Poor customer service is thankfully not something I usually have to write about. In this case however, I am sufficiently outraged to mention this company’s operations in the UK.

You know I am very much into design - to the point that often sends me diving headlong into it when I see a good example. Well Maytag is a quintessential example of good design, led down by poor function. Their appliances break down. Quite suddenly - in my case, 3 months after purchase. Then you get to experience Truly Appalling Customer Service Ethos. After several calls and emails, they will send out engineers, who are largely a waste of time and space. You wonder why they call themselves engineers. After that they will send you documents to state that things are as good as new. But the fault will duly recur, and the cycle will repeat. By 2 years, the whole thing will fall apart.

It seems Maytag can’t build anything that will last more than 2 years. Hence the length of their warranty. So, in this case, form wins, but function lets you down. They should now hire better engineers - they have ample number of good designers.

And yes, the customer service just waits for your warranty period to expire, when they will gleefully point out that you are three minutes outside their warranty and are no longer obliged to take your calls. Brilliant!