Last Gasp For Maytag?

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Launderess, thanks for all this information! I will email you under seperate cover.

Thanks to lightedcontrols for the letter titled Dear Maytag: If you need postage, I will send it to you. The comment(s) you made a 100% correct. They need to adhear to what your letter states.

Steve
 
While the unions are no help to the situation, I am sure the excessive pay and "golden-parachute" clauses of the senior management do nothing to help either the bottom line or morale within the rank and file.

The last few times I have contacted Maytag, both the executive offices and the so called "customer service" people were pathetically careless, uncooperative, and made no secret of their contempt towards those who do not "conform" to their lack of service. (No doubt they are burned out from an angry public who is displeased with a product line that is promoted and sold as HIGH quality, when the designers and management know otherwise!) Using the (former) quality level of the company as a sales tool is a "sham" on the buying public----and they are quickly becomming wise to it!

My friend at the Expo Design Center (a division of the Home Depot) says the Maytag rep is nearly invisible, when she does come around, is no help whatsoever and really doesn't know her product line AT ALL, and doesn't even have a business card (and never has had any) to give out----constantly looking for pieces of scrap paper (fishing some out of the trash is a common sight) to write her information on for sales people!

Oh yeah, Maytag is in bad shape all right. And there is plenty of blame to go around. The old folks had a saying "the fish rots from the head first". The stockholders should DEMAND major changes beginning at the top. In my opinion the company should draw back to its core business---which it excelled in at one time, and go into MAJOR repair mode for its reputation of "customer dis-service". The repair of morale among the rank and file will have to come first though.

I wish them all well-----it will be a terribly difficult task to turn the thing around. AND the sharks are circling---------
 
Misery Loves company

I just cruised thourgh sears.com, maytag comes up first instead of the kenmore products. Your sure can't miss that big ole K-MART pharmacy "K", on the Sears site. hmmm Strange times indeed.
 
Stock of the Day

Laundress what is the close of today. Wondering if the company will look for financial help like most do these days. They tell their employees that an investor is taking some stock in the market. Yea right, bull....!

Steve
 
mayken4now

$9.97 you can search for "maytag stock" and get the open and close. alr2903.
 
maytag/unions

Sorry if I am stepping on any toes here, but here's my two cents worth...What's wrong with unions? I'm a proud member of a union, and I make a decent wage working for a communications company. I also have fully paid health care, and five weeks vacation per year. That's what I "get" for carrying a union card, not because my employer is kind and generous. If most people have their way, we will all be working part time for minimum wage. I'll gladly pay more for durable goods that are indeed "durable". Right now, I would not even consider another Maytag product. I have watched the decline of their appliances from a personal perspective...a '97 Dependable Care washer that is a piece of crap, and my '80 washer....sold when I bought the new one...and still running. A Maytag JetClean dishwasher that has had to be repaired 6 times in 6 years...the list goes on. Right now, if I had to buy a new appliance, I don't know what I would buy, but it wouldn't be a Maytag. Maytag does indeed need to focus on quality, and customer service, not the dividend paid to the stockholders and unimaginable salaries to the CEO and his/her cronies. Give an American worker a decent job, stress quality instead of "move it on down the line", and you get a good appliance, and a worker who can afford to live in a way that the rapidly diminishing American middle class deserves to live...not in poverty, working two or three minimum wages jobs, exhausted and broke....That's my vent for the day, and if I stepped on anyone's toes, so be it...
 
re Unions

Glad you stepped in with your perspective. Having been on both sides of the table within the same organization for many years my own personal conclusions are that if it were my business I would be much farther ahead hiring most of the unionized employees over many of the non-unionized ones. Again in my own personal experiences while there are just plain rotten people on both sides of the table the union workers, many who are long term, down the line family members, have more of a sense of company committment and pride in their work than non-union people. Again, not all, but overall they do. For having stepped over to the mgmt side and thinking I could make something of a difference in the way the system works you may as well be begging for your head to be kicked in. What really perturbs me is the concessions that the union workers have won fairly and with sacrifices are when finally implemented just handed over carte blanche to the non-union employee's, who have no idea where they came from.
 
Deny or Accept

Well, well , well.

I know two Maytag dealers personally, just on a friendly note when I stop in. The one place I often frequent caught me off guard! Then the other Maytag dealer, almost the same story.

Ok here it is, I go to the Maytag dealer yesterday, and start haveing conversation during a LuL in the store.

After fussing about the new neptune etc, and some of the other new items coming out, I mention some of the information I have read on Maytag recently.

THEY WERE SHOCKED, THAT DOSENT'T EXISTS. "WE HAVEN'T HEARD THAT"

Ok guys, will folks start to protect their illfated businesses with positive energy that will only create debt, or will they accept the situation?

I always thought of these business folks as nice honest people.

Steve in Pensacola - give me your feedback [email protected] or post here
 
deny or accept

When the Neptune TL was introduced, I called a local Maytag dealer (not a box store) and asked the salesperson about it. He had never heard of it, and disputed my knowledge. I referred him to maytag.com and told him to look there. The store must have had Caller ID, because he called me back within the hour and apologized......
 
disputed knowledge

So cehalstead, what you are claiming is that the Maytag Company keeps their private sectors (not big box store) out of the loop and paint that all is ok? Your story is so "today's" business world. The customer used to be right until proven false. Nowdays we are wrong, and at least you received an apology. Most would pass you by and ignore their error. Anyway, more coments needed on Deny or Accept.

Steve
 
disputed knowledge

I am not saying that Maytag keeps the local dealer uninformed. My local dealer has great service and product knowledge. This dealer happened to be in another town, where I was working temporarily. He just happened to be uninformed of the new Neptune TL. By no means am I saying that local dealers are, as a group, uninformed. Actually, it would be quite the opposite....local dealers and salespeople at local stores are experts as a rule, and the salespeople at "big box" stores usually, BUT NOT ALWAYS...SOME ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE, are moved from department to department, and don't always know the goods they are selling that day.
 
Forget Maytag

General Motors bonds were downgraded this week to "junk" status. Another great American manufacturer going down the toilet.

Again, one really feels for the older (anyone over 40 these days), and the retiree's of these companies. If one does not have a golden parachute or some other sweet heart deal set up, the financial future looks very shakey.

Saw something on PBS a few weeks ago about how many companies are revising their pension/retiree benefits decades after some workers have retired. Introducing or raising co-payments for health insurance if not other nasty tricks to play on those living on fixed incomes.

To the person knocking unions; if it weren't for the "protection" of some unions, many workers would have totally zip. This is very true today when companies seem to have absolutely no loyalty to workers and are increasingly trying to get more productivity out of less workers for less money/benefits. Try and speak up and you'll get "Hey, at least you have a job. If you don't like it, there's the door".

Launderess
 
The grass is always greener...a two sided coin.

While it is true that corporate megaliths seem to have little concern for the worker-bees in the trenches, the same can be said for the employees as well. The company loyalty of mid-management and below level employees has nearly evaporated and many change jobs with the prevailing winds. Corporations spend millions of dollars on employee satisfaction and retention programs such as on site child care, flex scheduling and lactation space for nursing mothers not to mention all the other benefits so we can't shake our fists at corporate America and deny that the employees have no part in the anti-loyalty trend.

My step-father was a union employee for Western Electric for over 30 years and always was a staunch advocate for organized labor. Despite the union corruption that has been made famous by the movies and TV, many of these hard working people have been well served by their unions through the years. Being a member of a union isn't about gaining an upper hand against management of large corporations, many independent contractors (electricians, plumbers, masons, etc.) are provided access to group healthcare, pension funds, etc. that otherwise would not have been available to them. Sure there might be cheaper non-union labor to get the foundation of your home finished or the cement on the driveway poured and finished, but these people working for less money then are forced to rely on public welfare systems when they are injured on the job (or off the job) because they have no healthcare coverage or disability income insurance, they will depend on Social Security for retirement income which will not be enough to keep them above the poverty line, not to mention healthcare, nursing care if needed, on and on. And guess who ends up paying for that?
 
BUY ALL THE OLD MAYTAGS YOU CAN

This is somewhat heartbreaking, however, it is fun for me due to the fact that I can AFFORD IT!

Thanks to Launderess for all the input. You make total sense, girl or whoever you are. Thanks Cimberlee

Steve
 
Don't Count The Old Girl Down Yet!

Maytag Recalls 80 Laid-Off Workers
May 6, 2005

Maytag is recalling some workers at its plant in Newton, IA, U.S. Company officials said 80 laid-off production workers will be called back to the washer-and-dryer factory because of increased production of the front-loading Neptune washer. Spokesman John Daggett said additional workers are needed to meet current and near-term demand in the market place. The recall is the first significant recall of production workers in nearly a year. (TheIowaChannel.com)

http://www.appliancemagazine.com/news.php?article=8525&zone=0&first=1
 
I have noticed myself the overall trend in America to ever-increasing moving around and changing locations. This is especially true in big cities more than anywhere else. Most of the people in the towns are newcomers that have only been at their residence for 10 years or less. Many people, if they are loyal to their employer end up getting moved around from town to town ever few years or so at the whims of their employer. Other people will move from town to town seeking that ever higher salery. I see much of this being attributed to the loss of manufacturing in America, and the loss of union work, which would guarantee good job security as long as a plant was open for business. You just don't hear of multiple generations working in the same trade anymore.

It's a stark contrast to the way of life I grew up in. I guess it's because I have typically grown up with a "work to live" attitude, versus a "live to work" attitude. I have several generations of my family living within a mile radius of me. My parents, and grandpartents, along with a few cousins and my sister all live prety close together. We have basically chosen to live where we want to, and then persue a living based on that choice, versus the other way around.
 
so true cybervanr

Stepford employees, and corporate drones. It just seems wacked to me.
 
Norge-O-Matic

On moving to Tucson, Az back in January, I had to purchase washer and dryer for laundry room. I have always been a die-hard Maytag fan since my first washing machine of my own in 1974 (A606).
I am dismayed at the lower quality of Maytags since they dropped the Dependable Care line and was sorely tempted to defect to Whirlpool/Kenmore.
Nevertheless, I remained loyal to Maytag and purchased a pair of T/L norge-o-matics as I call them.
Capacity of the plastic tub is ok and machine works well except that it is perfectly level and after each cycle, the tub is lop-sided. I called Maytag in and they told me that the Norge design has springs that do NOT adjust and not to worry about lop sided tub. The dryer has interior light which is nice. The washer lid feels flimsy compared to my previous Maytags.
All in All, I would like to see Maytag go back to the dependable care line and then they can outsell all the others based on their quality and reputation. I hope Maytag execs can figure this out.
 
How is the washing action of the Norgetag? The agitator base seemed larger so I'm assuming it has a slower stroke?
 
My Dad's girlfriend bought a new Norgetag and, to be truthful,
I was NOT impressed. I don't think there is any insillation, I
could hear it across the house. My Dependable Care washer
is/was quieter before the tranny started going out. It's a '97
model with fast short agitation strokes. Have decided to buy a
Kenmore when the tranny does go out.
 
no DON'T BUY The Kenmore:

We Maytag fans have to pursue the company to come back to good machines, or else will end up like Westinghouse, Fridgdaire etc.

Talk to Maytag, let them know.

Perhaps all this will work.

Steve
 
I believe the way to send a message to Maytag is to stop buying thier crap, not buy just for to keep them going. That sends the wrong message. Buy the Kenmore!
 
You Know What, You are Correct Fixerman

Why would I even consider. You are so correct. Send the message buy action, not voice.!

I still get confused as to the local (non box stores) Maytag private owned dealers in thier ability or inability to either deny or claim they don't know what's going on!

Let's see what will happen. Read under "Deluxe Thread #2038". Is Kenmore next? I have asked Launderess to take action and let us know about this new episode!

Steve
 

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