Problem with Kitchen Aid appliance

[Hopz]

I have a Kitchen aid side-by-side refrigerator with an Ice/Water dispenser. The water dispenser leaks water down the front of the appliance.
It is still under warranty.
I have had the repair service out 3 times. They have installed a check valve in the line, replaced the valves, and reamed out the serving line. This is all they know how to do.
Kitchen Aid Customer service will do nothing more. They say there is air in the water line although the service man agrees that is not the case. I have no air in the lines on any place in they house.
K.A says get a letter from the water company to that effect. The water company is faxing them a letter.
Question: Has anyone else had trouble getting Kitchen Aid to honor the warranty?
Anyone know how to contact somone at kitchen aid besides the customer service line who have been virtually rude to me?
Thoughts, ideas welcomed.

 

[urmaniac13]

Oh my... what a pain in the u-know-what.... unfortunately I am not a technician, but I moved the thread to the appliance section so some of the members who are more expert about it will see this thread and hopefully can help you... good luck!!

 

[Corey123]

I've read that others were also dissatisfied with K'Aid and Whirlpool's CS.

There IS help available to combat this problem. You can call BBB, and there should be an 800 number listed it the phone directory for the AHAM to get help.


~Corey123.

 

[SizzlininIN]

I've read that others were also dissatisfied with K'Aid and Whirlpool's CS.

There IS help available to combat this problem. You can call BBB, and there should be an 800 number listed it the phone directory for the AHAM to get help.


~Corey123.

I was just getting ready to recommend that too Corey. Alert KitchenAid that if they do not remedy the situation in a certain amount of time it will result in you contacting them. Be sure to keep track of the problems, when the service people came out and what they said or recommended, what kitchen aids response was etc.....

Another thing you can do that I've seen had success is to contact Good Housekeeping. They have a section with customers complaints and they seem to always get the situation fixed. You could probably email them online by going to their site.

 

[Corey123]

Yeah, sometimes those ice / water dispensers work and sometimes they don't.

And according to a suvey that I once read in the Consumer Reports Magazine, refrigerators with those added features tend to break down more often than the ones without those features, making fridges with those things likely to be more particularly troublesome.

Then again, it could be the way the thing was hooked up. If a plumber connected them, he should be called back to repair the line for nothing.

But if it's inside the appliance like he says it is, then it's K'Aid's responsibility.
Also, the appliance should have bee sent back to the place of puchase for a refund or exchange.


~Corey123

 

[Andy M.]

Contact your local TV News consumer reporter and detail your problems with that person. If they get involved, they have the threat of bad publicity on TV as leverage. If they don't think it's newsworthy, they can at least make some useful suggestions on how to proceed.

 

[Hopz]

Follow-up.
I called KitchenAid Customer Service again, and asked for another service call. This time they agreed with me, and scheduled the service. (Apparently talking to a different person makes all the difference. This lady could not have been nicer about it)
Meanwhile the drip has continued to become less. So much so, I cancelled the service all and Kitchen Aid has agreed with me to give it some more time to see if it gets better or worse.
It still drips, but not very much. Not enough to make a WW-III case out of it.
If it begings again I will make another post...
Thanks for the supporting information.

 

[Corey123]

Watch out for rust or a mildew odor where the water dripped in the first place.


~Corey123.

 

[Dmntd]

Hey Hopz,

I bought a 5Q. KitchenAid commercial mixer, unpacked and cleaned it then started to make bread. Before I needed to put the dough hook on, the thing started humming and stopped with smoke coming out of the vents.

I was more then a little hot when I called CS, hadn't even filled out the warranty card.

The lady was very nice, asked for my name and address for the numbers off the carton and paperwork, then asking what was being made when the machine stopped, asked for the recipe, said "Thank You" and hanging up.

I was working a late shift and didn't have time to call back, figured I'd call back when I got in from work the next day.

There was a new mixer sitting on door step when I got home the next day, with a return label to send the B.O. mixer back to them over night, same as they had shipped the new one out.

Since that time, I only buy KitchenAid countertop.

Anthony

 

[Hopz]

Watch out for rust or a mildew odor where the water dripped in the first place.


~Corey123.

Yes,
I wish.... unfortunately what I have a crust of hard water deposits. We don't have enough humidity here in the alpine region of Utah to make mildew.

The K.A. instructions make a point of not using softened water in the ice/water dispensor... wonder why? As a result we have a nice crust of calcium deposit... I going to grow a stalagtite...

 

[Corey123]

I think that your best bet might have been to buy a K'Aid fridge WITHOUT the ice / water dispenser, and then buy one of those portable ice machines.

Like the one I got. Yes, you have to manually fill the machine with water, but you'd have saved a whole lot of headaces that way, I think.

Those dispensers that come within the refrigerators are much more trouble that they are even worth!!


~Corey123.