Maytag Corporation Consumer Reviews - Page 4

SOMEWHERE, KANSAS -- My reason for this post is a warning to all of you before you call a customer service line. Appliance companies specifically. I have some points to outline for you all: Hold time varies all day long, sometimes it is none, sometimes it is 45 minutes and it is completely random. We cannot tell the future so the hold time cannot be controlled.

The average life span of an appliance built in today's day and age is 7-10 years so do not expect to get a replacement 7 years after a purchase date. Customer service agents are people as are all of you. If you call and swear at us and yell at us and demean us, expect as little assistance as possible and the worst attitude we can have towards you without getting fired. We may be customer service agents but we aren't paid to take verbal abuse.

READ YOUR WARRANTY!! Your rights as a consumer are outlined in that warranty. Certain policies can be bent, but certain things cannot. Expect this and accept it. Your last appliance lasted 20-30 years. Your new one will not. Get over it. Going without any appliance except a refrigerator isn't an emergency, as much as you may think it is.

You will never get paid for lost wages, time or inconvenience. Stop asking. You cannot always speak to a supervisor because there is not always one available. And you can never be transferred to the office of the CEO, no matter how much you ask and demand. If your request has been denied more than 3 times you are wasting your time. The answer is NO.

Threatening a lawsuit, or saying that you will call the news will not make your request come to fruition. The Better Business Bureau cannot do anything but document a complaint so telling us you will call them does nothing to help make your point. If you don't want to be on hold at work, don't call from work.

Last but certainly not least, the customer is NOT always right, regardless of what you may think. 75% of the time the customer is wrong, rude, ridiculous, stuck up, vulgar, abusive, mouthy and just overall unpleasant. Yes I do work at a call center for a major manufacturer, so I am telling you all this as a warning and from many years of experience. Please remember these things the next time you call an appliance manufacturer or you will have the same old crappy experience that you all complain about.

LONG VALLEY, NEW JERSEY -- My lovely Maytag washer is on the fritz. With two teenagers, you can imagine how my laundry is piling up! I called the 800# for service, scheduling a date two days out (not bad) for a technician to come. When I explained I worked only minutes from my home, I was told that if I supplied a work number, the tech would call me at work when he was 30 mins out, so I could meet him at my house, thereby not missing an entire day's work (since they won't commit to either morning or afternoon). So, I gave them my work number, confident I was going to be able to get to the bottom of my laundry pile in just days!

Well, at 9 am on the morning of my scheduled service, the technician called to say he was 5 mins away and would be coming immediately to my house. The only problem was, he called my HOME phone number, not my work number as I was promised! When I got home from work at noon, I retrieved his message from my answering machine and immediately called Maytag customer service to find out what happened and if they could get him back here! And this is where the story gets worse!

I spoke to the first person who, not only didn't apologize for my inconvenience (Customer Service 101), but told me the best they could do was to send someone out in 6 days! I asked to speak to a supervisor, and after waiting 11 minutes on hold, I got the rudest person I've ever dealt with. She did not let me speak, but kept interrupting me (again - Customer Service 101), telling me that there was nothing she could do.

She said she had no record of another phone number and that it's the customer's responsibility to be home ALL DAY. When I told her that a Maytag rep asked for my work number and told me the tech would call 30 mins ahead, she said that since I didn't work there or know first-hand their policies, that I was obviously mistaken! So, it's my fault that someone (either the rep that took my info or the technician who didn't bother to check for an alternate number) at Maytag screwed up (And I thought the customer was always right - Customer Service 101 again!)! Aaarrrgghhh!

Not only will I NEVER call their 800# for service again. I will NEVER purchase a Maytag appliance again! p.s. - I called a local guy. He's coming tomorrow between 9 and 11am and his flat visit rate (w/o parts & labor) is $50 CHEAPER than the flat visit rate quoted by Maytag! I guess I learned my lesson!

Yesterday I replaced my 6 year old Maytag washing machine after the serviceman charged me $132 (for a 10-minute visit) and told me it would cost another $400 to fix it! (My last Maytag lasted 25 years with no repairs and was still running when I gave it away.) I did some research on washing machines and found that Maytag's ratings were not very high. (Their front-loaders were rated dead last.) When I went to an appliance store to look at machines, the salesman told me that his Maytag had only lasted 4 years and that he did not recommend Maytag to any of his customers. He said "Maytag ain't what Maytag used to be."

I also found that some of the big chain stores are getting away from Maytag. (Maytag's parts warranty has also gone from 5/10 years to one year -- I guess that should tell us something.) I find it perplexing that a company could make washing machines 50 years ago that would last 25-30 years, but now can't make one that will last 10 years! Damn Maytag. I am telling everyone I know to avoid their junk.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- For years I longed for a Maytag washer & dryer. To me, it was like owning the Cadillac of washers & dryers. I finally got them and I was soon sorry. My old Whirlpool washed better. My water bill increased because I had to rinse and rinse again and again and my whites still turned dingy looking. The cycles operated differently than my Whirlpool so I thought the Maytag way was just different. It was. I now realize, as the cycles are breaking down, that the machine never worked right. It never occurred to me that a Maytag could turn out to be a lemon. I thought my Maytag would be the last set I would ever have to buy. Boy was I ever wrong.

IOWA -- Maytag Harry & Hoover. "Don't mess with the Corporation," Harry Cichy, was told! In his battle with the Giant Maytag Corporation, the small man from UK, has written a book on his experience with the Maytag Corporation off Dependability Square, Newton Iowa.

It tells all, private detectives hired by Maytag to watch Harry's every move! It started when Harry formed a pressure group in the UK, over the known infamous Hoover flight promotion in Europe. Membership of the group peaked at 20,000 odd members. Harry involved US consumer champion Ralph Nader. Harry tells all in his book "Fighting the Corporation" Maytag Harry & Hoover.

It became much more than a promotion that went wrong and cost Maytag millions. The BBC, Trouble at the Top team, producer Angela Chan has just flown Harry Cichy back to Newton Iowa, to do a documentary on the events some ten years ago. To be screened in March 2004. With Hoover struggling with sales and Maytag's announced closure of its Galesburg plant things may not be going so well for CEO at Maytag Ralph Hake?

In what started as a small consumer complaint ended with Harry getting a SEC listing. All companies should take note, it may be better to talk to your once loyal customers. Harry has offered his support to the IAM and to the workers of Galesburg.

VA BCH, VIRGINIA -- I am an independent home appliance service provider and have been for over 30 years when I began in this business there was nothing better than Maytag washers and Dryers but when Maytag stopped building the original product they built their reputation on in the earl 1990's, they began their financial decline until ultimately Whirlpool Corp. bought the NAME. And the NAME is all that's left!!!

Let me tell you Whirlpool products are worse today than they ever were as far as quality is concerned. And believe me quality is no longer the guideline. The engineers may as well be Etch a Sketch artist if you shake it will fall apart. Greed is a terrible thing and before you know it another Big American Co. Will be owned by a foreign country. At this point Whirlpool / Maytag is just as bad as LG and Samsung appliances and it's damn shame.

I have a Maytag Refrigerator, Stove, Washer and Dryer. I used to believe Maytag meant QUALITY which is why I bought my appliances from Maytag. Not only is Maytag no longer a Quality product, they don't care about their customers. It would appear they manufacture appliances to last 12 months and after that watch out for the repair bills.

I bought my washer and dryer when I retired two years ago and the washer already requires over 480.00 in repairs! I also have spent over $400.00 on my refrigerator in the same time period. It does not get used that much and has worn out already. I bought Maytag so I wouldn't have to worry about appliances anytime soon. Boy was I wrong. I wouldn't buy another Maytag or Whirlpool product ever again.

Yes, Maytag has been bought out by Whirlpool. Whirlpool manufactures for other brands as well. Beware before you buy! Don't bother calling customer service either, they couldn't care less about your problems with their appliances. They tell you that you should have bought an extended warranty. I guess they know there isn't much chance of the appliances lasting beyond the original 12 month warranty! I told them they had lost a customer and they didn't seem to be too concerned. Hope this will deter others from having to go through what I have faced.

ROSEVILLE, CALIFORNIA -- Bought our Maytag Neptune in 1999. Has run well for 5 1/2 years until the spin cycle and door lock light quit. I checked different sites on the problems with many of the Maytag Washers. They all seem to have the same problem. The R11 resistor and the Triac #Q6 were burnt, caused by the wax motor shorting out. I replaced the Control Board ($210.00) and the Wax Motor (New Part Number 22002119 has a BLACK plunger instead of a brown one $14.99).

The triacs used on the control board the Q3 (timer motor), Q9 (Cold water valve), Q17 (Hot water valve) and the Q6 (Wax motor) are rated at 400 volts. If there is a big enough voltage surge, the triacs will blow or short circuit the board, like the water fill valves will stay on, Q9 & Q17. These triacs can be replaced with MAC97A8 or NTE5657 which are rated at 600 Volts. The R11 resistor is a 3.9k 1/4W Carbon Film.

What I did with mine is install a surge protector on the wall outlet and installed a 1/2 amp inline fuse on the brown wire to the Wax motor, this will protect both ends of the Control Board. I have pictures if you email me.

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MICHIGAN -- I have been extremely disappointed in the purchase of a Maytag Performa washer. It has not worked well since day 1. During the period that it was under warranty the appliance repairmen would come out and say "This is really not a Maytag. It is another brand that Maytag bought out, you really should buy our extended warranty as you will need it." They did nothing but tell me the above. The problem is that every time I use this machine for any load of wash "the washing machine" rocks and shakes so violently you have to continually go to the laundry room and rearrange the load. It is maddening.

The machine is level so this is not the problem and I am the 2nd oldest child of 7 so I have been doing laundry forever and never had this problem before. I had another Maytag washer and dryer previously for 18 years and I bought a new one since the others were so old but now I should have kept the old ones. Evidently Maytag is not what it once was! I did write to Maytag and all they said is thank you for letting them know!

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO -- What used to be a very respected name in the household appliance industry, is now a total joke. We bought a new house in 2001, and it was, unfortunately, equipped with all Maytag appliances. At the time, I thought that would be a good thing. We upgraded almost everything.

In the past 3 years however, our top of the line refrigerator has been repaired, and needs repair again, the thermostat is shot and the ice maker fails to work at least a couple of times a week. The blower cover for the Microwave oven just fell off, broken. The stove design is bad. All of the burners are the same size and are not removable for cleaning. Are all pots and pans the same size? No. So neither should the burners be the same size. So far, we have been lucky with the dishwasher.

My neighbor had her Maytag washer break after 2 years, and it was too expensive to repair, so she junked it. Lucky for us we moved our Amana washer and dryer with us so we weren't cursed with any more of this Maytag junk. When it comes time to replace these appliances, I will avoid Maytag like the plague. Whatever happened to the pride and quality of workmanship at this company? Can anyone explain this?