KitchenAid Dishwashers Consumer Reviews

My original 1985 Whirlpool dishwasher racks started losing their plastic coating exposing the steel underneath. This caused rust stains on my white dishes so we decided to replace the unit with a new Maytag about 2005. It lasted about as long as the warranty before the first computer failed. Then within a couple of years the keypad failed. This seemed to be a normal process for this Maytag. After a few expensive repairs, I pulled it out and put in a new KitchenAid in 2011.

This started a new adventure!! It ran well for a couple of years and then started to malfunction. Wash would just stop for no reason, wheels on top rack fell off, indicator lights would come on and blink on their own. Parts offered new upper rack wheel assemblies at about $25 each x 4 and control parts for $200 plus. I ended up replacing the thermal fuse and using zip ties to attach the wheels back to the upper rack. So far this has been a pretty good fix although the zip ties fail and have to be replaced periodically. I miss the old tech analog controls!! Hope this helps.

TEXAS CITY, TEXAS -- I bought this dishwasher November 25, 2017 at Lowe's. I had had a GE Profile since 1982. It worked fine. I replaced it because I wanted a more efficient (I thought since it is newer they are made more efficient) and quieter dishwasher. I never had to service it, so when I bought the KitchenAid, I didn't think I would need an extended warranty. Wrong! Yesterday, I pulled the top rack to put some glasses on it, and the left side of the top rack broke off and fell. I called Lowe's and they gave me the Kitchenaid Repair number. They told me it would cost $135.31 for labor plus cost of the part!

I would have thought it would have been under warranty still. I am retired and live by myself. I haven't overused this appliance and it shouldn't be falling apart already! Also the normal washing cycle takes a lot longer than my old GE Profile. Also, I inquired about a warranty. $273.95 for a year! Then, I would have to wait 60 days to use it. I might as well buy a new one! I wouldn't recommend this appliance. The only reason I bought it is because Consumer Reports had a good rating on it.

NEW YORK -- Trying to contact a human is almost impossible. Then if you finally (after 2 days, and several hours being put on hold, and then getting two return phone calls which cut off after connecting me!) speak to someone, they route you over to other departments making you wait again. I gave my info, parts and Mod/SN to one parts person, then he sent me over to "Extended Warranty" department, who promptly put me on hold and made me wait through the queue again, then spoke to someone who put me on hold and bounced me over to two other departments who put me on hold again. I am talking 4 hours at minimum to order 2 dishwasher parts under warranty. This is ridiculous.

CRYSTAL RIVER, FLORIDA -- Purchased this KitchenAid appliance a little less than 3 years ago. We wanted a Bosch but the sales person at Lowe's talked us into the KitchenAid. Such a mistake! The wheels on the lower rack fell off and to replace them $30 for each assembly x 4 $120!!! We had our Bosch for 10 years - worked perfectly, nothing broke. This machine is just junk and made to break so you spend more money!

CHINO VALLEY, ARIZONA -- Nothing they would stand by as appliances are out of warranty.

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- The rack is made of some kind of plastic that corrodes in hot water. The wheels fell off after only a few months. The tabs to raise and lower have never worked. I have had to finally use screws and pieces of glued wood to try to make it operational. It is garbage and Kitchen Aid knows it. They should be ashamed and hope they go out of business.

DARTMOUTN -- The guarantee of my KitchenAid dishwasher ended on April 4. The water pump broke on April 19.

I purchased a high dollar, stainless steel KitchenAid dishwasher less than a year ago. My wife and I figured KitchenAid has a good reputation and should have good quality. Well, think again. Two of the four roller wheel brackets on the bottom rack bent out of shape from less than normal use. The wheels now fall off every time the bottom rack is pulled out to load or unload the dishwasher.

Fortunately, the dishwasher is under warranty so a repair guy came out. He told me KitchenAid makes its own parts and they probably don't want to make good brackets so they can sell more spare parts. As once a mechanical engineer, I reasoned that the brackets were not supporting the load of dishes on the bottom rack under the high temperatures during normal washing cycles. I think I could have easily designed a better part that could last 5 to 10 years without problem. How could KitchenAid design rollers that last less than a year? All I can figure is that they must make good money on their spare part business at the expense of its loyal customers.

As a not-so-proud owner of KitchenAid, I now am fearful of what else will happen to the dishwasher when it is no longer under warranty (one year after purchase). Note, I also bought a pricey KitchenAid cooktop and already one of the six burner switches had to be replaced. Hasn't KitchenAid heard of the big three car makers in the US who produced poor products and now they are playing catch-up to Japan's makers? Read "The Machine That Changed The World" by James Womack (from MIT) for that story. I imagine they will write a story about KitchenAid someday as well.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- We have tried to get a service representative to repair our dishwasher since July 14th. It has been a horrendous experience trying to get service. We have paid well over $500 for the extended warranty, of which we have learned is totally fraud. We had one appointment on July 30th (which is way too long with a backed up, smelling dishwasher). The appointment was confirmed the day before by an automatic call. No one showed. We called and called, with promises the "supervisor"€ would call back. We waited around. We lost consulting fees on the 30th and many other days while awaiting phone calls and confirmations of a repair time.

Most of the people didn'€™t speak English as their first language and was hard to understand, and useless in taking care of our situation. No one would allow anyone but A&E Factory Service to service our dishwasher. If we had not gone to the Attorney General of the state of Washington on July 31, 2013, we still would not have received any calls or positive action on the repair. Suddenly, on the 14th of August we receive calls, all mentioning the Attorney General contacting them and suddenly they wanted to do repair. This is fraud. As the sanitary situation was terrible and smell, we hired another repairman to come and take care of the matter 8/6/13.

We feel the extended service plan is fraud. We have paid over $500 since purchasing the dishwasher 12/12/08. We lost $1000 for consulting job that they never showed for. We sat around, missing more appointments, day and night when supervisors were to call. We are putting in a claim in small claims court for lost wages, extended warranty fees, and the repair itself of $258.67 from another repairman.

On the internet ** there are 847 comment from people with similar situations. And, these are people who are aware of such a website, how many people are there truly. We feel the warranty program should be ordered to "cease operations in Washington state"€ and money returned to customers. A&E Factory Service should have their license revoked. They are dishonest.

My 3-year old dishwasher has developed a large hole in the plastic basket that holds the silverware. This seems to be a problem caused by the heating element being too close to the basket. I have called KitchenAid twice about this but they are apathetic. They just quoted the price of a new basket (it's pricey). The first time I called, I was offered a discount on a new basket, and I was told that my concern would be documented. The second call I was told there was no documentation of the previous call and no discount either! This could be a fire hazard in my opinion, they should do much more to address this problem.