We remodeled our kitchen four years ago, and bought a new Maytag refrigerator/freezer with in the door water and ice, an electric oven and range with ceramic top, and a dishwasher. Since we had been planning this remodel for over a decade, we bought fairly expensive models. If we wanted a feature, we were willing and did pay more to get them. So far, I am unimpressed with your quality. We had Whirlpool appliances in the past, and I wish we had gone with them this last time.
The dishwasher was the first to crap out. It turns out the latch, which is used basically every time you load a dish, was made of what appeared to be NYLON!!! – well it broke of course. What moron chose nylon for this critical part? I was happy to see the replacement part, which was an entire assembly that cost way more that the part I needed would have cost if I could have bought it separately, was made of metal.
The the switch on the ice and water dispenser on the refrigerator started sticking, spilling ice and water on the floor. Took that apart to find that there was NO SPRING to withdraw the actuator from the switch hole. The rubber was supposed to provide all the return power, but as the rubber got weakened with use (cheap materials again), and the actuator pin would stick in the hole. I made a trip to Ace Hardware where I spent 95 cents on a spring I am sure Maytag could buy for a dime, and placed it behind the rubber and around the switch actuator pin. Guess what – it works better now than it did new.
So far the stove has been fine – knock wood.
What I find disappointing about all this, is that my problems were caused by decisions your design engineers made to substitute cheap non durable materials for critical high use parts, or omit parts entirely. The choice of plastic over metal for a latch, or the absence of a spring just points to an overall emphasis on cost control at the expense of quality and customer satisfaction.
When these appliances wear out, I will not be replacing them with more Maytag appliances.
I tried to send this to Maytag on their web site, and of course the form didn’t work either. Way to go guys!!! Mom must be proud!
DEC
About the Author:
I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com