Nick bought a Maytag washer, but it’s the ever-broken, un-repaired appliance that’s come to own him. He says he’s gone back and forth with the company and has been promised replacement parts and cash back to defray the cost of doing laundry, but has instead been put through the spin cycle.

Here’s a copy of the letter he wrote to the Better Business Bureau.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving our washing machine stopped mid-cycle and the lights on the display panel started blinking. Repeated attempts to restart the cycle ended. We had purchased the Sears Service Plan and so called them to come out and look at it. A technician came out 4 days later (Tues, Dec 1) and determined the problem was due to faulty parts and put an order in to Maytag to have them delivered to us. He said the parts should come within the week and when they do to call him and he would come back and install them.

A week went by without any parts being delivered and no information regarding their whereabouts from Maytag. We called Maytag directly on or about Mon, Dec 7, to inquire when the parts would be delivered. We spoke with a supervisor, named Evelyn, who seemed concerned and looked up their status. She informed us that we would need 2 parts and that one of them was on backorder. Furthermore, the backordered part should ship out Tuesday (Dec 8) or Wednesday (Dec 9). We told her we were dismayed with how this was being handled and that if those parts did not ship we felt they should just replace the washing machine altogether to end this whole situation. She agreed.

Early Friday morning (Dec 11) neither part had shown up and no effort to contact us regarding their whereabouts was made. We called Maytag and spoke with a different supervisor who assured us that the backordered part was being overnighted to us. In addition he stated he was sending us $100 for our troubles. Thinking we’d have all of our parts by Saturday (Dec 12) we made an appointment with the technician to come out in the afternoon.

That evening (Dec 11) one of the parts finally showed up.

We waited all day Saturday for the second—overnighted—part to arrive to no avail. We spoke with the tech late in the afternoon who said if the part wasn’t there by that point it wouldn’t be there at all. We canceled his appointment. This led to a call back to Maytag and another conversation with a supervisor. He informed us the part would arrive on Mon (Dec 14) despite it being overnighted on Fri (Dec 11). We made another call to the technician to come back out on Tues (Dec 15).

On Monday (Dec 14) the second part finally arrived.

The tech came out Tues (Dec 15) and replaced the parts. He left and a little while later we did a load of our daughter’s clothes. Halfway through the cycle the machine stopped and displayed the same flashing panel as it did two weeks prior.

We got on the phone again and spoke with another supervisor at Maytag. We voiced our displeasure with their product and their customer service. We stated that we had waited long enough and did not want to mess with any more parts or waiting and that we wanted a brand new washer to replace the faulty one. The supervisor understood our displeasure and said that in order to get a brand new washer he would have to submit our case to a review board. This review board would take 24 – 48 hours to determine if we were eligible for a replacement washing machine.

24 – 48 hours passed by with no word from Maytag. Thursday evening (Dec 17) we call again. This time the representative taking our call (Connie) did not connect us with a supervisor. She stated there was nothing anyone could do and that we’d have to wait for someone on the review board to contact us. It was at this point she felt the need to tell us that “even if the review board grants us a new washing machine, it would take a couple of weeks to arrive.” and that we should “take the $100 they gave us and go rent a washing machine while we wait.”

It is now Thursday, December 17 2009. We are going on our 4th weekend without a washing machine. In that span we have done bits and pieces of laundry in 4 or 5 different places all over town. We would do a load here and a load there wherever a friend, neighbor or relative allowed us, not because we knew it was going to take a few weeks to get the matter straightened out, but because we were constantly led to believe that a fix was just around the corner. Maytag’s Service Department never took up the matter for us. We were always the ones having to initiate the conversation. We understand that no product is perfect and sometimes they fail. But as a customer we expect to be treated with respect and in a manner that finds a prompt solution to the broken product. Neither has happened here.

All that we were asking for was an understanding and a little humility on their part to find a solution to this problem. We received none of that. Maytag makes products that people use every day. It should not have been hard for any of their customer service representatives to understand what it would be like to go without a washing machine for weeks on end. And what’s more, we were treated as if we should have expected our washer to break after two months and that we shouldn’t be surprised to have to mire through the bureaucratic muck in their Customer Service Department just to get some answers.

Nick has yet to receive the $100 he was promised. If anyone has some advice for him, please share.

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