Never buy anything made by Haier.

[ForeverAutumn]

When we reno’d our kitchen we bought a Haier dishwasher. We were told by the sales man that it was as good as a high end Bosch or Miele for half the price. It worked great up until a few weeks ago when it stopped draining properly and the top rack started to stick.

The owner’s manual says that we have a 12 month full warranty and a 2-year limited warranty on the water system, which I assume would include the drain. The 12 months expired less than a month ago. Under the 2-year-limited, we would have to pay for the service call and the repair to the top rack, and Haier would pay for the parts to the drainage system (if new parts are even needed).

I called Haier and they looked up our model number and said that we only had a 12 month full warranty and it had expired. I explained that I had the manual with the warranty information in front of me and it said we had a 2-year-limited warranty.

Long story short, the customer (lack of) service rep explained that the North American manuals were translated from Chinese and sometimes they were wrong. I told her that’s not my fault; I had a warranty that said the parts were covered for two years. Were they going to honor it or not?

Not.

I was pissed, so out of principal I called the store where we bought the dishwasher to see if there was anything that they could do to help (we bought five appliances from them and it was their salesman that convinced us to buy the Haier dishwasher in the first place).

I calmly explained the situation to them and they are sending a repair company over and repairing the dishwasher at their expense as though it was still under the full warranty. I suspect that they will somehow charge it back to Haier, but that’s not my concern.

All the limited warranty covered was parts. It would have probably cost Haier next to nothing (or nothing, if no parts needed to be replaced) to honor that warranty. We would have had to pay for the labour and whatever the problem with the top rack is. Instead, they refused to honor the warranty that I had in writing. I will never buy another Haier product. And I’m telling everyone I know about this.

What a stupid way to do business.

[poppachubby]

You're lucky the store decided to help you. I'm sure they sensed some rage in you and were afraid of you pursuing local media or the like. Bottom line nowadays, with any product, is to say anything to get your money out of your pocket and into theirs, they worry about everything else after this.

[ForeverAutumn]

You're lucky the store decided to help you. I'm sure they sensed some rage in you and were afraid of you pursuing local media or the like. Bottom line nowadays, with any product, is to say anything to get your money out of your pocket and into theirs, they worry about everything else after this.

No, I don't think they sensed rage. I was actually very nice with them. This store is known for good customer service, which is one of the reasons that we chose to give them our business in the first place.

Helping me works in their favour. I will recommend them to our friends but warn our friends to avoid any Haier products. And the next time I need appliances (we will still need a washer and dryer) they are the first place I'll go.

[poppachubby]

No, I don't think they sensed rage. I was actually very nice with them. This store is known for good customer service, which is one of the reasons that we chose to give them our business in the first place.

Helping me works in their favour. I will recommend them to our friends but warn our friends to avoid any Haier products. And the next time I need appliances (we will still need a washer and dryer) they are the first place I'll go.

I see, well let me change that. I sensed the rage lol. Seriously glad it worked out.

[GMichael]

Congrats on getting the store to help you out Aunt Fa. But... uh.... Didn't I tell you to get the Kenmore?

[ForeverAutumn]

Congrats on getting the store to help you out Aunt Fa. But... uh.... Didn't I tell you to get the Kenmore?

OMG! Kenmore?! Sears?!

Don't get me started on Sears lack of customer service. I once had a VCR repair that, after 12 weeks of banging my head against the wall, led me to contact the V.P. of Sears Canada. That was a long time ago but I still hold a grudge.

I see, well let me change that. I sensed the rage lol.

Yeah, probably. As I wrote that I was getting pissed off all over again.

[blackraven]

F. Autumn, I would contact consumer reports and a consumer protection agency and really stick it to Haier. That is the lamest excuse. If your manual states it has a 2 yr warranty then they have to honor it.

[bfalls]

My wife and I purchased a Bosch and could not be happier. It's the quietest dishwasher I've ever had. If you do notice it, it sound very low and muffled, like very distant traffic. We always set the timer so it washes during the night. I've never heard it.

My father had a similar problem with the drain on his dishwasher. With just the two of them at home, they rarely used it. The repair person found because he rarely used it, food had hardened in the drain and stopped the impeller of the pump. You may be able to clear the obstruction yourself with one of those flexible spring-type drain cleaners they use for coffee makers. If this is the cause, it may be worth the effort to avoid future repairs as well.

[GMichael]

OMG! Kenmore?! Sears?!

Don't get me started on Sears lack of customer service. I once had a VCR repair that, after 12 weeks of banging my head against the wall, led me to contact the V.P. of Sears Canada. That was a long time ago but I still hold a grudge.

:

So far, with a house full of Kenmore, we have never had to get any service.

[ForeverAutumn]

My wife and I purchased a Bosch and could not be happier. It's the quietest dishwasher I've ever had. If you do notice it, it sound very low and muffled, like very distant traffic. We always set the timer so it washes during the night. I've never heard it.

My father had a similar problem with the drain on his dishwasher. With just the two of them at home, they rarely used it. The repair person found because he rarely used it, food had hardened in the drain and stopped the impeller of the pump. You may be able to clear the obstruction yourself with one of those flexible spring-type drain cleaners they use for coffee makers. If this is the cause, it may be worth the effort to avoid future repairs as well.

There was a Bosch in the house when we moved in but it was white and kinda banged up and we wanted stainless. My boss's dishwasher died so I gave him the Bosch to thank him for being so understanding about the time I needed off work during the move and renovations.

The Haier is as quiet as the Bosch for half the price. I've been really happy with the performance, it's the lack of service that I'm unhappy about.

Thanks for the tip. Another friend told us that we need to clean the filter, but there is nothing in the manual about that. I'm going to take a look at it over the weekend. Even if we fix the drain problem, we still need a service call for the upper tray.

My next dishwasher will a Bosch.

[recoveryone]

I have seen this Haier brand in a few stores, when I was looking to replace my old dishwasher. There are TV's washers and dishwasher from what I have seen. But I'm always a little skeptical about new brand names when I see them in stores and your story fullfills my notion. Many Chinese companies buy off other brands and put a new name or even use the old name to keep selling a known product. The result is a poorer product and nearly no customer service to speak of. That is how they can offer it at a much lower price than the others, less over head.

[ForeverAutumn]

I have seen this Haier brand in a few stores, when I was looking to replace my old dishwasher. There are TV's washers and dishwasher from what I have seen. But I'm always a little skeptical about new brand names when I see them in stores and your story fullfills my notion. Many Chinese companies buy off other brands and put a new name or even use the old name to keep selling a known product. The result is a poorer product and nearly no customer service to speak of. That is how they can offer it at a much lower price than the others, less over head.

I actually did a bunch of research on Haier before buying the dishwasher, because I'd never heard of them. They are the fourth largest appliance manufacturer in the world. What I was told by the salesman was that Haier is trying to get into the North American market so they were offering their products at low prices to get market share. Once they had brand recognition here, the prices would go up. It's the same strategy that LG used.

You're right about no customer service however.

[bfalls]

The best dishwasher I've ever had was a Kenmore. It cleaned and kept itself clean for the entire 17 yrs we had it. I had to resolder a capacitor on the control board once, and the door springs failed. Other than that it was good up until the time we replaced it. Although it was still working, my wife wanted to replace it because she just got new stove and refridgerator and heard they were discontinuing the "Biscuit" color which matched the other appliances.

We got the stainless steel version, but I think the white plastic had a cleaner look.

[recoveryone]

Once they had brand recognition here, the prices would go up. It's the same strategy that LG used..

LG, another brand I have yet to warm up to, I was told by some sales guy that LG was some old company that brought out Zenith. If you take what was said about the Haier game plan, then they are willing to take a loss on the quality product, which mean the cost of the high level components and highly skilled labor that assemble each unit and shipping cost and the cost to the local retailer to sale it at half of the competition. Bosch it known as top of the line and all others fall in line, But I have seen Haier sold less than Whirlpool, Kenmore, GE and LG, so how long can they afford to go with this strategy.

I'm not buying it. If I make a high quality item, then I would need to charge enough to atleast cover my overhead. Now over time I find a way to cut my overhead then I would be able to lower the cost of the item.

[ForeverAutumn]

LG used to be Goldstar, I believe.

I don't know if what I was told is true or not and I don't really care anymore. But sometimes business's need loss leaders. Take a temporary loss in North America to build your brand and use profits from another division to subsidize it. Invest money to make money. It's a valid (if somewhat risky) business model that can pay off. I've seen it before.

It's all really irrelevant now since Haier is dead to me.

[audio amateur]

That's great service on the store's front, as already mentioned.

Let me tell you something, French customer service sucks compared to what you get in the US and probably Canada too. In France, when you're buying something it's like you're just doing them a favour!! You really wonder why they don't have any more business sense. Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone but it is something that's quite common.

In the UK, there's already a big contrast and people are generally much friendly and readily available to help...

[blackraven]

We have an LG fridge and dishwasher. The dw is whisper quiet, you really can't hear it running unless you bend down next to it.

[Mingus]

The only thing in my house from Haier is one of of those Wine refrigerators. So far so good. It keeps the wine cool.