Gale Mason wants Home Depot to take back her broken washing machine. After all, it’s practically new and LG can’t seem to fix it. Can we help?
Question
LG is refusing to honor its warranty on my broken washing machine that I bought last February at Home Depot. The delicate cycle has never worked. But we did not address the problem until June because my husband was diagnosed with cancer and we had other priorities. We also knew it would still be under warranty when we got to it.
We’ve had eight visits from LG contracted technicians. Not only have they not fixed the delicate cycle but this fall, the technician touched a live wire and blew all the wiring on the machine. So now it does not work at all.
We’ve been trying to get LG to replace the machine. Additionally, our washer apparently has a manufacturing defect causing the live wire. We think this should be pursued by someone.
We want this broken washing machine replaced ASAP. Can you help? — Gale Mason, Sunderland, Mass.
Answer
I’m so sorry to hear about your husband and wish him a speedy recovery. At a time like this, the last thing you want to worry about is your non-working appliance.
Your LG washing machine should have worked the moment a technician installed it. But if it didn’t, LG and Home Depot should have stood behind the products and quickly fixed it. It looks as if the LG technician only made a bad situation worse. There’s no excuse for that.
I reviewed the lengthy documentation of your contacts with LG. By the way, great work keeping a paper trail. That makes a resolution so much easier.
You followed the right path to getting LG to honor the warranty on your washing machine, but you skipped a step or two. First, you should always let a manufacturer know about a defect immediately. You certainly had a reason for not reporting it, but unfortunately, manufacturers and retailers are less sympathetic.
Warranty coverage on your appliance varies. You had just 48 hours to return your washing machine under your Home Depot return policy. After that, Home Depot hands you off the LG to deal with its technical support team.
If Lg can’t fix the broken washing machine then Home Depot should replace it
It appears LG repeatedly tried to repair your washing machine, apparently against its will. It just didn’t want to work. After the live wire incident, LG and Home Depot just seemed to give you the runaround. You spent hours on the phone trying to reach someone to schedule yet another repair. And at this point, I’d agree that you need a new machine. (Related: Why won’t Home Depot schedule delivery of my refrigerator unless I pay an extra $700?)
I can understand why LG would be reluctant to replace your appliance. It’s expensive and embarrassing. But I can’t understand why no one would help you.
The Elliott Advocacy research team lists the email addresses of both the LG customer service executives and the Home Depot executives in our company contacts database. I think reaching out to one — or both — of them might have helped you resolve this. You can also consult my ultimate guide to getting a repair, replacement or refund for your broken appliance.
I contacted Home Depot on your behalf. Within a day, Home Depot had removed your old washing machine. Home Depot also agreed to replace your washing machine at no additional cost.
