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General Electric - Unsatisfactory Response
GE Stove/oven Malfunction Resulting in Fire - Complaint
Review by mbyunk on 2013-01-09
Rating: 
My 6 year old GE drop in range had a thermostat malfunction, resulting in it being stuck on the highest temperature, even though I had it set at 250 degrees. I had put a roast in oven, (very lean, large pan, well covered) and when I returned several hours later, there were flames in the oven, and my house was full of smoke. I could not turn the oven off, I had to trip the breaker.
Insurance came out, and said it was a product liability issue, and told us to contact GE, which we did. This was a Thursday, 3 weeks before Christmas. They told us they would send out a technician to look at the stove to determine if it was toast or could be fixed on Monday. On Monday, they called and said they had to process the reports and order the replacement parts???, so it would be Friday before the technician would be out. The GE authorized technician, sent by GE, told my husband it was toast and could not be repaired.
We made repeated phone calls to GE consumer help line, trying to get some information. After leaving numerous messages, a week later we were told that it COULD be repaired. They would repair it for free, or give us a discount on a new stove. The current retail cost of the exact stove is $1499.00. GE said they would sell us a new one for $931! I would have to pay $931 for a replacement stove that almost burned my house down! They "disagreed" with the technicians findings. So why do they bother to send out a technician? Now, if I did decide to go with a replacement stove, I could not go to a store a buy it. GE it would have to process the paperwork, "order" it from their warehouse, have it delivered to a certified GE dealer, and wait for them to be able to deliver it and install. I was told this process would take 3 - 4 weeks!
The woman who was assigned to our case was very difficult to get a hold of. I repeatedly left messages with her, leaving 2 cell phone numbers, and my work number explaining it would be easier to get a hold of one of us this way. But she always called the home number, when we weren't home. By the time we'd get home, she'd be gone for the day. She claims she emailed us, but we never received an email from her. I'm disgusted in GE. We went ahead a filed an insurance claim, and insurance is going after GE to get reimbursed. I have now been without a stove for a month.
Insurance came out, and said it was a product liability issue, and told us to contact GE, which we did. This was a Thursday, 3 weeks before Christmas. They told us they would send out a technician to look at the stove to determine if it was toast or could be fixed on Monday. On Monday, they called and said they had to process the reports and order the replacement parts???, so it would be Friday before the technician would be out. The GE authorized technician, sent by GE, told my husband it was toast and could not be repaired.
We made repeated phone calls to GE consumer help line, trying to get some information. After leaving numerous messages, a week later we were told that it COULD be repaired. They would repair it for free, or give us a discount on a new stove. The current retail cost of the exact stove is $1499.00. GE said they would sell us a new one for $931! I would have to pay $931 for a replacement stove that almost burned my house down! They "disagreed" with the technicians findings. So why do they bother to send out a technician? Now, if I did decide to go with a replacement stove, I could not go to a store a buy it. GE it would have to process the paperwork, "order" it from their warehouse, have it delivered to a certified GE dealer, and wait for them to be able to deliver it and install. I was told this process would take 3 - 4 weeks!
The woman who was assigned to our case was very difficult to get a hold of. I repeatedly left messages with her, leaving 2 cell phone numbers, and my work number explaining it would be easier to get a hold of one of us this way. But she always called the home number, when we weren't home. By the time we'd get home, she'd be gone for the day. She claims she emailed us, but we never received an email from her. I'm disgusted in GE. We went ahead a filed an insurance claim, and insurance is going after GE to get reimbursed. I have now been without a stove for a month.
Comments:
Posted by At Your Service on 2013-01-10:
This complaint, to me, left a few questions.
To begin with, was there some form of extended warranty covering the range? If there was, then the terms of such warranty may kick in. If it wasn't, which is what it seems like your complaint indicates, then anything the manufacturer may do is beyond any reasonable expectation. That's not to say that one would hope a range would last longer than six years, but sometimes an appliance doesn't. I've got a considerable amount of background in appliances and I can see a particular unit fail someone within their second year but, for someone else, the same product will last over a decade.
Secondly, were you putting in a claim with your insurance anyway? You indicate that the house was 'filled with smoke', but don't detail the issue outside of that. Most people have about $1000 deductible on their homeowners insurance, so asking for them to only replace a range, to me, is somewhat futile. You would be much better at taking the manufacturer's offer of replacing the range at a discounted price. Not to mention, with any claim, you will ultimately pay for the cost through higher premiums. Insurance is generally for issues considered catastrophic.
In either case, I wouldn't hesitate in replacing the range with another GE if you already have GE appliances throughout your kitchen. They produce a really good line of cooking products and are fairly consistent in being listed as one of the consumer recommendations. They produce four (4) main lines of products consisting of their basic GE line, GE Profile line, GE CAFE line (which is more limited) and finally the GE Monogram line which is very much premium.
I'd love to know what ends up happening and what you end up with. Please let us know.
To begin with, was there some form of extended warranty covering the range? If there was, then the terms of such warranty may kick in. If it wasn't, which is what it seems like your complaint indicates, then anything the manufacturer may do is beyond any reasonable expectation. That's not to say that one would hope a range would last longer than six years, but sometimes an appliance doesn't. I've got a considerable amount of background in appliances and I can see a particular unit fail someone within their second year but, for someone else, the same product will last over a decade.
Secondly, were you putting in a claim with your insurance anyway? You indicate that the house was 'filled with smoke', but don't detail the issue outside of that. Most people have about $1000 deductible on their homeowners insurance, so asking for them to only replace a range, to me, is somewhat futile. You would be much better at taking the manufacturer's offer of replacing the range at a discounted price. Not to mention, with any claim, you will ultimately pay for the cost through higher premiums. Insurance is generally for issues considered catastrophic.
In either case, I wouldn't hesitate in replacing the range with another GE if you already have GE appliances throughout your kitchen. They produce a really good line of cooking products and are fairly consistent in being listed as one of the consumer recommendations. They produce four (4) main lines of products consisting of their basic GE line, GE Profile line, GE CAFE line (which is more limited) and finally the GE Monogram line which is very much premium.
I'd love to know what ends up happening and what you end up with. Please let us know.
Posted by GE_Appliances on 2013-01-23:
My name is Julie and I work for GE Appliances. I'm sorry to hear this has happened. If you'll send an email to eResponse@ge.com I'm sure they will look into this further for you. Thanks!
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