Refrigerator Saga

12/29/07 Refrigerator dies right after stocking up on groceries - figures!

12/31/07 Called Jenn-Air to tell them the compressor had died. They said they needed a diagnosis by one of their authorized repair centers and give me the number for M&H.

Called M&H and told them that the compressor had died. They said that they would send out a technician on Wednesday or Thursday - no definite day or time given, I guess I'm just expected to wait in for 2 days.

1/02/08 M&H came out in the afternoon. Technician either didn't know how to take off the back panel or couldn't be bothered. He undid some screws and then physically bent the rear grill, damaging it. He diagnosed a bad compressor but told me that he had no way to get the refrigerator to their shop for repairs and that they did not do in home repairs. Charged me $45 to tell me what I already knew and damaged the refrigerator.

Called Jenn-Air and was given a number for another authorized repair center. Have to have another diagnosis done as new company won't accept diagnosis from first company.

1/03/08 Call M&H to complain about deceptive business practice of sending out tech. and having no intention of fixing the refrigerator requiring me to hire yet another company to diagnose and fix the problem. Also, complained about the damage to the refrigerator. Lady did not offer an apology or compensation.

1/08/08 A&E scheduled to come out this morning to diagnose refrigerator compressor problem. A&E arrived mid afternoon. Technician, Gene Johnson, diagnosed the problem as a bad compressor. He ordered the parts while at my house and said they would be delivered directly to me. I was scheduled to have the repairs made 1/14.

1/09/08 Received 2 of the 4 parts ordered.

1/10/08 Received 1 of the 4 parts ordered.

1/11/08 Spoke to A&E because I hadn't received the last part needed. I was told that the missing part was on back order until 1/15 and that once I received the part they could schedule the repairs. Asked them to schedule a new repair date based on the fact that the part should arrive 1/16 or 1/17. Scheduled a tech. to come out on 1/18.

1/16/07 Got home in the evening and Steve told me that A&E called to say the the back ordered part did not come in and that the new back order date was 2/28 - almost 6 weeks from now.

I called Jenn-Air to ask them to order the part from a different vendor, they refused. The customer service rep transferred my call to someone else that couldn't help and also couldn't transfer me back to customer service thus basically dropping my call and refusing to deal with the issue.

Called A&E but they claim the part has to come from Jenn-Air and that they have no control over the back ordered part.

1/17/08 Called Jenn-Air customer service about the back ordered part. They told me I was out of luck and that I would need to wait until it came into stock even if this meant that I went without a refrigerator for weeks. (Depending to whom I spoke Jenn-Air, Sears or A&E I was given dates for the part coming back into stock anywhere from 02/01 to 02/28). They would not order the part from another vendor even though this part is required for the warranty work.

Called A&E and asked if they could order the part from another vendor so that I didn't have to wait anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks for the repairs to the refrigerator.

Called Sears as their web site was showing the part in stock and since I A&E is owned by Sears I thought that perhaps they could help. They told the same story that the part was out of stock. No help.

Called A&E in the afternoon to inform them that I had purchased that part myself and that they could schedule a technician to come out and do the repairs.

Received an email from Steve Hill, Sears District Service General Manager asking me to call his assistant. I spoke with his assistant and she moved my service appointment up from 1/22 to 1/21.

1/18/08 Sent demand letter to M&H listing complaints and request for reimbursement of diagnosis fee and compensation for the damaged caused to the refrigerator. They have been given till 1/31/08 to comply.

1/21/08 An A&E technician (Gene) came out to replace the compressor. Explained to me that the previous compressor was a known problem by Jenn-Air and that the new compressor is a Whirlpool compressor. The technician arrived around 9 AM and left around 11 AM. Told me not to buy any groceries until I checked that the refrigerator was operating correctly, told me to freeze a liquid over night. (Whirlpool bought up Maytag and Jenn-Air was by Maytag)

1/22/08 Called A&E today to report that the freezer still had not reached the ideal temperature. Needs to be a 0 degrees, currently at 32 degrees after being run for 24 hours. The glass of water that I placed in the freezer was not frozen. A technician is scheduled to come out on 1/24/08.

1/24/08 An A&E tech. came out, the same one that installed the compressor. He said that the dryer was blocked, preventing the refrigerant from circulating. He replaced the dryer and hopefully it is fixed.