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Not Acceptable ~ Dishwasher Disaster

Remember my dishwasher flood a month or so back?  Yeah, well now there is water damage.  Bummer.

It took a while to set in but now I have a lovely large collection of black stains (3-inches high) in various places around my kitchen.  Good times, good times.

The contractors are not confident they can sand the discolorations away and resurface them without re-doing ALL the cabinet surfaces so they match.  Quite frankly I couldn’t understand how they could do it either.

Since the dishwasher originally delivered was deemed defective, the very large name brand appliance company is responsible for the damage. 

In my last conversation with the adjuster from the very large name brand appliance company, she explained in a heavy, condescending tone that “said company” is only going to be responsible for the cost of damages at the 10-year depreciated value of the cabinets and not for the total damages caused by the flood. 

Insert my maniacal laughter here.  Remember, I spent three years fighting a traffic ticket based on principle alone.  Enough said.

After I stopped cackling, I explained to this lovely woman (who was only doing her job) that I was ”the injured party” in this matter and her companies depreciation repair policy was not acceptable to me.  This was not a wrecked car, but my home.

I explained to her how I did not need kitchen cabinet repair until I, in good faith, replaced a dishwasher (that had been recalled) with another new dishwasher that WAS DEFECTIVE (both from the same company) and that their liability in this matter could not be overstated.

I reiterated to her that the LAST thing I am looking for is a remodel, but would do it if necessary to recover my kitchen.  I will not accept mismatched cabinetry along with the cost of replacing it myself.  It just won’t happen.

After the lovely, but condescending voiced woman and I had several spars back and forth, I suppose she figured I was not backing down and assigned an independent adjuster to handle the matter in a more acceptable way to me.

Yes.  Thank you. 

We’ll see where this all goes.

Lesson learned…..Fight for your rights…..if you have to. 

Stepping off my soapbox now.  Had to get that out.

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Comments

  1. Ah, you inspire me! I like how you stood firm all the while keeping your goal in mind. You’ll have all of cyber space sending “you go, girl” victory vibes your way! So sorry, though, that your kitchen was damaged. It’s not like you don’t already have enough on your plate building a winery and all! Keep us posted!

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  2. Oh you go…I mean that is absolutely ridiculous. If you wrecked your car the insurance company would repair until it was fixed! Corporate America is so lame and they just think they can shove policies like this down people’s throats. Arghhhh.

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  3. WTG! I admire you, I hate insurance companies, I hate insurance companies, I hate insurance companies. When my husband and I got married..I even made sure that he knew that dealing with insurance companies was squarely on his “TO DO” side of the column!

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  4. Oh..maybe I should not encourage you but I am fighting mad at a corrupt ( or seriously compromised)court authority in CA and a credit card company that wants to raise MY interest rate because of the “extra ordinary economic circumstances”( translated: we screw our faithful customers because we can) no matter we pay on time and way above the rec. minimum amount, and nobody in authority can or will speak to us about this…so while I worked around our home and fumed…why , you just made me feel righteous! Go for it Cathy! AND WIN!!!!!!!

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  6. “Goodness, Cathy,” Katrina noted, shaking her head in a complete disbelieving manner.
    If I had time, I’d tell you about when I gave birth to our firstborn and the insurance company called while I was leaving the hospital and chewed me out for delivering him at that particular hospital and not another one. But I don’t have time, and well, it’s an annoying story, too!
    Have a good day. You go, Girl!

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  7. I was raised in a home where if you didn’t say something in an acceptable tone, you would have to repeat what you said over and over until the tone WAS acceptable.
    As soon as I hear it from a customer service rep (the “tone” I mean)I ask for a supervisor.

    You have more patience than I do and I admire your tenacity.

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  8. Go girl…you can’t let companies do that to you even though we know they will try their hardest to do so. black mold can cause serious health risks to your family andaffect the resale value of your home.

    Go girl.

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  9. Oh, no, on the water damage and all the rest. But, bravo, for not backing down and being willing to go the distance for justice as you have in the past.I’m sure you’ll keep us posted. Hopefully, this independent adjuster will size up the situation immediately and do the right thing so this is not a long, drawn out hassle.

    Shirley

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  18. The only way we as consumers will turn around the lack of customer service, is to demand the respect that is due us AFTER we purchase. Too often after the purchase, we become an unknown; or a liability. Sad state of affairs. If retailers ever wonder where the customers have gone, they could start with their own policies in place and used after the sale. Thanks for fighting!

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  19. Hoo boy…if that’s the major appliance company that had the major recall recently because the dishwasher might just burst into flames, we chose to have our dishwasher fixed. Unfortunately it was fixed incorrectly & we had smoke & burning smells & had to have them come right back out to do it properly. I got the runaround from them & spent HOURS on the phone & will probably never buy another one of their appliances because of the lies & terrible customer service.

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  24. yikes! Hopefully this will be resolved super quickly – just ‘imagine’ those cabinets looking beautiful like they used to, and voila, somewhere, somehow, a solution will be created –

    ok at least thats how I am hoping it will happen for you – for some magic to come into your life to solve this sticky issue!

    Reply

  26. Way to handle it without yelling and screaming (as I would have done). And good for not being a push over. You chose them over any other company to give your business to and they sold you a defective piece of equipment that damaged your home-it wasn’t like you were ticked that the blue didn’t match your plate or that the buttons were not cute-it damaged your home and apparently they must have known that there was a problem with the dishwasher if they recalled it. Stand your ground and let us know the outcome. And yeah, you should mention that you blog and have like a billion followers.

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  28. Hi Cathy .. that’s a terrible story .. not improving – I hope the recovery starts now .. & it will be a story soon .. not a tale of anguish.

    Just terribly important to remember make notes of all things as one goes along, until all is well & such billet doux can be directed towards file 13.

    I have a few horrors of my own ..

    Good luck .. Hilary: Be Positive Be Happy

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  29. “the very large name brand appliance company”
    Name it. Please. We ought to know.
    I had a very long history of a lousy refrigerator with a number of service calls and finally an offer of a token credit towards another model. [more of the same???] This from GE. Never another GE appliance.
    It looked like a no-win situation so I junked the frig and got another brand.

    Reply

  33. It sounds like she was offering you the ACV-actual cash value. That is something they offer when it is a piece of equipment, like the dishwasher itself, not cabinets. If you had a dishwasher that broke down after 3 years, the insurance company takes into consideration that you received the benefit of the equipment. Here is the buzz word to keep in mind when talking to the adjuster:

    “replacement cost”-the cost to replace it back to what it was prior to the loss with the same kind and quality.

    Make sure that you show the adjuster all the pictures that you took at the time, where the water went, etc. Have any recent pictures of the damaged areas before the event to show the adjuster that the damages were all the result of the water and were not damaged prior to.

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  40. YES! It is an unfortunate fact that the days of customer service and corporate responsibility are long gone. You do have to insist on your rights, you do have to argue and risk discomfort. I’m not as good at it as you are, but I’m working on it!

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  42. I so hate {I know that is a strong word} water damage and trying to fight for our rights…YOU GO GIRL! Thanks for trying to tell me how to fix my picture in my yesterday’s post…if I only knew how to do that…seriously didn’t even know that was possible…I am so computer illiterate! You are awesome….now go kick some major appliance company bootay!!!

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  44. My husband always says – If it’s a small claim they will pay with a smile. If it’s a large claim “it’s not covered under the policy.” That’s for insurance companies, but it sounds like it’s also for major appliance companies, too. I can see that you aren’t going to back down – Good for you!

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  48. Stick to your guns!
    I had a dishwasher that shot FLAMES from the control panel, and even then I had a hard time convincing the manufacturer to replace it. The guy they sent to inspect didn’t believe me; did he think I’d melted the panels on purpose? He insisted on turning it on .. and guess what? FLAMES SHOT OUT.
    I got a new dishwasher. You need to fight this one, go get ’em for sure!
    Cass

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  49. You sound like me with the Empty Eyesore in my kitchen where the fridge was supposed to go and the kitchen designers. Don’t give in, don’t give up. I’ll be thinking of you….

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  55. Ohm, are you free sometime next week to fight with my bank? See, I can write fairly OK, but my English is not so collected when I speak, plus my comprehension of English is horrible over the phone, not to mention lending terms, esp. when on the other side is a person trying to intimidate the life out of me!
    They just mailed me something to sign (very big deal), and refuse to meet with me to go over it so perhaps I would know what the heck am I signing!!! They are mentioning fees, and stuff, but no figures! I guess they want to surprise me with those later!

    Oh, and by the way, I may have a same situation here, I have a Frigidaire dishwasher which collects water on the bottom when not in use! I should look into the warranty…
    Good luck with your situation, and keep fighting! 🙂

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  58. I think things like this irritate me more than most… they make home ownership a drag.

    That said, good for you that you stood up for yourself. I think all too many give up too easily and it makes it TOO easy for companies to keep producing inferior product.

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  59. Kathy

    Call back and mention the words MOLD DAMAGE. It has been my experience that these words are like magic and I ususally get people out in hours after that. The truth is that is what you will be dealing with and it is beyond the surface. MOLD is fierce in court! So is asthma, and respiratory problems. Good luck lady if anyone can get them to act it will be you! 🙂

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  60. Good for you! You are in the right but the company responsible for the defective dishwasher will get out of it any way they can. It’s a good thing you are strong and firm when you know you are right. Good luck with everything.

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  61. Oooooh, Credit card companies!!!We moved to Idaho in 2005,tended to use our credit cards a bit too extensively. However,,I paid on time & as you I paid way over the asking amount. These “nice” people started uping our interest rates, when my husband called to 1st ask they said well you used the card as if it were a bank account.Yes but we over paid yo. $5000.00 at a time on several occasions. Well, that’s too bad, but we are raising your rates. The rates went up & up again then my husband called to complain & the little smart aleck on the other end said. I see you and your wife are in your 70’s,you’re gonna die soon anyway so we are just trying to get as much out of you as we can. We went to a Lawyer & they said “well why don’t you just file bankruptcy”. Again because they can & will & because we are “old”We only have 1 card left. Your right, they screw the faithful customers. And look where all these institutions are today. So I’m with you on this 1, Go Cathy Go!! Win!!

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  62. You go! I have a feeling you’re going to get what you want. I’d definitely want you on my team if we were in a competition. Have you tested for mold, just in case?

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  63. I’m with you Cathy….when I have had issues in the past similar to what you are going through and I hear something on the other end of the phone, I immediately think to myself “Oh really, guess they just don’t realize yet what they are dealing with.” I then let them know pretty quickly that I don’t get pushed around or taken advantage of. So I say GOOD FOR YOU!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!

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  71. Ooh, I wish I could have been listening in on that phone conversation. I’m such a doormat, if it was me I’d be saying “oh I’ll just put some tinkerbell stickers on it, it will be fine”.

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  73. You should totally NOT let go of this – they messed up so they should pay for it and you should like whatever they do/offer! Keep on fighting, if you don’t do it for yourself who else will, right? Right!

    Reply

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