In the summer of 2018 we purchased a Viking range model VGR5606GQSS, serial number 081018C10297709. It is a 60” 6 burner, double oven, grill and griddle gas range. We purchased it from Fred’s Appliance in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for our all new kitchen remodel. We have a large family was and this was chosen to provide for our needs especially on holidays. This is where the nightmare begins. This is a short synopsis, as I am an aerospace engineer I have hundreds of pictures of the failures, parts replaced from service calls and lots of documentation, emails, Viking parts book, if anybody wants any of them I will be happy to provide it.
1) Shortly after installation, October 2018, the first thing that was noticed was the smell of gas, not a huge leak but noticeable every time walking past the unit. Not long after that we discovered the right side broiler did not work. Now comes Thanksgiving with about 40 people assembled for a happy time. Well what do you know the left oven was not working and we had both ovens running with something in each.
2) On the subsequent service call form Fred’s the first tech did not even know how to work on the unit and had a terrible customer service attitude nor did he even bring a gas sniffer or a way to move a 750 lb stove. We were also told by somebody at Fred’s that some gas leak is normal. Also moving the 750 lb. stove alone he damaged the floor under it. Nothing was fixed on this call.
3) The second service request was for the same 3 items, Gas leak inside someplace. Right broiler will not stay on. Left oven acts up sometimes.
4) We did not see any service personnel again until March 6th 2019. A whole team from Fred’s showed up and managed to verify there was in fact a gas leak. It was caused by an improperly installed ferrule on a gas fitting on a regulator on the right side of the oven from the factory. Two issues of concern here, the first the leak was fixed not by replacing the faulty tube but tightening it really tight, he second if you look at the end of the tube it has been cut and not deburred allowing small aluminum chips to possibly enter the regulator and jam it up.. The second is that workmanship at the factory is substandard. Not only was this not checked for leakage at the factory, this leak would have been easily detected at the factory. Pictures available on request.
5) So now we have only one of three items repaired. We still have a right broiler issue and a left oven issue. A note here when the left oven stops working the LED by the control flashes 4 times then pause and repeat and nobody not even at Viking knows what that means. The temperature control is made by ELAN Industries, and I believe the part number is EC021006, again pictures are available on request.
6) Now along to the service call on 6-26-19 hopefully (but did not) solve the oven issue(s). Here we are one year later and the left oven is doing the same thing. On 6-26-19 a team from Fred’s arrived again in a convoy of service trucks. This time their goal was to replace the ignitor boards on each oven hoping that would work. The boards are made by Invensys Controls P/N 100-01720-00, (recently acquired by Schneider Electric). They are a microprocessor based board using the PIC16C58B microcontroller by Microchip. They are 120V powered and receive one of two command signals from the oven thermostat telling it to open the gas valve and ignite the gas on either the oven or the broiler on that oven. Each oven has one. Again pictures and schematic available on request. This has resolved the right broiler issue but NOT the left oven failing and not restarting again until it is cool and giving the unknown 4 flashes code.
7) We were told by one of the service technicians on one of the visits from Fred’s that if we wanted quality we should have chosen a Wolf range. There is something telling about that statement and I have heard it from others.
8) Now it is getting close to Thanksgiving 2019 for another large family gathering. Brent Larson from Viking and Freds appliance came out Mid November 2019 and replaced the oven controls and changed the orifice on the left oven to a smaller diameter. This did stop the four flashes of the LED but caused a natural gas smell whenever the left oven was on for an extended period of time, it took aboy 30 minutes and gradually got worse through the house. This triggered a service call from Brennan at Northern Appliance to come out and verify the gas smell, which he did and reported it to Viking. Later just before Christmas Brennan made another service call to change the gas orifice on the left oven, back to a larger one, (the right oven works great). This solved the gas smell, however Christmas dinner was a disaster as the left oven 4 flash issue was back and we could not use the left oven as it would not stay running.
9) Now we initiated another service call over a year and the left oven still will not work correctly while the right one does and the parts list shows them both having the same controlling parts.
To our shock we received this e-mail from Jeff Cushman at Fred’s Appliance. They can’t fix it so they are taking it back and refuse to sell us anything now or in the future no matter what brand.
I’ve been tasked with informing you that the manufacturer, and Fred’s appliance are working together to refund your range and the 8” back-guard accessory purchased with it.
We will make arrangements for an installation company to work with your schedule to remove the range, and we will credit you back the full purchase price for those items upon return.
I’ve attached a copy of your invoice and the total to be reimbursed is $14,181.69
The manufacturer and Fred’s appliance management have concluded that it’s not within our best interest to ship out a replacement range because it’s likely that a replacement will not address your on-going concerns.
We are initiating return documents and an independent installation company will be in contact soon.
Thank you,
Jeff CushmanEdited by user Sunday, March 8, 2020 11:05:37 AM(UTC)
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