LG Nighmare continues

[peteski50]

I sent the first letter!

I am still running the machine - it did one load of wash and now I am drying it. So far so good. But it is hard to be positive. I just sent this letter to the supervisor at LG:
I expect nothing but will also be sending stuff to the local consumer affairs anf LG CFO. I hope I get to do more of this tonight.

Letter to Lauren:
Hi Lauren,
I wanted to let you know I just had my combo washer / dryer fixed a few hours ago. It was a very big job for the serviceman replacing the boot. I was pleased with A&E the service guy seemed to know more about the machine than the person from Eastside or Jimmys same day service. I just hope the problem will stay fixed. I am actually running a load of laundry as I am doing this email. So far so good. I probably will not know for a good few weeks if it is really fixed as I am not constantly running laundry.
Also a friend of mine had sent me a suggestion from a LG tech from California suggesting that a washer be put behind the door latch to make the door seal tighter when it closes. I gave the suggestion to the tech from A&E. He did this in addition to replacing the boot. You may want to add this information to the fix it data base.
I also want to let you know I appreciate your persistence, patience and help in this situation. I in no way have any issues with you however my experiences with LG and getting service have been so poor. I am not going to go into this again as I am sure you have all this on file. I am requesting you bring these issues to your higher up's.
Issues at hand:
Not enough service tech's knowing the product
Next service people in general do not have enough knowledge of products
Also services told me they do not want to deal with LG because they are difficult to deal with.
Also complaints including LG doesn't let services stock parts. Example I waited 10 days just this time for part to arrive. At least if LG will not allow services to stock parts the parts should be shipped overnight. This 2 day shipment turned into 10 days.
The same thing happened the last time when the door was shipped. Both times I spent nearly a month without a machine.
I will not go further at this time with the many other hassles this caused me I believe I already gave you that information.
I appreciate you escalating this to your superiors.
Thank you for your assistance
Peter Sternlieb

 

[exploder321]

Lets cross our fingers and legs and hope it's fixed

 

[peteski50]

Preparing letters

To start with I prepared all the data collected and will send it to the local consumer protection tomorrow. Also I am sending a letter to Michael Ahn the CEO of LG. I will send all attached information to him also. I will attach a copy of the letter I am preparing for Mr Ahn:

Dear Mr. Ahn,
Please include anyone else this may concern. I want to let you know just how Unhappy I am with the fact I purchased from LG. I bought a washer dryer unit over 2 years ago and I will say the product is of high quality, however the service and the ability to obtain service is beyond being poor. I am attaching a copy of the chain of events that has occurred for me in the past 3 months. Plus the 2 bills I needed to pay up front to get service and await for reimbursement. Trying to get my washing machine repaired has been a second job for me. If you will read through the attached details you will see what mental anguish this has caused myself and not even to discuss the time taken from my personal life to resolve what should have been a simple issue.
I want the public to know just what they are going to be in store for if they purchase a LG appliance and need repair. I am in the process of starting with the consumer protection and I will continue to move up the ladder until everyone knows how horrible it is to obtain service for a LG product.
I was last dealing with a MS Lauren Mellies a LG supervisor who was as most corporative as possible and did as much as she could to help me. But under the circumstances with lack of technical support and poor servicing procedures I suffered immensely. Please read over my attached documentation.
Thank you,
Peter Sternlieb

 

[oxydolfan1]

I'd add that "overall, the product is of high quality.....regrettably, I seem to have wound up with a defective unit..."

Remember, the carrot AND the stick....

 

[paulg]

Appears..

My two cents:
I'd say. "although it APPEARS that the product is of high quality... regrettably I wound up with a defective unit"...

(If the unit had indeed been of high quality, it probably would not have broken - OR at least it would have responded to a repair attempt. Remember, pretty cabinets and trim don't always tell the tale on quality. Only your repairman knows for sure...)

 

[sudsman]

I can assure you

Even the repairman is NOT sure anymore !!!

 

[peteski50]

Sent out mails!

I just got back from the post office and sent out information to my local consumer protection and I sent the information to the LG CEO Michael Aln (regristeres reciept) - I don't evpect to much to happen. I also just recieved a letter from supervisor Lauren and I am sure it won't go anywhere.
Dear Mr. Sternlieb,



Thank you for the e-mail, I am happy to know that the unit is operating properly at this point. I did speak to A & E yesterday and they informed me the tech was scheduled to repair the unit. I did also escalate the issues you mentioned to upper management for review and consideration. We always appreciate feedback so we can work to make service better for our customers. If you have any questions or concerns in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks again,
Fast Action! Best Service!
Lauren Mellies
Supervisor
Customer Interactive Center
LG Electronics
(P) 800.243.0000 x 4994
(F) 256.542.5762

Well at least this part gives me a laugh
Fast Action! Best Service! Lol Lol

 

[toggleswitch]

Quickly, get the meds... they are delusional!

Fast Action! Best Service!

HA HA HA HA HA

 

[paulg]

Inconsiderate

The fact that they left the "fast action, best service" tag line on the e-mail to you is totally inconsiderate. They have ignored the content of your e-mail.
This is like rubbing salt in the wounds. Tough customers deserve customized support, not cutesy cookie-cutter e-mails. I give them a very poor grade for support.

 

[gansky1]

I'm hearing similar stories about LG service and parts availability more and more but also know several people who have purchased LG appliances in the last few months. I hope they can get their issues worked out quickly or the retailers selling the units will start to feel the heat. Maybe that's what it will take to get the pressure on LG.

Did they not pay attention to the Maytag Neptune chronology of events? I guess they weren't really around for that...

 

[sudsmaster]

Did they not pay attention to the Maytag Neptune chronology

The Neptune saga was much different. Everyone seems to feel the LG is a well designed, well made machine, but with a very poor service and support network.

The situation with the Neptune was almost the exact opposite. Maytag cut corners on design/mfg and the early machines (even the early 7500's) were plagued by technical glitches and outright mechanical failures. But the Maytag service and support network has always been top-notch, and I can personally attest to that.

I might not be so calm, however, had I not had the foresight to purchase a seven year warranty. At three years, my Neptune had a spate of failures, all repaired under the extended warranty. Now at six years, it's been trouble-free. Knock on porcelain!

 

[gansky1]

Clarifying the point...

I wasn't comparing the quality or design of the machines, I was thinking more along the lines of customer relations and support - which, in the beginning of the Neptune saga was less than top-notch. Reports abound of Maytag disclaiming responsibility for their poorly designed and built machines after the warranty period had expired which ultimately prompted consumers attempting to recover their losses with a class action suit. It sounds like unless LG scrambles to get things in order, they may be headed down the same reputation highway as Maytag.

 

[peteski50]

Just Awaiting

I am probably awaiting for nothing but the letter I sent to the CEO of LG (Michael Ahn) was signed for 2 days ago because I just received the receipt back in the mail. Of cource I have heard nothing. But I am wondering if I will get any type of response. I have not done any more laundry either. I only did a test without clothes and 1 full load of laundry after the fix. I hope it is really fixed but at this point I don't even want to look at machine. I plan on doing laundry later this week. So I will see what the outcome will be. I also will have to await to see if the consumer protection contacts me.
Thanks for listening
Peter

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, to be honest, Pete, again you point out a difference between the LG saga and the Neptune story.

In your case, your machine is still under warranty and experiencing failures. But your main complaint seems to be with LG's support and service network, which appears to be dodgy at best.

With the Neptune, the complaints were that Maytag was refusing to fix machines for free AFTER the factory warranty had expired. In that, Maytag was no different than hundreds of other manufacturers. In my opinion, while Maytag seriously erred in selling a machine with built-in flaws, it was also in the right for only fixing them during the warranty period. And to Maytag's credit, it did respond to complaints by offering free upgrade kits to those who experienced problems with the original machines. It kept this up for several years, which is far more than I've seen other mfg's do. And I don't think anyone seriously can claim that Maytag hasn't had a good domestic service and support network for their machines; certainly better than what LG seems to be capable of at this time. Has Whirlpool offered free after-warranty repairs or parts for the ill-fated Calypso?

It all boils down to what CR was telling readers in the 50's: purchase a machine based not only on its performance, features, and price, but also on whether or not service and support is readily available locally. I knew Maytag had a good service and support network, and I also purchased a seven year (from time of purchase) extended warranty, just to hedge my bets. I'm glad I did, because the machine experienced multiple major failures after the standard warranty expired. I didn't exactly expect the local repair outfits to stock every part for the washer, and I wasn't all that surprised when I had to wait two weeks for a new motor and motor controller, although I wasn't exactly happy about it, either. But the service people always showed up on the day and in the time frame they promised, and when they got here they seemed to know exactly what they were doing.

I guess we live in a disposable society, even when it comes to $1000 washing machines. Many mfg's seem to count on that, and figure that the consumer will simply junk an older washer when it fails and buy a new one. So why build in more longevity, or do more testing and redesign before the product release to uncover and prevent potential failures? I think also that the high cost of computerized machine controllers reflects their relative novelty, and the mfg's attempts to recover the R&D expenses that went into their creation. Just as with home computers, these will probably drop in price once they become the standard, when they don't have to be re-invented for every product line, and when the volume increases.

 

[danemodsandy]

"In my opinion, while Maytag seriously erred in selling a machine with built-in flaws, it was also in the right for only fixing them during the warranty period."

I differ a little bit on this. It is my feeling that when a manufacturer offers a defective DESIGN, then there is an additional responsibility to resolve problems, over and above the warranty period. The reason is a legal precept called "warranty of merchantability".

Basically, if someone buys a product, the law states that the consumer has an inherent right to expect that the product will do what such a product is commonly supposed to do. A radio should receive broadcasts, a clock should keep reasonably accurate time, and so on.

In the case of Neptune, design flaws with such issues as control boards, wax motors, and door seals created problems far in excess of what should normally be expected with a washer. Unfortunately, the legal climate for consumer protection is not good nowadays; most such law now favours Big Business. Maytag's customers should, I feel, have been able to pick up the phone and complain to State and Federal consumer agencies, and Maytag should have been directed to fix the problem. In actual practise, the only real recourse consumers have is to take manufacturers to court. That's a lot more expensive than giving up and just buying a new product, which is just the way manufacturers want it.

Ford sold me a car that had a defectively designed cooling system; leakage current from the electrical system created electrolysis problems that ruined the car's engine in only 66,000 miles. Ford had been making cars- and cooling systems- for nearly a CENTURY when they designed that horror. As a consumer, I had a right to expect that the cooling system was reasonably well-designed for its purpose. It was not.

As we all know, American automakers- and many other manufacturers of hard goods- are in a lot of trouble. I feel that today's cheap, cost-cutting designs and lack of corporate integrity when a bad design is produced are a big part of the trouble. People can suck up a bad product or two, but after a while, they begin to look for products that are better-designed, and whose manufacturers treat them well. There's a REASON Toyota is poised to become the world's largest automaker; while Toyota is not perfect, they're doing a better job overall than other companies. GM has now upgraded its warranties to 5 years/100,000 miles.

I think that some laws specifically addressing defects of design are long overdue, and that companies should be required to guarantee against such defects, particularly in the case of cars. A lot of cars nowadays have horrendous, design-based problems in the period between the time the warranty expires (3 years/36,000 miles for many American cars), and the time the car is paid for (5 to 6 years). Many Dodge Intrepids with the 2.7l engine fell into this category, breaking their timing chains at around 60,000 miles; many owners could not afford the $6,000-7,000 engine replacement required to repair their vehicles. They had no choice but to finish paying for cars they could not drive, if they wanted to keep their credit scores up. The ill-will generated by this far outweighs any cost-savings, I feel; Chrysler is cutting back production and dropping product lines these days, in response to falling sales. Word of shabby treatment has gotten around, it would seem.

So, it's my feeling that American industry has been unaccountable for its cost-cutting, test-skimping ways far too long, and I hope that some change can be made before we lose our industrial base altogether. I'm willing to bet that the good people of Newton, Iowa rue the day Maytag tried to do an end-run around its responsibility for design problems. Corporate honchos saved some money and got their bonuses. A city whose citizens depended on the good judgement of those honchos is now in serious trouble.

 

[peteski50]

Got a lirrle feedback!

I am washing actually my second load now today and so far so good. So this will make a total of 3 sucessful loads run without a leak. But I also received in the mail a reply from

Westchester County Consumer Protection: stated
RE: LG 201 James Record Road Huntsville AL 35824
To Peter Sternlieb
Your complaint against the above named firm has been received by this department and assigned to Inspector Tony Venturino for review and investigation.

We will see what happens.
Peter

 

[retromom]

Amen Danemodsandy!

You are so right! Manufacturers produce based on what would benefit the shareholder (read Board of Directors) versus the consumer. Corner-cutting, shoddy workmanship, and planned obsolescence combined with countless corporate attorneys and deep pockets, make it difficult for consumers to get the product and the justice they deserve.

Peter: I hope things work out with your LG. After reading about your nightmares, the only LG product that I will ever own is my computer monitor.

 

[peteski50]

Recieved Call

I received a voice message today from Inspector Tony Venturino from the consumer protection. I wasent available at the time and left him a voice message. I hope I don't end up playing phone tag. I am hoping to get some positive feedback but cant be sure.
Peter

 

[oxydolfan1]

That is encouraging. It usually takes them a lot longer to get back to you at all....

 

[peteski50]

Consumer Protection!!

On Friday 1/5/07 I spoke to Tony Venturino from the local consumer protection. He explained that not to much could be done he has no other records about complaints from LG. He did tell me that he would check into getting some money back from the service contract for me. I did explain that the warrenty company did reimburse me. I said my biggest goal is to make LG look bad because of the service issues. He again explained he is trying to get in touch with LG but it is really the warrenty GE service that is responsible. He explained that I may also want to persue this with New York State consumer protection. I may contact them later this week. It's just like a no win situation. It is no wonder these big companies get away with this stuff. If only I could post all this where a lot of people read than LG would look bad and people will think twice before purchasing.

BTW I did 2 loads of laundry successfully yesterday without a leak. (I still don't feel comfortable and probably never will.)
Wouldn't most people feel the same way.

Peter