My wife and I have had a six month affair with the Sears repair service. It started in June when our less than two year old Kenmore dishwasher stopped its only task in life, washing dishes. That evening I took out the product manual and, concentrating on the English version, went through the list of trouble shooting recommendations. The entire manual is sixty-seven pages. There was a long section titled, "Food left on the dishes." Since the dishes we had loaded were indeed not clean, I read that carefully. After testing the hardness of our water and switching to a detergent with a phosphorus content of 8.7% as recommended, the dishes were no cleaner. I purchased a water pressure gauge to assure our home water pressure was the required 120 psi (138 to 828 kPa). I made sure the hot water temperature was 120 ⁰F (49⁰C), although the only thermometer I had was a rectal thermometer and it did not quite make it to 120 ⁰F. It finally occurred to me that the instructions in this section of the manual were dependent on the dishwasher actually working. In our case, the dishwasher was mortally wounded. There was not a hint of power to the dishwasher anywhere.
I tried another troubleshooting section titled, "The dishwasher does not run". I was asked, "Is there power to the dishwasher?" I searched around for an exposed wire that I could grasp and test to see if I received an electrical shock. Not finding one, I located our magnifying glass and carefully looked around the edges of the dishwasher to try and see if any electrons were making their way from Con Edison to the machine. No luck. I did notice that no lights on the control panel were lit. Power could be an issue. There was another instruction to see "has a household fuse blown". It was very still in the house and barely any wind outside. I do not see how a fuse could have blown away. I must assume this test is meant for Kansas or Oklahoma that are in the country's tornado alley. I did find our circuit breaker and it was not tripped and moved ahead under the assumption that we did in fact have power to the dishwasher. "Has the motor stopped?" Since I was not sure it was running, I made another assumption, that is had stopped. "The motor will reset itself in a few minutes." I went to bed and waited 480 minutes. The motor did not reset. Maybe I should have waited longer. The next instruction was to "call for service".
Call I did. I did have to confirm my address to the customer service representative. I wondered if they were concerned if I was lost or if you actually had to be a certified home owner in order to request and receive repair service. My confirmed address was acceptable to Sears. The representative gave me the next available service appointment; it was ten days away. She also told me the repair person would be at my home Tuesday between 8 AM and 12 PM. I made a huge assumption (which I later regretted) that both the 8AM and 12PM referred to the same date. I registered my dismay at having to wait ten days for a service call. I rationalized the reason for such a long waiting time must be due to a New York City metropolitan area appliance failure plague. I know the drive from Long Island to Westchester is not that long!
The scheduled Tuesday, I worked from home to adjust to the service appointment. The repair person did not arrive until 3 PM. I watched him work. He took the door of the dishwasher apart, tested things with an electrical meter and came to the conclusion that the dishwasher's computer needed to be replaced. That sounded expensive and it was. Whoever knew a dishwasher had a computer? Did it also have a home theater sound system? Next I expected him to walk out to his truck to get a replacement computer. Little did I know! He needed to order the new part. I could expect it delivered to my home in ten to fourteen days. At that time I could make another service appointment. After my blood pressure dropped below 150, I signed the credit card receipt to prepay for the new part. The new part arrived in eight days and I called for another appointment. Good luck, I only had to wait eight days. Again I got the 8AM to 12PM service window and this time confirmed that it pertained to the same date.
I scheduled another day working from home. This time a different service person arrived but at 4PM. He installed the new computer, turned on the machine and nothing happened. There was nothing wrong with the computer; what was needed was a new touch pad. No walk out to the truck to get this part either. This second part was ordered and I again signed a credit card receipt. This time it took ten days for the part to come to my home and I make another call to schedule the installation. That date is set and at this point it is forty-three days since I first called Sears Repair Customer Service (there is an oxymoron if you ever heard one).
Eureka! Seven days later the new touch pad is in and we have a working dishwasher. It is mid August and I expect my dishwater hands will heal by early September. I now had to work from home three days and spent $235 to have the dishwasher repaired. The repair cycle for our Kenmore dishwasher was fifty days. Fast forward to mid October, dishes fully loaded water in dishwasher and no power again! I make another call to Sears Repair and receive another appointment eight days from the call.
This time the 8AM to 12PM arrival time is after 5 PM with my wife and me due at a dinner event thirty minutes away from our home at 6 PM. Dumb and dumber take the machine apart and their diagnosis is a failed internal fuse. Finally a part they must have in the truck. Oh ye of too much faith! The fuse needs to be ordered. I pay the credit card bill and start waiting for the next part delivery. It arrives in nine days and I schedule another appointment for eight days later. A technician arrives only one hour outside the promised arrival time and the dishwasher is working. By the way the fuse cost $30.42 and it was $130 to install. The dishwasher ran for two completed cycles and died once again. This time I asked our condominium superintendent to look at the dishwasher and make sure the power to our home was AOK. He did and all checked out fine. He did find a technicians trouble shooting guide hidden in the electrical parts area in the bottom section of the dishwasher. He suggested I follow this guide. Well, it states, "FOR SERVICE TECHNICIAN'S USE ONLY". I did read it. This is a chart thirty by twenty-four inches including electrical diagrams and symbols. This was not a job for me to tackle. We took the only logical next step – off to Home Depot for a new dishwasher. It comes in one week. I also bought a four year extended warranty on this new dishwasher. I am back to hand washing the dishes and we have been eating off of paper plates for some time now.
I remember the good old days. If the toilet would not stop running, you just needed to jiggle the handle. The problem with the dishwasher is that there is just nothing to jiggle! Apparently since dishwashers have a computer inside, the manufacturers could include a USB port to allow owners to hook the dishwasher to a laptop computer and let the Service Center diagnose any electrical issues back at the repair center. It would then be possible to send the repair person to our home with the required part. I am dreaming… next thing I will be talking about people walking on the moon.
