This relates to Long Island, New York. I had have had 5 very good experience with A&E. I called Sears Service, who we always call, to fix our Samsung fridge, where the icemaker wasn't working. It did take several days to get an appointment, but that isn't unusual or unexpected. The guy came out, fixed it right the first time. I then called about our Kenmore stove, where it was blowing the fuse constantly. The guy came out, fixed it the first time, and also for free fixed a problem with the vent hood while he was there. Third time was for our garage door opener. Guy fixed it in 15 minutes. Fourth time was for our dishwasher. Guy came out, diagnosed the problem in 10 minutes, ordered the parts, which were totally inexpensive (about $20), and scheduled a return visit. The parts arrived by UPS Ground within 2 days, and he came out today to install them at no additional charge. I personally like the UPS-to-home parts system. That way, whatever tech is available can come -- the parts come to us by a reliable method and whatever tech can come puts them in. It's smart and efficient. Absurd to think that all parts for all machines will be on their truck, and, frankly, I am surprised how many times they can fix it with what they DO have. Fifth experience was with our old clothes dryer. Guy came out, fixed the problem in 15 minutes with parts on his truck. I have total confidence and total trust in these guys. They have proven themselves over and over and really seem to care about doing it right. I frankly refuse to use anyone else, and I now buy all our appliances at Sears because their installation contractors are similarly top-notch. I will say that they do suffer from a "no good deed goes unpunished" problem, in that their automated phone system does try to call you to confirm appointments and sometimes wires get crossed with the actual service guy; I get a call from the guy who is coming right over and meanwhile the automated system calls and tells me he will be coming later. That's just the burden of technology, and I forgive them for that, given that they are actually trying to have lots of communication with the customer. I do think that they would do well to move the call centers back to the US, because the foreign folks, when you get them, have trouble understanding the nuances of both our culture's expectations of service and some of the vernacular that we use. When you get a US person on the phone, it is quite evident and the ones Sears uses are universally-excellent. (I don't distinguish between Sears and A&E here; the truck usually says A&E, but if you called Sears, as I do, the card he gives you identifies him as a member of the Sears Blue Service Crew.)

This company is horrible......First they show up and tech says I need a thermister and will replace...all is fixed and left.....Then after a wash I get the same error....Called them back and they say they will be back in 2 days....never show up...A&E says sorry and a tech will be available in 11 days...tech shows up and says guess what?...I need a thermister...what a surprise....he doesn't have one but will expedite an order and overnight....call them to reschedule once I have the part...Next day guess what?...no part....call them again and they say it takes 24 hours to process then will overnight... ask them to schedule a tech in anticipation of part arrival and they say they can't but will escalate and have someone call me in 24 hours....guess what?...no call so I call them again and let them know what was going on....they apologize and promise a call tomorrow....No call yet gain but part finally arrives... next day air from a facility 20min from my house...(REALLY)...anyway I couldn't wait for tech which is now scheduled 8 days later, so I replaced the part(took 5 minutes) and same errors....now I am being told I have to wait till tech arrives to diagnose the issue.....WTF...THIS...COMPANY...IS...HORRIBLE...I...WILL...NEVER...USE...THIS...COMPANY...AGAIN...OR..MAYTAG...SINCE...THEY...CHOOSE...THEM...AS...THEIR...PREFERRED...SERVICE...FACILITY

No one has had problems with A&E like mine. They came to replace bearings in Maytag washer drum which required replacing the back half of the drum. The service tech ordered parts shipped to my home. Two other techs came to do the installation several weeks later. The lead tech belly ached right away what a big job it was and said he had never done one before. Said it would require parts. We showed him the parts. Then some mumbling went on between the two techs. One went outside to place some calls in our driveway. Then they came back inside and informed us that due to us using powdered detergents we had voided our warranty. They left us broke down and took thier parts with them. We called the warranty company and after much pleading got them to send another company for a second oppinion. We showed that tech our Maytag manual that clearly states used powdered liquid or combination of both. (We had never used powdered as accused) He reported his findings back to the warranty company who sent A&E back out for a third oppinion. The master tech agreed with us that the two previous weenies just didn't want to do the job. He reordered the parts. The previous weenies returned and replaced the bearing drum but when they left I had leaks. It was determined that the front portion of the drum needed to be replaced. The drum was ordered and recieved. The weenie techs came to replace it to resolve the leak issue. Instead of replacing the drum and one shock absorber they siliconed my detergent dispenser and left again with the parts. The same day all the silicone fell out of the detergent dispenser. It was later discovered they had stuffed my washer with shop towels to absorb the leakage To this day my washer still does not have the repairs the warranty company approved

A & E factory service has horrible customer service. We purchased a dishwasher and had it installed, the drainhose had a small leak so we scheduled a service visit on a Wednesday -- they were supposed to arrive between 8am and noon -- and would call shortly before arriving. They never called or showed up for the repair, so I called and they stated that they didn't know if a part had been shipped and arrived at our house. The part had arrived -- they never told us when we set this up that they would ship the part to us and they said we were supposed to call to let them know the part had arrived -- no instructions to call in the part box either.

So I called to let them know the part is at our house and that I had taken the day off work for this repair -- I need someone to come that day -- they told me no way -- they do not have anyone available. I asked to speak to a supervisor, was left on hold for 15 minutes and then hung up on.

I called back, went through the many levels of their phone system, was told I will have to wait for a supervisor, was left on hold close to ten minutes before I was hung up on again.

I would never do business with them ever again!

Boycott this company -- they will make changes or fail so we can have a company provide good customer service!

I used to work for A & E Factory Service. I was an appliance technician. Most of the complaints on this forum sound very legitimate. This was the worst job I have ever had. Company downsizing put me on hard times and I needed work fast so I applied with A & E since they are "ALWAYS HIRING" technicians (revolving door)!I have had technical jobs all of my adult life and have worked for several service organizations. This was the worst experience I had ever had....organized chaos.

Like most A & E technicians, I was scheduled to run 8 to 12 calls per day. This explains why technicians don't return your calls if you discover a problem shortly after they leave your home,...too many more calls to run!

Oh yeah, I have arrived on service calls that I had ordered parts for and had customers tell me (on more than one occasion) that they were rescheduled by routing because I was out sick or because my van had broken down (wish someone had told me)!

I believe the reason some A & E technicians misdiagnose appliance malfunctions is because they are in a rush (too many more calls to run) or because they didn't find the time to watch the latest training DVD that was passed out during the last meeting. They are only allowed to watch them during company time (parked on the side of the road in their service van...and still run all of the calls...

And oh...training, well when I was hired training consisted of riding with another technician for 2 weeks (who is in too much of a rush to train you) who wanted to get home at a decent hour. After that you were on your own (scary). Well they did have a senior technician who came ONCE a year for about a week to teach appliance 101. If you were hired a week after he was there...no need to worry, he would be back next year.

I my opinion this company is expert in SMOKE & MIRRORS. The money is in the marketing! The vans are pretty and the uniforms are pretty, but the service sucks! When I was looking for a wife my dad would always say that "Pretty doesn't make a pot boil..and He was right!

a&e suck big time. they don't know what they are doing, they have come to my home 4 times to fix the same problem with my washer and it still doesn't work and they where a no call, no show yesterday and said they don't have an opening until next week. i am calling sears and bbb today to issue a major complaint. if you can get away from using them, then do cause they are a waste of time and energy.

A & E Factory Repair Service

I made an appointment a week in advance with A & E factory Service to schedule a service call to repair our microwave oven. The appointment was set for January 17th, 2012 for between noon and 5 PM. The company called the day before to confirm this appointment.

I called early in the afternoon on the day of the appointment to get a better idea as to when to expect the repairman; I was told that it would be before 5 PM. I called again later and was told that he would arrive between 2:30 PM and 4PM. I called at about 4:15 Pm and was told that he was running late but to expect him between 4:50 PM and 5:15 PM.

I called again at 5:30. After being kept on hold for quite a while I was told that the repairman claimed to have been at our home at 3 PM and that nobody answered the door and that I should schedule another appointment. I asked to speak to a manager and was kept on hold for twelve minutes, after which I was told I was being put through to someone in charge. I gave up after being kept on hold for another ten minutes.

Then my wife called and asked to speak to a manager. She was told that her call was being put through, but once again no one answered, and she finally hung up the phone.

We waited at home, putting everything else on hold, from noon until 6 PM. These people should be ashamed.

Thomas A. Mitchell

Want to add my voice to the bad experience.

A&E has $129 "flat rate" in our area. Plus parts. What they don't say is that parts pricing is 3X-4X what you can find the same part for online. Our $40 seal they wanted $149 for. They come out, do an estimate with outragious parts pricing, and if you don't like the estimate you still have the pay the $129 flat rate fee. What a racket. Drive around all day with high estimates and make a fortune never actually having to do any work!

I will NEVER use these guys again. I will stick with indepedents that cost more, they are cheaper in the long run.

A&E provided the worst service I have ever experienced. I have a protection plan from Best Buy and they subcontracted to them to do my repair.
The 1st visit: The guy didn't feel comfortable moving my stacked washer and dryer and felt he needed two people

The 2nd visit: 1 to 5 window, called at 4:40 "where are you". "Oh we'll have a tech call". No call. We left at 5:05 for an appt. The A&E Service van was parked down the block and the tech was chatting with another person. They call at 5:30 "Where are you?" they said. Uh, your window is up.

Call the customer service and they didn't care. Even told me that a window did not mean that they had to show up in that window. My husband wants to keep calling them and booking service and not be here as well. Sounds like they have always had bad customer service and the only reason they stay in business is because of Sears. I will not shop at Sears. Best Buy apologized and now will only send out their own tech. I'm putting a review of them on any site I can find.

As a Customer Service Rep. I am disgusted with the Reps from A&E. I have had a total of 5 appointments scheduled over the last 3 weeks. Only one of which a repair rep actually showed up for. My Kitchen Aid Bottom Mount Freezer refrigerator is 4 years old. The repair rep was professional and courteous. He diagnosed the problem and ordered the parts. Since receiving the parts one week ago 2 appointments have been canceled. I am frustrated beyond belief with the incompetence of the Customer Service staff. I have as all of you rearranged my schedule on 5 separate occasions, all the money we have spent to keep ice in a cooler, eating out a lot because there isn't anywhere to keep much food, and now postponing our vacation....could have bought a new refrigerator. It is July 29 and they are supposed to come again tomorrow. My first call to them was on July 10. It's a shame that Sears doesn't make there repair service live up to the Customer Service standards they have in their stores! I'm in disbelief that major appliance manufacturers as well as major appliance stores would continue to do business with such an unprofessional company.

Awful. They did not come at all. Or call and let me know why they did not.

I have had A&E Factory Service refuse to step foot in my house again because I got so fed up with having a broken appliance after months of service calls and missed time from work that I threatened to have the police detain the Technician until the repair cycle was completed. Which was a suggestion given by the A&E appointment setter- that I insist that the Technician stay until the whole cycle was seen.
I have a dishwasher that throws the same fault code 3 hours after it runs. A&E has been to my house approximately 10 times to fix the unit in the last 2 months and each time, the appliance has reset because it's been turned off at the source and the Tech restarts and runs it. Then 3 hours after the cycle it throws the same code and I call it back in. But according to A&E's records the unit is fine because the Tech has reported that it's running when they leave and they won't return the same evening.
Each time they send a different technician who has none of the information from the previous attempts. I've even had one of the Tech's request to come back out, but they assign a differrent tech. After all, why should they fix it or verify the claim to have it replaced. I'm sure they get to bill the contract provider for all of their trips.
I've asked to speak to supervisors and been put on terminal hold or cut off numerous times. I've had customer service tell me that they will pass a message to a supervisor who will then return my call; which, of course, they never do.
My contract provider has started a claim to replace this appliance but needs A&E Factory Service to say that they cannot get past the fault code, but they can't even do that.
My advice would be to avoid any contract where they utilize A&E Facory Service.

I sure wish I had checked A&E Factory Service out before I called them! After seeing all the complaints starting in 2006 I would have never called them myself. I purchased a Kitchenaid Dishwasher in May 2012 and by the first of August some of the control panel lights quit working and there was a loud pop when you opened the door. The first service call was Aug. 9th and the service tech. stopped the pop when you opened the door by putting a piece of CARDBOARD in the area to stop that. Then said 2 parts need to be ordered and set up the follow-up date as Aug. 14th. We received a call from A&E on Sunday Aug. 12th saying the parts went to backorder and would not be shipped until Aug. 24th and set up the tech. to come out the following day Aug. 25th. I thought that was strange setting up the date for the day after the parts were supposed to ship but I thought they knew what they were doing. WRONG!!! I had a message on my ans. mach. to call them on Aug. 24th so I did. I was told again the parts were on backorder and the next appt. they could give me was Sept. 1st. I told them I was not happy about that and asked why were parts for a brand new dishwasher on backorder? The lady told me I would have to call Kitchenaid about that and gave me that phone number. I called Kitchenaid right after I got off the phone with A&E and told them what was going on. He put me on hold and said he was going to call A&E himself and that a warranty issue should not have a problem getting the parts and that the parts should not be shipped to me but to A&E. He came back on the line with me and said he got the same repsonse I had from them and I was set up for Sept. 1st and that the parts would be shipped to them and not me. Now today is Aug. 31st and I had a call on the ans. mach. again to call A&E. I called the the lady asked if I had received the parts. I told her NO that per Kitchenaid the parts were supposed to go to them and not me. I then told her "this is bordering on ridiculous" and she HUNG UP ON ME! I called right back and asked for a supervisor. I was put on hold for 30 min. and then disconnected. I called back again told the person I was disc. and wanted to speak to a manager. I was again put on hold and after 10 min. I hung up on them. I just got off the phone with Kitchenaid and told a real nice lady there all the problems I was having from start to finish and asked if there was another repair company that could be used. She told me how sorry she was that I had all these problems with A&E. She pulled up service companies and the only company that came up for her was A&E. She then asked for my zip code and pulled up a local company that does warranty work for them and ordered the parts to come to my house but due to the holiday I would not get them until Wed. Sept. 5th. She then called the my local company and set me up for a service call on Sept. 6th in the afternoon and gave me their phone number to call if I needed to. I will follow up after the service call to see if getting away from A&E helps.

Same story as others - this company is not serious. Called on a Tuesday for broken washing machine, got an appointment for Friday 1am-5am window. Got Confirmation e-mail. "Customer Service" told me at 5pm that there won't be a technician coming after all. After we waited for 4 hours at home and 4 phone calls as it got closer to 5pm. Suggested another appointment in 5 days!!! This is a joke company - who waits for more than a week for a technician for an essential appliance. Whirlpool: we should have have called Mastertech in the first place - do not set up appointments for your customers with this company. It makes you look bad as well.

Scheduling and routing is done in a central location, it was Calif i think it is India now. The technician has at best 2 weeks training on all appliances made by everyone and is supposed to sell you an extended warranty. Not a perfect situation, they have to call in to have (experts) diagnose the problem. The technician has no control on parts or scheduling or anything else-please it is not his or her fault. I would suggest finding a local company that actually knows the products to service it.

I have been dealing with A&E thru my Sears contract. They are terrible. it took 6 weeks to get the refrigerator working. we were using a cooler for 2 weeks. it seemed to be repaired but after 3 weeks started having problems again. After waiting a week the technecian showed up and adjusted the coolant pressure. Bottom line is we now are without a refrigerator again. He promised to get a deep vacuum dryer and return on Thursday or Friday. It's now Friday and we can't get a answer on a time frame. It's my understanding that A&E is owned by Sears and Based on what I am reading online a class action suit would be a good idea. I would join in if others are interested.

>>>" It's my understanding that A&E is owned by Sears"<<<

FWIW, A&E Factory Services, LLC is a joint venture held by Sears Holdings Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=66311650

I understand that A&E is owned by Sears Holding. Not sure about the Whirlpool involvement but regardless they sell you a warranty and then expect for you to put up with there lack of customer service. I have been dealing with this situation since March 9th and 9 visits by their repair tech's. They apparently do not have a protocol for follow up visits on a repair that doesn't work. They treat each visit as a new call i.e. 9 visits, over 3 months and still waiting. I purchased a 2 year contract and I'm looking for a new company to replace Sear's home repairs. Any suggestions are appreciated

Greetings! My first post here, after doing some online searches for A&E Factory Service. No, I'm not a shill for them: in fact, I'm adding to the overwhelmingly negative posts here regarding them. I'm an Ex-A&E service tech, although my area was in their Lawn & Garden division, which includes exercise equipment & garage door openers. Before I go into quite a bit of detail regarding them, let me first say, at least for the techs in my division, Sears/A&E provides NO product/equipment repair training whatsoever; what little training they do get is either cursory, on-the-fly from a senior tech or 2, on how to use their data terminals (called SSTs) & related items like receipt printers & UPC barcode scanners in the vehicle (used for scanning units & parts into & out of inventory), or buried somewhere deep in the nearly 2" stack of blurry/overcopied papers which you're forbidden to review off the clock, & never have time for when on the clock, due to the incessant whipcracking from the (at least in my case) clueless "technical manager" with no experience, & not knowing the pointy end of a screwdriver. How did I need to qualify, as far as technical expertise, you may ask? I've worked in the mobile service & related fields for >30 years, & passed their 2-hour online exam consisting of both electrical/electronic & mechanical/engine questions. I also passed all 3 levels of their driving safety exam with 100% each time. I've worked for them 2x, the first ~25 years ago, in their service center shop in Glen Burnie, MD, & quit after 1 of my friends working on the road there committed suicide (he had a wife & kids too) after all the antagonism & stress he experienced. After they got his truck & equipment retrieved, they wanted to pull me out of the shop & put me into his truck, into the very same environment. I objected; they insisted, saying my talent was wasted in the shop. I left my uniforms on their desk & walked out the next day. Before I go further, I'll wait for any to express their interest in knowing more.

It's interesting to see that this thread has been going for 9 years now and things haven't gotten any better. IMO this is evidence of malice, not simply incompetence.

The absolute PITS! New refrigerator from Sears that had handle on wrong side that should have been changed before it was deliverd. But no-o. They sent a rude, obnoxious A&E Person who told me it was not possible to change the door handle to the other side. He actually became abusive when I told him it could be done. Don't ask! I had to go through a whole thing with Sears and they sent the same guy the second time who was even more rude.

Long story short - I went to Sears in person and filed a complaint against this person and they finally sent someone else who said of course, it could be changed and he did it. NEVER AGAIN with Sears or A&E.

1/4/2016 Terrible experience, being ripped off in your own kitchen. Tech did not even bend done and look at the leaking area in the front of my LG dishwasher, I thought, " it has to be a washer on the supply line or something simple" but I didn't have the "special tool" to get the o ring off the 90 degree connector piece, obviously as you read I am not clueless. A single mom and unafraid to fix things myself. Kids running around and 70 year old mother rehabbing on the couch from surgery, we all were amazed at the, late in the day, spotless tech that arrived, without tools, did not even look at the unit, gave me an estimate for parts $1100....then the really laugh out loud part...which my mother did....$59 estimate bill...it was all I could do to escort him to the door. Went to Lowes that night bought an awesome KitchenAide for $900 for a $200 savings, installed myself, works awesome!!! SHAME ON YOU SEARS FOR CRAWLING INTO BED WITH THIS COMPANY AND THEN ABUSING YOUR REPUTATION TO PROMOTE THIS FRAUD ON YOUR TRUSTING CUSTOMER BASE.

I guess those sentimental years of looking at the Sears and Roebuck catalog. to flag the pages of wishes for Santa, are just that, nostalgia, even Sears has fallen to PURE GREED. Sears, how much did you make throwing your customer base under the bus? I hope it was worth it you lost a lifelong extended family of Sears shoppers in us, and, as I have read above, in many of us.

I have read thru the long list of negative post and must say I can relate to the terrible frustration and disgust that they express. We have a built in refrigerator which was covered by a Sears service contract. The unit quit Cooling and it took A&E 9 service calls over a 2 month period to finally get it fixed. We went 2 months without a working refrigerator and the A&E people just kept telling me that the next appointment was 2 to 3 weeks out.

Sears should be ashamed of their self!

A&E was problematic before they moved underneath Sears' wing. It's just that so many have found they have little choice but to use A&E.

Anyway, in a few more years, Sears will have sold off every asset of value and will disappear into retail history.

I hate to dash your hopes but did you miss the information that Whirlpool owns half of A&E?

I was looking to buy an induction oven & Sears has a GREAT deal going onright now. A Kenmore Elite Model 95073; 6.1 cf oven; 4 burners (but a "warming drawer" instead of storage drawer at bottom). On sale for $1199.99 (original $1,999.99). It has 33 reviews, mostly happy with it. This also came w/2 coated racks, which may remain in the oven while self-cleaning. The bottom of the oven is for broiling & has a regular metal rack in it. Because of that, the "warming" drawer underneath is smaller & has a metal rack in it to set pans on I guess. This unit's burners are a bit bigger: 1-10" 2600W/4100W; 1-8" burner 2400W/3400W; 1-6" burner 1450W/1900W; 1-5" burner 800W/1000W. One comment I saw from a customer said if anyone liked to "can" vegetables, etc., this would be the model to buy because of the bigger burner areas & higher wattage. As far as the difference in appearance, the knobs are slightly larger & the handles flare out. As of today 10/14/16, there are 33 mostly positive reviews on the Elite. One person URGES people to get the extended warranty. Another review urges to buy a good, quality cookware set $200-400.

The other "Kenmore" Model #95103, 5.4 cf oven, 1-8" 2400w/3400W burner; 1-7" 2640W burner; 1-6" 1450W/1900W burner; 1-5" 1000W burner; 1 warming zone 120W. It comes 2 typical metal racks. No metal rack for bottom of stove, it is NOT concave like the "Elite" model which I guess is done to put in a big turkey once/year??? The knobs are slightly smaller/lighter than the "Elite" which I see as NO BIG DEAL & the handles don't flare out at the ends like the "Elite" which I actually like this model's handles better. This model has the storage drawer underneath it. I think there were only 9 reviews on this model, all about as positive as the reviews on the "Elite".

PROBLEM: The company that Sears/Whirlpool use for repairs is: A&E. I READ THE REVIEWS. Review, after review, after review (maybe 40+), said this company has TERRIBLE customer service, the service men get a very weak 2 wks of training (according to one guy who ACTUALLY WAS HIRED & worked for them & he admitted how awful the company was to work for & deal with), appointments NOT KEPT, people waiting with broken appliances for 1-2 wks before they could get a repairman out to them, service men NOT HAVING the parts to fix it, the WRONG PARTS being shipped - which had to be reordered & further delayed repairs. A customer who had a problem & after BEING CHARGED found out that the part for which the repairman came out to fix & the part, HAD BEEN UNDER A RECALL & then Sears/A&E did NOT REVEAL & would NOT reimburse this person because she called for a "service call" not a "recall" appointment. REALLY???? Of all them MANY REVIEWS I took the time to read, ONLY 2 or 3 good reviews, which I bookmarked.

I finally after about an hour+ of reading reviews, I decided I had more than ENOUGH info. to choose NOT TO PURCHASE a Kenmore appliance, even though the price was great. I am very sad because I was really looking forward to having an induction range.

SEARS/WHIRLPOOL, you need to either get RID OF A&E, or hire service people & train them properly, answer your service calls promptly/courteously, repairmen NOT having the parts with them to repair appliances & COURTEOUSLY respond to your customers WHO SPENT ALLOT OF MONEY on the extended warranty (many reviews found customer service and/or repair people to be RUDE), to FIX AN APPLIANCE in a TIMELY MANNER & your repairmen making sure they have the correct PARTS & TOOLS to fix the problem before they go to someone's home. A&E's Extended Warranty was THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE I'VE SEEN. Which MIGHT be okay IF I READ MORE POSITIVE THAN NEGATIVE REVIEWS ON A&E. How in the world in GOOD CONSCIENCE can Sears be in business w/a company with SO MANY BAD REVIEWS, is beyond me.

IT REFLECTS POORLY ON YOU SEARS & I know Sears has struggled. QUIT SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT SEARS!!!! It would be better NOT TO OFFER a warranty than to send out untrained service techs with poorly equipped tools & incorrect parts to repair problems.

The reviews I read about A&E, just COST you a customer. There is no telling HOW MANY MORE it will cost you when people read the bad reviews about A&E. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in Sears & wonder how with reviews like these, Sears with their Kenmore line (which I read is actually manufactured by Electrolux-so shame on them too), will continue to stay in business.

And THAT makes me SAD FOR AMERICA'S COMPANIES. Put quality back in your product & people will come back. Continue to produce poor quality appliances WITH VERY THIN STEEL/or whatever metal is used on the top, you can almost PUSH THE METAL IN WITH YOUR FINGER. HOW is that supposed to hold up under daily wear with pots/pans?

I as an American, WANT TO BUY AMERICAN PRODUCTS. But will not spend my dollars on cheaply made products. Heck we can buy all of that we need from China, India, Japan, etc.

I suggest you just buy what you want from a place that offers better service. I have a local appliance store that has their own service department that is good. Perhaps you can get some other place to match the Sears price. (Of course not on a Kenmore, but there is almost certainly an equivalent brand-name model.)

Sears isn't what it used to be. It is now Kmart, and going bankrupt. I wouldn't count on them for anything long term. Have you noticed how unmotivated the employees are in Sears now?

Patricia: similar to paul, I would suggest that you buy whatever you liked from Sears (or elsewhere if the price was good), and follow Consumer Reports suggestion and don't buy an extended warranty. It is true that you would be stuck with A&E for any first year issues but otherwise, just put away (or mentally put away) the cash you save without the warranty, to be used for a local repair company.

For issues In the first year, you could try A&E. Even with their problems, they often do reasonable work. If you are unlucky, you can still call the good local (or whatever) repair group and still be ahead (or even) since you got an initial good price. Most appliances have no problems.

Yes, as Chas045 says, and I said previously ... there's no requirement to use A&E service except perhaps during the warranty period via contacting Whirlpool or Sears directly. Non-warranty, any local, independent service company can be used. Independents may also be certified for warranty work, although some may be reluctant to do warranty service on an appliance bought elsewhere.

I bought a after-market service warranty from Lowes for a Samsung Refrigerator. First I call and am on hold forever. Obviously, this is an outsourced call center. While I certainly understand the thought and reasoning to have offshore call centers, it definitely doesn't help the "cause" of customer service for U.S. based customers. Moreover, the hold times for even confirming an appointment are anywhere from 5-20 minutes. Basically, I have been without a fridge for 3 weeks now because they are waiting for parts (all must arrive.) Even though one of the parts can fix the fridge portion of the 3 year old appliance (shame on Samsung) they simply refuse to install or fix anything without all the parts. Tech was grumpy as well, as I'm sure they are overworked. I escalated to a supervisor that basically said can't change a thing. Feel free to complain to the world. So, beware of extended warranty nightmares. Customer service in the industry that used to be famous for their products (appliances) is dead.

Re: A & E Factory Services, NYC

A & E Factory Services is a terrible company.

I took a day off of work because of them and they never came. They never called me to tell me they weren't coming. When I did hear from them, it was at the end of the day. They told me that the tech wasn't coming because he had to go to a funeral and that they were going to reschedule me for an appointment a month later.

My dishwasher needed to be serviced. I acquired their services through Sears Warranty Protection Services.

First issue: They came on the wrong date. Twice. I wasn't able to get a reschedule for three weeks.

Second issue:
I took a day off on a Thursday to get my dishwasher taken care of. I was given two confirmations. One by email and one by phone the day before. Sears told me the technician would be at my house between 8-12pm. At 1 pm, there was still no technician and no phone call to tell me what's going on.

It took me three phone calls to get information on what was going on with the A & E technician. I called Sears at about 1 pm. I was told that they would try to reach the repairman and he would call me back right away. After about 20 minutes, I called Sears back. It was the same response, the tech would be contacted and the tech would call me right away. There was no return phone call. After this, I found A & E Factory Services' number online. I was lucky I remembered their name, because Sears does not give out this information. They had serviced my home through Sears before and there were no big issues. I called A & E directly. I was put on hold. I was then told that the technician was sorry he would be late and he would be coming between the hours of 2-4 pm. I was annoyed. It wasn't the 8-12 pm they promised.

So, I waited some more. At about 4 pm, I got a phone call from a lady in the company, apologizing because she said there would be no technician coming over to my house. Apparently, the tech had to leave early for A FAMILY FUNERAL OUT OF STATE. "What?" I asked myself. I had spent the whole day waiting, I was misled, and then I was being told I wasn't going to be seen anyway. I was then given an appointment a month from now. The A & E employee told me that they had only one technician servicing Brooklyn so they were short. They had another potential technician who was available but refused to go to Brooklyn, even though just today alone they had 5 appointments. (I wonder if all those other people were also not seen and told their tech had to go to a funeral out of state too).

A & E promised to call me if a new tech would be available at a sooner date.

My advice to you: This is not a trustworthy and professional company. If you don't want to waste your time, take your business elsewhere.

Complete waste of time. Old lazy guy shows up after waiting a week and his only goal was to establish why he couldn't fix the refrigerator. No effort to do anything. This person was a waste of human existence. Why bother having a company, hiring and sending the laziest person alive.

They are terrible. Two days in a row they did not show up for a scheduled appointment between 1 and 5. The weather was fine. The appt was confirmed via text and email both days. No one called, no one messaged, no one arrived. When I called customer service all they said was "sorry for the inconvenience." They did not really care. And they offered no assistance. They could not ell me why no one showed up. They could not promise that someone WOULD ever show up. I told them that they should be ashamed to work for such a terrible company and provide such terrible service and that they should go find a job at a decent reputable company. There are plenty of repair services out there - use anyone else but these people.

I arranged for them to come service my LG frontload washing machine. the guy came and within ten minutes he had contradicted himself 3 times. I told him to leave as he did not help me and was saying the opposite of what he had said several times. Each time I asked the same question, I got a different response. Now they are billing me for %89 and each time I try to call the two numbers listed--one says "we can't answer your call now, call back later." The other number is just for paying bills. I tried both options and could not get a human being. I've written to the address shown and no reply, other than another bill.

If I could give negative stars I would. GE contacted them to repair my washing machine that was under warranty. It worked perfectly fine during cycle, but at other random times it would attempt to pump water out of the machine (phantom cycling) The first tech determined this was what was going on and ordered the part. 4/28 they sent another tech out, he installed the new part, but did not check it. Now the washer is no longer working, It will add water but not spin or remove water. It also shows incorrect times for the cycles like 2 minutes for the "Normal wash" I call them back the same day. They tell me that they cannot send someone out again until 5/14. This is over 2 weeks from when they came out and rendered it non functioning. I am not happy but agree. I receive two tests the week of the 14th, reminding me that they are coming. The day of the appt, I have taken the whole day off because they tell me they will be there sometime between 12-5. At 4pm I still have not heard anything. I call the number, they assure me the tech will be there and will call when he is on the way. At 4:45 I still have not heard anything and call back, at this time they tell me that the tech had 5 appts, I was supposed to be the second for the day and that he had not checked in since the first appt and they had no idea where he was. They said they would call me back with more details. They did not. On Monday I call back and they inform me that they have rescheduled me for 6/4. I said that is ridiculous. My washing machine worked, they made it non functioning, made me wait two weeks to repair what they did, then ghosted me and want me to wait another two weeks to come back again?? No way. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they hung up on me. I called back again and told my story again, and repeated that I should not have to wait over a month for them to fix something that they broke. I told them, if they could not make my scheduled appt. then i should be the next person in line the following day. They hung up on me again. I finally gave up on "warranty repair" and called a local person to come out. He found that that they had incorrectly installed the part, and not hooked up a sensor. The incompetency of this outfit is astounding. I would not trust them with anything.

A&E is.....well, erratic in quality of technicians. That is putting it mildly. Sadly, they are by far the biggest vendor for warranty work from many mfgs.

Over the last 30 yrs I have gotten some good repairpersons from A&E, and a lot of bad ones. The good ones have said that because A&E is the lowest bidder on these types of contracts, good (read: experienced) technicians don't want to work for them because they can make better money elsewhere, working for......surprise, surprise.....independent repair companies.

Horrible service. They replaced my condenser, coils and everything related and it broke down the next day. A technician name Khawajadin came in. Had no idea about refrigerators. He was questioning me about why I put some ice cream in my freezer from another refrigerator. I told him even though this doesn't cool well, I put there because my backup refrigerator did not have enough space.

He kept arguing and questioning me. His own thermometer showed freezer was about 15 degrees and refrigerator was 45+. He said that was normal and closed the case saying he had no time.

So unprofessional and no accountability from the company. Stay away

Freezers should be 0°F or below. I set my fresh food section at 35°F.

They are the absolute worst I wish I would have read the comment before I purchase the extended maintenance plan. Most of them can't even speak good English set 3 repairman out still getting parts and the only problem was the filter was full takes over two weeks to get anything repaired they are the absolute worst run the other way no wonder Sears went out of business

I was sold me an extended warranty through Federal Warranty Service Corporation, aka Assurant LLC, for a GE Induction Range/oven. They assigned A&E Factory Service to perform the work. On 16 Aug 21, I contacted A&E to repair the range/oven, with electrical problem. A&E scheduled the visit 2.5 weeks later "Order Nr: XXX for Sep 1 bet 12 – 5 PM" (which is a long time to be without a stove and oven). Then, the A&E truck broke down and they rescheduled it for 4 weeks later. Monday, Sep 27 between 8 – 12. A&E again failed to show up. They emailed me I have to reschedule. Because A&E had a problem, I'm put at the bottom of the queue, and the next available appointment is November 3, 2021. My family will have been without a functioning range/over for over 11 weeks before a tech visits, and that doesn't guarantee A&E has the part. Research showed the following reviews. 50 of 50 rated them 1.0. Even A&E employees hate the company as illustrated in an Indeed.com employee survey. https://www.indeed.com/cmp/A&E-Factory-Service/reviews?ftopic=mgmt

If FWSC can't provide a service date to a customer within a reasonable time, then they should subcontract it to a local appliance repair; and consider mailing a loaner cooktop in the interim.

If you read the postings on https://www.facebook.com/AE-factory-service-Sucks-222826081112065, you’ll see that A&E is ripping off consumers.

My refrigerator broke and we called choice home warranty company and they sent a technician out to access to problem. After finding out the compressor needed to be replaced and that the compressor was still under warranty with sears they went back and forth with A&E about fixing the problem and approving the fix. Finally after it had been approved They set up a time for repair for which they called and rescheduled the appointment for over a week later. The appointment time comes after a week and then we get a call that they came out and nobody answered the door to which we were home all day and have two cameras outside and relay that information about the camera and said they went to the wrong address so they rescheduled again and got a call on the morning of the appointment time and said our repair window would be between 1&5pm. At 4:20pm they called to reschedule again because the tech had called in sick. It has been 9 weeks since my refrigerator has gone out and still have yet to fix it after rescheduling another repair time for a week later. i have called A&E several times and they said they can do nothing to dispatch a repair tech to get it fixed that we have to wait until the next available date. I put a complaint to the BBB and hopefully someone can do something with this company. If there was negative 100 stars even then they would not even deserve that rating.

File a complaint with your state Consumer Protection Office. What A&E is doing is FRAUD.

KEEP AWAY FROM THIS SCAMMING COMPANY! My worst experience with a repair service. I don't know why Lowes would use the company for warranty work. Very unprofessional and lazy technician. So lazy, he parked his company van on my new concrete driveway to avoid walking an extra 15 feet. The van left a puddle of oil (10 inches in diameter) and oil drops down to the street. He replaced a refrigerator seal and the final product looks worse than before. The refrigerator still makes the same grinding sound which was the reason for the service. I called the company and felt as if I were speaking to some overseas scammers. They transfer me to a self proclaimed "supervisor" who reads from a script. When I asked for a resolution to the oil on my driveway because my HOA will fine me, her response was there nothing they can do. I requested to speak to her manager and was placed on hold for over 17 minutes. She came back reading her script again, "Sir sorry for the wait. Your complaint has been escalated and forwarded up to the team". Again I request a manager and she said she was the last person I would speak with. I requested the technician's field supervisor to respond to my residence so he can observe the damage to my driveway. She replied there was none that she knows of. Horrible customer service.

Terribly poor business practices. You cannot speak to a live person and if you go through their website and leave a message, no one calls you back. The technician (Shane- in Georgia) does not do any follow ups on the part order. The part went missing on October 4th at 8:55 am and NO ONE will reorder the part. Two weeks after the initial order, still no part! Ridiculous, and all you get is the run around. All the while, my laundry is piling up. They keep rescheduling or pushing the appointment dates out, but that does me no good when the part is not been REORDERED! I, along with my Mother, have spent over 20 hours of our time through, A&E Factory Services, America Home Shield, Sears, and UPS and no one seems to know anything. They keep saying a part has been ordered and give me the old tracking number. When I inform them that this is to the missing part, they just say "that is all we have". I am at a loss on what to do, as I cannot order the part and I can't get anyone else to order it. Parts SHOULD NEVER be sent directly to the customer/homeowner, as it is not in any of my control to fix if the part never arrives! HORRIBLE non-existent customer service!

This thread has been going for 16 *years* and apparently nothing has improved. I guess it must be a working business policy. Someone should organize a class action lawsuit.

I am so angry right now. I purchased a Master Protection Plan from Sears for my refrigerator. The compressor started failing around the end of September 2023. I had to throw out everything in my freezer. There have been 4 appointments for the repair and it is still not fixed. Yesterday (10/24/2023), I waited for 12 hours for A&E to show up and they never bothered to contact me. No call and no repair person. They didn't even contact me to let me know they weren't going to make it. It is still not fixed and it has been almost a month since I requested service. I would NEVER buy anything from Sears again. No wonder their company is failing.

If you are in Lincoln ne go to Hometown Heros! I had HORRIBLE HORRIBLE experience with Sears! My experience was very close to yours! NEVER EVER again will they be in my home! I would rather wash my clothes on a rock or washboard!!

Diza19

Dispute it on your credit card! They will credit it back right away. I wouldn't contact a&e again! Your cc company will. I am sure it will be resolved then. :)

Carol Duncan

If in Lincoln ne call Hometown Heros. They were authorized to do warranty work on my GE appliances.

Good luck!!