A&E Factory Service
Reviews and Complaints

So, my story starts in February. We bought a model home 2 years ago that came with a Whirlpool washer/dryer. After doing several loads of laundry one day, my dryer just stopped & would not turn on. I called Whirlpool to be told that I was "outside of the warranty" and was referred to AE Factory Service.

I called waited 5 days for a technician to come out, spend 30 minutes on a personal phone call on his cell phone & order a $400 part. I'm told that the part will come to my home (which it did 9 days later) & that AE will install it (waited another 5 days for a 2nd appt). Second technician comes, is very thorough & concludes that the part I paid for won't resolve my issue & takes the part with him with a promise that I will receive a refund in "7-10 business days".

At this point, I have been waiting for 90 days. 11 phone calls to AE, 5 supervisors and NOT ONE person can get my check sent to me. I have been told that "it should be 7-10 business days, 14 business days, 21 business days, the check is already being cut, you should have it by Friday, by Monday" and nothing.

I DO NOT recommend this company to anyone.

I did some research & found that the CEO is Dale Reeder. You can find him on LinkedIn or mail him at the address in Texas shown on AE's website.

NINETY DAYS & COUNTING FOR A REFUND ON A PART THAT I NEVER NEEDED BECAUSE THEIR TECHNICIAN WAS ON A PERSONAL PHONE CALL...very, very, very UNPROFESSIONAL

We bought our home in July 2008, new, from Pulte Homes. It was equipped with GE appliances, and we brought our own washer and dryer, which are also GE.

Within six months our dishwasher stopped working correctly. I contacted GE's repair scheduling department and we were set up with an appointment for the next week on 3/13 with A&E Factory Service Repair. We were told to expect the repairman between 8 and 5. At 4 PM I called the receptionist to confirm we would be visited, and I was assured that I was to be seen after 2 more house calls. By 5 PM we had no phone call and no repairman arrived. At 6 PM I called to cancel the visit - it was too late to have someone come into the home and we had plans for the evening. I was told 'We don't cancel same day appointments, but we'll let the repairman know that you won't be there.' It seemed as if this was an attempt to make the unfinished repairwork OUR fault for not being available after 6 pm. The repairman called us at home (unaware that we had already told the receptionist we were not available any longer), and explained he would not be out and rescheduled us.

Our next visit was just as frustrating. We were told the same thing - 8 am to 5 pm on 3/13. Unfortunately this was the only work day I had available, and when the repairman called me on my phone to tell me that he was about 15 minutes from my home, I explained that I was leaving a meeting at my place of employment and I would be there to meet him in about 15 minutes as well (the same time he expected to arrive at my home), give or take 5 minutes. I was told, rather rudely, 'I can't wait for you - you need to reschedule.' I found this to be exceptionally unacceptable since it was not my fault that I waited a whole service day without being seen and the reschedule was not by my choosing. I rescheduled the visit, and on the third appointment a very nice man came to the house, looked at the dishwasher for 5 minutes and told me that the problem was an installation problem, not an appliance problem. He said that the door was rubbing on the cabinet, causing it to interrupt cycles. No other cause for the problem was investigated and as it turns out, even after the dishwasher was moved, it still malfunctioned.

Again, I scheduled a repair visit for 3/25 through GE, and was told that the repairman would be there between 8 and 12. I verified the time frame because I had a previously scheduled doctor's appointment that I had to wait five weeks for. On the morning of 3/25 I called to verify that my appliance would be repaired. I was told by Jovanna that I was not on the schedule according to my phone number, she was unable to take my confirmation number and she could not find an appointment by my name. She was, however able to pull up my previous visits - I explained that no repair work was ever completed. I called GE and spoke with Aretha, who contacted A&E Service. Apparently someone on the scheduling side made a mistake entering my phone number and it was incorrect (which I don't understand since I've been in the system for at least a month now). It was determined that I had been scheduled for 8-5 service, which said was unacceptable because I had my previously scheduled appointment. This was about 9AM, and I was told that I was fourth on the list which would most likely coincide with my 2PM doctor's appointment. I told the receptionist that I would not be available, she replied that the tech would attempt to contact me and if there was no answer he would attempt to reschedule for a later date.

We've contacted GE and arranged repair work to be done with another service company. Furthermore, I contacted GE with a summary of all of the trouble that we've had with the repair of an appliance under 8 months of use, and I will also be contacting Pulte Homes to inform them of the issues we have had trying to get this repair work done. A&E contacted me via phone to apologize, but that does not get my dishwasher fixed.

02/01/09 Scheduled pre-paid repair...earliest available date 02/14/09

02/14/09 A&E Technician arrives...unable to complete repair due to parts needed. Parts Ordered
Follow-up Installation Scheduled for 2/28/09 (earliest available appt.)

2/28/09 A&E, initially promised 1st visits, by Noon -- reported still on schedule.
By 5pm, No show - No call

3/2/09 A&E, finally calls to re-schedule, no explanation for missing appointment, next earlies
available date, 3/14/09.

03/14/09 A&E, initially promised technician to call btwn 11:30 - 1:00 p, by Noon -- No call, reported still on schedule.
By 5pm, No show - No call

03/17/09 A&E, again, calls to re-schedule, no explanation for 2nd missed appointment; only next available
date 03/28/09.

03/27/09 Called day prior to scheuduled appointment...NO RECORD OF ANY APPOINTMENTS.
Next available date: 4/11/09

******* NOTE TO ALL CONSUMERS; DO EVEN WASTER YOUR TIME WITH THIS COMPANY *********
Just isn't worth the effort and headaches...

March 12 - approx 10:00am
A tech came to my office to run a diagnostic on a refrigerator that wasn't cooling enough. We had to pay $75 with a credit card on the spot for him to tell us that we needed to replace a few parts because of a surge and the total repair would cost nearly $500. I don't have the authority to confirm such repair so I told him I would have to get back to him to confirm the order. He circled the parts that were needed on the back of a receipt. I spoke to my manager and he confirmed that it was ok to order the parts to repair the fridge.

March 12 - approx 2:00pm
I called A&E to order the parts, I spoke to someone that said it was no problem and we could order the parts right away.

March 16 - approx 12:00pm
I called A&E to schedule a repair time for after the parts arrived. I spoke to someone that said that the parts weren't ordered on Thursday like I originally thought. She said because of this we could do an "Emergency Order" for those parts and schedule a tentative repair date on March 20th in the morning (assuming the parts arrived on time).

March 19 - early morning
I received a "robot" voice mail saying that my service would have to be rescheduled. I called up the 800 number and asked them about rescheduling. They said that the parts were STILL NOT ORDERED and that they can't take orders over the phone since we don't have an account. The person I spoke to kept saying that I "Declined service on 3/12 and that's why your parts weren't ordered." I mentioned that I didn't DECLINE but needed to POSTPONE our acceptance because I couldn't accept a $500 repair without approval. After sounding like a broken record (mentioning over and over that I declined service, thus blaming me for not getting parts ordered) they would only be able to order the parts AFTER a technician came to the office to physically scan a credit card. I asked why they couldn't take my credit card over the phone, they said they don't have that equipment. I asked when a technician could arrive, they said not til the next day... She apologized over and over and asked if I would like to file a complaint. I said that I would really appreciate being able to file that complaint. She said that I should expect a call 24-48 hours later to tell customer service what happened.

I spoke to my manager of the office and said that he thought the person I spoke to didn't know what she was talking about and to try back and see if I spoke to someone else if I could get someone that could order the parts. I called back and spoke to a man who directed me to Sears who were able to take my order and a credit card over the phone.

March 24 - 10:30am
I called Sears to confirm the arrival of the parts (scheduled to come today) and then A&E to schedule the repair. A&E accused me of saying that I canceled their service and said I was going to a competitor. They also mentioned that I had "Declined service" at the time of the diagnostic, at which point I took a breath and in my calmest voice said that I had received extremely terrible service with A&E and that I wasn't happy that I kept getting this "declined service" thrown in my face as an excuse for why I didn't get the parts through them.

I'm basically at wits end and mentioned how on Thursday I was supposed to receive a call from their service group regarding a complaint I wanted to file. The woman I spoke to said she'd resubmit the information and I would hear from their customer service.

March 24 - 11:00am
I just got off the phone with A&E customer service. The woman I spoke to once again accused me of "declining service" to which I replied that I hadn't declined service, but couldn't accept it yet. She said the repairman couldn't leave without closing the ticket (using inside jargon I couldn't understand). She mentioned several times that I declined service and that when I called to order parts on 3/12 and again on 3/16 that the language they used with me (emergency etc) indicated that an order wasn't placed as I was on a "collect call" (later she explained that this meant we don't have an account). Instead of making me feel better about the whole experience, she made me more flustered than ever.

This company has made us wait 8 weeks for a dryer repair. After waiting for 5 parts, they set up 5 different appointments and were no shows. I called after each appoinment after taking the day off of work and they said each time something different as to why they were no shows. All with promises to show up the next time "guaranteed". Each time failing to show up. Today, they claimed their reason was that 9 parts were needed per the original order which is an out and out lie. The last time they didn't show up was because they "overbooked" their repairmen. We were bumped from the schedule . The time before was because the local repair needed more advance notice for the appoinment (then why did A&E schedule it to begin with?). This company has been uncooperative and is a failure at service. I still have a broken dryer. They would not give me a supervisor to speak with, they would not give me the number for the local repair people they use. I am left with nothing else to do but report them to the better business bureau and tell Lowes what is going on and hope they dump this incapable company.

A&E is a joke as a repair service. in our area they only have one service time available 8AM to 5PM. so i have to take a day off from work to be available the whole day. our washer moves around like crazy and will not complete a spin cycle without us holding it down. all he did was level the front legs. then he watched the washer go through a spin cycle and complete it with no clothes in it, still moving around like crazy. and commented, "wow that sure is moving around a lot, i haven't really seen a shake that much before." then he lied about it on the receipt and said that the service was offered (leveling legs) and the customer DECLINED it. i didn't read it til after he left.

our washer still would not complete a spin cycle if we put any clothes in it. then when i called to complain about it and set up another appointment because our washer still did not complete a spin cycle, there was no response from the person. they just wanted to know if i would like to go ahead and set up my appointment. i said no because i was angry and the lack of understanding and called back to talk to another representative. she told me their service was under warranty for 90 days and i would not have to pay another $65 house fee.

so i called back when i could take another day off from work to have it serviced after we tried a few things to fix it ourselves. and I was told that because no service had been provided (according to the LIE on the receipt that i had DECLINED serivice), it was only a 30 day warranty and i would have to pay the $65 house fee again. i try to explain to this representative that the technician lied on the receipt and NO service was actually offered, again no response they just want to know if i'd like to go ahead and set up the appointment. i tell her no because they did service it, the receipt is wrong and the warranty should be good for 90 days i'm not going to pay another $65 house fee. i don't want an incompetent technician to come out and pretend to fix things for $65.

i talked to a friend who has rented property for a long time and used frontloaders like ours. it described the problem. she says oh i used to have that problem a lot with mine. it's a strut in the machine that needs to be replaced. it's not that the machine isn't level or the fact that it's on a 2nd floor. it shouldn't move around like that, and the technician should have know that was the issue.

ridiculous. i'm filing a formal complaint with A&E Factory Services and will probably report them to the Better Business Bureau for incompetent service.

My Problems start with buying Maytag products, but ends with their preferred appliance repair company, A & E Factory Service. My complete overall dissatisfaction of how A & E Factory Service treats their customers. Having problems with your appliances is acceptable, their service and attitude towards customers is completely unacceptable behavior. I bought these appliances on Maytag’s name alone and though they make a great washers and dryers, their presence in the kitchen appliance department leaves a lot of room for improvement. I find it in these tough economy times, that Maytag and their preferred service A & E Factory Service (Sear’s?) can stay in business with the service that they provide.
1. In 2004, I bought all new kitchen appliances from Maytag, right from the beginning the appliances started to break down, mainly with the range and the dishwasher. Somewhere in the range of 3 times each.

2. Dishwasher is now on its 3rd main brain. I now can diagnose the problem better than some of their own techs.

3. I was treated unfairly and rudely, not only by numerous agents, but the supervisors as well. I never wanted anything for free, just wanted them to stand behind your products.

4. Finally with no help from Maytag, I turned to their “preferred” appliance repair company. A & E Factory Service. I have had nothing but problems with these people and a month later, I am seeking another company to come in and take care of my appliance. Fortunately for me, there are plenty of companies in the appliance business willing to help me out. For this, I am grateful.

5. A & E Factory is now is possession of $158.00 of my money, like a idiot, I paid them up front, thinking they were a reputable business. (Maytag recommended them.) I will try through the court system to get this back.

In closing, buying Maytag has cost me a lot of time, money and frustration. Its not so much about appliances breaking down, its how their company deals with it.

A & E Factory Service is one of the most anti customer service companies I have ever dealt with. Their agents are rude, uncaring, out right lie, never show up for their appointments and from agents, techs, supervisor’s, just don’t give a damn.

What’s ironic is after I decided to have someone else come in and fix my problem. A & E Factory Service immediately sent someone over to pick up the part (Maytag had paid for this, not them1) The only time I could get them to do something is when it involved their money. I’m still out $158.00! LOL. I would never allow anyone in my house that acted like this. They are bullies and I will deal with them in court.

I can only hope for potential new customers, Maytag does the right thing and stand behind their products, but at all cost, stay away from A & E Factory Service, believe me, only head aches and frustration will prevail!

We called A&E to repair our refrigerator since they were listed on the Whirlpool website. We were told when we scheduled the appointment that there would be a diagnosis charge of $65.00. When the repairman arrived, we had the refrigerator pulled out and my husband had the back off of it. The repairman made his diagnosis of a broken relay switch within five minutes. He told us what the problem was and then started to go out to the truck to get the part. At that point my husband asked him what the charge would be and the repairman replied that he 'didn't know'. He came back in and then for a total of 10 minutes worth of labor, he charged us $133.00. He did not even put the refrigerator back panel on the unit. We disputed the high charge and he said he had no control over the price. Why though, couldn't he have told us what the price was? Do they really get $798.00 an hour for labor? If they do charge $133.00 an hour for labor, why don't they tell you before they do the work and why isn't the amount pro-rated for the time that they actually spent?
When you try to complain, it is like pulling teeth to get a phone number from the call center. They refuse to give you the information for the local office.

Do Not call this company for repairs!

This is the world' worst service (Or lack thereof). I scheduled four service calls to repair broken dryer. First technician was inept and didn't order the proper parts. Second tech said this was a job for two repair people and left. Third appointment, I was stood up. No one ever showed up. Fourth appointment, technician didn't show up yet again. I am totally fed up with this company. It's a scam... They take your money, promise you service and then give you the run-around over and over again. I've wasted countless days waiting for these people who either never show up or don't know what they're doing. Beware! They're are awful.

sears a&e factory services- Is the worst company i think i have ever worked for or seen..they are over charging, money hungry animals. all they care about is how much money we can charge or get out of the customers., they hire people who have no exprience what so ever in management or service people.they make the techs. stay out till all service orders are done, sometimes till 8:00, 9:00 p.m. at night. and get back up to do again.they dont pay you to stock your truck or to put ups. pack. in truck, when you get home.Then you have the customers- pissed off because its been 2 or 3 wks. waiting on a part. So they either cuss you out or want to chass you down and hurt you. then we have the dogs or cats-that dont bite, or so they say. the next thing you know is they are biting your arm off or chasing you to your truck teeth ready to rip you in two. Then we have the managers, no training dont know jack, telling you how worthless you are, ready to throw you out the door, because, you dont sellll enough for them.. I HAVE HAD MORE PEOPLE complain about the stores being roud and unhelpfull. saying they will never go to sears again.. I KNOW I WONT NEVER USE THEIR SERVICES OR ENTER A STORE AGAIN...

1. Sears is not the store it use to be. Appliances are poor quality, always breaking down. I have 8 Sears appliances and have nothing but trouble with my washers and dryers.
2. Store mgr. Sue passes the buck and tell me it's not her problem. If she worked for me she would be in the unemployment line.
3. The send A & E factory service to fix their poor quality appliances. They send rude, inexperienced, sloppy, unknowledgable repair men. This has been a 2 month nightmare. They have been to my house at least 10 times on the same washer dryer system . Every time they leave they say it is fixed and it is not. This is a joke. Twice my house filed with smoke because of improper repair job. They leave my house dirty and greasy, with finger prints on my walls and black filth in the grout on my floor. I have had 5 different men here including a senior tech twice and one is dumber than the next.
4. DON'T EVER BUY FROM SEARS IF YOU EXPECT GOOD SERVICE.
5. DON'T EVER BUY THEIR OVER PRICED SERVICE CONTRACT.
6. DON'T EVER, EVER HAVE A& E factory service come to your house for anything.

I had a scheduled appointment for a technician to fix or at least attempt to fix my refrigerator today, 11/3/08 and they were scheduled to arrive at my home between the hours of 1:00-5:00p.m. When I scheduled my appointment, I gave the phone rep my cell phone number and asked to have the technician call me when he was on his way to my home. I called twice today with the latest being 4:30p.m. to make sure he was still coming. The rep told me that he was at job#7 and that I was job#8. At 5:12p.m. this evening, I received a telephone call from the technician stating that he was running late and wanted to know if I still wanted him to come out to my home. I told him yes, that I was only off on Mondays and that I needed my refrigerator fixed. The technician arrived after 5:30p.m. and needless to say, Phillip the technician could not tell me what was wrong with my refrigerator (not cooling properly is the problem) and asked for the $65 fee for coming out. I was upset stating to him that not only did he arrive at my home late, but he was charging me $65 and could not tell me what was wrong. I told him that if he wasn't going to at least see what the problem was, he should have told me over the telephone that due to him arriving late, that he would not be able to do ANYTHING and I would have rescheduled rather than to have him come to my home and do nothing and still charge me $65. When I asked for his supervisor's contact information, he would not give it to me. When I asked him for his worker number or at least his last name, he would not give that to me either. Phillip the technician or whatever his real name was printed out a ticket and asked me to sign it. After reading it, I refused to sign it because he had typed in Customer Declines Estimate. I asked him why would he type in such, knowing full well that I never declined an estimate. Because he arrived at my home so late, he said he wasn't able to do a dye test to determine whether or not I had a leak . So virtually am out of $65 and not only did he show up late, but he was unable to tell me what was wrong with my refrigerator. I contacted A&E and spoke to Sandra, a manager at the National Call Center. Sandra was of no help to me and there was no customer satisfaction at all. Sandra stated that she understood and agree why I was upset, but that I still had to pay the $65. Sandra stated that if I allow another technician to come out to my home again, then I would not have to pay another $65 service fee (no help now, considering late and nothing done?). Sandra stated that if I did not allow a technician to come out again, then she would see about getting my $65 refunded. I stated to Sandra not to kid ourselves. If she did not tell this technician who was still standing in my living room this evening while I was on the phone with her, not to charge me $65 because he had done NOTHING but show up late, getting $65 at a later time was inevitable. I wrote a check for $65 to A&E and wrote in the memo "showed up late, no diagnostic done". I can bet you anything that those money hungry people will still cash that check which endorsing it means that they agree to what was in that memo. But most of all what upsetted me the most was how that technican lied to my face stating on the ticket that I had declined an estimate. I refused to sign and he did not go into his computer to change it either. When I asked him why did he lie, he just stood in my kitchen looking at me stupidly and did not say anything. It is obvious that I got cheated out of $65 tonight and would like something done so that this does not happen to good people by very underminded and untrustworthy individuals.

No complaints! Technician very qualified! It seams that the service vans the technicians drive, only care about [protected] parts. I guess if they all drove tractor trailers they could carry all parts needed for every repair! Guess what whirlpool dictates what parts trhese poor guys should carry. Unfortunately they can't carry every part, only the top parts that whirlpool breaks down. Since whirlpool owns kitchenaid-maytag-jenn aire-ropr & 80 % of the appliance, our anger should be taken on them, not the poor technicians, who are automatically scheduled 12 calls a day by their routing/scheduling dept. For the most part the technicians are good, it's the money hungry owners/sears who over book/over schedule the poor tecnicians, then even worse send parts from dallas, where all the broken parts are shipped. Give these poor technicians a break.

A & e factory service? More like non-service! Wow, after reading all these complaints I feel better that i'm not alone in the service provided by a & e. At least they don't discriminate, they treat everyone poorly. They truly do not care about their customers and have no respect for their time. They rescheduled with me 4 times (Twice on the day of the appointment as I was home from work waiting on them)... They obviously have no idea what the term "appointment" means. When they do reschedule, it is never for the next day but rather at least 3 days later. Apparently they don't think the service they provide is critical - - - my amana side-by-side refrigerator was out for 25 days, they did not care that we could not have milk for our kids!

I called whirlpool twice about this and was politely told that a & e factory service was an independant company which they don't have control over their scheduling, however they did help me with scheduling them. If I was whirlpool, I would seriously reconsider having this company represent them as a service provider!

The ice dispenser on the front door of the Whirlpool refrigerator began to release ice intermittently and then not at all. A service call was made to Whirlpool for this refrigerator that is less than one year old. The service representative was determined that there was nothing wrong with the refrigerator and called me over into the kitchen four times to watch him push the button and the ice dispensed as though he was anxious to end the service call. Each time I removed the glass from his hand and pushed the button myself and viola, no ice. Each time he was surprised (yeah right) and when he asked me into the kitchen for a fifth time I approached him and told him that I was interested in participating in this continual experiment of whether or not the dispenser was working and that all I wanted him to do was FIX IT!

At that moment he called someone on the cell phone, told that individual all of the things that he had done to get the dispenser to work and that those things had not been successful. I heard him say that he was going to have to order a computer for the refrigerator and he hung up. In order for you to understand my frustration with this service call was that the timeframe given to me was between 8am and 12 noon, whereupon he arrived @ 2:59pm and left @ 3:45pm, so this back and forth insanity went on for nearly an hour.

Ultimately the computer was ordered whereby I was told that would be delivered to my home on Wednesday of the following week, which it was not. I called the 800 number to A & E Factory Service to be told that, “I don’t know why the part was not ordered, but I will send a message to the parts department and someone from there will call you back”. Before the end of the day no one had called me so I called back and this time I was told that the parts department had 24-48 hours to return calls. I explained that 48 hours would be out of the scope and timeframe by which the repair was scheduled to be done so what were the other options, and the person on the line stated again that someone from the parts department would call me back. My question is…where is the part and when is it going to be put in? I too am going to contact the Whirlpool organization to complain about the service or rather lack of service that left me, the consumer, without an operational refrigerator and no concrete information as to the fixation of this problem.

9/13/08 (Sat). Discovered our 3 year old Maytag Fridge died overnight. Fun. Called Maytag's 800 # and spoke with a very kind and empathetic agent who arranged a service appointment with A&E Factory Service for somewhere between 8-5 on Monday, 9/15. I asked her how much this would cost us out of pocket. She said $65 if the problem is covered under the limited 2-5th year warranty. She also kindly provided other companies I could try calling to see if anyone would come over the weekend, or if I could find a better deal. I called around, found nobody who could see me before Monday, and all the prices were $65.

9/15/08 (Mon). Technician Paul pays us a visit and immediately opens his laptop to secure payment. He tells us that it's $131+tax! We explain that it was supposed to be $65. He points out the last sentence in the warranty paragraph in our manual and proclaims that they can tack on whatever trip, mileage, time, diagnostic charge they want. He popped open the back of the fridge and announced the compressor was bad. He said he didn't have the part and then went through the motions of trying to find one in town. He said there wasn't one and it had to be placed on "emergency order" from the factory, but he'd waive the $30 emergency fee for us (how kind). He said it was too late that day for the part to go out, but it would ship Tuesday, we should have it Wednesday, and he'd schedule us for Thursday 8-noon. I asked him how much I owed him for the day and he said $70.63. I just assumed that was the $65 + tax.

After he told us the price, I called the A&E number and was transferred to the CIT department. I spoke with Nancy who confirmed the $65 charge, which Paul still disputed. Nancy asked to speak to Paul. I could hear her arguing with him. He told her to speak to his manager, Chris. I don't know what happened with that.

9/16/08 (Tue). Our friendly UPS man arrives with the part! Huh? Wow! That was quick! I call A&E to let them know the part arrived early and asked if they could squeeze us in earlier than Thursday since we'd been without a fridge since Saturday. Nope. Nothin' doin'. Wait 'til Thursday - confirmed an 8-12 appointment.

Called CIT to follow-up with Nancy. Didn't get to speak to Nancy - I spoke to Vanessa. I explained the events of the previous day and she said she would check into it . I explained that Nancy might know something and maybe they could chat. Vanessa promised to call me back.

9/17/08 (Wed). Dear husband takes a look at the package the part is in. The package was sent via UPS 3rd Day Air Saver all the way from...wait, this can't be...naw...it's gotta be wrong - but lo and behold - the return address is Winter Park, FL. Approximately 11 miles from our house. I would have gone and gotten that damn part myself!

No call from Vanessa.

9/18/08 (Thu). Appointment day! No call from Vanessa. I called CIT and spoke with yet another time, this time with Ron. I told him I wanted to be sure I was informed correctly before the tech showed up. Ron told me that actually, I shouldn't be charged anything at all. Ok. But if the tech asked for the $65, I'd still be willing to pay it. Ron said that if the tech has a problem with this, to have him call CIT. While in this conversation, I told Ron that I already paid $70.63. He said I shouldn't have paid anything - he studied my account and told me that I had purchased a "Protection Agreement". A what? A protection agreement. I told him I didn't want a protection agreement. I realized Paul the technician had squirmed that in and when I asked, what do I owe you? He said $70.63. That was it. Weasel. Ron arranged for the agreement to be canceled and my money refunded.

Noon comes and goes...

Tech shows up at 5:50pm. This time it's Rick. He comes in, pops open his laptop and gets ready to secure payment. He says $131 + tax. I told him I'm not paying that. I was told $65 (even though earlier I'd been told FREE). I had him call CIT. I couldn't hear the conversation because I assume they told him he can't tack on miscellaneous charges - as I heard Nancy tell Paul on Monday. I guess Rick didn't like what CIT had to say so he went outside to speak to his manager, Chris. Rick came back in and said Chris says it's $131 + tax. My husband told Rick to leave. Rick wanted to take the part, my husband informed him we'd be keeping the part - Rick said he wasn't going to argue, but we'd be hearing from their legal department. As Rick walked out the front door, I was walking out the back door hitting the "send" button to call Maytag.

I spoke with Doug (love him!) at Maytag. I explained the entire mess. He repeated the entire mess back to me. (Impressive). He got on the phone with A&E's CIT department. They confirmed the $65 charge and that the techs cannot be adding to it. Seems Tech Manager Chris and crew have a nice little scam going on and now they are caught. Doug said he would be following up to make sure the techs and Chris are reported. A&E is a nationwide company with a nationwide policy and they are not following it. We don't want A&E coming out - but we'll have to pay for the part if they aren't the ones to do the work. Whatever. Doug promises a senior tech will do the job and we will not be charged one red cent, one penny, nada, nothin', no cash. Doug gets to work at 9:30 tomorrow and will try to get us squeezed in - we have a 3rd birthday party to host on Sunday and it would be nice to have a fridge and freezer. Doug promises to follow up on this and he is processing a formal complaint and report. I believe him.

So, the saga continues...

My family's refrigerator was not working. So I contacted A&E Factory Service. First time A&E Factory Service technician came out was on August 23, 2008, Saturday. Technician started diagnosing the problem and said that the total would be $345.28 (which includes $75 diagnostic fee) to have refrigerator to work. I figured that by paying that amount of money for repair, the refrigerator would work again as it used to be. So I agreed to that estimate and the technician replaced an adaptive defroster and did some other labor. After the technician was done with his work, I paid $345.28 with my debit card and he left my house. After several hours, I have noticed that the refrigerator was still not working. I was upset so I called A&E Factory Service (same day, approximately around 7:00PM). I spoke to the customer representative and she said that the earliest date that another technician can come out is August 25, 2008, Monday. I told her that date would not work since no one would be in house that day. I asked her if she can schedule an appointment on Saturday, August 30, 2008. She said `Yes` and supposedly scheduled an appointment on that day. Before I hung up, I asked her if there is going to be another diagnostic fee and she said `No`. After I heard that, I hung up. On Saturday, August 30, 2008, around afternoon, I called A&E Factory Service to make sure that the technician is coming out to the house. However, when I spoke to the customer agent, I was upset and furious to hear that the appointment was not made on August 30, 2008. Instead the appointment was set up on August 25, 2008. However when I spoke to the agent on August 23, 2008, I clearly said that the appointment needs to be on August 30 and that was the date the agent said she would set up an appointment to. I was furious and spoke to one of their manager.
That manager said that she was sorry about the inconvenience and that she would set up another appointment on September 6, 2008. On September 6, 2008, A&E technician named Ricardo came out approximately around 3:30PM. He started diagnosing the refrigerator and said that the evaporator and compressor needs to be replaced. He gave me an estimate of little over $1000. Since that was way too much, I told the technician that we are not going to get it repaired. After that, he told me that I would have to pay $75 for diagnostic fee. I was enraged to hear that. So I told him that I refuse to pay another $75 diagnostic fee. Two reasons on why I refused to pay $75 fee were: (1) I already paid $75 diagnostic fee when the first technician came out on August 23, 2008. He could have diagnosed all the problems from the beginning. He could have diagnosed on that day that there were problems with adaptive defroster, evaporator, and compressor. However he partially diagnosed the problem that there was a problem with adaptive defroster(which is a BIG mistake for any technician. Any technician should diagnose the problem all the way). (2) When I spoke to customer agent on August 23, 2008 around 7PM, she said that I would NOT have to pay another $75 fee. I told the technician those reasons above. However, all he would say was that since both repair/diagnosis were two different ones (one on August 23 and one on September 6), he would still have to get a diagnostic fee from me. I called A&E Factory Service at [protected] and spoke to another customer agent. She basically told me the same thing. I kept refusing to pay another $75 diagnostic fee. Ricardo, the technician, said that I have two options, which were either (1) I pay $75 diagnostic fee, or (2) I do not pay and possibly get billed later. I still refused to pay. So he left the house. I am extremely dissatisfied about the service I received from A&E Factory Service. When the first technician came out on August 23, 2008, if he would have done the job right, he would have diagnosed all the problem. However, he partially diagnosed the problem and made me pay $345.28. Thing is, if he did diagnose all the problems from the beginning and let me know that adaptive defroster, evaporator, and compressor would have to be replaced, I would have declined the repair service from the beginning because that would cost too much! (Just to get an adaptive defroster replaced was $345.28. Since the quote to get evaporator and compressor replaced was around $1000, the total would have been around $1400). This is almost as if A&E Factory Service purposely diagnosed the problem partially so they would get some money out from me. As a consumer, this is totally not acceptable. Like I stated above, I would have declined the repair service completely if the technician would have done the job right and quote that it would cost around $1400 to get my refrigerator to work from the beginning (with $1400, I can just go out and buy another refrigerator). So as a consumer, only solution that will going to satisfy me is that I get a full refund of $345.28 (from August 23) and get assurance from A&E that I will not get billed a diagnostic fee of $75.

Resolution Wanted: 1. Get a full refund of $345.28. 2. Get an assurance that I do not get billed a diagnostic fee of $75. 3. Properly train technicians to do diagnostics properly so similar incidents will not happen to others. 4. Train technicians to not to be rude to customers (Ricardo was being rude to me. He would constantly cut me off and start talking when I try to explain the situation. 5. Properly train customer agents to set up appointments.

*****
This is the exact complaint I submitted to California DCA

3 different appointment scheduled thru Maytag Dependability Plus. I was without a washer 6 weeks, 2 1/2 months and now going on 5 weeks because A&E claims that parts are on back order thru Maytag, but if you call Maytag directly, the parts are in stock. Their customer service stinks, they are nasty when you ask to speak to a supervisor and lie. I called to confirm that all my parts were delivered & was told yes. When the tech showed up to install them, he found out that I was missing 4 parts. A&E claims that these parts were coming direct from Maytag & no tracking number was available. The parts showed up late that afternoon after the tech left & were shipped from A&E. Unfortunatly I do not have the luxury of an alternative reair service because of my extended warranty.