[darwin01]

My five year old Kenmore dishwasher caught fire. Luckily, the damage was mostly limited to the dishwasher. The problem was due to a faulty fuse within the dishwasher that didn't blow even though it completely destroyed the electronic control unit it was connected to, in addition to destroying much the wiring in in the main wiring harness.

Defective products happen, I know. The worst part was the response from Sears. I spent over an hour waiting on hold to speak to a customer service rep. Then, I was bounced around for another half hour by various "service" representatives. After all this, I was told they were unwilling to do anything to fix their defective product that could have easily burnt down my house. I could pay to have them to fix this, but they weren't willing to cover any of this.

This is a known defect on this particular model. They've since changed the fuse and electronic control board on this model, knowing full well that this can catch fire. It's shameful and disturbing that companies can act this way. I've filed a report with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but I'm stuck paying for a new dishwasher.

If you're considering a new appliance, please reconsider buying anything from Sears. Their handling of this situation should be alarming to all.

[denman]

You may want to look into this, though yours may be a lot newer.
Repair Tips for a Whirlpool Dishwasher | Answerbag.com

Dishwasher Recalled by Whirlpool

[darwin01]

Thank you. Unfortunately this is for an older model. They apparently didn't learn much from their previous mistakes.

[sbk101]

Originally Posted by darwin01

Thank you. Unfortunately this is for an older model. They apparently didn't learn much from their previous mistakes.

Who is the manufacturer of your dishwasher? Is it whirlpool?

[darwin01]

Whirlpool is the manufacturer but it's branded as a Kenmore.

[SearsCare]

Dear Darwin01

It is disappointing to read about the problem that you have experienced with your dishwasher. Just like any other retailer we do not manufacture the products. We will provide service on the products and carry a wide range of parts for purchase. The dishwasher you own may be subject to a recall or service flash from the manufacturer. My name is David and I work for the Sears Cares escalations team and we are here to assist you. At your convenience please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can further discuss your concerns. Please provide a contact and the phone number the dishwasher was purchased under (if different than the contact) and we will call you at your convenience. In addition please include your screen name (Darwin01)in your email so we can reference to your posting.

Thank you,

David V.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares

[darwin01]

Originally Posted by SearsCare

Dear Darwin01

It is disappointing to read about the problem that you have experienced with your dishwasher. Just like any other retailer we do not manufacture the products. We will provide service on the products and carry a wide range of parts for purchase. The dishwasher you own may be subject to a recall or service flash from the manufacturer. My name is David and I work for the Sears Cares escalations team and we are here to assist you. At your convenience please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can further discuss your concerns. Please provide a contact and the phone number the dishwasher was purchased under (if different than the contact) and we will call you at your convenience. In addition please include your screen name (Darwin01)in your email so we can reference to your posting.

Thank you,

David V.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares

David,
I received a call from Tammy about a month ago responding to the email I sent, and she was very nice and helpful. She asked me to forward on the receipts for the parts I purchased, and said that Sears would reimburse me for some of the parts. I did that. However, it's been a few weeks and I haven't heard anything. I emailed a request for an update over a week ago, but haven't received any reply. Can you help?

[SearsCare]

Darwin01,

Our apologies for the delay in getting this resolved for you. With the holidays we have been a little busier than we had anticipated. That is no excuse for not handling your issue in a timely manner. I have talked to Tammy and she is going to be sure to contact you 12/18/09 to ensure we get this resolved. She has the receipts so we just need to finalize this for you. Again, we are very sorry we have not resolved this in our usual manner, but we will most definitely get this done for you. Feel free to send us another email to searscares@searshc.com for any questions you may have.
Thank you,
Brian J.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares

[darwin01]

It's now been quite a while and I've yet to receive any direct reply from anyone from Sears. They reply quite quickly to the posts, but then fail to take any action beyond that. I'm wondering if this is just a means to protect their online reputation and have no intention of following through. I really hope I'm wrong. I will follow-up if I receive any compensation.

[darwin01]

I did finally receive a gift card to Sears for $150. It in no way covered the cost of the parts, or the time it took to replace all the wiring, control panel and display. But, it was much better than I was expecting, so I no longer hold a grudge towards Sears. Whirlpool, take note. It was your crappy product that caught fire and 1.5 hours waiting on hold to find you were unwilling to do anything makes your company the lowest of low in my opinion.