As the Dryer Fails...

Two weekends ago our dryer took a turn for the worse.  No matter the setting, we kept getting a sensor light. 

For whatever reason when we purchased this set we did something we seldom do - we purchased the extended warranty.  No reason why we would have done this but when the washer of the set passed, we were overjoyed to learn it was covered.  We didn't sweat it - just knew we could call and make arrangements for the maintenance to be done.

Monday AM we got on the phone and set up appointments.  Piece.of.cake.

Tuesday came to an end with a dryer certified ready to go...   They replaced a fuse and the sensor.  I ran one load, finally finishing up what I started over the weekend.  The second load had a different outcome.  Yep.  Same problem. 

Wednesday my dear hubby was back on the phone asking for a second repair call.  A different repairman was out on Thursday.  He was told by Whirlpool to have us clear the dryer ventilation.

Mike started out with a long vacuum hose inside the house and pushed a brush under our kitchen floor through to the vent outside.  Then he went outside and pushed the brush into the house.  Yes he did get an accumulation of lint but with air flow still substantial we didn't think it was the cause of our problems. 

Friday after work I washed up a load, confident I would finally be able to spend the weekend getting caught up.  The dryer stopped before the time allotted and when I went to check it out, the outside dryer housing was extremely hot to the touch.  We quickly removed the damp clothes and put a fan on the open door.  Of course the sensor light was once again illuminated and the dryer inoperable. 

Unfortunately it was Friday night.  Calls to both RC Willey and Qualified Appliances were unsuccessful to raise assistance on Saturday so we did what any desperate household would do - we opened up the fresh air ghetto laundromat and hung laundry from rope tied all over the patio cover.  Thank goodness for high desert climate, triple digits and low humidity.  I figure my letter from the HOA is in the mail...

Monday the phone calls took a new attitude.  One of desperation.  We had been without a dryer for over a week.  I called RC Willey and Qualified Appliance asking for a repair person to come out.   I shared how dissatisfied we were with the customer service.  They asked if we cleaned the vents as we were told and I said we had.  I was told they'd get us on the schedule and call back.  RC Willey's phone staff actually told me "the good thing is you are not out of pocket for any of this..."  Wrong answer.   Then they told me I would get a call from Qualified Appliance.  Qualified Appliance said RC Willey told them I would call and set something up.  Neither bothered to call us and tell us anything.  It was always left to us to place call after call.

I took to social media.  I found RC Willey on Facebook and "Liked" their page.  I was still unable to tag them in a comment but that didn't stop me from sharing my frustration of our dryer-less saga.  I decided to "message" them and shared a long step by step story of the customer service - or lack there of - and how there seemed to be a serious miscommunications between RC Willey and their contracted repair company. 

Much to my surprise within the hour I received a call from R C Willey's corporate customer service office in Salt Lake City.  Followed by a call from our local customer service office.  Both assured me we would have a repair person come to the house Tuesday as it was too late to get us on the schedule for Monday. We were last on the schedule for Tuesday but we would see a repair person.

At 5pm the 1st repairman called to say he was on his way but first wanted a recount of the week's events as he needed to call Whirlpool.  I waited until 5:45 when he finally called back only to tell me Whirlpool wanted him to order parts.  He started naming off a shopping list of items:  new motor, fuses, thermostat, wire harness - and they would rebuild the dryer but would have to make sure there wasn't any other damage from the overheating.

At that point I asked him two questions...  1. How long will these parts take to arrive?  (A week to ten days) and 2. At what point do we declare the dryer a lost cause and look into replacements? (That wasn't his call).

First thing this morning I call Chris at the corporate and Megan at the local offices to share yesterday's update.  Chris said they would track down the estimate.  Megan called me back to offer us a loaner while we waited for parts.  Later Chris called to say the repairman was out of the area and no estimate had been submitted.  At this point I asked how much longer this would take - and explained it has been two weeks and we desperately wanted to resolve this before another weekend passed.  My next call from Chris was to let us know we had two options - repair or exchange for new. 

We are exchanging the old dryer for a new AND she has us on the delivery schedule for Friday!  Whoohoo!

As a wrap up, Megan from the local office called to share they are looking at the processes between RC Willey and Quality Appliance and will make changes to the way things are set up in order to see where the lack of communication is occurring. 

Way to go Ladies!  Once more we are very satisfied customer!  And once again I'm turning to Social Media to share the positive ending to our story.

Happy Dance!