Could I get feedback on appliance companies?

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:32:12 +0000, Joy Has Frothed:

GE makes a great oven. Don't know about the others.

I know you said ovens and microwaves, but I can't pass up an opportunity to rant and complain about my Amana refrigerator. 6 years old, 26 cu. ft. side-by-side, woke up Thanksgiving morning to a non-working fridge, bad compressor. Since the fridge was already on it's 4th icemaker, we assumed we had a lemon. Meanwhile the

Jerry

GE *can* make a great oven depending on the model and who they outsourced it to.

Have a 23+ year old Panasonic that hasn't even had the light bulb replaced yet. It's used daily. May not be relevant for whets being made now but I'll have to buy another one, eventually.

The problem is you can't really go by how good a 23 year old unit is, there's a good chance the same brand unit today was built by a different company entirely and an even better chance that it wasn't built as well as the old one regardless. To make sense of anything you first have to do some research into who actually makes the item you're considering buying. Also a lot can be predicted by just general fit & finish and the feel of the unit. If it feels flimsy and parts don't fit together well, they probably cut corners inside as well.

Even Maytag, once an icon of quality, has moved its manufacturing to Crapland.

everything

replaced

I'll

Wish I'd thought of that. Oh, I did. I've bought other Panasonic products in recent past and haven't seen a reduction in quality like a lot of other brand names. Have a Walkman Sport from the same era that still works. I've worked on it a little but it's still impressive longevity. Their newer stuff has been crap. Buying by reputation still makes sense to me for appliances at least. Better than guessing. Probably the OP should have asked what's crap. That shows up quickly.

I've had the same experience with their products, but their service has been another matter and took a turn for the worse about 10 years ago, which may be why this multi-billion dollar company has an unacceptable rating from the Better Business Bureau. Back around 2000, they replaced my CRT monitor 3 times with "refurbished" units, the last 2 which looked battered, one having been dropped at the factory - before it was placed in the shipping carton. Panasonic somehow made me deal only with their legal dept., which was staffed by people who sounded angry and drunk.

When the only lawyers who will work for you are angry -- or drunk -- or both -- that's a bad sign.

Did you ever get it satisfactorily resolved?

Never thought to run big corporations through the BBB. Interesting that Panasonic, not a BBB member, gets an unacceptable for mostly not getting things resolved in time and Sony, a BBB member, gets a satisfactory even though 25% are unhappy with the outcome. The only two I looked at. Both numbers are very low for corporations with such volume.

I've talked to people in/from other countries that were nearly incomprehensible. 10 years ago might not of thought about them not being in/from this country.