After sending 6 return-receipt requested letters to the following Maytag VIPs, I have never received the courtesy of a response. Posting the complete record of my correspondence with Maytag regarding a defective dryer. Read from bottom up to follow chronology:
January 20-Mr. Jeff M. Fettig, CEO Maytag 2000 N M63Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Ms. Kirsten Hewitt, Senior V.P. Corporate Affairs, General Counsel Whirlpool International
2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Mr. Roy Templin, Executive V.P. & CFO Whirlpool International 2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Mr. Michael A. Todman, President Whirlpool International 2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Mr. Bracken Darrell, Executive V.P. Whirlpool Corporation 2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Mr. Marc Bitzer, President North America Maytag 2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692Re: Maytag Electric Drying Cabinet Model #MCE8000AYW, Rev 14 Serial #14812466GP
Dear Mr. Bitzer:
Below you will find reprints of two letters I have sent to your CEO, Mr. Fettig. They are self-explanatory. I sent my letter with a Confirmation Receipt so I am certain my letter was received. However, I am writing to you because I was not even given the courtesy of a response.
I am astonished at the treatment I have received from Maytag - especially since I have been a good customer and spent thousands of dollars purchasing your products. I sincerely hope I will here from you and resolve my situation.By the way, I DO compliment when the situation warrants it.
At the end of this correspondence, you will see the letter I have sent today to Fisher & Paykel, who are practicing a Code of Ethics and taking care of their customers. Thank you in advance.
Letter sent with Delivery Confirmation:
December 15
Mr. Jeff M. Fettig, CEO Maytag 2000 N M63Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692 Re: Maytag Electric Drying Cabinet Model #MCE8000AYW, Rev 14 Serial #14812466GP
Dear Mr. Fettig:
You have one extremely unhappy Maytag owner here.in addition to the Drying Cabinet listed above, we also purchased a French Door Refrigerator, a Neptune Front Loading Washer, and a Jenn Air Smooth Cook Top. As you can see, we have spent thousands of dollars investing in Maytag appliances. On April 12, I wrote a letter addressed to you regarding our unusual situation (reprinted at end of this letter).in brief, we have built our own home, the construction of which began in 2005. Thinking we would be installing our appliances within a few months, we purchased these Maytag appliances at the end of 2004. When it became apparent the project timeline was greatly extended, it was then I wrote to you asking for understanding and eventually spoke with Ms. Monica Berry on May 15. According to Ms. Berry, Maytag would be willing to delay the start of the warranty. On November 28, as soon as our plumber installed the dryer, we discovered a problem. When we turned on the dryer we heard a repeating loud clunk. Upon investigation, we found that the drum was dented - although there was no damage anywhere to be seen on the outside of the appliance and the paint surrounding the dent was intact. We took pictures of the dent to document the damage. I called your corporate offices to speak with Ms. Berry but was instead put through to another Maytag corporate representative. I explained that we had diagnosed the problem. Despite this fact, your representative told me that Maytag would not discuss the situation any further until we had the problem diagnosed by an authorized repairman. I again stressed we had already diagnosed the problem and since we had previously established our unique situation, could I at least speak with Ms. Berry. However, your representative repeated the necessity of calling out a Maytag-authorized repairman and she gave me the number to call (800.771.3029). As per your representative's instructions, an appointment was set up for the following afternoon, November 29. The repairman from a&e Factory Service of Seattle told us what we already knew, and explained the total cost to replace the drum would be approximately $500. The charge for this unnecessary service call was $120. As soon as the repairman left, I called your offices again with the information and asked to speak with Ms. Berry. Your representative, Mandy Williamson told me Ms. Berry was in a meeting but someone would get back to me. No one ever did. Despite numerous messages, Ms. Berry has never returned my calls. When I eventually reached Ms. Williamson, she informed me Maytag was not willing to resolve my problem - with no further explanation. As you can imagine, I was extremely upset. However, I left it at that - until I asked myself, why had I been forced to spend $120, only to be informed that Maytag would not honor the promise to assist me with my warrantee situation anyway? At that point I began leaving numerous messages for Ms. Berry and Ms. Williamson. It was not until December 12 that I was able to get either one to actually speak to me. When I told Ms. Williamson how upset I was at this unfair situation, although polite, she was unbendable, continually repeating that Maytag, in addition to refusing to assist in any way regarding the damage to the drum, was unwilling to even consider reimbursement for my $120 expenditure. At one point Ms. Williamson mentioned she had no record of my original call where I was provided with the service number -although she stopped short of accusing me of lying. I simply could not believe what I was hearing. Where is the logic here? Your representative refused to even discuss the damage to the dryer unless I incurred an unnecessary expense. I am astonished. It is Christmas time after all! Mr. Fettig, I could have and should have been informed Maytag would not help me before I was forced to spend $120 on an unnecessary diagnosis! This only adds insult to injury. It feels like bait and switch. And stonewalling. This is simply unacceptable. And extremely uncharitable from such a company - especially at this time of year. Surely $120 is a very small amount to such a large corporation as Maytag. But it is a lot of money to me and my family. I am hoping you will agree it is the right thing to do for a customer who has spent thousands purchasing your products. Please reconsider your decision to deny us recompense. Sadly, the Dryer Cabinet was your Maytag product I was most excited to use. I thank you in advance for your time and consideration. A most happy Holiday Season to you and your family sir.
Sincerely,
Original Letter:
April 12
Mr. Jeff M. Fettig, CEO Maytag 2000 N M63 Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Re: Maytag MFD 2560 HES French Door Bottom Mt Refrigerator Maytag Epic Front Load Washer MFW 9700SQ Maytag Electric Drying Cabinet Model # MCE8000AYW Rev 14 Serial # 14812466GP Jenn Air Smooth Top Cooktop JEC8430ADS
Dear Mr. Fettig:
My husband and I are building our dream home - with our own hands - on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. It is the only way we can afford it. We are watching every penny; stockpiling materials to take advantage of lower pricing whenever we can. This way we felt we could afford “the best” at a lower price to fit within our budget. With that in mind, and knowing how the price of appliances have been steadily increasing, we purchased ours at the end of with the understanding that the store (Nilsen’s Appliances, Silverdale, Washington 888.692.3500) would warehouse them for us until we were ready. Well, taking on such a huge project as building our own home has taken (and is taking) much longer than we had hoped. We broke ground on April 9 and here it is two years later and we are still working seven days a week. There is nothing in the world we would like more than to finish this as soon as possible, especially since we are both fast approaching 60 and this is a tremendous physical and mental strain. Nilsen’s has graciously held on to our appliances for nearly two and a half years; but they are moving warehouses and have set a delivery date for the end of May. And here is our concern: the warrantee. Although we will be taking possession soon, we will not be installing until perhaps a year from this summer (summer 2008). We are just now completing the roof and exterior and still have plumbing, electrical, drywall and a myriad of details to go. I am writing to you today in hopes that you will understand our plight and help us to work something out whereby we can still receive a warrantee. Certainly we cannot be the first to encounter this situation. We are honest people and thought perhaps we could structure some kind of agreement whereby we keep you appraised of the progress of building our home and let you know when we are getting ready to install our refrigerator, washer, dryer, and Jenn Air cook top. Rest assured we will take every precaution for correct storage. Thank you so much for your consideration and we look forward to hearing from you.
Letter to Fisher & Paykel:
January 20
Mr. John H. Bongard, CEO Fisher & Paykel Appliances Inc. P.O. Box 58732 Greenmount
Auckland, New Zealand Re: Fisher & Paykel DS603S Single Dishdrawer ref# 7995244A Previous Ref # 7397276A
Dear Mr. Bongard:
I am writing today to say "Thank You!" I am shouting to all who will hear not only how wonderful my Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer is performing, but even more importantly, how I have been treated by your company, and especially by Caroline and Ruby, and anyone else I may have spoken to about the damage to the front of my Dish Drawer. I wrote your company way back in 2007 to explain the unusual circumstances regarding building our own home.in a nutshell, we began building our home - by ourselves! - in 2005 and that is the year we bought all of our appliances. Much to our disappointment, it has taken us seven years to actually move in to our dream home. At the time of my original communication, I was told Fisher & Paykel would work with us on this unusual set of circumstances. And true to your word, when we discovered a crease in the front of the washer, you not only replaced the front - free of charge, but also adjusted the start of our warrantee to November. Unfortunately, the American manufacturer of our washer and dryer has failed in customer service. Their lack of concern for customers who have spent thousands with there company is appalling. It is so gratifying to see a company not only stand by their product, but to give superlative customer service as well. You can be sure I will tell my friends when they are shopping for new appliances for their home.
Sincerely
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