I perform customer support as part of my job, so I completely understand that debugging can frequently be a multi-step process. What I don't understand is why when I purchase a warranty on some expensive item and that item decides that it wants to stop working, why it takes not only soooo stinking long to have someone come out to fix it, but also why it can't get fixed correctly on the first visit. Or if not the first visit, why the second visit can't be scheduled briefly after the first instead of another week or more after the first visit.
Perhaps some background to my ire.
Our washer stopped working sometime shortly after New Years. Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited a week before calling Sears to make a service request. Now, be advised that we didn't notice the washer was broken until we needed to do laundry in the first place. After making the call, they gave me a week until a technician could come out. The tech came out, diddled around with the controls for a little bit, took off the face plate (which, as a side note, gave me a bad idea about doing a custom paint job for the washing machine. Washer with flames. w00t) and announced that the control board was fried and we needed a new one. It would take 3-4 days for the part to arrive, so he scheduled to come back a week later.
One week later (yesterday, this is week 3 since it actually stopped working) he comes back to install the control board that was delivered to our house. Off comes the face plate, everything gets detached and then attached. Push the start button and ...
nada.
Same as before. "Hmm," he contemplates. "Let's try this." He props up the front of the washer on two screwdriver handles (which fell off once and damn near crushed his hand. I had to shake my head at that one) and removes the lower plate, exposing another control board; this time the controller for the actual motor. Deciding that perhaps this is where the problem lies, he goes to his truck to grab a spare motor control board (or sure, he had that but not the first control board ... go figure) and changes that out. Push the start button and ...
zilch.
Now granted, at least this time it did something different. Whereas before, it would try to run a few time in a row; this time it just beeped and shut off. Clearly frustrated, he tries holding in the start button and ...
lights flash and a loud "Pop".
There's something both amusing and terrifying about watching a trained professional hurry in a constrained panic to pull an appliance plug out of the wall. At this point, I decided that it was better for my sanity to spend the rest of my time downstairs trying to make out a grocery list instead of watching him scratch his head while staring at my, what I'm sure was later described as possessed, washing machine.
After a little while longer, he comes trudging down the stairs with his tools in hand. "What's the verdict?" I nonchalantly quip. "You need a new wiring harness, and that's a two man job." he says, quite solemnly. I'm thinking, "It takes two guys to put in some twist-ties?" I think it, I don't say it. Evidently, the harness is more like a conduit - a sheath with a whole bunch of control wires running through it. His hypothesis is that one or more of the wires in the harness are exposed and/or shorting out - causing not only the wonderful POP we heard but also the previous issues as well.
"What we'll do is get another new control board, a new motor control board and wire harness. That's pretty much all the electrical components in your washer, since this is definitely an electrical problem" he says, looking full of optimism. "So that's going to be another 3-4 business days for the parts and a week until they're installed?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"That's right."
"My wife is going to castrate me and there's nothing you or I can do about it," I mutter to no one in particular.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing."
So, as of now we still don't have a working washing machine. Our last trip to the laundromat ended with 5 bags of wet, but clean, laundry and a rather impatient patron who decided to hover over Baby and I while we were waiting for our loads to finish because evidently her hallway carpet runner simply had to be laundered RIGHT THIS SECOND!!
I hope this helps to explain my earlier comments. This isn't the first time we've been strung out on a warranty. Our TV took over 3 months to be fixed and was eventually replaced as a lemon and then the replacement broke, but admittedly was quickly fixed.
As my final note: Why can't it just be fixed right the first time?
No comments:
Post a Comment