Complaint Review: Fosters Appliance - La Crescenta California

Found out online about a recall of Maytag dishwashers. I called Maytag to find out if my particular model was affected by the recall. I found out that it was and Maytag told me the appliance company would be calling me to set up the repair. Fosters Appliance in La Crescenta, CA came out to repair the recalled part. The technician, Edward, came out to my house, pulled out the dishwasher to repair it and fixed the heating element that was part of the recall. That very night, I ran the dishwasher at full load. Suddenly I noticed a loud grinding noise coming from the bottom of the dishwasher. I opened the dishwasher to see if something was loose on the dishwasher floor or what could be the problem. I did not see anything. I continued to run the dishwasher still hearing the noise. Several dishwasher loads later, the dishwasher was still making that noise. I was hoping it would have gone away and thought maybe it was just because the part was new or the tech didn't screw something in properly. I called Maytag, told them about the situation, and they had Foster Appliance come back out.

After taking a look at the unit, Edward said that the pump was bad. Are you kidding me? The pump? The pump was working just fine before they came out and tampered with my dishwasher. Keep in mind that I have owned this dishwasher since March 2006 and used it about 3 times per week and NEVER had a problem with the unit since I purchased it. It has always run perfectly and was a great model. It was not until FOSTERS APPLIANCE came out and touched my unit, that it started making noise. I do not think it was a coincidence that the pump just happened to go bad the EXACT same day that they did repair work on the unit. I don't know if they did something on purpose to the unit or if upon replacing the dishwasher back into the space under my cabinet, they knocked something loose or damaged the pump somehow. I do know that FOSTERS APPLIANCE caused the damage.

I called Maytag back and they said that since the pump was damaged by Foster's I would need to take it up with them. I realized that Maytag would not cover the pump issue but I wanted to make them aware of what they representatives have done to my unit. I explained the situation to Maytag and they called FOSTERS APPLIANCE. Foster's told them they have NO IDEA how the pump was damaged and that it was a sheer coincidence that it broke on the same day they repaired the heating unit. WHAT BULL CRAP.

My husband called Fosters back and explained that their technician caused the pump damage and we expected them to repair it. They said that a manager would have to call us back. 5 Days go by and someone finally calls us back and leaves a message that to repair the pump, they will charge us $357. They never mentioned the issue at hand, only what it would be to repair it. A manager never called us back. My husband called them back and spoke to JAN the SUPERVISOR who basically told him that it was not their concern and they weren't going to fix it, and then she hung up on him.

 I called them back immediately and spoke to JAN who informed me that they were not going to fix the pump, they didn't do it and too bad. I explained to her that there is no way the pump could have gone bad the same day Edward worked on my dishwasher. She stated that they weren't responsible. I tried to ask her if it was possible that upon replacing the unit back under the cabinet, he could have loosened something by accident. She wouldn't even discuss that possibility with me. She kept cutting me off and wouldn't even listen to me. She was very RUDE and for a Supervisor was not very professional. Then she and Edward, who I was on Speakerphone with, hung up on me. Boy was I mad. How unprofessional to hang up on someone just because we were in disagreement. I couldn't believe they were treating a customer like this, especially a customer that they wanted to try and charge $357 to.

 When I called back after being hung up on, I spoke with AMY who answers the phones. I tried to get Jan or Edward back on the phone and she wouldn't transfer me. She said no one was available, even though I could hear Edward talking to Amy in the background along with Jan. I told her that I was going to file a complaint with everyone I could think of and I needed the owners name of the company along with other peoples name. She would not give my any information. She then put me on hold. Suddenly, Jan picks up the phone and says "Nobody is available" and hangs up on me. How rude. I really could not believe they handle issues this way. I would never treat a customer like that.

I called Maytag back to file a complaint against FOSTERS APPLIANCE. I wanted to make Maytag aware of the type of contractors they are using and how this repair shop treats people. I would never use FOSTERS APPLIANCE again. I honestly feel in my heart that FOSTERS tried to take the opportunity of the recall repair to generate additional work for their company by damaging my unit. That may be the case, it might not be, but I DO KNOW that their technician damaged my dishwasher and now they won't take responsibility for their mistake and fix the unit.

On Fosters Appliance website www.fostersappliance.com , they pride themselves on being certified through varius organizations, so I am filing a complaint with all those companies, so they know what Fosters has done. I have been in the Customer Service business for 35 years and I have never hung up on someone or treated a customer the way Foster's treated me. The old adage, tell one person about something good and they tell 1 other person, but tell someone something bad about a company and they tell 10 people who tell 10 more. That is true in my case. I will tell anyone who will listen what Foster's has done.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB, MAYTAG, the CA League of Homeowners, The United Service Association, the Professional Servicers Organization of CA as well as the CA Board of Contractors. I hope NO ONE EVER USES FOSTERS APPLIANCE IN LA CRESCENTA for the appliance needs.