Why I won't buy another appliance from Home Depot

[mdlbear]

This was started as something that might be sent either to Home Depot or a local TV station or other consumer advocate. Still might.

Here's the situation. I'm 68 years old. My wife is disabled. We have a secondary laundry room in our bedroom closet. My wife uses a stair lift to get upstairs to the bedroom. We have been trying for over three months to replace the washer we bought and had installed in 2013.

2013 September 1: Order Number: W227507064 3.6 cu. ft. DOE High-Efficiency All-in-One Washer and Electric Dryer in White Model: WM3987HW. Fit our closet perfectly, ran on 110V, didn't need a vent. Also, as it turned out, didn't dry worth a damn, and was prone to clogging.

2014 October 8: $322 for a new drain pump. By then I'd forgotten that I'd purchased a 5-year service plan, and Home Depot didn't occur to me as a place to get appliances serviced, so I used Jimmy Z in West Seattle. Mistake.

2015 February 9: $217 for a new drain pump -- discount because we were a repeat customer.

2015 July 6: the drain pump died for the third time.

July 10: the repair person made the obvious diagnosis (this being the third time that the drain pump had failed) and scheduled a return visit, with the replacement pump. That happened sometime that week; I unfortunately can't find the receipt. I've been looking for it for the last month.

July 15: I opened the door of the washer and water came out. Obviously it hadn't been fixed.

July 27: Recieved a callback from Jimmy Z, but they didn't show. Again. They came out sometime that week; the repairman told me that the circulation pump was broken, all of the pipes and pumps were clogged with lint of some sort, and that the machine was unfixable. Would have been nice if he'd told me that on the previous visit.

August 10: Order Number: W394063798 Order Date: Aug 10, 2015 6:01 PM EDT Spacemaker Washer and Electric Dryer in White Model# GUD27ESSJWW. Delivery scheduled for 8/19, rescheduled to 8/25 because I had injured my back and wouldn't be able to deal with the stair lift.

August 13: It finally occurred to me to check to see whether there was a protection plan for the old washer. There was, but since I hadn't used Home Depot for the repairs I would have to supply receipts.

August 18: Received email from bianca_williamson@homedepot.com about the protection plan on the old washer. Reference number 54540015. (Since then I've been able to find the two older receipts, but not the ones for the July 10 visit, nor the later one where the washer was declared a total loss. JimmyZ has been unhelpful about tracking down their copies, so I'm out the replacement cost of the washer plus one drain pump replacement.)

August 25: Removed the chairs from the stair lifts. The crew removed the old unit but failed to install the new one, saying that the stair lift motor units were in the way. The washer was left on the front porch. If I'd known that the new washer wouldn't be installed I would have had Home Depot come out and look at the old one. 8/29 I bought a tarp to protect it from the rain.

September 1: removed the stair lift motor units as well as the chairs. Note that the motor units are heavier than I can easily handle -- I'm 68 years old with a bad back. But it would cost $500 to have Acorn send a technician out to do it. This time the crew said that they couldn't install it without my taking off the rails as well; this is impossible because it requires a licensed installer.

I note in passing that it wasn't until this delivery that the installer mentioned that the unit required a 240V connection; the product description on the web said 120/240, so I had assumed that meant it could take either. Called the delivery company; they refered me to the store (Delridge in West Seattle). Called the store. Spoke with Kathy, an expediter, who said that someone would be out Saturday

September 5: Luis from Home Depot called; I sent photos via email. Luis and one other person came out, examined the stairs, and said that it would be impossible to bring the washer up the stairs without removing the rail. I started researching stacking pairs, and scheduled for the washer to be picked up on September 9.

September 9: our electrician came (while I was at work) and installed the 240V outlet. But of course not the 110V outlet that I would need for a stacking washer and dryer. Meanwhile, the washer hadn't been picked up.

September 10: called Kathy; apparently the pickup order had been dropped by their system. She claimed it was the first time this had happened. Rescheduled for the 17th.

September 17: the washer was picked up. I was told by the crew that it should have been returned to the warehouse rather than being left on our porch.

September 21: Order Number: W408403911 Order Date: Sep 21, 2015 9:17 AM EDT 4.2 cu. ft. High-Efficiency Front Load Washer in White, ENERGY STAR Model# WF42H5000AW 7.5 cu. ft. Electric Dryer in White Model# DV42H5000EW

October 3: Took the stairlifts off. The washer and dryer arrived, but the crew refused to install them because the 110V outlet hadn't been installed yet, and they wouldn't let me test it with an extension cord.

October 8: 110V outlet installed. Scheduled delivery.

October 17: Took the stairlifts off. Washer and dryer arrived. Washer was damaged. Sent it back. Spent 20 minutes on the phone attempting to reach a manager in the appliance department. After being put on hold repeatedly, I was told that the manager was on the phone with another customer, and said they'd call back. Didn't.

October 19: Callback from Kathy at the Delridge store. Call from Samsung; rescheduled delivery for Saturday 10/31.

They get one more try.