This is not a complaint, but a commendation for A&E Factory Service

I bought a Maytag refrigerator from Home Depot about two months ago. The icemaker failed to deliver cubes or crushed ice almost immediately, I think I made one glass of cubes, tried to crush one, and the unit failed.

Called Maytag and was referred to a small, local company in Sarasota. They came and inspected the unit, told me it needed a new delivery system, motor, everything. Their tech disappeared and we waited about a month with no results. Called the repair company, were told the unit was on backorder and would be another month. BTW, they said they'd called regarding the delay. I have professional phone equipment and that is not likely. Also, if you are required to leave a message, it should be to call the caller, so the message gets through, this was Obviously not done.

The extra month was unacceptable so I called Maytag again, who arranged (probably without much effort needed) to have the part at the Sarasota group within a week. They called to install and, without making this artifically longer, blew the appointment because they were not 100% sure we'd be home. They promised to call back at 4 to reschedule, and finally did call five days later, after I'd again called Maytag to arrange for a new technician.

Enter A&E -

Maytag sent A&E my way and I did the obligatory search on the web to see what they were made of, a task that nearly had me calling Maytag to ask what they were trying to pull. I never saw so many negative comments in one place outside of cell phone company issues. But I decided they could not possibly treat me worse that the Sarasota bunch, so I didn't make the call.

Ken arrived on time (estimate was 8-12, he was here at 9) on the day agreed (only two days after my call to Maytag). He and I looked at the unit together, and he stated it looked like the drive coupler was stripped and he had been told that in those cases, the unit should be replaced because the coupler can't be removed in the field in such condition (apparently it will spin, but won't come off the shaft). But then he said his parts manifest showed a new coupler in the truck, and if we could get the old one off, and the threaded shaft was ok, we could do the job immediately. He removed the unit from the freezer, and working together, we removed the offending coupler in about five minutes. Another two minutes and he returned from his truck with the new coupler, we installed it, he replaced the unit in the freezer, and we are making ice. Total cost - $10 or so for the coupler (warranty of course) and about 30 minutes of Ken's time in my kitchen. I asked if he would be late for his second of 12 appointments today and he said no, he was right on schedule.

What went wrong with the part? The OEM part had only about 3 threads available, the replacement probably in the area of 10 or so. I doubt this will happen again.

It is impossible to please everyone, and A&E is a nationwide company, with lots of exposure to potentially disgruntled customers. Like all of us, they certainly make their mistakes too. But they made my day much better, and I am now making crushed ice. I wouldn't hesitate to have A&E again.