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Stein Appliance Service

Stein Appliance Service review: Appliance repair service 19

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Author of the review
3:46 pm EST
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Stein Appliance was sold to Tom Graves, about 6 years ago. For tax purposes the company is registered under his common law partners name Yan Li (Liyan 2006 Ltd). Tom Graves does not have any prior appliance repair experience. In the late 1990's Tom was running a call center for illicit sex in Toronto with 5 Bawdy houses. Tom then ran a multi million dollar investment scam. Taking millions from investors across North America with a promise of a high return from a Check cashing business he co owned (Cashier INC.) Unfortunately many of those investors never saw their money again. Tom currently has cease and desist orders from the States where he defrauded.

Stein Appliance, survives off warranty work. Through creative thinking Tom has made his company appear much larger to LG and Whirlpool. This gives him most of the Belleville, Kingston, Ottawa service area. Tom sends his brother Ed Graves on calls requiring more then one man.

"Considered an expert on the inner workings of prostitution in Canada, Delaney has cracked more than 1, 000 prostitution cases since 1972. He said the Graves's operation was among the most well-planned he has seen to this day." (Quoted from the Belleville Intelligencer)

I can't believe LG OR Whirlpool would allow a company that has such criminal involvement in the past to be entering into their customers homes. Don't just be weary. Tell your manufacturer when you require service that Tom Graves and Stein Appliance are not welcome in your home. If you already had service call back the manufacturer and bring to light that your not comfortable with them returning. If they give you a hard time tell them, you don't believe it's fair to be putting your family safety at risk because they cannot find another service provider.

I highly recommend reading the article written in the Belleville Intelligencer or even just a google search of Tom's name.

19 comments
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mawina
karachi, PK
Mar 29, 2022 9:13 am EDT

well its sad to hear like this information but , for professional home appliances repair visit Indesit Service Centre

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Keistei
, US
Jan 16, 2020 12:14 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Have used Keith Stein appliances on several occasions to purchase washer parts and one warranty repair. Always courteous and prompt. Reality is that these appliances are manufactured for the most part in China and they are garbage...don’t shoot the messenger!

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Francine Paquette
, CA
Nov 19, 2018 6:12 pm EST
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I can relate to all the negative comments about Stein. I have been dealing with them for 3 years as apparently Kitchen Aid only has one company repairing their defective appliances. Stein insists on an 8 hour window to to get a service call. They finally agreed to 12-4 window and the tech would call half hour before. By 3 o'clock I have heard nothing so I call back. They say...ahh sorry he was delayed. He will be there at 5. It is now 7:30, no call, no nothing. Common courtesy does not seem to apply to these people. HOW DO THEY STAY IN BUSINESS? other than they are the only ones in the Kanata Stittsville area that can repair these appliances.

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DKeys
, CA
Oct 27, 2018 7:46 am EDT
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The absolutely WORST company I have ever come in contact with! There is not enough space or time to write the negative reviews this company deserves but essentially the customer service is horrific! We had to endure them visiting our home for a dishwasher issue as they were the vendor of warranty work on our Sears brand from whirlpool. Not only could they not fix the problem after 8 visits...they tried to charge us on the last visit! We had to go with a washer they never dried dishes. Well then the motor went on the machine later so Whirlpool sent them back out. They lost the part which whirlpool supplied them free of charge for us and we waited all day home from work for nothing. They reordered part and ensured part be installed at end week. Well another day of waiting home they never showed up or even called us they were not coming! Several calls to office no answer or call backs. Finally spoke to a manager Ryan...always in a meeting and never called me back after several messages. We bought new machine from whirlpool on a deal after they felt sorry for the incredible bad service this company provides! PLEASE avoid this company as we lost 3 days of work and endured numerous no shows! And washer never was fixed. I don't understand how they stay in Buisness? I am adding them to the BBB to warn others.

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Francine Paquette
, CA
Nov 19, 2018 6:16 pm EST
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Replying to comment of DKeys

OMG the same happened to me today!

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Scott Huizinga
, US
Oct 02, 2018 11:48 am EDT

Stein Appliance is a complete joke. 2 phone calls both the same claiming to need parts. The first received phone call they indicated that the part was ordered on Friday. I received another call today that they hung up on me indicating the exact same message and parts but that they were going to order it today. This company is a sham. do not let cheap appliance companies refer you to this repair company. the office staff and owners know nothing.

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Jake123456789
, CA
Jul 11, 2018 2:20 pm EDT

Just to Clarify you Tom! You may not be the owner on paper but you are affiliated with the business. Do you not live with Yan? If you not part of the business why are you there? Your a Joke and its bull S++T you and Yan have taken so much work away from real good appliance companies throughout you large service area. You have Scre**d alot of people.

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Francine Paquette
, CA
Nov 19, 2018 6:19 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I totally agree with you Jake

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TomGr
, US
Jul 03, 2018 8:31 am EDT
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My Name is Tom Graves; I am a 72 year old retiree. I would like to clear up a few things on behalf of Stein Appliance Service.
I have never been the owner of Stein Appliance nor have I been on the payroll for the company. Thirteen years ago Yan Li moved to Belleville from China, she worked hard and saved her money to purchase Stein Appliance Service. When she purchased the company it only had 4 employees, she has continued to work hard and has grown the company to 27 hard working men and women. All technicians that work for Stein Appliance must pass a criminal record check and the results must be supplied to the manufacturers.

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KevingMG
, US
Jun 22, 2018 1:58 pm EDT
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Last week my 3 month old GE Profile refrigerator began gushing water out, as fast as the supply line would provide, when nobody was in the kitchen...luckily my son walked in and only a few liters of water had run out The water wasn't coming out of the water dispenser port, but behind it. I contacted GE and they contacted the Stein Appliance people in Ottawa and told me Tony would be coming to service my fridge. Their tech (I guess it was 'Tony') came to our home a couple days ago. I explained the situation to the Stein tech. He proceeded to check a number of things such as the compressor, the distance from the wall and other things that didn't really seem to pertain to the issue. His conclusion was..."I don't know what is wrong with it." He said it could simply be ice jamming in the bin and suggested I "take a wooden spoon and chop it up once a week or so." He said, "just keep an eye on it and disconnect the water if we go away for the weekend...but if it leaks again to call and I will start replacing parts!" REALLY! That's the best you have!

Anyway, I figured, maybe he actually knows what he is talking about...he is an appliance technician right!?

So at 4 AM that next morning I awaken by the sound of running water. At first I just thought it was raining and started to dose off...then suddenly realized...IT'S NOT RAINING OUTSIDE...I CAN SEE STARS OUT THE WINDOW! I ran down stairs and our wonderful fridge was streaming water down the front of it. Our kitchen, and foyer were flooded...into the closets...it was seeping through our floor behind the fridge and coming out the ceiling tiles below onto our carpeted finished basement. ...so immediately turned off the water supply, quickly video taped the damage, with the water still running down the fridge and out my ceiling tiles...then I began mopping and vacuuming water all morning.

I contacted GE in the AM when they opened and they said the service call was still open and I should contact them...and any claim I might have would be between our insurance company and GE. Nice...first of course I have to pay $2, 000 deductible!

So I call Stein and explain...they put me on hold (actually just set the phone down as I could still hear them.) After about 20 seconds they say, we are ordering a water supply valve and when it is in, we will arrange to install it. After speaking with them I began to have my concerns...if they new what the problem was with a phone call, why didn't they replace the part the first time.

So I googled Stein and this site was the first one I reviewed. Since I have learned about their reputation, I have contacted GE through email to advise of my situation. I provided them a link to this site and told them there are several others with disgusting reviews of this company. I told them that I do not want any contact with this company again and they can either send someone from a reputable repair service or replace the refrigerator. It is their choice.

I am awaiting their reply and will post my response.
Wish I could give a zero star rating!
Kevin

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glennie
, CA
Jun 07, 2018 2:20 pm EDT

good thing i read these comments before i called them
they were at a neighbors house and thought i would call them to check my fairly new fridge
i WON'T be calling stein after reading this stuff!
anyone know of a good comapny?

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Disappointed15
, CA
Feb 14, 2018 6:50 pm EST
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I had a terrible experience with Stein. The tech arrived to service a brand new Maytag Dryer that took 2 or 3 reruns to dry clothes. He arrived 2 hours early and only my wife was home - I was home at the scheduled time only to find that the tech had come and gone. He checked to make sure the power was connected (which I assured Maytag that it was), removed a small amount of lint from the lint catcher behind the dryer, told my wife it was fixed and said he would come up with "some excuse" so that we would not be charged (for a service call that was under warranty). I left him a voice mail when I returned home and said that if he only removed some lint, I had done that before and it did not clear the problem. I didn't even get the courtesy of a call back. Dryer still doesn't dry properly, so I called Maytag asking for a different company to fix the dryer and was told Stein was the only one in the area. I said I did not want the first tech back in my house again and they said OK and noted that Stein had a second technician and scheduled a visit for Feb 15. I received a call from Stein Feb 14 saying the only tech they had for tomorrow was the first tech and I said I didn't want him. They claimed to have a second tech available the following week and would check and get back to me. They called 20 minutes later saying that their manager had said that he would not service my dryer, they were returning the service call to Maytag, and I had to call Maytag to reschedule. I raised a service complaint against Stein with Maytag and we'll see if they take any action. I was very, very disappointed with Stein and also Maytag for using such a questionable company

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Cforrest
, US
Feb 12, 2018 1:10 pm EST
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DO NOT USE STEIN FOR YOUR APPLIANCE REPAIR. Tech did not fix my dishwasher the first time, charged me 187.84; came back with a part 2 weeks later and did not even pull the dishwasher out all the way either time he was here, charged me another 214.60. Problem still not fixed (we know it's a leaky hose), kept getting same error code. Now he's ordered MORE parts, WHICH WE DO NOT NEED and is asking for another 378.61! WHAT?!?!? I DON'T THINK SO! I'm getting another repair service. For the total charges I could have purchased a brand new appliance. I repeat -DO NOT USE STEIN APPLIANCE REPAIR!

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quaia
, CA
Jan 15, 2018 1:34 pm EST
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This company has been calling to try to put a part into my oven...how do they know what part is required if They have never been to my place ...i bought brand new appliances and for some reason oven never worked...had another company here...and they are getting me a new oven, , , so how does Stein appliances know what part to replace...
If they are the contact for the manufacture...why did the manufacture of this unit never show up for a service appointment...

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dufferat
, CA
Nov 29, 2017 8:33 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have a Frigidaire refrigerator and they pointed me to Stein Appliance for servicing. Should I trust them seeing these comment?

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Jim -Ottawa
, CA
Nov 15, 2017 8:38 am EST

After Sears Appliance Service was liquidated, they posted an OEM Service list on their website. My Kenmore Elite refrigerator was manufactured by Whirlpool and, after booking a service call through the OEM Service desk, I was supposed to get a call the evening before or the morning of my scheduled service call. When that didn’t happen, I found out that this service call was delegated to Stein Appliance in Belleville/Kingston area, over 2 hours from Ottawa! I left several voice messages for them that afternoon, finally getting a call back, only to say that they couldn’t come that afternoon AND that they didn’t have anyone else “in the area” (of course, they’re over 2 hours away!) to come and “would I like to reschedule?”!
Unprofessional on Stein’s and Sears OEM Service as well!
I ended up calling a local appliance repair service who came over within less than an hour after I called them!

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adam stein
, CA
Nov 10, 2017 9:59 pm EST

Thank you Keith for the clarification.
My father Keith Stein he sold his company 14 years ago to Skip Simpson who sold it to Tom Graves 6 years ago.
I do own a company and its called ADAM STEIN APPLIANCE . I have no affiliation with Stein appliance.

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Sylvie Burdairon
, US
Oct 27, 2017 4:29 pm EDT

This is the worst company ever! can't believe they are still in business
Trouble with my washing machine, I have a ten year warranty on parts. The job is badly done, I acall back to a secretary that said: let my call the technician and I will call you back... two months later, still waiting. Called numerous times, left messages, no one answers or call back!
Called Maytag again, sorry service no better, they send be back to them where this time, lucky me I talk with the owner himself Adam Stein who confirm with me, guaranty me that his technician will be at my place Friday afternoon. Well it is the end of day and no one showed up!
Stay away from that company, Stein Appliances, big scam.

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Keith Locklin
, US
Nov 10, 2017 11:46 am EST

Adam Stein has his own business called Adam Stein Appliance no connection with Stein Appliance . Keith Stein sold Stein appliance years ago.

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