Dishing the Dirt

Some decisions have very small effects on your life. What you have for lunch usually isn’t a big deal unless you eat something that’s contaminated with some sort of nasty bacteria. Who you choose to marry is up there on big life effects. Buying a dishwasher is one of those decisions that you generally don’t expect (or at least hope) will be a big deal.
Appliances are generally supposed to be timesaving products, which is why we buy them. Unfortunately, there are occasions when the time they save you gets used dealing with the product’s company who refuses to quickly and adequately deal with the appliance when it has a problem.

Mrs. Remodel expressed interest in a Maytag dishwasher to match the new stove, fridge, and microwave we were buying at the same time. But Mr. Remodel thought the GE had better features in their model with a latch opening. The reason Mrs. Remodel needed a dishwasher with a latch opening was that she found it easier to open with her dodgy neck than the models with handles. Mr. Remodel’s opinion prevailed and the GE model was ordered, delivered and installed.


Five minutes after it was installed we realised that there was a rust hole in the stainless steel interior wall. We called GE and they said a technician would be sent. He came, pronounced it was a manufacturing defect and that GE would call us after the weekend to arrange a replacement.
Well GE didn’t call so we called them. They said that they didn’t think it was a manufacturing defect that we would have to keep the one we had since they weren’t going to replace it. They also said that the technician didn’t say what we said he said.
We were able to reach the technician and he said that he HAD reported that it was a manufacturing defect and that GE had over-ruled him. Which means? That’s right. GE LIED to us.
So we called them back and told them what the tech had said and they still would not budge. We would have to put up with the damaged dishwasher they sent us and it was tough on us. So there. (They didn’t actually say those exact words but that is what their attitude and decision said to us).


So we called Home Depot and asked them to lean on GE, which they did. GE was supposed to call us but we ended up having to call them again.
Finally after many calls, a new dishwasher was ordered for us and a delivery date arranged. But when it arrived and the outer box removed, one corner was smashed. So after several more days of calls and more calls to the company, another dishwasher was ordered and sent. This one looked fine and so actually got installed. But the motor made a disturbing noise and it wouldn’t work properly so it was removed and taken away in disgrace.


At this stage, even Ms. GE Lady that we were dealing with couldn’t believe we needed to have a fourth dishwasher delivered. When the fourth dishwasher did arrive it looked fine and upon installation, it appeared to work correctly. To date it still works and seems to do a good job.


Even so, I am less than happy with GE and it’s interpretation of customer service. There was no real apology and they only did something because a major distributor of their products made them do it. In addition, the mind boggles that it took four dishwashers to get one that wasn’t damaged or non functional. Were we just unlucky or does the company have some serious quality inspection issues at the end of the production line?