sears about his issues, they offered to reimburse him to pay someone to wash his dishes. [More]
How To Take Care Of Your Dishwasher, Washing Machine, And Oven
By March 15, 2010
My friends broke the high-efficiency (H.E.) washing machine in their new apartment last year because they were using too much soap. Alina Tugend at the New York Times says it’s a common problem–one repairman told her that “most people use 10 to 15 times the amount of soap they need.” [More]
Why Is Sears Being So Sneaky On This Dishwasher Rebate?
By December 4, 2009
On Black Friday, Sears offered free installation on select Kenmore dishwashers in the form of a rebate coupon. The coupon is pretty simple to understand as far as these things go–buy one of the listed models, and Sears will pay for the installation. According to William, however, the listed model that he wanted remained out of stock only for the duration of the coupon. When he asked Sears to honor it the next day, they agreed to–but then after he bought the dishwasher they told him he had broken a nonexistent rule and therefore had voided the coupon. [More]
Comment Of The Day: Dishwasher, Clean Thyself
We’re reviving an old-school Consumerist feature last seen circa 2008: the Comment of the Day. On this morning’s post about cleaning ‘taters and cooking salmon in the dishwasher, commenter Pasketti observed that only a dishwasher that is itself clean can clean your potatoes properly. [More]