Complain about a product or service

Kenmore Washers

Debora of Easton, PA September 5, 2009

Bought the Kenmore Oasis washer in 2006. In 2008 had to have the mother board replaced. They offered me a warranty extrension that helped. It is now less than a year later and the board has gone again. They have mentioned buying another extension. This shas become one costly washer. I bought the best at the time so that I would NOT have problem or have to replace often. WHat a BIG mistake! This machine nees to be recalled!!

Rhoda of Poughkeepsie, NY September 4, 2009

After my front loading clothes washer broke down, I purchased a top loading Kenmore washer in February of 2009.I bought it because it was much less expensive than a front loader and because the salesman told me it was an excellent machine. Well, it's not an excellent machine. In fact I don't even consider it a good machine. I have been unhappy with it since day 1. First of all, in order for my clothes to come out without having the wrinkles pressed into the fabrics, I must use a water softener, which I never used in my front loader. And still, I have a great deal more ironing to do. Also, the water softener dispenser is in the agitator and unless I clean out the dispenser after every other load, it retains enough of the water softener to have it leak out of the agitator thus staining my clothes as I remove them from the machine. The machine is also much noisier than my old front loader. I would very much like to come into Sears to buy a front loading machine, but I just can't afford to lay out 700 or 800 at this time, especially since I spent 571.43 for the top loader just 6 months ago, on Feb.13, 2009 to be exact. I wish Sears had some sort of trade back policy by which some sort of financial adjustment toward the purchase of a front loader could be made. I've always been happy with Sears products and service. But this time the product has not lived up to the promise made to me by the salesman.

Carol of Shelton, CT September 3, 2009

Purchased a Sears Kenmore Elite Oasis He top loading washer in Nov. 2007. In Oct. 2008 it was making a noise that sounded like something broken was spinning around somewhere inside the washer. We checked and could find nothing visible. It also did not seem to be draining water from the clothes properly. Called repair and a tech checked it out (spent very little time and really didn't seem to know about this machine) and declared there was nothing wrong with it. A little over a month later I stepped into my basement family room and onto soggy wall to wall carpeting. The washer room is adjacent to the family room. The washer pump had failed in some fashion and flooded the washer room and part of the family room!! Called repair and was scheduled for a tech to come out on Nov. 21.

Meanwhile we had the task of ripping up carpet, moving my husbands business inventory, our stored items, and furniture. We spent many days trying to dry out the basement with a wet-vacum, fans and dehumidifiers. We were then and still are concerned about mold!! On Nov.21 the repairman came out and said that is was the water pump that failed but, he did not have one and would have to order one. He informed me that it would not arrive for 2 weeks. I now had 5 family members arriving at our home that day to spend the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend with us and a wet and horrible smelling room (where they were supposed to stay) and no washer for 10 people!!! On Dec. 1 After many calls to find out about the status of my part order it finally arrived at my home. Called repair to schedule an appt. Didn't want to give me one until Dec. 10. I blew up at them and finally got a supervisor (after being disconnected several times and calling other phone #'s) who gave me an appt. for Dec. 3. When that repairman looked at the part and the washer he told me they had ordered the wrong part. (my head exploded at this point) He said he would check his truck and see if he had anything that would do the trick. He installed a pump and declared it fixed.

Fast forward 8 months later to Aug.30. My husband stepped into our basement and found soggy wall to wall carpet for a second time. His business inventory was wet and our washer room and part of the family room once again flooded. We just stood there in shock that this had happened again. I called repair right away and made an appointment for Set.2. We once again spent all of Sunday and Monday wet-vacuming,ripping up carpet and trying to dry out our belongings. Even now there are 4 fans and a dehumidifier going 24/7 and we are of course concerned about mold. Sept 2 arrived and no one showed up from Sears. I called and inquired and was told that my appt. was scheduled for Sept. 9. My reply was that I would never have agreed to Sept. 9, a full week and a half after my home was flooded. I told them that I was told Sept. 2, although the repair center clearly entered Sept. 9 in their system. I was told there was no way anyone would come out here any sooner. I asked for a supervisor and she argued with me and did not want to give me to a supervisor. She finally relented and when the supervisor came on the line and said her name was Sarah I was promptly disconnected. I spent the next 35 mins. trying to get a supervisor on the line. Seven separate calls and I finally gave up.

I wrote a letter to Bruce Johnson, CEO of Sears Holdings in Hoffman Estates, IL. So here I am, no washer, a wet basement, utility bills that will be astronomical because of the 24/7 dry-out process,wall to wall carpet that I don't want to leave in my home, laundromat trips everyday and all the expense and time it takes. When I called the National Customer Relations line and requested a new washer I was told that my master protection agreement does not cover a new washer unless there have been 4 service repair calls (with parts replaced each time) in one calendar year. I said that it seems to me that since the original repairman did not fix the problem and my basement flooded and then it happened again 8 months later that should be more than equal to 4 repair calls!!! NOPE. I just got the party line. We are so disgusted with Sears and it goes without saying that we will never buy from them again. What we want from Sears is to have our washer replaced with a new one.

Alison of Albuquerque, NM August 30, 2009

We have been using a Kenmore front loading washer for several years. It has a horrible mold problem. We can't afford to replace it and so have been trying all of the recommended solutions (read an article in paper about this common problem and then researched on internet) - bleach, leaving door open, constantly wiping off gasket - nothing really works. Our clothes and especially towels are all beginning to smell badly and I have started hanging them outside to try to use the sun to bleach them - doesn't work! This washer should have been recalled.

Michelle of Elkridge, MD August 29, 2009

Kenmore Front Load Washer Quiet Pak4 purchased about 3 1/2 years ago. Does not wash clothes properly, it uses such little water that clothes have to be washed 2-3 times. There is mold in the rubber gasket and small clothing items get stuck in there. The mold is near impossible to get out of the rubber and our clothes smell "moldy". I mentioned it to a sales rep in Sears (Columbia, MD) and her suggestion was to leave the door open after using the washer. How ridiculous to have to leave the door open, nonetheless we tried it. Yes it did dry the washer out but the mold, musty smell remains. Our original washer was a Kenmore and we had it for 18 years. Our clothes were clean, smelled fresh and were soft and fluffy. Unfortunately, it died and we were forced to purchase a new washer. We are extremely disappointed in this Kenmore product. What can we do? I would love to have an old Kenmore back and trade this fancy Front Load Washer in.

Jeff of Connellsville, PA August 23, 2009

Purchased Kenmore Elite Oasis he washer in 2006. Stopped working and flashing error code. Had computer board replaced in Oct. 2007. Again not working flashing error code. August 2009. Paid top dollar and it is a piece of junk. I see there are alot of others out there having the same problem.

Ute of Graham, WA August 23, 2009

Only about a year ago did I purchase a Kenmore Frontloader/dryer stacked unit, model 417 48102701.It was installed properly and we have a new home, so the flooring should not be an issue - in fact the machine is standing on a concrete floor. From the beginning it seemed the washing machine moved too much when spinning and seemed to have too many issues with unbalanced loads, despite not being overloaded. In addition, the clothes never seemed to have been washed properly (using HE detergent), like it was not using enough water. I frequently had to wash more soiled items twice.

The other day I could hear the machine was having another unbalanced load. When I checked the machine, the door had actually p[opped open, mid operation and one of the door prongs had broken off!! Fortunately there was no water damage. I grew up with frontloader washing machines in Germany - we never had issues like this with any of them. I am extremely disappointed in the performance of this appliance. Plus we are only a 2 head household - there's no heavy laundry load on the appliances either.

John of Palm Beach Gardens, FL August 19, 2009

We bought a Kenmore Oasis HE washing machine from Sears as well as the extended warranty. We called about the user interface stopped working. Technician came out and check it and found it to be faulty. The second item I asked about was the advanced rust on the side and around the bleach receptical. He opened the unit and discovered that a hose was missing and what was there was to short to reach to bleach receptical. Upon opening you where knocked over by the oder of bleach, the support frame severly rusted. Rust was seen all the way down to the motor housing area. When I asked what they would do about this problem, I was informed that Sears would replace the hose but the rust is not covered by warranty and was our problem. I have made repeated calls to Sears to get some sort of solution to this manufacturing defect. All Sears kept saying was that the rust is not covered by the warranty.

Vincent of Leesburg, FL August 8, 2009

Front load washer smells like mold,..never goes away even after using bleach and dried. Model HE3t Elite. smell gets on cloths. Will go back to top load machine,..not Sears.

gary of stone mountain, GA July 20, 2009

We purchased a kenmore oasis he washer and dryer in january of 2007. Approximately a one year after the purchase the washer went out and had to have the control board replaced. 6 months later the dryer went out and had to be repaired. 2 months later the dryer didn't even come on and had to have the control panel replaced. the customer service rep told us a repairman would be out between the hours of 8a and 5pm on each occasion. I took off from work for the latter problem only to be called around 3pm by the service repairman and told that he got tied up on another call and would have to come out the next day!! I am at wits end with this piece of s%@*t machinery and am looking into a class action lawsuit against this company. The parts on their appliances are not even kenmore but whirlpool! Something has to be done about this type of consumer deception and abuse for these very expensive machines!

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