Maytag review: won't clean dishes! 359

Gee. Lots of angry people out there. Just try this. If you do what I said above your dishes will come out spotless.
Update on my last e-mail: THEY CAME OUT SPOTLESS - not a one had grit or film. Make sure you have one of those plastic filters on the left side back of the dishwasher first of all. Mine should have come with one but didn't. Now it works great after the cup of vinegar in the middle rack and the tab in the utensil tray and running it through a cycle with no dishes in it. A class action suit for a $500 dishwasher, like how much would you really get - and probably 10 years from now?

AWFUL! DIRT, SAND, GRIT, ETC ALL OVER MY DISHES. NO MATTER WHAT I USE/DO. COUNT ME IN ON THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.

Add me to the class action lawsuit list. The rebate is only for another Maytag - why would I want another piece of junk? And my state doesn't offer the energy rebates anymore, so I'd be forking over another $350 minimum. No thanks!

PS take a look at "Maytag dishwashers recall: Is repair or rebate the best deal?"
http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/new-economy/2010/0603/Maytag-dishwashers-recall-Is-repair-or-rebate-the-best-deal

Texicat [at] gmail

You'd think that if their repairmen have nothing to do, it wouldn't take them a week to come out and fix their stupid machines!

Thanks so much tazjoe7 for the recall notice. If I wasn't signed up to this website I wouldn't have known there was one. I hope everyone that has made a comment to his website calls the number taxjoe7 mentioned to make sure your house doesn't burn up. LOL. The number tazjoe7 mentioned was [protected]. Maytag was really good at booking my recall appointment with no glitches! Nevertheless, the facility that represents Maytag came to my house to replace the bottom element that is a part of the recall (I wasn't about to invest 150 or 250 in another Maytag). I told him of my concerns (and that of yours), and he said to do this:

- check to see that there is a filter on the left side at the back of the machine that is a light blue in color (much like the color of the cutlery trays). Mine didn't have one when I bought it and should have and I have been running mine for over 2 years. If you do not have one, then ask the repairman that fixes the recall to put one in. It cost me 5.00 when the repair guy fixed the recall.
- to get rid of a lot of the challenges of film on dishes, and any cleaning problems you may have, take a cup of vinegar, put it in the middle of the upper rack, put one of those FINISH tabs (with the red dot on it) in the cutlery dispenser and run it on a full cycle without any dishes in it. He said it should make a difference. Kinda like when you use vinegar to clean out a coffee maker.
My repairman has been a Maytag (specifically) repairman for over 30 years and has evolved with the company and appliances. He said the "older" Maytags were high pressure machines where the force of the water cleaned the dishes well. You could put pots in and it would work. Since Maytag made the decision to "farm out to others", the challenges went up, they lost their quality control, and the consumer faith went down.
I am in the process of running a cycle with the vinegar and tab. We will see what happend to the dishes. Stay tuned for Part ? ...

Add me to the list! What a hunk of junk.
The salesman at Home Depot pushed this thing so hard, I will not buy another appliance there.
My Maytag dishwasher is by far the worst I have ever seen.
As most everyone else said, the control panel went out, the motor had to be replaced, and the utensil baskets broke, along with some other parts on the racks. Since I have a home warranty, these were covered items.
What is not covered is the fact that the dishwasher does not clean the dishes.
I read about all the issues here and took the thing apart today, looking for any sort of filter or clogged pipe, it was all cleaned.
We rinsed off some dishes well, put them in, and dang if they didn't come out with the same gritty residue as before.
The only thing I have been able to do to improve this is to rinse the dishes, run the rinse cycle on the dishwasher, and then clean the dishes.
Well why am I doing all this?
So, a not so old dishwasher will be replaced this week.
Class action suit?

Sign me up!

I have had all the problems listed here with my 300quiet series and then some... Doesn't clean dishes... latch broke, had repaired...after repair, only one function worked...repairman came out again and had to replace the whole latch and brain...top rack bearings broke...so rack falls off every time you pull it out...the cost to repair will now be as much as a new washer...condensation runs down the front while washing dishes...This is a horrile machine...very dissappointed.

Well, I got my new quiet series in my new home purchased in 2007. I never had the latch issue, but I did have the dirty grime in the glasses especially. But my main concern was the control panel. It satrted a few months ago. I could only wash on one cycle for awhile. Then I would have to wait sometimes up to a few days for it to turn on to start another cycle. It basically worked when it wanted to. Well, after like 3 days, i think it has finally gave up. Im not sure if i want to invest in any money ordering whatever new boards it needs. It might be more ecomomical to just buy a new one.

But, I just stumbled across a recall a few minutes ago concerning a fire hazard. My serial number ends in LJ, so i believe it falls under the recall. Here's a link https://repair.maytag.com/prjjck10/default.jsp

Or you can call1-[protected]. They are giving the option of a repair, a $150 rebate on certain models, or a $250 rebate on other models. Since all my appliances are Maytag, I think I just might try the rebate option and purchase a newer model and maybe have some better luck. BTW, if someone starts a class action suit, you can count me in. Thanks.

I bought my Magtag dishwasher a year ago and it has never worked well. The dishes are always dirty unless they are on the front right part of the dishwasher. Over and over I look inside to see if anything is blocking the spray wand. Always like backwash is left on my upper rack. Never again with a maytag dishwasher. And still the this machine rates 9 out of 10 for performance. Go figure. Wonder who was the lucky one to get the other 9.

We have had our no-so Quiet 300 series dishwasher for 2 years and it was a piece of crap from the start. My main complaint is that it leaves a film of detergent all over the dishes and does not clean them. They seems to come out looking worse than before I rinsed them and put them in. In the last 2 years I have tried different types of dishwasher detergent, from gel to liquid to power and experimenting with different amounts including using different rinsing agents. Nothing works and it gets worse every week. I hate to spend money on something that is not entirely broken, but we may have to suck it up and just buy a new one. We will definitely not purchase from Sears or buy a Maytag ever again. Any suggestions for a simple fix-it for a not-so-handy family would be most appreciated. Maytag...you're fired!

05-24-10
I purchased a Maytag washer 12-19-03 and had it 2 years and it went to pieces. There was 3 things wrong with it and was going to cost as much to repair it as to buy a new one. I will say that, even tho the warranty had expired, Maytag paid most of the repair bill probably because I complained about Maytag's reputation for having such a good product, which is not the case anymore. The really bad thing was that after 4 more years use it blew up again and I had to purchase a new washer and it wasn't a Maytag. When the men came to bring my new washer I overheard a conversation. They said my Matgag washer was one of those "SAV" washers and to take it to the dump. Apparently, there had been a lot of problems with them. I hope more people will start complaining about this "junk" that is being produced and sold to the public. It's not only Maytag...others as well. THANKS A LOT MAYTAG FOR COSTING ME A LOT OF MONEY THAT I CAN'T AFFORD. I will not be purchasing anything from Maytag again. Your product has gone to the dogs.
Karen King
Richmond MO 64085
[protected]

Ditto here! I purchased this piece of junk almost 3 years ago and it hasn't washed the dishes properly since Day 1. It was highly recommended by Home Depot. I was told to use different detergent, use different spot cleaning agent, EVERYTHING I have tried. I thought what is the point in washing them (which rinsing clean doesn't seem to do the trick) when I bought this dishwasher to do just that? I just took my cutlery from it and had to fill the sink to rewash it. The other day I served a beverage with ice in it and on the top was "floating sand." Luckily I caught it before my company drank it. How humiliating. It uses sooooooo much energy too! The light wash cycle is 2 hours. When I remove them from the dishwasher I have to dry them off and rewash 80% of them over again in the sink - how frustrating! What is the point in all of this? It doesn't hold a lot of dishes either. If I have company for dinner (4) the dishwasher doesn't even hold enough to wash our dinner plates, bowls, etc. My suggestion to those who want to purchase this dishwasher - DON'T ! If you don't want to experience high blood pressure, become agitated then I suggest you look at another product - outside of Maytag. I was always under the impression Maytag was a great product, but I also purchased a double-sided refrigerator with ice/water dispenser, a $1900.00 convection flat top stove and a washer and dryer and have had nothing but problems with the fridge and stove. Fortunately (knock on wood) the washer and dryer are still working. Friends of mine that were considering Maytag products have looked elsewhere after seeing what Maytag has done for me.

My 74 year old mother is having to handwash dishes because of the broken door latch. I came over to wash her dishes and then to find a link re this Quiet Series 300 and found this message board. Unbelievable what I'm reading! The water never fully drains in my mom's dishwasher either.

She bought the Maytag because her old one was very dependable. Maytag USED TO equal dependability. Now I tend to think they just equal big $$ for their executives - like all of these other major corporations.

Hey Maytag, are you having your appliances manufactured in China by cheap laborers?I'd love to know if a class action suit is in the works!

I have ta Maytag Quiet Series 300 dishwasher and I hate it. I have never seen so many things go wrong on one appliance before in such a short amount of time. The latch is broken, the wheel on the top rack is broken, the soap dispenser no longer opens during the wash. The motor broke and leaked water all over my kitchen, so it was replaced by a repairman, and is now making a loud noise again. Now the control panel is giving us grief- sometimes it won't start, and sometimes, it starts all by itself in the middle of the night.

We do not abuse our appliances, and we have never had trouble like this before. It's just a terrible product.

This is the worst appliance I have ever had the misfortune of owning.

We bought a brand new home 1.5 years ago. The Maytag 300 was installed by our builder. The very first time I used it I could not believe how long the cycles were. I have never in my life seen a dishwasher that needs to run so darn long...big waste of electricity and water in my opinion. I think it is quiet (compared to other dishwashers I have had) but it doesn't seem to clean that great. Plus my control panel is now malfunctioning. Glad I found this board. I suppose my warranty is up since it has been over a year now?

Wow I thought I was the only one! I bought it because it said Maytag, and that used to mean something. Man how I wish I had done some research, I almost always do, but this was MAYTAG!

I can not believe how dirty the dishes are that come out of this thing. I was just now surfing to find an answer, and I guess I just got it! Never again!

I am very interested in a class action lawsuit too. Any info on it?

ha, I just came across this board when searching for a Maytag parts online store because my dishwasher needs a new silverware container. I completely agree at the dismal performance of this new dishwasher (ours is about 2 years old). We bought this new Maytag when our other, 14 year old Maytag finally died (though ironically, even when we replaced it, it was cleaning better than the new 300 does!) because we were so happy with the performance over the many years. Additionally, we have been very happy with our "old" washer and dryer that (knock-on-wood) still are going great.

Well, now I know I will NEVER buy another Maytag again. This machine doesn't clean, the racks are broken/breaking, the silverware container is totallly broken, and did I mention that it doesn't clean? I will give it a little credit that it is quieter than my last one.

A

they are gone. Somo other company bought them. I for get which but it is a big name brand.
It may be possible to fix or hack new parts into the control panel. The question is: is it worth it? Buy the cheap Hotpoint with buttons on the left and a dial on the right. Works Great and very few parts
Sim

I agree on the dishwasher problems. Mine is a piece of junk. I always owned Maytag but the last purchases on washer and dryer and now the dishwasher shows me that Maytag is not the quality company they once were. The racks are cheap and all the prongs broke off. Rust on the remaining prongs. Now the darn thing won't clean either the upper or lower racks. I've tried everything. Took apart the thing and cleaned the filters thoroughly, etc. I have soft water and the heat is on full blast for the hot water heater. Still the dishes come out filthy. Never again will I buy or recommend Maytag. I hope they go out of business where they belong with all the other dead corporate giants.

Steve Anton

Ditto Ditto Ditto... This thing is JUNK! I am a self proclaimed expert of all things mechanical... I think it ran out of magic pixie dust because that is the only way you are going to get this thing to wash dishes.

I have had all these problems with the dishwasher, The cleaning part we fixed by running a cup full of vinigar in the top rack and ran empty 2 times then it started to clean again like when it was new. We now have both racks rusting out and faling apart in 2.5 years and no model decal so I can't look up parts to order the racks! I will never buy one again:(

Oh man! Do I wish we had read up on this before buying this dishwasher. I have never liked it as it doesn't seem to clean as well as my other one did that we had for years. We've only had this one since last July, not quite a year. Now it's often really noisy and last night the control panel got stuck and won't do anything -- won't run, won't turn off, nothing. My husband even turned the circuit breaker off to try and shock it into doing something. No go!

Doesn't even sound like it's worth putting out the money to have it fixed. Has anyone figured out what can be done with the control panel?

We too bought Maytag Quite Series 300 6 years ago. It has never worked properly and every repairman could not figure it out. We just gave up and figured we got the shaft. If anyone knows of a class action lawsuit please let me know.

We will never buy another Maytag appliance.

Wow! I thought it was just our bad luck or something. We have the Quiet Series 300 too, and it has never worked properly. We have dealt with it not washing dishes, depositing disgusting stuff all over the dishes, a broken door latch, and now the control panel is dead - it won't start at all. We bought it in 2007 and it was professionally installed by our plumber. I am so upset at the amount of time, money and stress that has gone into this piece of junk. I found this site, while looking for a possible fix for our latest problem. I now think I will just replace it completely with a non-Maytag dishwasher, and drop this one off of a very tall building.

I also have the Quiet series 300 .. I think the model # is the 8600 ... Most of the time it's anything but quiet and I was having a problem with sediment on the dishes after a cycle.

One thing that really helped get rid of the sediment on the dishes was installing an air gap (around $10) on the sink which prevents the discarded dishwater (and sewage due to a backed up sink) from back flowing into the dishwasher.

I was told that it's a requirement for all restaurants because of sanitation reasons, and now that I've installed one I realize that my water must have been backing up in my dishwasher sometimes ... Disgusting!

Anyway I installed it and it's been working good for some time, but recently the problem came back so I'm suspecting one of the 4 or 5 filters that are built into the dishwasher. I noticed that some of the sprayer arm's holes were clogged.

I don't want to promise anything, but if cleaning the filters worked I'll let everyone know.

I agree with these complaints. I bought my 300 series dishwasher 2 years ago from Rosa's in Buffalo. The display is flashing 9 on the screen and it comes on and off automatically, and when I start a wash cycle it will switch over to the rinse cycle withing minutes of starting. The rinse cycle dosen't work anymore when you press the button. The dishes come out dirty unless I use a large amount of rinse aid, cascade detergent and basically pre-handwash any visible food off the dishes. I called the customer service line and they told me to cut the power to it to reset the computer. I tried that and the rinse button still does not work. I called back customer service and told them that resetting the computer did not fix the problem. Since my warranty expired a year ago they agreed to pay for the parts as long as I pay for the labor.

Hi,

My Maytag dishwasher has the same problem with the rack wheels. The problem is so common that there is a guy on line selling a better replacement part! See http://www.indestructibleparts.com. The parts are "indestructible". I wish someone would make a complete dishwasher from parts like these, we'd only need one for a lifetime!

Wish I would have done my research prior to buying this dishwasher. With the Maytag name, didn't think I needed to. Boy was I wrong. We have had many problems with dishes coming out dirty. Worst dishwasher we have ever owned. The kind of soap used has an affect, but none work very well. Won't be buying a Maytag again that's for sure.

We too have a Maytag Quiet Series 300. It wasn't even used for about the first year shile we finished building. It has now been repaired about 10 times (all after the waranty) and doesn't clean. It takes way to long to run a cycle and does nothing but waste water and electricity. I also will never buy Maytag again.

I have the Maytag Quiet Series 300 dishwasher - - I agree it's a piece of junk - quiet doesn't come in to it - it's so noisy and yep - you guessed it - it doesn't clean dishes!

I've owned a lot of Maytag products over the years and this dishwasher worked fine for a couple years. Now I am having all kinds of problems..same as everyone else. Too noisy, takes too long. I could live with that but now it doesn't clean the dishes; I have to prewash everything and they look dirtier when they come out! Soap dispenser doesn't open; when it does, the soap is still in it no matter what kind I use. Upper rack broke, but my husband put in screws and nuts and have not had a problem since. (The first and second time it broke we had ordered the replacement parts--plastic junk.) I had a Kenmore previously and it lasted years and years and did a good job. The only reason I changed was because the racks had rusted and to buy two new ones was almost as much as getting a whole new washer. Don't think I will buy another Maytag. I'm in if there is a class action suit. Tired of the frustration. Now I have to buy another dishwasher...:>(

us too. the door latch, bad washes, and now it makes a lot of noise and then shuts down.

Looking online to find replacements for the upper dish basket - the thing broke a year ago and every so often the side slides move and the whole thing crashes on the dishes below. Same problem with cleaning dishes (auto works the best) in the front, wondered what was happening with the soap drawer as half the time the soap is just clumped, and for the past few months the food isn't draining out to the garbage disposer. This is the stuff that ends up on the dishes. After 4 years I'm thinking of just buying a new one, not hassling with this and getting the repairman back out. The installers took 20 minutes and were done, back out for level problems and just getting the door open.

I am experiencing many problems, including the ones mentioned above. It takes too long to wash a load, I have to prewash everything, the glasses and cups don't look clean and it is a loud machine. To top it off, the soap dispenser doesn't open about 75% of the time. I noticed that the auto clean option works best. I was wondering what happened to a brand that is so proud of its name.

My husband and I researched dishwashers when we were working on our kitchen remodel. The Maytag QuietSeries 300 had reasonably good reviews from Consumer Reports, so we purchased one from Home Depot and my husband installed it himself.

Right away we noticed that the dishwasher didn't do a very good job cleaning the dishes; they had to be rinsed well with no food residue or they would not come clean.

Within six months of purchasing the unit, the silverware basket broke. When I looked up the replacement price online, I decided that I could live with it as-is instead of spending $35 to replace it.

Within a year, the inside latch broke. Using the manual, we determined which part needed to be replaced and purchased the part from RepairClinic.com (great customer service and knowledgeable staff). My husband spent approximately 1/2 an hour taking apart, fixing and putting the door back together. When we found out that the latch breaking is a known issue (I found several people online who had replaced their latches four or more times), I started leaving the door unlatched unless running a cycle in order to extend the life on the latch.

Four months ago, I noticed a loud vibrating/grinding noise during a wash cycle. My husband took apart the bottom pan, couldn't find any problems, and put it back together. It stopped making the noise for about a week, and started up again.

I was planning on calling to schedule a service call tomorrow, but after finding this forum, we will be waiting until it dies and replacing it... and we will absolutely NOT be purchasing a Maytag.

I also own a Maytag Quit Series 300 Dishwasher, It is by far the worst dishwasher that I have ever owned. It does not clean at all. When I first bought this I would call them out to fix it & they said that you basically have to wash the dishes before you put them in. So I made sure that they were rinsed & it still would not clean, I called them again, then they tried to charge me a house call that I refused to pay. Now my warranty is up, not that they stand behind anything anyway, but they called me to extend my warranty & I told them that I would never pay any more money on that dishwasher that I have never been satisfied with this, that it never has cleaned good at all, and they would not do anything about it, they told me that they have never had any complaints on this model that it was one of there best selling models. I told them that I would use it untill I could aford another new one & I would toss this piece of crap to the garbage & I do not recommend Maytag at all.

Sure glad I found this site. Purchased QS300 Jan 2004 from Bestbuy. Problems from the very beginning very similar to the hundreds listed in these posts. Noisy (groaning sound). Dishes not getting clean, etc. Handle had to be replaced twice. Motor replaced in an attempt to make this run quieter (probably was still a good motor). Utensil racks fell apart. Dish racks busted. Front control panel acting up at times. The groaning noise was somewhat resolved the last time a repairman came out and noticed that the dishwasher was not installed on level. It was leaning towards the front and not getting enough water for each rinse or wash cycle because the automatic float, which is situated in front, was cutting off the amount of water prematurely. Making it level made it slightly less noisy, but it still shakes the rafters.

Now I notice that the bottom spray arm leans in one direction and does not rotate because it gets caught on the bottom dish rack. Therefore, most of the dishes on the bottom rack do not get cleaned properly. I took this spray arm off to see why it was off-balance and to see if any food or other junk was clogging it inside, causing it to lean to one side, but I didn't see any clog and the problem persists. If anyone has a similar experience with the bottom spray arm, I'd like to hear about it. I didn't see it in any of the above posts.

Thanks to all for suggestions on trying to keep this piece of junk running properly. We should all get refunds on this. This is not the Maytag of old. I've paid for original machine, extended warranty, and parts not included under extended warranty. Never again will I purchase a Maytag. And Maytag keeps sending me notices asking me to extend my service repair. Yeah, right. They're making money on both ends of this disaster...

I've had mine for about 3 years now. I have not noticed the cleaning problem YET, but now I'm worried. However, we've replaced the door latch once, and have replaced the stupid little plastice pieces inside about 3 times now because they keep breaking. It started out very quiet, but just keeps getting louder.

We just moved into a house that has this same dishwasher ( Maytag Quiet Series 300), it is a piece of junk! The handle doesn't stay closed, the rollers on the bottom rack are missing and it does not clean the dishes. This dishwaher also takes a long time to run through cycles. My parents also have this dishwasher, theirs is only 2yrs old and my dad hates it.

Well I guess I'll put my two cents in also, ITS A PIECE OF SHI*. Owned this machine for 4 years and have had to take it apart to clean all the ports due to hard water. This was last year, now this son of a bit*& isn't cleaning anything, not even the soap that you put in the dispenser. All the soap is still there but has ran down the inside of the door. I'm about to take this thing apart again and hopefully find something simple. Count me in on the lawsuit. I'm tired of my wife ### about this thing, she thinks I built this mother fu84*$!