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Sears review: very poor service! 64

K
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12:00 am EST
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I have been without a washing machine for 64 days and counting! A & E Factory Service, a company owned by Sears, has been absolutely non-responsive and lack any form of client care and assume no responsibility for their lack of organization and incompetent technicians. They just don’t care and I wonder how the employees of this company can sleep at night knowing they are frustrating consumers that buy warranties for their appliances.

My saga with A&E Factory Service began on September 21, 2006 when I called for service repair on my Whirlpool Duet washing machine. It was fairly obvious that the water was not draining and therefore the machine would not spin. Okay so I obtain an appointment 2 weeks out for October 5th, sometime between 8 am and 12 pm. My wife is not happy but she is pliable and we now must shuffle our three loads a day to the Laundromat. At the time of setting up the appointment, I provided A&E Factory Service with two telephone numbers to contact me.

On October 4th, I receive a call that the service rep must move my call to the 12 pm - 5pm slot. Okay, thanks for the call.

October 5th arrives and I get a call around 10:15 a.m. Unfortunately I am on the telephone and cannot respond to my cell telephone fast enough. One minute late I call the last incoming number and get the A& E recorded menu. I failed to work my way through the menu but assumed they were calling to indicate they are on the way. At 12:30 pm I decide to call A&E Factory Service and they tell me the technician called but there was no answer so my appointment was canceled. What?!

Now they cannot see me until October 21, a Saturday, between 8 am to 12 pm. “Okay, please tell the technician I am here and to leave a message if I do not pick up in five rings.”

October 21 arrives and the A & E tech calls to say that now he cannot arrive until at least 2 pm. Okay, I am home already, sure, it’s Saturday. When he arrives, finally, he runs the diagnostics and asks if I use HE detergent. Well of course, see the bottle? He is kind enough to clean the machine and then indicates we need a new control panel. At the time he is ordering the control panel he indicates that when the parts arrive we are to call A & E Factory Service and they will have a tech out within few days to install the part

Two day later the part arrives. I call A& E Factory Service and they say. “ am sorry but the soonest we can be out is November 10th.” What?! So we call Whirlpool direct and they somehow get the date moved up to November 3rd.

November 3rdh arrives and the technician from A & E Factory Service arrives and runs the diagnostics and in bewilderment asks why a control panel was ordered, we have a bad water pump. And besides that, when a control panel is ordered a motherboard must ordered also. Oh by the way your control panel is fine. But just in case, I will order a new control panel, motherboard and pump. And oh, by the way, do you use HE detergent? Now the parts will be here in two days and according to the on-line calendar the first time we have open is Thursday November 16. But call when the parts arrive call the Call center for A&E Factory Service and they will will fit you in sooner. The parts arrive and I call. They cannot fit me in sooner.

I called Whirlpool again. This time however Whirlpool had no pull with A&E Factory Service All were at the mercy of A&E Factory Service incompetence.

November 16th arrives, my wife is ecstatic. We have six piles of laundry in the hallway. The A & E Factory Service tech arrives, runs the diagnostics and then installs the parts. Guess what, washer no worky again! The tech is baffled, he runs the diagnostics, makes a few calls and indicates that there is only one part left to change. “Gee it must be the “Switch”. Let me order that part and it will arrive within two business days. Now the first open calendar date is November 30th. But call when the part arrives and A & E Factory Service will work you in sooner... if there is a cancellation elsewhere.” What?! I call Whirlpool, they say their hands are tied again, “We are so sorry, the A&E technicians should not replacing parts like that” I ask, how about a new washer?” They reply, “ Sorry, all other avenues must first be exhausted.”

Okay the story will continue. I am anxiously awaiting November 30th. In the interim I am on a first name basis with all the other people that use the Laundromat and it only costs me $13 a visit plus an hour and a half of my day.

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64 comments
K
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KStormont
, US
Jul 29, 2016 6:28 am EDT

Hellacious experience. The worst communicators ever...basically they DONT communicate with each other. You never talk to the same person ever. They change things all around and don't tell you. Their word is useless. They lie and don't listen. I can't figure out how they are still in business.

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Annah L.
, US
Apr 19, 2016 10:28 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

It is now April 2016, and I cannot believe how things have not changed for this company.

I absolutely, dislike A&E Factory Service with a passion. They make you want to climb through the phone and strangle someone!
Seriously, they LIE to you and treat you with DISRESPECT and then act as if they don't see a problem.

I am online right now giving my review of the yearly preventative maintenance (PM) that I paid heavily for (they say it is free, but I paid $349.99 for my dryer and $319.99 for my washer), writing about the lies and several attempts to get an appointment, only to have a tech show up and tell me he is only here for one appliance and the other will be looked at in five days by a different technician. I waited all day five days earlier (Saturday), they didn't arrive until AFTER the scheduled appointment (5:04PM), left a note on my door because I had to leave.

When I rescheduled A&E lied to me and blamed Sears for separating my service into two different dates, so I would have to spend another two days waiting around a minimum of four hours each time for a 45 minute yearly PM. When the tech left he ran out so fast he didn't allow me to sign anything, and I spotted a large puddle under my washer, so I had to call A&E and request they send someone else out to take a look. It took SEVERAL attempts to get someone to understand I wanted both appliances looked at TODAY (Friday), not one today and the other next Wednesday, so I would have to be home and waste another work day waiting around. The fact that several of their employees have poor communication skills and a disregard for the truth only adds to the nightmare you experience with this terrible company.

I didn't believe that A&E was owned by Sears because I felt Sears would NEVER allow these things to happen. In fact, I still have doubts because A&E was blaming Sears, so if they were owned by Sears why would there be two different company names and why the blaming game? The customer service representative told me she worked for A&E, which Sears owned. I work in property management and companies contract their property management out to other companies, and this is what I feel Sears has done - they have contracted with A&E to handle appliance maintenance and repairs. Even the notice they leave on your door when they don't show up on time for the appointment states A&E Factory Service and NOT Sears. Sears would put their logo on these post-it notes if they were the actual company providing the service.

The technician that arrived to check out the issue with my washer and complete the PM for my dryer gave me three names of technicians that work with him, and this person was not known by him. He tried to look up my service call on his handheld laptop, but nothing was showing. He said he was curious as to who they sent out, and he told me that he did not know who it was because they use technicians that ONLY handle PM’s and nothing else because they are not qualified. That explained a lot…A&E told me the reason my appliances were setup for two different dates was due to the fact the tech was NOT TRAINED to handle dryers. What? I told her that in property management if I have an HVAC tech I don’t send one out that can handle A/C and another that can only handle the Heating – the tech has to know the whole unit. When I have a tech come to service my refrigerator he has also been back to service my microwave and dishwasher. This was ridiculous nonsense to me and yet another lie they were trying to tell me to make this acceptable.

I have been a loyal customer of Sears Roebuck since March 1983, but I fear that it is only a matter of time before Sears is out of business! They just cannot continue doing what they have been doing and expect customers to remain with them. It is a shame to see such a fine company with a great reputation and long history destroyed! If it wasn't for the service technician that Sears sent out (because I bypassed A&E and called a different number) I would have given them a one out of five stars. They redeemed themselves by allowing me to experience quality service!

Our society has lost its ability to communicate effectively. This generation is so used to technology that they cannot be bothered to look up from the screen for more than five seconds and acknowledge the person in front of their face. Common sense is gone...Remember the days when you pulled into a gas station and they filled up your tank and washed your windows! That WAS GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH A SMILE!

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Annah L.
, US
Apr 19, 2016 10:08 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

It is now April 2016, and I cannot believe how things have not changed for this company.
I absolutely, dislike A&E Factory Service with a passion. They make you want to climb through the phone and strangle someone!
Seriously, they LIE to you and treat you with DISRESPECT and then act as if they don't see a problem.
I am online right now giving my review of the yearly preventative maintenance (PM) that I paid heavily for (they say it is free, but I paid $349.99 for my dryer and $319.99 for my washer), writing about the lies and several attempts to get an appointment, only to have a tech show up and tell me he is only here for one appliance and the other will be looked at in five days by a different technician. I waited all day five days earlier (Saturday), they didn't arrive until AFTER the scheduled appointment (5:04PM), left a note on my door because I had to leave.
When I rescheduled A&E lied to me and blamed Sears for separating my service into two different dates, so I would have to spend another two days waiting around a minimum of four hours each time for a 45 minute yearly PM. When the tech left he ran out so fast he didn't allow me to sign anything, and I spotted a large puddle under my washer, so I had to call A&E and request they send someone else out to take a look. It took SEVERAL attempts to get someone to understand I wanted both appliances looked at TODAY (Friday), not one today and the other next Wednesday, so I would have to be home and waste another work day waiting around. The fact that several of their employees have poor communication skills and a disregard for the truth only adds to the nightmare you experience with this terrible company.
I didn't believe that A&E was owned by Sears because I felt Sears would NEVER allow these things to happen. In fact, I still have doubts because A&E was blaming Sears, so if they were owned by Sears why would there be two different company names and why the blaming game? The customer service representative told me she worked for A&E, which Sears owned. I work in property management and companies contract their property management out to other companies, and this is what I feel Sears has done - they have contracted with A&E to handle appliance maintenance and repairs. Even the notice they leave on your door when they don't show up on time for the appointment states A&E Factory Service and NOT Sears. Sears would put their logo on these post-it notes if they were the actual company providing the service.
The technician that arrived to check out the issue with my washer and complete the PM for my dryer gave me three names of technicians that work with him, and this person was not known by him. He tried to look up my service call on his handheld laptop, but nothing was showing. He said he was curious as to who they sent out, and he told me that he did not know who it was because they use technicians that ONLY handle PM’s and nothing else because they are not qualified. That explained a lot…A&E told me the reason my appliances were setup for two different dates was due to the fact the tech was NOT TRAINED to handle dryers. What? I told her that in property management if I have an HVAC tech I don’t send one out that can handle A/C and another that can only handle the Heating – the tech has to know the whole unit. When I have a tech come to service my refrigerator he has also been back to service my microwave and dishwasher. This was ridiculous nonsense to me and yet another lie they were trying to tell me to make this acceptable.
I have been a loyal customer of Sears Roebuck since March 1983, but I fear that it is only a matter of time before Sears is out of business! They just cannot continue doing what they have been doing and expect customers to remain with them. It is a shame to see such a fine company with a great reputation and long history destroyed! If it wasn't for the service technician that Sears sent out (because I bypassed A&E and called a different number) I would have given them a one out of five stars. They redeemed themselves by allowing me to experience quality service!
Our society has lost its ability to communicate effectively. This generation is so used to technology that they cannot be bothered to look up from the screen for more than five seconds and acknowledge the person in front of their face. Common sense is gone...Remember the days when you pulled into a gas station and they filled up your tank and washed your windows! That WAS GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH A SMILE!

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Alun Williams
Sterling Heights, US
May 22, 2010 1:30 pm EDT

I have got to tell you, there cannot be a more disjointed and disfuctional company than A&E Factory Services!
I for one, based on past experiences with 'so called repair' services that they are supposed to provide, will NEVER buy one more product from Sears!

Sear use A&E solely for their repair work.
We have bought a Washer and Dryer from Sears, that needed repair work on and sure enough, it was A&E ...
This was my first experience with A&E and yes, sure enough, they showed up as last call of the day - After we had to wait in all afternoon. - and the one thing you should keep in mind, is no matter how much detailed information you give when you call to set up an appointment, their first technician visit will be to simply look at the product and make their decision on what's wrong.
They'll order replacement parts for say a week later to come back and repair it.

You then hope they show up a week later to fix it.
Oh and a word of warning, if they do come and fix it, for your own benefit, before the guy leaves ... Make sure the product DOES still work! Because once the guy leaves, even if he's forgotten something in putting it back together. You'll have to reschedule another appointment for him to then come back and put it right!

Since the washer dryer instance, we had the same problem with our Fridge Freezer ...
Then more recently over the past 3 years, our Maytag Dishwasher has had product failures 6 times now!
The control panel on the front has burned out / failed 4 times. - The Lemon warranty only kicks in if it's 4 times in 1 year I'm told by Maytag!
We had a door leak.
We've also had another failure on it where they had to come out.

In the times Maytag have set up the repairs - Through A&E - the repair guys have come out and one time they didn't put the door back on properly, so it wouldn't latch shut!
Another time when they checked the broken panel, before replacing it, they stopped the machine mid program and fitted the new panel ... When we switched the power back on, I notice the lights were flashing on the front panel.
He tried to run the machine again and we couldn't clear the control panel. So he took the door off again, unplugged the panel for a few minutes. Reconnected the panel and it seemed ok.
We closed the door, tried to turn it on again and it started flashing again ... Wouldn't go off.
He now said he'd have to order a new repalcement control panel! - He's screwed it up, obviously!

My wife and I both work full time, so the only time we can get a repair guy out, is Saturday.
They give you a morning or afternoon, no specific time and we sometimes have to work Saturday mornings.
ThSo it has to be Saturday afternoon.
We have had our appointment cancelled, by A&E because another job somewhere is taking longer than expected.
We've even been told by 1 control center that the planned call is on, then we get another call to say, they can't do it today!
They don't even know what the other hand is doing!

I'm so insensed!
Last weekend, we had a family get together, but the guy was supposed to be coming out between 1 - 5pm. I told my wife to take the kids and go ahead and I'll join them once he's been.
At 3pm I get a call saying he's overbooked today, so he won't be able to make it! - I've had this story told to me about 5 - 6 times! - So we set the next appointment up for today. Again, 1 - 5pm.
I call A&E at 1.30pm to make sure they are coming and I'm assured it's on schedule.
I get a call 15 minutes later from Sears Routing Office to tell me, I had just forced an afternoon appointment today, 10 minutes ago!
I'm furious!
I said you're kidding me?!
This was reschedule from last week because your guy couldn't make it last week.
I'm now told it next Saturday morning!
What absolute BS is this! Can you believe it?!

Maytag should improve their products!
They should also cancel warranty service work wth A&E!
Sears if they had any sense - Obviously not! - should do away with A&E and A&E should investigate some of their own practices and sort themselves out. They are clueless!

Alun Williams

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Fabio Lo Magno
,
Sep 12, 2007 12:00 am EDT

My wife and I have had a terrible experience with Sears A & E Factory Service. We purchased a Maytag/Whirlpool washer & dryer in July 2007. In August 2007 a part from under the washer fell out. We called Maytag/Whirlpool and was offered service through Sears A & E factory Service, a national company. We had never dealt with this company so we didn't know their reputation.

A technician came to our house on 08/23/07 and found a sound pad had fallen off. He ordered replacement sound pads and stated he had to come back. As he was leaving he scratched the panel of the washer with his screwdriver. He stated he will order a new panel and replace it when he returns.

We weren't pleased, but at least they were willing to replace it. However, this is were the nightmare begins. The parts were sent to my house, the sound pads are small parts, but the box with the panel is 4' x 4' x 4'. It was left outside my house, even though we were home, and I had to carry it in and store it in my house until the next appointment on 09/04/07. This box was an annoyance as it blocked my foyer.

The day of the 09/04/07 appointment comes and no one shows up. I call and find out the appointment was canceled, but no one told us. I took a day off from work to be home for the appointment. I reschedule for 09/10/07 and have to take another day off from work.

I confirm this appointment the day before. The day of the 09/10/07 appointment comes and I get a call at 1:30 PM (the time of the appointment was 1 - 5 PM) telling me that they have no technician available in my area and they have to reschedule. They have no Saturday hours available as usual and thus want to reschedule for another week from 09/04/07.

At this point I have taken 2 days off from work, have been inconvenienced by a large box in my foyer for over 2 weeks. They want to reschedule for 09/17/07. They again have no Saturday hours available.

I cannot believe I have to take a 3rd day off from work ! I would never use this company again. Here comes the real funny part, no other service company that services Maytag/Whirlpool under the warranty will service this unit because it has been serviced by Sears A&E Factory Service and they cannot put the parts ordered by Sears A&E Factory Service on the machine. They would have to reorder the parts and come back to install them after they arrive...

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Amor Fundus Hedge
Lexington, US
Feb 13, 2015 8:00 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Sears/Kmart is a dying company and the lack of response/sensitivity of the central A&E office epitomizes the reason why this company is failing. The lack of communication from the scheduling office is pitiful. In my case they missed the appointment window (even though I called twice to confirm that everything was on schedule) and then encouraged me to cancel the appointment when the appointment window passed without the technician. After admitting that they had failed to follow their own procedures, they refused my request for a $25 credit to recognize that they had wasted my day. The technician who finally showed up was terrific, figured out the problem quickly and then resourcefully figured out a way to get the needed part that day. But the central office left him high and dry.

The management of the company clearly has stressed profit over service and not recognized that service might have some impact on revenue. If each customer is alienated, no one will return and revenue will lag. But this is no longer the company that brought us hand tools guaranteed for life. Huzzah for the impact of private equity and hedge funds on the face of America.

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JAF Value
Mountain Top, US
Jan 17, 2015 8:28 pm EST

Sears is just a four letter word. 3 months and refrigerator is still broke. had the same problem in 2004. Bought a warranty through a home warranty service. If I new they would send sears I would have my money refunded. A & E whoever they were that sears sent are incompetent. America has to wake up. I went shopping for a new refrigerator. I could not believe all the repaired refrigerators I saw the store trying to resell. No matter who the manufacturer WAS. We have to thank NAFTA. We took a lot of american jobs away Now you have these cheap Chinese, Mexican and third party labor making inferior products. We deserve what we get because we keep buying them. We need to stop buying and also send a clear message to the manufacturers.

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ooohhh
mount olive, US
Jan 10, 2015 12:37 pm EST

Sears shouldn't associate their name with A & E..
Purchased a dishwasher 2 years ago, It quit so I called Sears they turned me over to A&E, , what a joke...
Tech was 3 hours late...was here for 15 minutes, told me the motor was out...charged me 59.00 service call...said it would be 332.00 parts and labor...screw that...went and purchased new dishwasher, different company of course, ...guy came out to install and said your dishwasher isn't that old do you mind if I take a look...of course I don't mind...pulled out the motor and there was a piece of glass stuck in it..fixed it 20 minutes...and took new dishwasher back and just charged me for labor...really nice guy...WHY COULDN'T EXPERT TECH FROM A&E that SEARS turned me over to fix that...Now they are giving me a hard time trying to get my 59.00 dollars back...but oh well 59.00 isn't bad to learn a good lesson...

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filing warrant in debt
Stafford, US
Oct 07, 2014 7:32 am EDT

A&E Factory Repair is horrible! It's a big mistake to use them. I wish I saw this website before I gave them over $300 to fix a dishwasher which still does not work. I am filing a warrant in debt to get my money back. Horrible ordeal. They cancelled appointments and even hung up on me when I demanded my money back. Trust me. Do no give them any money.

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pashah
, US
Sep 16, 2014 1:01 pm EDT

they are ridiculous- we had our fridge not working right and the guy who came from AE factory was very rude, abusive and he walked in house and started throwing stuff out of fridge without asking and with no respect. he was terribly rude and arrogant Asian guy.

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MANNY BARRUECO
Basking Ridge, US
Aug 04, 2014 2:40 pm EDT

A & E CAME TO MY HOME TO REPAIR MY CLOTHES WASHER. THE TECH REPLACED SOME PARTS. ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER HE LEFT, THE WASHER BROKE DOWN AGAIN. WE CALLED A & E BUT THE EARLIEST APPOINTMENT THEY COULD GIVE US WOULD BE 1 WEEK LATER. THE APPOINTMENT WAS SCHEDULED FOR 8/4/14 BETWEEN 8 AND 12. THE REAIR TECH CALLED AT 9:50 TO LET US KNOW HE WOULD BE THERE WITHIN 20 MINUTES. HE NEVER SHOWED UP. WE CALLED A&E. THEY COULD CARE LESS AND A FLOOR MANAGER COULD NOT BE REACHED. THEY WOULD NOT COME TO THE PHONE TO RESPOND TO THIS NO SHOW. I AM DISGUSTED! AFTER THE SERVICE CONTRACT IS UP, I WILL GO INTO APPLIANCE REPAIR CONTRACT WITH THE UTILITY COMPANY. THEY ARE MORE RESPONSIVE.

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Joe Sims
Grass Valley, US
Aug 29, 2012 10:43 pm EDT

To all those complaining about Sears or A&E service: I am a repair tech eith about 8 years
Experience. I am in the process of hopefully obtaining a position as a Sears in home appliance repair technician. Let me tell you that Sears has a very extensive hiring and trsining process. They only hire the very best technician's. With a company the size of Sears or A&E service there are is bound to be a few experiences that are translated as negative as well as some circumstances are out of the service techs. hands and Sears hands for many reasons. There are always going to be certain customer's you just cant fully please. In the last few years Sears and A&E service have really gained a reputation for taking great care of their customers and getting service repairs done in a timely
manner and done correctly the first visit to your home.

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DontBuyAE
pacifica, US
Jun 02, 2011 3:43 am EDT

Bad experience with A&E. Called for service 2 1/2 weeks ago and first service available is today. Had a service with both my washer and my fridge, both from 1-5. 445 1 guy shows up for my washer. He says he can only work on my washer and another guy is going to come for my fridge. 20 mins later he says he needs to order parts and its going to take 11 days, 14 actually because they dont schedule on Sat and Mon because its busy. Great-it will be a month before getting some sort of washer hopefully working. I call the 800 number and ask what happened to the fridge guy. They say hes running late and will probably get here 620pm. 635pm rolls around with no tech so I decide to call. They say tech rescheduled at 540pm for June 10. Apparantly without even talking to me. called 800 number to complain and they obviously cant help me becuase no managers are on duty. Thanks for making me waste my day waiting for nothing. Looks like it will be at least 1 month before anything gets fixed or looked at. Not the type of service I was expecting.

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Di901
Rohnert Park, US
Jan 28, 2011 5:22 am EST

Appliance Tech
Hello everyone I'm an appliance tech and business owner in northern wi, I've been a tech for 16 years.
The appliance service industry is changing and not for the better, the days of the experienced, curtious and prompt appliance repair man are going to the wayside. During the past 10 years I've been an authorized servicer company for sears, whirlpool, ge, and maytag, in the past two years I have dropped my contract with whirlpool and sears for one simple reason...A&E... This company is changing the landscape of in warranty and out-of-warranty service, the techs are poorly trained and in some cases outright rude. These manufacturers have lost many independent service companies like mine so they can primarily use A&E, when you call for service on your in warranty product they will most likely send out A&E, I'm not saying all A&E techs are inexperienced, but most of them couldn't find there foot with a flashlight. The best advice I can give you is call these companies using A&E and complain and keep complaining, I know it doesn't seem like they care, but these companies know the poor service they are providing reflects on them.I read a post in here from an employee of sears telling people to relax and this is just how it is and the customer is expecting too much, and not to get so upset about your appliance breaking.
If I've learned anything over the years it's that an appliance failure in warranty or out of warranty is a very personal thing, it disrupts our daily lives, as if we didn't have enough to worry about already. Have a great day ...never settle for poor service...

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eulie
Louisville, US
Jan 05, 2011 9:34 pm EST

AE is terrible, I took off work waiting for them to come and they never came to repair my refrigator. They rescheduled it for another week away. I have a maytag that was just purchased and the ice maker is not working. I should have kept my old fridge that i had for 12 years as it gave me no problems and I paid only 300 bucks for it with a working ice maker. This service is the worst! and so is the fridge. And with all these complaints no one ever does anything about it.

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A&E Solutions
Round Rock, US
Jun 10, 2010 8:12 am EDT

Dear Mr. Williams,

We apologize for the service you have received from our company over the past couple of years. When service is scheduled with our team we make it our goal to complete the service in a timely manner and to avoid inconveniencing our customers. This has clearly not been done for you and we would appreciate the opportutnity to speak to you. My name is David and I work for the A&E Solutions team. At your convenience please contact our office at AEservice@aefactoryservice.com so we can further discuss your concerns. In the email please provide us with a contact number and the phone number the appliance is listed under and we will contact you directly. In addition, please include the screen name used to post here so we can reference to your case.

Thank you,

David V.
Senior Case Manager
A&E Cares

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bloomingtonindianacustomer99
Bloomington, US
May 25, 2010 3:23 pm EDT

Sears' A&E Services sent out a truly incompetent technician to our house THREE times to repair our dishwasher. Each time, he ordered a completely new part and tried to install it. On the third time, he even broke the latch door. (This was a brand new, top of the line stainless steel dishwasher.) The total for parts and service that he internally billed Sears was over $1100 according to the receipts. On the FOURTH time, Sears sent in the REAL repair guy- an ace named Ted (if you are getting service in the Monroe Country, Brown County, Greene County area) and he fixed the problem instantly. Of course, Sears only sent in the terrific guy on the 4th and final attempt- after which they would have given us a new dishwasher. Be sure to ask for EXPEDITED service in between visits or it will be 4 weeks (4 visits, each one week apart). Also if your technician seems like the village idiot, ask them to send out Ted instead!

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Idunno
, US
Jan 30, 2010 12:37 am EST

I feel the pain of everyone on this board that has been screwed by A&E F.S. This Sears owned company is by far the worst outfit I have had to deal with in my lifetime. Anyone thinking about using these buffoons for any service whatsoever think long and hard. If I ever have to get maintenance done through a 3rd party warranty service again I will fight like hell to not deal with these guys.

Here's how my story starts:

After a couple of days of screeching from our not even 3 yr old Whirlpool washer we call A&E. Within a few days we have a technician in our house for a diagnosis. We made it a point to get this thing serviced quickly as our warranty was to expire in early Feb. The tech tells us we need a new transmission, okay a second trip to install it... I can live with that. Part arrives UPS 2 days later, wow that was quick, let's call A&E and get this puppy working again. Called A&E, appt. scheduled.

The following week - Tech number 2 is here, tools in hand ready to rock. Looks at the box and says I can't put this in because there is some oil inside the box and I'm afraid the fluid may have leaked out which could have ruined the part. Alrighty let's try this again. Another part ordered, another appointment scheduled. Yeah, yeah.

A few days later I have another visit scheduled between 12p-4p well I have some errands to run close by and I'll call A&E to ask them to have the tech call my cell phone instead of my house phone so I can make sure that I'm home when he arrives. A&E says no problem we'll send the tech a message. My cell never rings once, I get home to see a note on my door saying were sorry we missed you bla, bla, bla call us back. Fine. Let's try this again.

Appointment #4 "Smokey" the technician comes. And this guy smells like he just smoked a pack of Marlboro's in his van with all the windows rolled up. He comes in looks at the transmission in the box and says "they didn't tell me I was putting one of these in". 2 hours goes by he comes and asks me if I can give him a hand, a bit surprised I said sure. I went upstairs and he asked me to hold the bottom of the tub so he could screw something out I think. I did, went back to my business and heard the moaning, groaning and cursing of one frustrated technician upstairs. It was obvious after 5 hours of this guy being here that he had absolutely no clue what he was doing. He comes down after all this and says "transmission's bad". I'll put another one on order. I look at him with a bit of disappointment and said "OK but we can still use the washer right?"..."Yes, I put your old transmission back in". I figured well I can deal with the screeching as long as I can do laundry. My girlfriend and I go upstairs to check it out and discover that machine not only is missing screws, which were left in a box by the dryer, but does not function at all now! Not to mention a couple of very noticeable grease stains were left on the carpet. By this time the tech was long gone. Now our confidence in A&E is all but diminished.

We call customer service not very happy, tell them what happened and demand that they please not send the same tech back to our house, and by the way what can you do about the stains on my carpet? The guy on the other end says we can't fit you until late next week. B.S, I said I need to speak with someone of authority. Well this customer service clown won't have that and hangs up on us. So we call again. This time we tell our story again still no resolve and we can't even get transfered correctly to the claim dept to do something about our grease stains on the rug. So we call The Home Depot warranty dept, who sold us the policy . They escalate our case and make sure we get connected to the claims dept about our carpet stains. They also made sure we're scheduled for an appt. in 2 days. I get a call two days later in the morning saying the same guy we asked to not have in our house is now coming again. I said no way, I'll reschedule. Now I'm pretty pissed.

Then comes group number 2. Now I have 2 techs in my house trying to complete the job. These guy's were just beautiful. They crap all over the work that dummy number one did. So after maybe an hour of Horace and Jasper upstairs talking about the screw ups of there beloved co-worker the tell me that they think that he left the new transmission in rather that putting the old one back in, and also confessing that the previous guy had no training on putting in a part like this. So instead of putting in the new transmission they opted to assume that there was a new transmission put in on the previous visit. Scratching my head I say whatever it takes to get this thing working just please I need a washer! Well they call me upstairs to say that they have it working I say okay hopefully this does it." Oh, by the way we got a little bit of water on your floor so we went into your bathroom grabbed a towel and wiped it up." This shocked me. Whatever, thanks, and by. Well we throw in a load of wash in to check it out and find that it was still doing the same screeching noise that we called about in the first place - all these ###s did was fix the other guys mistakes, and by the way got black grease all over our white towel that was hanging in our bathroom! I mean really WHO DOES THAT? Baffled, shocked and utterly amazed by the lack of professionalism, downright pathetic customer service, and total lack of diagnostic skill and service by these idiots we call The Home Depot warranty service for one last complaint and the silver lining is that after all this, we get the "three strikes and you get a new washer" policy. So we will get credit for a new machine and that's perfectly fine with me, but if there was one thing learned by all this, it is never, ever, agree to let any member of Sears' A&E Factory Service enter your home again. Period. No training, no skills, poor hygiene, poor service.

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Bill Brasky
georgetown, US
Jan 11, 2010 2:38 pm EST

A & E Factory service are a bunch of bumbling ###s. The only thing that exceeds their technicians incompetence is their complete lack of customers service, If you are thinking getting a service contract with these folks, you would probably be better off taking some appliance repair coarse, you'll have a masters degree before their service van shows up, and you'll know you fixed your appliance is fixed right

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Gnar
Burke, US
Dec 02, 2009 3:27 pm EST

AE Factory Services is terrible!
I scheduled service appointment with them online through Whirpool website. My wife took day to wait for their visit. Appointment time to fix my refrigerator was from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. When nobody showed up at 12:30 pm I call their Customer Center and was notified that since one of the technicians call off for this day somebody will come after 12:00 pm. After nobody came at 3:00 pm, I was assured that technician will be coming after 5:30 pm. I call at 6:30 pm again and rep told me that technician is on his way to my house and assured me 100% that service will be performed this day. I repeated my call at 8:00 pm and AE supervisor notified me that it’s too late and I have to wait until next day. I rescheduled for next day from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, but when I called next day to confirm that somebody coming in they told me that my request for new appointment is does not exist.
This company has only central office in Texas and subcontracting local technicians and apparently cannot control them.
I strongly recommend avoid AE services!

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Beverly Gay
Philadelphia, US
Oct 26, 2009 6:25 pm EDT

I contacted Sears for repair to a 25 plus year old
Whirlpool refrigerator. A&E showed up, charged $222.56 to repair a part. Within two hours, noxious fumes plus the rubber around door was hot to the touch. Tried to get another appointment to correct situation, but this was a problem and they wanted to schedule six days away, maybe. I finally put a stop pay on my check and called a local repair technician who advised it was the condenser and nor worth repairing. I purchased a new refrig and now engaged in battle with A&E over my stop pay.

ANOTHR DISGUSTED CONSUMER

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LinNC
Etowah, US
Oct 12, 2009 2:02 pm EDT

Thanks I just cancelled my appt with them, FYI these boards help and thanks for putting your problems out there!

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Joe Salmi
Columbus, US
Aug 10, 2009 7:42 pm EDT

Okay, so 3 weeks ago I had a refrigerator breakdown and my rental property, so I called around and was given the number to A&E Factory Service. I honestly have to say that was the worst mistake of my life. On top of them quoting me $566.10 to fix a $599 refrigerator, their level of service and commitment is absolutely horrible. I would never suggest this company to anyone. Plain and simple, just don't waste your time with them.

So I called and made an appointment on Wednesday, July 22nd to come out and take a look at the refrigerator. We made the appointment for Thursday which I thought was pretty good considering it was a 1 day turn around. Well Thursday came and went right on by with no call whatsoever. So I called them back on Friday to try to find WTH was going on and it turns out, the appointment was made for Thursday the 28th. I argued a bit but got nowhere with them so I had to settle with the 28th. While I was on the phone with the lady from A&E factory service, I asked if she could have the tech call me 1 hour before he shows up at the residence so I could be there to pay him. She assured me he would and that he would arrive anywhere from 8am to 5pm. Thinking to myself "man that's a large window" I said okay and got off the phone. I informed my tenants that it would be a week before we could get anyone out there.

Finally Thursday comes and I get a phone call around 5:30pm, I head out to the house where the refrigerator is, only to find out 4 minutes after he looks at it, that just about everything in there needs to be replaced. It turns out that those 4 minutes would cost me a $70 service fee and an estimate that would blow the lid off your great, great, great grandmothers casket. It turns out, they need to replace the coolant lines, the compressor and the coils because there was a "clog in the lines". He told me he couldn't just replace the lines because the problem could come back and for them to warranty the repairs they would have to replace everything.

So I say "Okay, how much to fix it?", "with us ordering the parts, and the labor, the repair costs comes to $566.10!" Well damn the refrigerator was only $599! He told me he couldn't fix it on that day anyway just because he would need to order the parts. I told him not to fix the refrigerator because that was ridiculous and I just don't see how it could cost that much.

I called Whirlpool to see if they could help out with the cost of the parts considering the problem I was having was in no way the consumers fault and WP agreed to pay the parts which was cool on their part. The way it works at this point is WP calls A&E Factory Service to let them know they will be paying for the parts and how long it should take for them to get to the house. So there isn't really anything for me to do. So I wait a couple of days to get a phone call to find out when my new appointment is going to be, NOTHING. So I call WP back and try to find out if anyone ordered the parts yet and when should I expect them. Well it turns out at there was a miss communication on A&E's part because they never sent WP the parts list. Finally after getting that worked out, the lady at WP tells me she will ship them to the house via 2 day air because of the trouble I've been though so far.

So I receive the parts on Tuesday the 4th, dispatch gives the ticket to ANOTHER tech which calls me on Wednesday the 5th to come out and look at the refrigerator all over again. Back to square 1 at this point. I asked that tech if I would have to pay the $70 again because I already paid it once and he said yes I would, after I was told I would only have to pay it once.

Finally that tech finds the information from the first tech and then calls me to tell me that it will be tomorrow before anyone can come out. So the first tech calls me back on Thursday evening on the 6th AFTER 6pm and tells me he is pretty busy but he could be out at the house later that night. I asked him if it would be better if he came in the morning instead and knocked it out first thing? He agreed and thought it would also be a better idea. Friday comes and goes, and at 6:30 Friday evening I was on my way to a birthday party the guy calls and says he'll be out within 2 hours. What the hell man? I thought you were coming in the morning? I told him I wasn't going to be able to make it out to the house and that if he fixed it Friday night I would pay him on Monday. He told me he couldn't do that and the ticket needed to be closed out at the time of service and blah blah blah.

So I called A&E this morning (Monday the 10th) to find out what the hell is going on and they actually told me that I have a scheduled service appointment on Monday the 17th. I told the lady that I would not accept that and they needed to have someone out there TODAY! My tenants can't have anything cold until the fridge gets fixed. Turns out the best they can do is tomorrow. I guess we'll see how that disaster goes. At this point I'm not expecting a phone call until around 8pm tomorrow night from this company.

So to make a long story longer, DO NOT USE these, lying, cheating, no good, stealing, SOB's to work on any appliance's in your house. If I wouldn't have gotten the appointment tomorrow I would already be on the phone with another company and I would be at the house tomorrow anyway.

STAY AWAY FROM A&E Factory Service, THEY SUCK!

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Fed up in NJ
Montville, US
Aug 01, 2009 5:01 pm EDT

We should all get together and take out a full page AD in the NY times so that no one ever buys from Sears and they go out of business just to try and put A &E out of Service. I won't waste my breath on my story is is the same as the millions all over the web. A & E stinks!

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johnj56
Croton on Hudson, US
Jul 16, 2009 5:17 pm EDT

stay away from these guys. I told themn my Nepwtune washer had an "lr" code. That usually means controll board and replacement motor. The motor has a five year warrantee. The texh DID NO TEST he just put his hand in drum and spun it after I told him what I saw "lr" Code. He did NOT go into svc menu to see if there were any other codes, he did not even confirm my finding. He went out to the truck and came back in with a receipt syaing iot will cost me well over $500. When I told hime it was under warrantee, he said You don't even have a receipt. I put my receipt in his face, he looked at me a nd saiid this is only your receipt it does not say anything about a warantee. I showed him the instruction manual where it does show the motor is covered, he finally caved aand said it will still cost $365 to installl and $82 for service call. I asked him why we waitied all morning for him to show up at 2 when he was supposed to be there betwen 8-12, he said that was wrong that they advised me he would be there after 1;00 PM last night. I kept the message from he night before and it clearly stated he would be there between 8-12. He actually told me I was a liar till i made him listen to the tape. Anyways this guy wants to charge me all this money to order parts and install them when he DI NO DIAG on his own, just my word. And BTW if the moror is bad the controll board could have cAUSED IT AND OR THE BQAD MOTOR COULD DAMAGE THE CONTROLL BOARD, BUT HE DID NOT CARE IT IS NOT HIS TIME OR MONEY.
P.S. b4 telling me the cost to fix it he saaid bet you paid a bundle for this mach they were over $1, 200 when new, now you can get them for $500, then he come back in with a bill for $565 to fix it and cant gaurantee that will be all that is neede. Arrogant jerk. I threw him out and requested they send me my motor since theie tech "figured that out".

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Suzanne
, US
Jun 17, 2009 8:01 am EDT

I have had Sears come and fix my dryer, my refrigertor my oven and had no problems. May have had to wait a little longer for an appointment, but the problem was resolved when the service technician came. With A & E Factory Service, it is the management that should be held accountable. They don't hire enough technicians to cover the service first off, so they can't schedule properly. They don't plan for the problem that was called in. I had a Calypso Washer...with a "CE Error". A & E Factory Service comes, but they don't have the boards on their truck or the U-Joint or the WashPlate so they can't fix the washer...order, customer, you check and be sure they arrive in good condition and nothing missing, then A & E will come back, unless you don't pick up on the first ring of the phone, then you will have to reschedule again and possibly again and possibly again...they have no concept of Customer Service. I will never buy any product that Sears or A & E Factory Service would have to repair. That wipes out most of the equipment out their in your home. They even own Magtag now...beware of what you buy or you will be stuck with that lousy SERVICE...if you can call it that.

I have been waiting almost 3 weeks and my washer still isn't operational...next date, 6/24/09 and you better be there all day and don't talk on the phone or you might not be able to transfer over on call waiting fast enough and be considered a "Customer Not Available or Home"... Maybe they just want you to purchase these warranties and then keep you waiting so long, you give up. I already told them, they will fix my washer, if I have to move it to the garage and have a new washer put in my laundry room...I can play that game too. I've already written the BBB about A & E Service and I written to the BBB about the Warranty policies too...they are part of the problem.

Check out your appliances and who owns the company...The technician told me the names of the machines that Sears owns now...even the 'dependable Maytag"...you're going to get A & E for service too...no more reliable Maytag Technician.

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Jack Bower
Encinitas, US
May 31, 2009 2:50 pm EDT

Nice attitude Genie - that will solve a lot.. No wonder your company and reps are so horrible. If you would did YOUR JOB and fixed 'our ###' correctly the first time then you wouldnt see any complaints. NO DOUBT! And besides that - you seem like the whinning lil cry baby whaaaaaaaaaaaaa whaaaaaaaaa whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa my life sucks - your a JOKE! - Jack Bower

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Genie
Abilene, US
May 29, 2009 9:07 pm EDT

I hate to read all this [censored]in and moaning, like ya'll so f*ckin entitled. I am a tech with ae and the worst part about my job is dealing with a bunch of cryin *ss babies who always want to know when you will be there or why you're late. Did it ever occur to any of you ### that there are 12 other b*thin little ### on our routes besides you. Instead of cryin like the p*ssies that you are, like just cause your washer dryer fridge out you got the right to disrespect the guy trying to fix your [censored], why don't ya'll take and go get f*cked in the *ss by mom and pop then you get a right to [censored].

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Bob Becker
Miami, US
Apr 22, 2009 9:47 pm EDT

THE WORST EVER
After they left gas leak and did not call back
Bob Becker

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Jason Mac
Oceanside, US
Apr 22, 2009 11:25 am EDT

Horrible service, extreremly rude, and after 4 hours of arguing - he left feeling that my dishwasher had been fixed. A day later - we started to have the same problem and now they will not return my phone calls. HORRIBLE COMPANY and I dont see why GE or any affiliate uses them. - Jason, San DIego

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KENT
Coatsburg, US
Apr 15, 2009 10:37 am EDT

A&E is the worst organized company that I have dealt with. But the major companies that contract with them are just as guilty of bad service. If an appliance is under warrenty, the customer should only have to make one phone call and it should be taken care of.
Right now our washer has been setting full of water for a month and a half, and I will not make another appointment with a&e, or will they be allowed back on my property.

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Bill
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Nov 06, 2008 2:48 pm EST

Called for an appointment, stayed home from work, no one showed up, I called back, an THEY HAD NO RECORD THAT I HAD EVER CALLED THEM.

Just stole 1/2 day of my time.

Terrible, terrible.

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KD
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Oct 30, 2008 1:04 pm EDT

I Completly Agree. A &E and Sears/Whirlpool are a complete disaster. We're on week four for our service request on a Whirlpool Duet dryer that is only six months old. The short story is A&E came in to fix one thing on our dryer and blew out our Heating Element and that part is six weeks away according to A&E. So between October 1st and Mid December we will be without a Dryer. (Keep these stories in mind when Whirlpool asks you if you want to extend your Warranty for $100+ a year...their service stinks and it's worth the frustration).

End Result is still to come..but we got tired of the run around and ordered the parts from Sears Direct (which is where A & E Sears gets their parts) and It should be here tomorrow not December. There is a big difference between October 30th and December 15th when you're waiting for a part to fix your Dryer.
Apparently getting a Warranty means your last in line to get parts.
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Full Story: Our Dryer broke with an F 25 Thermister error and it took a week to get A & E Service (Sears and Whirlpool) to our house between 8am and 12pm (arriving at 3:30pm). They told us we needed X, Y, Z parts..The parts took a week to arrive and they were shipped from a place that was only 20 miles away (but we're not allowed to pick them up and they won't pick them up for us either). Then another week for them to comeback to fix the machine (week 3). In week three they finally showed up at 3:00pm (for a 8am-12pm window) and a different technician said "These are all the wrong parts. The person that ordered these didn't know what he was doing."

This guy said that all that was broken was a safety switch and that he could permanently bypass the switch so we never have the problem again. I asked if it was safe to bypass this and he said that as long as I keep an eye on the dryer and make sure it doesn't get too hot it would be fine. I expressed my desire to keep my house from burning down and would prefer he just fix the part. After he tried to convince (bully) me for a few minutes, he finally gave up and said he could fix it a different way and replaced our Thermal Fuse. I now know that this was a temporary fix for him to get out the door.

The Dryer worked for two loads and then died again...A & E came back a week later..Yet again a different guy and he said "the previous guy didn't ground your machine properly and blew out your Heating Element". This heating element is out of stock and won't be available until mid-December.

HERE IS THE FUN PART: After complaining to A&E (owned by SEARS) for breaking everything..we calmed down and did some research. I figured out who they order parts from SEARS Parts and SEARS Parts Direct (.com). I called SEARS and they can ship the part the same day and even overnight it to us, but A&E will only talk to FSP Appliance Parts (also owned by SEARS) and A & E says they don't have a phone number for FSP Parts. So I found the address for FSP and did some web research..figured out that the number for FSP Parts (AKA Sears Roebuck Parts Dept.) in Glen Burnie, MD and called them...The part can be shipped from Texas and arrive in 7-10 days. Still a long time, but much better than A & E six weeks + one week to get a techinician to come.

End Result is still to come..but we got tired of the run around and ordered the parts from Sears Direct..It should be here tomorrow. There is a big difference between October 30th and December 15th when you're waiting for a part to fix your Dryer. (The only difference is no one will re-imburse us for the parts..but at this point that isn't important..I just want it fixed, so I never have to deal with this company again.)

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sarah
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Oct 03, 2008 5:43 pm EDT

A&E SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS. Why are they still in operation? How can we all ban together to shut them down? They are the worst company I have ever delt with in my life. Completely unprofessional, horribly ignorant and totally incompetant. If I can Help take them DOWN, please let me know. They actually came into my home to "repair" my microwave and BROKE my oven! Weeks have gone by and they acutally HUNG UP THE PHONE on me, refused to help and said the part THEY broke was on a 1 month backorder! They must be held accountable.

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Misty Tulp
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Sep 18, 2008 10:08 am EDT

Just so you know I don't work for either companies, but I do know a technician for A&E Factory services. You don't know what they have to go through in a day. Your problem could be more then one thing that they have to work through. They are human and don't get things right the first time always. Can you say that when you have some thing wrong with you and you don't know what it is. That when you go to the doctors that they don't have to run more than one test on you to find out what is going on with you.
Now for the ones who are having the problems with how long it is taking them to get to you. For your information A&E is short on technicians at this time, So the ones they do have have to work more area. So yes it is going to take longer to get to some of you.
All I have left to say is pull your heads out of your a** and grow up!

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Manu
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Aug 14, 2008 3:03 pm EDT

A&E wins the All around award for worst customer service in the world. Whirlpool and A&E have taken terrible customer service and made it even worse. My dealings with them started in early April 2008 and after 4.5 months it still hasnt been resolved... Yes over 4 months and 4 trips by A&E technicians.

My saga started with a microwave from Whirlpool. My elderly mother had gotten the insurance for peace of mind. The microwave stopped working a year into the insurance. The first complaint was made on April 4th, 2008. She got scheduled for a technician to visit on April 18th. He ordered a part for the microwave after having spent 10min. The part was finally shipped 2 weeks later and then the appointment scheduled again which took another 10 days. The technician comes in and realizes that this is the wrong part and leaves telling her that he will order the right part this time. And here we go again. It takes 3 weeks to ship the part and another 2 weeks to schedule a technician. We are nearing end of June now -- about 2.5 months since the first call. The technician installs the part and it still doesnt work. He concludes that there is no issue with the microwave but with our internal electricity and tells my mom that she should look into this asap as it could have serious consequences. So she hires an electrician to come check the internal wiring. After paying $200 to the electrician we are told that this is a new house and there is nothing wrong with the wiring. He then goes on to clearly demonstrate that the issue is with the microwave. Great. Time to call the wonderful folks at A&E again. I also call Whirlpool to really get to the bottom of this. I figured they would care about how their outsourced company was dealing with their customers. I even asked that they send someone else than A&E. However, I was politely told by the supervisor that since the ticket had been opened with A&E, I have to complete it with them. There hands are tied and unfortunately they cant do anything to help. When I made the point that this insurance is not really buying any peace of mind and cant use the microwave at all, I was slyly told that it would be better if I just go buy a new microwave. Hmmm.. So why do they sell insurance in the first place. Ahhhhh. Bingo... Most customers would have given up after the second month and this is what Whirlpool and A&E counts on. It clearly improves margins for Whirlpool by screwing the customers. Get money upfront for value that is a mystery and let the customer end up holding the short end of the stick. I really wonder how are American companies are going to compete with the Asian companies. The rapid rise of companies like LG and Samsung taking away market share from Whirlpool doesnt surprise me anymore.

Well, enough about my rant on macroeconomics... I finally muster up the energy to call A&E and get an appointment for July 24th. The technician comes in and this time I am there since my Mom has been tricked by these guys 3 times already. I repeat the experiment that the independent electrician had shown us. He acknowledges and agrees that the problem is indeed with the microwave. Within 5 minutes he nails the issue to a corrupt power cord which now needs to be replaced. He calls in the part to be shipped. I had learnt about the serial nature of setting appointments and asked the next appointment to be scheduled rightaway. It got scheduled for Aug 8th as that gives enough time for the part to be shipped. I called on Aug 7th to figure out where the part is. I was told it was getting shipped on Aug 7th and that they have to now cancel the Aug 8th appointment. Well, ofcourse. What else should I have expected at this point. Now its Aug 14th and I call again. I am told that the part has still not been shipped and that it is the manufacturers fault. I asked to speak to a supervisor and spoke to Rebecca, who assured me that she will personally call the parts department and figure out why a power cord was taking so long. I now have an appointment set for Aug 22nd, 2008. Lets see if they can manage to stretch this even further.

Its been 4.5 months since this saga started. I have gone from frustration to amazement and seriously I am somewhat amused on how terrible Whirlpool's customer service is. I would love to write a business school case study on this.

btw: when I had asked to get A&E's corporate HQ phone number I was told that they didnt have it at the call center. The best she could do was to give me an address. Well, I am sharing it here if anyone feels like writing snail mail.

1300 Louis Henna blvd
Round Rock, TX 78664

Lesson learnt: NEVER buy extended insurance. Its far better to just throw the appliance and purchase a new one. This way you never have to deal with any customer service. Plus they should change the name from Customer service to Suckers beware.

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Jane Bucko
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Aug 04, 2008 9:28 pm EDT

Oh my God! I cannot believe how many other poor souls were hoodwinked with this company! I can't believe how my story is so like so many other's...can't make the appointment because the guy called off sick - ordered the wrong part - rescheduled and part never arrived - UNBELIEVABLE! We purchased a cabrio washer and dryer from hhgregg, also the 5 year warranty for both appliances. Without going into detail, because the problem is not that the appliance malfunctioned - the problem is A&E! This company should be reported to the Better Business Bureau! They should not be allowed to deal with any human being at all. And if I would have to PAY for all their visits I would probably be insane by now. After 4 attempts (I won't even use the word tries) to fix my washer I contacted another Whirlpool repair service and can you believe...one phone call the the NEXT day my washer was fixed! NEVER...NEVER again will I dial their phone number for ANY reason!

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Mary Tovar
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Apr 23, 2008 6:40 am EDT

I bought a Maytag stove with an electronic panel to turn on the stove and to run all the stove operations (clock and timer included).
The stove repeatedly turned off, would not keep the temp, displayed the incorrect time or just shut off clock, timer and oven. We had a GE warranty that covered labor and parts for 5 years. A&E was just one of the repair companies that tried to fix this stove. We had 9 repairs over the 4 year period, but not all were handled by A&E. Finally, after the third repair by A&E, the repairman said I should call the company and tell them to give me a new appliance. He called them in my presence and told them that the stove was defective and that I should get a new one. He cited three of the same repairs over a 12 month period of that warranty. I am getting a new stove, thanks to this repairman's analysis of the repairs. The stove was seriously flawed. He also showed me that Maytag had recalled two parts on my stove and that they should have notified me. I really cannot complain. Waiting for them to show up is a problem, as it is with a number of other service companies we used. A&E did call, on occasion to let me know that the call would be narrowed to 2-3:30p.m, for instance.

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Melvin Bernstein
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Apr 18, 2008 4:08 pm EDT

***** BEWARE OF USING MAYTAG FACTORY/CUSTOMER SERVICE OR A & E FACTORY SERVICE *****
Last Saturday we had a 5 year-old Jenn-Air slide-in range serviced at our Oakland, CA home by A & E Factory Service. The appointment had been setup by the Maytag Factory Service Center. When I asked Maytag how much A & E charged per hour, I was told $72. I asked if there were any other less expensive service companies in the S.F. Bay Area and was told, "We get the best pricing and service from A & E ..."

The problem requiring service was that milk had boiled over on the cooktop and dripped down into the oven door, drying on the internal glass panels. When the technician arrived, he took a look at the oven door and looked up a "job code" in his laptop computer. Instead of an hourly rate, we were told that A & E Factory Service charges not by the hour but by a "job code." To clean the glass panels in our oven door would cost $134. If we did not wish to have the job done, then we would "simply" be billed $72 for the "trip time."

Well at that point, we seemed to be a captive audience, so we said to do the "repair."
The glass panels were removed and cleaned, with our own glass cleaner spray because he didn't have any. As he was cleaning the milk stains off, using our paper towels (he didn't have any), we asked if he would mind cleaning off a few other stains. The technician obliged us but could not quite get all of the stains removed. He stated that he had seen this situation many times before and that most customers simply replaced the glass panels because baked on stains can not be removed.

So it ended up costing us $134 to have the oven door internal glass panels cleaned (mostly), which took just over 1 hour, and was probably not the proper way to do it. But we were not offered the option of replacing the glass by the Maytag Factory/Customer Service Center, who on 2 occasions stated that they had not dealt with this situation before. The A & E Factory Service appointment center stated that they had no technical knowledge, so couldn't advise me as to options.

I phoned Maytag Customer Service and spoke to a supervisor, who couldn't quite grasp why I was upset. After venting for about 10 minutes, with the supervisor intermittantly interjecting stock replies, I gave her my daytime phone number. She asked why I gave her the phone number. When I said that I would like a return call to inform me as to how my complaint was handled, she stated there would not be a return call. I then asked if I could be sent a letter, for the supervisor had dutifully asked for the appliance details and our address earlier in the conversation. I was told, no letter either. I was so enraged that while she recited, "Thank you for calling Maytag Customer Service.., " I hung up.

C
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Carl
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Apr 10, 2008 3:29 pm EDT

Maytag Owner's Manual - side by side refrigerator page 21.

Second trough fifth year - Maytag Services will repair or replace, at its option, free of charge for parts and LABOR, any part of the sealed refrigeration system.

Isn't this false advertising by Maytag if you, the consumer are responsible for labor cost? In our situation, the A&E repairman made no mention of warranty, and in five minutes diagnosed that it was the compressor, charged us $75.00, gave us a repair cost quote and left. And, to no suprise to anyone out there, the part would have to be ordered. It was only when we called A&E the next day and discuss the estimate did they deny that they would charge us for the compressor. They do indeed fully intend on receiving an extra $177.00 from us though for installing the part.

Has anyone out there gotten a threat to be taken to collections by A&E for refusing to pay the labor?