My oven is broken.
“Again?”I can imagine you asking. Or: “Wait a minute. I’ve already read this blog entry!”
Actually, my oven is STILL broken. It’s been inoperable for about a week now because, apparently, that’s how long it takes the average Vancouver Maytag repairman to clear his busy schedule. One week. Can you imagine how backed up they must be, no doubt attending to a veritable sea of disabled Maytag products? A far cry from this lonely fellow:
So, last week, I booked an appointment for this week. I cleared my entire day because, as you all know, they can never give you an exact time for when they’ll drop by. Or maybe they simply won’t because it heightens the anticipation, sort of like an elusive sneeeze or anxiously awaiting the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Humanitarian. It’s always: “Sometime between nine a.m. and noon.” Or: “Anytime between noon and 5:00 p.m.” Or, in my case: “Thursday.” Then imagine my surprise when my cell phone started ringing at 8:30 a.m. this morning. Was it possible? The best case scenario, all things considered? Were they calling to confirm my address? To inform me that they were enroute? To let me know they were already standing on my front porch, poised to sweep in and address my oven issues? Not exactly.
They were calling to find out what the problem was with my oven. I informed the guy on the other end that none of the buttons were working on the control panel – just as I had informed the woman who had taken my call last week. “Ah, it’s a control panel issue,”he surmised. “I can come by and replace it. Tomorrow.”
Seriously? I had to clear my Thursday schedule so that I could field a call from the Maytag repairman and confirm information I had already relayed to the Maytag representative I’d spoken to a week earlier? No wonder they’re so fucking lonely. No one in their own company will even talk to them.
This doesn’t bode well for tomorrow’s visit. I figure it can go one of a number of ways:
1. He shows up early, sometime in the morning while I’m out.
2. He shows up late, sometime during dinner while we’re eating.
3. He doesn’t show up at all.
4. He doesn’t show up but somebody else phones to ask what the problem is, surmises it’s a control panel issue, and promises to swing by next week, sometime between 5:00 a.m. Monday morning and midnight Friday.
5. He shows up, checks the stove, and realizes it’s not a control panel issue after all and has to reschedule another visit.
6. He shows up, fixes the oven, then suggests I can pay him in hugs.
7. He shows up on time and fixes the oven.
Place yer bets!
Very frustrating! Hoping for a good outcome with the repairman.
@JeffW: Sounds like fun. Happy Birthday Jackie!
Nope, don’t have a maytag at this time in my life, had one in the house we sold, but I understand they have since torn down the house but they put the washer and dryer in the separate garage,, so maybe it still works,,hmm, sorry Joe, not an oven, so can’t help you there, and gotta say the 2nd video there was kinda wack, someone with a whole lotta time on their hands made that one, maybe it was the maytag repairman,,, I wish you luck and speedy repairs, I hate it when they pull crap like they have on you,,maybe karma will bite them in their collective stocks…(and they will lose big time). So maybe you can take pics share with us how the elusive maytag repairman operates…scrapbook worthy.
Joe, your experience sounds like that of a friend of mine with the Samsung dishwasher that he bought from Sears. I hope it doesn’t turn into the multi-month ordeal that he went through with that.
On the upside, the blogs posts are the funniest when you’re on maximum snark mode!
I vote for #7, except the oven starts working for him, no repairs needed.
i’ve never heard of robot chicken (from the magtag skit). now i’m watching one skit after another. soooo bad and good! :p
I have to vote for #6 because it made me burst out in a giggling fit. But hopefully you all it is #7 which is actually my lucky number.
I bet #2. They are never early, always late. I bet he fixes it, but it breaks again within a week. That’s what happened when I recently got a new water heater. The new one didn’t break but the pipe to it sprung a leak so he had to come back. Ugh!
@Joe:
Or how about:
8. He shows up and despite having the model number of your oven, he fails to pack any of the applicable replacement parts in the service van. He leaves your oven in pieces and then tells you that you need to schedule a follow up call which ends up being three weeks later.
Ask me how I know this is likely 😉
In our case (about 15 years ago), it was a Maytag washer, I was traveling, and it was my dear wife dealing with the repairman and two weeks of soiled toddler clothes. I knew something was badly wrong when she called my cellphone and the only sound she could make was sobbing.
@PBMom:
Jackie has been driving on a learner’s permit for about 6 months now. She has only a couple of “drive alongs” before she can go for her driver’s test…maybe sometime in late March or early April.
Not to jinx anything, but I’m going with 5. It’s always 5 and it’s never easy, but hey I keep my fingers crossed for a small miracle and a functioning oven by tomorrow night!
my (hypothetical) money is on #5.
Joe: Can I bet on – none of the above? I’d just toss that sucker and buy a new one.
Never buy anything by Samsung or Maytag. Samsung is the give-away choice by The Brick when you buy poorly constructed furniture there. You know the hype: Buy a mattress and you’ll get a television for free. The reason is because Samsung is made in China where manufacture of these products is below average in quality. All you need to do is check on line and you will find site after site sharing information about how awful Samsung is.
As for Maytag, They were bought by Whilpool in 2006 which, almost immediately, began cutting corners. Now the product is a shadow of it’s former self. You can read more here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north579.html
If you do not get a satisfactory response from the repair people, or it breaks again shortly after repair, you have a lemon. Get rid of it and buy another brand.
The best quality ovens these days are from GE. In fact, just about any electronic product seems to be better quality if it is from GE.
Good luck with the phantom menace…I mean, repairman.
I’m going go with #8 — The Oven is *secretly* not a MAYTAG and the Company is actually probably owned by Someone ELSE!!
Or #9 — It’s JUST a burned out FUSE! — seriously. Have you pulled it out and checked inside the panel..?
Should have bought a Miele. 🙂
I think @DP hit the nail on the head. He’ll arrive on time and your oven will work fine. After 20 years in IT I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve turned up to fix a problem and the damn thing works for me first time.
Still, bad customer service keeping you waiting for a week and then bumping you to the next day. If you were a working man who had to leave the house to earn a crust you’d be screwed. If you were a Twitter user you could tweet your frustration to @MaytagCare and join in with all the other grumpy people on there. I’ve seen people with large numbers of followers suddenly get very good service when they tweet about problems.
I think JeffW 8 option is most probable. For these situations is relevant your Goa’uld Pain Stick. 🙂
I would suggest payment in hugs. And a quick shot to the kidneys.
I experienced a similar situation about a month ago. The transmission cooling line on my Jeep was leaking. I called the stealership on Monday, described the issue, gave them the part number, the TSB (technical service bulletin) number, and made an appointment to bring it in on Thursday, to repair that and a few minor recall items.
My wife was nice enough to take it for me (because she’s still f’ing unemployed…14 months and counting). Once there, she waits for 2 hours while they diagnose the issue. And then is advised that they don’t have the part. They have ordered it, and It will be in on the following Monday. (!)
So, I ask my wife to put the service rep on the phone. I then pose the question: “How is it that I describe the issue, give you the part number and the TSB number 3 days ago and you do not have the part?” After a few stutters, the rep replies that the service call made no mention of the trans cooling line issue. (!) So I ask “Then what exactly the fuck is my Jeep there for?” “Recall items” she mutters. I just about smashed my phone.
Transmission leaks are apparently no big deal at the Cherry Hill Triplex. Or is service writing. I’ve purchased three cars from them in the last 5 years. This one is the last.
New oven in your future? All signs point to yes.
Joe – another exciting option: he shows up, spends an hour carefully investigating the issue. Discovers that, INDEED, it is the control panel.
However, he doesn’t have one in stock, it’ll be next week before it’s in… …
I concur with @JeffW, having had issues with a Kitchenaide fridge. In fact, the exact same thing that happened to you. They called on the day, asked what the problem was then came in two. Then they didn’t have the parts and came back in a week.
The story is much more involved then that. It’s a horrifying tale of woe and decrepitude, a tale of rage . Eventually after a long drawn out frustrating experience and the loss of two fridge full of food I wound up buying a coffin sized cooler to keep my food in. For a month. Eventually they simply replaced the fridge with a brand new model. Said they would use the old one as a “trainer”. Repair trainer or salesman trainer? I didn’t ask. Wouldn’t be prudent.
I recall before the fridge was replaced we saw every single Sears contracted appliance repairman and the area manager. They don’t have a lot of repairmen, but the turnover is very high for some reason.
Wow, a week and not repairman yet? You could have bought a new oven and had it installed in that time. I don’t know how business work in Vancouver but I would be a bit more than peeved. I use a repair plan with my local utility as I have a gas oven. When I have a problem, the repair man would be only a day or two away including weekends. The last issue was similar to Russel’s but the oven was a Caloric, what 30-40+ years old? He did not have the part, but he had it mailed to me. It didn’t fit, but I wanted a new oven anyway. Oh, I think some mentioned this as to all ovens being the same. I believe for the most part they come out of the same factory in China. I had to replace a dehumidifier. The bucked on the old machine fits the buck on the news and they are not the same brand.
I’m sure by now it’s already happened, but it’s going to be #5, I know it. They always do that. For some reason, they show up and they’re never prepared for any other possibility than it needs to have a new pigtail installed. They never bring the right parts, they never have all the tools necessary, and they’re always misinformed as to what the complaint originally was.
“Oh, they told me it was a power issue. I don’t have a spare control panel. That’s a special order part that takes a couple weeks to get, and that’s if they still make it anymore. They don’t make this model anymore so spare parts aren’t being made either. We’re gonna need to ship this in from Kentucky.”
….or something of that nature. I used to work at a custom kitchen appliance installer company(mainly high-end brands like Wolf, Jenn-Air, Thermador, Miele, SubZero, etc.) and we’d hear about repair guys like this all the time.
But let’s hope he shows up prepared to do a complete teardown and rebuild, and that he’s got all the parts he needs for your specific model!
Good luck!
-Mike A.
My Wife loves to shop for appliances without me. Fine I say, when you end up with crap because you don’t know what your doing, I don’t want to here it. So, a few years ago we needed a new washer and dryer. Well, we just needed one, but they are kinda like shoes, you buy them by the pair, Right? So, she gets a Maytag washer and dryer and I say, “Well, you did good, Maytag, can’t go wrong there, right? Wrong. Within three weeks the Repairman (whom played phone tag, we were here notes etc) was at my house because of a recall. Instead of the dryer drum riding on bearings, it rode on two plastic (non turning) rests. These wore out fast. The first two times, they replaced them. The third time (all within 18 months) I took the dryer apart and made a set of silicone infused leather rests (which lasted 14 months). Anyway, Maytag sold us a load of crap back in the 70’s and 80’s. The repairman is lonely now because those of us who know, wont buy their crap. Oh, do your research before you buy, there are only about three manufactures in the U.S. that make all of the appliance brands out there. Unless you purchase an upscale brand, which most of us cannot afford.
He shows up with the correct item to repair is oven but not the correct tools. That happen to me last year, not oven but to replace a couple of ventilation fans, luckily I have a well equip tool box, not wasn’t that he forgotten all his tools that annoyed me, we all make mistakes, it was that he did not he brother putting back my tools neatly and tidily in the right places in the tool box, it not hard.
G’day
Happy Birthday to JeffW’s daughter Jackie.
Happy Birthday to my daughter Kris. Fourteen today, my oldest, boy do I feel old…lol 🙂
Good luck with your oven Joe.I am voting on no.6.
My money’s on:
“5. He shows up, checks the stove, and realizes it’s not a control panel issue after all and has to reschedule another visit.”
Joey, as you know, my computer is kaput (on Mr. Das’
bare bones computer right now…hoping it doesn’t die, too). For some reason, the office computer is also now kaput. I have a feeling that my computers do not like one or more of the following: The Bendis forum, the Rugby Forum, Facebook, Hotmail, CNN, WPIX Action News, Photobucket, Amazon, the Moorcock forum, and/or your blog. There’s nothing else I can think of that I visit on a regular basis. My computer (and the office computer) is now in the hands of one of our employees (and longtime friend). I sure hope he doesn’t find all my Wraith porn…although – and to be perfectly honest – it only consists of lots and lots and lots of pictures of long white hair. It’s really more like something from the pages of a hairstylist magazine than anything even remotely naughty. 😛
Anyhoo…I feel for you, Joe. Today was quite a day. Actually, yesterday was, too. Mom is having company staying this weekend in my grandmom’s old place. We’ve never met this couple – they’re friends of friends. So, yesterday we ran out to the store to get some basic supplies, and some other things to spruce up the place. By the time we got to actually cleaning, it was 3 pm. It’s not that the place is dirty, but mom keeps a lot of plants in there for the winter, and so we had to move them around so they weren’t blocking furniture, and then vacuum up all the dead leaves and dirt and stuff left behind. Light dusting, making the beds, vacuuming and mopping, some furniture rearranging – it all took a bit of time and we didn’t get done until 8:30. I stumbled home, ate leftover Chinese (food, not the people), and fell asleep. Woke up (WIDE awake) at 2:30 am and watched live rugby until a bit after 4 am…then woke up again at 7:30 am.
Yeah. Thursday was a messed up day. Today was no better. The garage door guy was stopping by to see what we will have to move out of the way for the guys installing our new door next week. He said he’d be here between 10 and 11 am. I told him that was fine, as long as I had time to get to my dentist app. at 12:45. So I got right onto morning chores (breakfast, making beds, getting dressed, cats, dishes). I also moved a cat house that was in front of the garage, and basically spruced up the area in and around the garage. And then started on paperwork and bills.
About 11;45 am the garage door guy calls to say he’s running late, and will try to get to me before I have to leave for the dentist. Fine. I’ll just sit tight and continue paying the bills.
I eventually come to a credit card bill for – get this – .01. Yes, ONE PENNY. So I called and said I didn’t want to use a check and stamp to pay a one cent bill, and could they do anything for me (ya know, like write off the penny – something logical and sane like that). The woman said she would contact a supervisor, and after about 2 or 3 minutes she got back to me and told me that she could not reach a supervisor, and so if I wanted to pay the bill over the phone they would wave the $14 service charge. Damn straight they’re gonna wave it. Sheesh. 🙄
So, I give her my bank info…and the payment will not go through. She calls her supervisor. After a bit she gets back to me, and tells me that it seems the payment has to be for at least $1. Fine. I’ll pay the dollar, and they’ll owe me .99 cents, plus interest (ha!). So we try again, and still the payment will not go through. She calls her supervisor again, and after another couple minutes they finally decide to just write off the .01. The entire thing took a good ten minutes or so, but hey! I’m a penny to the good! 😀
It’s now about 12:30 pm and the garage door guy hasn’t come yet, and I really need to get to the dentist. I wait another few minutes, but I finally just have to go. I get to the dentist, get new fancy schmancy digital x-rays (that show I need to have 3 old metal fillings replaced – arrrgh!), endure the cleaning, and then run to the bank and post office. I finally make it to the office (it’s now about 2 pm), and dad has me run back to the bank, and mom has me checking on stuff for the guests she’s expecting, and it’s just basically crazy time. I finally settle in to do some actual office work when the garage door guy calls and says he can meet me in about 45 minutes. I quick finish up what I was doing in the office, and run home just in time to meet garage door guy. We chatted a bit, he liked my house and said it was interesting (which may have been code for cluttered and creepy, I dunno), and then I introduced him to rugby, because it’s just what I do…bore people to tears with my obsession du jour. 😛
Finally I send garage door guy on his way. It was now nearly 5 pm, so I fed the cats, and then ate a hunk of cheese, some apple sauce, and a couple chocolate gluten-free sugar wafers (a.k.a. a late lunch) and took a nap (a.k.a. passed out with the cat). Didn’t wake up until Mr. Das came home at 7 pm. We then ran down to the local for dinner, and some wine. The wine? Totally the best part of the day…besides saving that penny, that is.
🙂
And I still have a pile of bills to pay. 😛 I’m thinking they’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.
das