On December 30, 2008 my husband and I purchased a brand new GE Front-loading washer (model #WCVH6800J1WW) and dryer set. These arrived on January 6, 2009. This washing machine broke down in the middle of the fifth load, not even 12 hours after delivery. When we called the brick & mortar Home Depot store that we purchased the GE washing machine and dryer set from we were informed that Home Depot does not exchange or allow returns of all appliances and that we had to go through GE to settle this dispute. After performing all the trouble shooting tips in the manual we called GE “Customer Relations” and after spending approximately 2 hours on the phone with GE “Customer Relations” on January 7, 2009 the GE representative finally agreed to schedule a repair visit for Friday, January 9, 2009 between the hours of 8am to 12pm.

On January 9, 2009 a GE repairman came to our house and told us that the motor burnt out. This is the first half day of wages lost due to our being shipped defective GE merchandise. The repairman and GE customer service do not deny that we were sold defective merchandise, neither does Home Depot. Yet, neither Home Depot nor GE will exchange our defective washing machine for a functioning one. The weekend following the arrival of the defective machine Home Depot sold us it cost us $23 to wash our laundry at the laundry mat, not to mention the wasted time. It’s hard to believe that we have a brand, new GE $700+ washing machine sitting in our house.

Originally the second repair visit was scheduled for Friday, January 16, 2009. We called GE “Customer Relations” on January 9, 2009 and spoke with Candice to get expedited shipping on the washing machine parts. One would think that if GE insists upon saddling your customers with defective merchandise then it would at least speed up the repair process instead of acting to prolong it. The repairman came out for a second (this is also the second, half day of lost wages) time on January 14, 2009 and installed the new motor. Guess what? The defective GE washing machine sold to us by Home Depot is still NOT working. The second repairman claims that the problem is the computer that runs the motor. And, with all this Home Depot still insists that appliances are non-returnable nor is an exchange permissible. GE failed to order the part or schedule a third repair visit on January 14, 2009. After spending hours on the phone and arguing with “GE Customer Relations” on January 15, 2009 we were asked to call back at 6:30pm eastern time. When we did as asked we learned that GE “Customer Relations” closes at 6:00pm eastern time-what a neat little trick to play on consumers. On January 16, 2009 I spoke with a Ms. Adams who said that she was a manager. Ms. Adams informed me and my husband during two separate phone calls the part will arrive on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 as Monday was a holiday and that the repairman was scheduled to arrive and install the part between 8am and 12pm on Wednesday, January 21. My husband took a third half day off work and the GE repairman never showed up. When he called GE he was informed that no service visit was ever scheduled and that the part had not even left the warehouse.

This brings us to another point of frustration. Despite repeatedly spelling my husband’s last name to GE representatives, none of these people are capable of entering the proper spelling. Due to the GE representatives misspelling of our last name and their continual failing to fix this mistake after repeatedly being told the proper spelling we have not been able to verify the “scheduled” repair visits online. It would be great if this could finally be fixed for future warranty issues, which I am sure we have plenty of.

On January 21, 2009 after no GE repairman showed up we called GE “Customer Relations” yet again to see what the status of our repair was. Angela was the representative spoken to this time. Angela informed us that the part was shipped to the warehouse but that the part still had not left the warehouse. When asked why that was since we were told that there was a repair visit scheduled for that morning. All she could tell us was that she could not contact the warehouse because “something is going on there.” Then Angela proceeded to say that there was nothing else she could tell us about the part. When questioned as to why that was since we had called multiple times the previous week she transferred us to Shaniqua, the manager of the Monogram department. Shaniqua informed us that for some unknown reason the inverter was on hold at GE’s warehouse and that there was no way for her to get information about why the part was on hold or when the part would ship. Shaniqua also informed us that there was no one we could talk to who could contact the warehouse and that essentially that there was no further recourse for us and that everything was transpiring according to GE policy.

On Thursday, January 22, 2009 we received a phone call from FedEX about a package that they could not deliver due to an unknown address being listed. We went to pick it up on the evening of January 22, 2009 but the driver was not back from his rounds yet. For a second time we had to drive to FedEX to claim the package containing the inverter because a GE representative wrote our address as “Bill St.” despite having properly addressed the first three packages that were delivered on January 12, 2009. Our address is “Bell St.” which the GE representatives were able to accurately enter the first time. So, who went in and changed our address for the mis-delivery of our parts to further delay the repair of the defective GE washer we are now saddled with? Then there are Ms. Adams’ lies that have cost us an additional half day of wages to consider. And finally, the mysterious person(s) who place the inexplicable hold on the inverter to intentionally delay the repair of the defective GE washing machine we had the misfortune of purchasing.

It should be clear to you by now how we feel about this purchase and GE and Home Depot. We will never purchase another item manufacture by the General Electric Corporation – not even so much as a light bulb. We will also never shop at Home Depot again. We will continue to tell all of our friends, family, and co-workers about our defective GE washer and how GE and Home Depot have treated us.