Kitchenaid 30" Induction Cooktop JUNK!!!

[mg29]

Model Number: KICU500XSS Brand: KitchenAid
Age: Less than 1 year

We are very unhappy with our kitchenaid 30” inductioncooktop. Paid approx $1300 and installedin our brand new home. After less thanone week it stopped working. We calledthe distributor (Trumbull Industries) and he said to call the manufacturer ashe could not help. The next call was toKitchenaid who scheduled a service call for five days later. Keep in mind that we have nothing to cook onin the meantime in a brand new house. When the appliance repair shop finished, he said that the parts wouldneed to be ordered and he would be back in one week. (Seven more days without cooking) We’ve urged both the distributor and themanufacturer to just refund our money and return the cooktop so we could buysomething else but they will not cooperate. We showed our dissatisfaction with the product to both the Kitchenaidpeople and the appliance repair service that they hired but they insisted thatif the cooktop could be repaired, they would not replace it no matter how longwe had to wait. This is even moreupsetting because we have three small children that make it difficult to takeout to a restaurant. I’ll never buyanother cooktop (or anything for that matter) from Wirlpool/Kitchenaid orTrumbull Industries again!

 

[rickgburton]

I understand your frustration. It looks like a combination of things made a bad situation worse. Most manufacturers will not exchange an appliance, only fix it unless it's unrepairable. Many of the larger retail outlets will have a 30-90 day, same as cash return policy. This is a retail store warranty and not part of the manufacturers warranty. So if you have a problem with the appliance within the first thirty days (some up to ninety days) the store will refund or exchange the appliance. They then have the manufacturer repair it under warranty and sell it as a used appliance. They take a slight loss because it can't be resold as a new appliance but it's good for their business. Most of the larger stores have a factory rep mark it as unrepairable then they get a credit for it. This is strictly up to the stores policy. Since the store is not obligated to return or exchange an appliance once it's sold, the smaller retail outlets (and a few larger outlets) are done with it. If there's a problem they just refer you to the manufacturer. The manufacturer then calls one of it's authorized repair shops to repair the machine. Now, the quality of the repair and time it takes to complete the repair falls on the repair shop and is only as good as their reputation. The manufacturer pays a set price to the repair shop for labor but not parts and will replace the part, not pay for it. If it's a common part, most of the time the repair shop will fix it then and wait for the replacement part from the manufacturer to restock their inventory. However, if it's an uncommon part or one the repair shop doesn't normally stock, they will order the part and make you wait until it arrives even though it's probably available from their local parts supplier but they don't want to stock it.

So who's to blame? In your case, I would put 80% of the blame on the retail store that sold the appliance to you, for not exchanging it when it had a problem that soon after you purchased it. And since I don't know what part went out on your machine, I can't assign any blame to the repair shop at this time even though almost all parts can be shipped next day air at their expense. Almost every retail store has at least a thirty day return policy on anything you purchase in their store. It's not common to return something because it doesn't work or stops working during the first thirty days but we both know it does happen occasionally. No manufacturer is immune from a manufacturer defect during the first year warranty. Luckily it doesn't happen very often. You're upset with Whirlpool/Kitchen Aid but it could just have easily been a Frigidaire or GE appliance. Whirlpool still makes some of the better appliances and I personally think they're better than most brands. As soon as you had the problem, had the store exchanged it for another one that worked perfect, you probably wouldn't have the same opinion of Whirlpool (or maybe you would). I hope this helped. JMO.

 

[wicked]

The real problem is these huge corporations couldn't care less about their customers.

Here's my story - Jenn Air junk

So I'm still waiting to find out what's going on, In the meantime, since I have an Angie's list account, I'm now going to post to it concerning both Whirlpool and Standard TV & Appliance, where I bought my range.

Also, if you paid with a credit card, contact the card company and file a dispute with them. They may do more to help you than the manufacturer will. It's true that any electronic appliance can go bad. I understand that. But for an appliance to go bad within the first couple of weeks raises a red flag for me. Not necessarily about the manufacturer, but the particular appliance.

The amount of ill will Whirlpool is getting from me will hopefully cost them much more than it would have cost them to replace my range with a new one, fix the one I have and sell it as re-furbished.

 

[mg29]

Wicked, I did purchase with a credit card but I paid the cc bill already. Do you think I can still dispute or do I not have a leg to stand on since I already paid it?
In this case I put most of the blame on the distributor (Trumbull Industries), If I were to buy from a big box store or a more reputable appliance store I would have had a new cooktop within days and they would sort out the mess. Meanwhile it's been over a week and we're cooking on a hot plate like we're in a college dorm. My next step is to post as much bad publicity against this distributor as I can. Like your case, this will cost them much much more than replacing my cooktop would have!