Frank has had to use up five days of timeoff because of his leaky new Maytag fridge that they just can’t seem to ever repair correctly. Like when he told them to bring out the UV light since the last tech had installed a dye so you could find leaks. The rep said oh yeah, we’ll make a note of that. Then the guy shows up with only a mulitimeter and says, hm, we’re going to have to send another guy out here with more tools. No kidding!

Frank writes:

TL;DR: Whirlpool/Maytag service is TERRIBLE. If you buy their products – buy a backup! You’ll need it!

Let me be clear on this up front – the fridge is nice, lots of space.

The service is another story. Customer service is courteous BUT getting anything done is a HUGE pain in the rear. My wife and I bought this fridge from Home Depot in January this year (2011). We got it home let it sit for 24 hours before plugging it in. One week later we noticed ice cream not being very firm, few days later everything was thawed out.

I contacted Maytag service and began the nightmare of service:

First service appointment. Sears repair comes out to troubleshoot the fridge – tells me the compressor is bad and needs to be replaced. The earliest they can get me in is 7 DAYS later, mind you I’m already 3 DAYS without a fridge.

Second service appointment. Return of Sears repairman. The compressor is replaced, dye dryer is installed (this is an important detail – it allows other techs to use a UV light to spot any leaks). Fridge runs great, nice and cold, case closed….

*Not so fast! *

About 3 months go by and the same problem crops up – we start to notice in the freezer. I contact Maytag service right away. I explain to them the situation, I ask for a replacement fridge at this point. They outright refuse to replace it and insist on having ANOTHER tech come out to troubleshoot the problem so they can get a “second opinion”. The service rep conferences me in with the local Direct Maytag store. I specifically tell them to bring a UV light that the fridge has a dye dryer on it; to which I’m told “they’ll make a note of it.”

Third service appointment. Direct Maytag service shows up 4 days later. I kid you not, the tech comes ONLY WITH A MULTIMETER, no tools other than screwdriver!!! WTF?!?! Tells me that the compressor is bad – no kidding. < sarcasm >I couldn’t tell this by the fact my fridge was warmer than the outside air temp!< /sarcasm > He tells me they have to send someone else with the tools to look at it!

I’m going on 4 days of having to take off work now – because they’ll always be there between 8am – 5pm!

Fourth service appointment. Direct Maytag shows up again – this time within 2 days. Again, no UV light. Tech says he found a leak (not sure how) in the original work that Sears did – he would like to “patch it”. He refills the fridge with coolant (05/18/11).

Come yesterday (06/06/11) the fridge is warm again. I called Maytag AGAIN. Spoke with someone who told me they can’t authorize a replacement fridge until they talk to Direct Maytag (who called them and spoke with them on the last repair in May – while I stood there).

Be warned… Maytag was a acquired by Whirlpool!

The following companies all use the same parts and service teams:

Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and Gladiator

I can imagine that the service would be right on par.

Sounds like you have a potential case under lemon law, which usually makes the manufacturer replace the item if it’s been repaired at least three times for the same issue. Starting bringing up your rights under lemon law in your discussions with Maytag and see where that gets you, and if that doesn’t work, start escalating your story up the chain.

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