Maytag and Home Depot REFUSE To Stand Behind Faulty Product

Maytag 25.3 Cubic Foot Side-by-Side Stainless Steel Refrigerator (Model # MSD2576VEM)
You may not think a refrigerator has much to do with travel or value, but in-fact, when we go away on vacation, we leave several hundreds of dollars worth of food in our refrigerator and freezer. If either fail while we are away, as ours did recently, the costs can be staggering.

We purchased a $1600 Maytag 25.3 Cubic Foot Side-by-Side Stainless Steel Refrigerator (Model # MSD2576VEM) through Home Depot's website (www.HomeDepot.com) on November 26, 2011, just over two years ago. It is now a 250 pound door stop!

A $1600 refrigerator should last more than two years and 120 days, but this one died last week when the condenser failed, an $863.46 repair. 

When I called Home Depot to see if they stood behind the faulty products they sell, I was told "we're so sorry for your troubles, let me connect you with Maytag". I told the individual that the Maytag warranty was for 12 months, parts and labor, and that my MasterCard extended warranty added an additional 12 months to the warranty, expiring less than 4 months ago. I asked again "are you going to stand behind this product" and was told "I'm sorry, but you'll have to contact Maytag" … WRONG ANSWER!

How can a $1600 appliance fail after just two years? Because it is garbage. Why will Home Depot and Maytag NOT stand behind their products? Because they can! These companies could care less that one of their products failed just as Apple Inc. could care less that their products are junk, and only because individual consumers just do not count. If I do not buy another Maytag or Home Depot product, which I will not do, it means nothing to their bottom line. They only care about large losses and knowing that people care only about themselves, they know all too well that we will not unite and boycott their products and services, so they blow us off. Being the owner of two homes, one a rental property, I spend several thousand dollars each year at Home Depot. As a Home Depot, Inc. and Maytag Corporation shareholder (large cap mutual funds), I have serious concerns when the companies I am part owner of fail customers with faulty products and poor support. You should too!

I refuse to spend another penny, much less $863.46, to repair a two-year old Maytag refrigerator which should last at least 10-15 years. This is not the first problem I have had with Home Depot and have only continued as a customer because the nearest Lowe's is over 30 miles away. This was my first Maytag appliance, even though I had heard terrible things about their products prior to purchase, AND MY LAST.

I hope I can save at least one person the same grief and expense we have suffered at the hands of Home Depot and Maytag by writing this review. Hopefully, enough people will read it and Home Depot and Maytag will get the message, but I am not counting on it because THEY DON'T CARE, THEY DON'T HAVE TO!

No surprise, BOTH REVIEWS (Home Depot and Maytag) WERE REJECTED! "Your opinion is very important to us, but ...". Give me a break! Here are the emails I received:

From: Maytag <noreply@messages.maytag.com>
Date: Friday, March 28, 2014 at 1:33 PM
To: Chris Sorrentino <combatcritic@gmail.com>
Subject: Your Review has been Rejected

Hello CombatCritic, Your opinion is very important to us and the Maytag community. We appreciate you taking the time to write a review on Side-By-Side Refrigerator with Beverage Chillerâ≥¢ Compartment. Unfortunately your review did not meet ourguidelines for posting on our site for the following reason(s): To protect your privacy, our publication guidelines do not permit the mention of such personal information as your name, phone number, email address, or postal address. Also, it does not permit the use of derogatory comments or profanity. We encourage you to review our guidelines and resubmit your review on Side-By-Side Refrigerator with Beverage Chillerâ≥¢ Compartment. Thanks for being an active member of the maytag community. Sincerely, Team Maytag You may contact maytag with questions or concerns related to customer support and satisfaction. This email was sent by: Maytag 553 Benson Road Benton Harbor, MI, 49022, USA

From: The Home Depot <HomeDepotCustomerCare@email.homedepot.com>
Date: Friday, March 28, 2014 at 8:34 AM
To: Chris Sorrentino <combatcritic@gmail.com>
Subject: Your review has been rejected

Your community engagement helps other customers get the right products for their projects Please add HomeDepotCustomerCare@email.homedepot.com to your address book. Learn how.

Hello CombatCritic, Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback about 25.3 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator in Monochromatic Stainless Steel. Your insight is very important to us and the other Home Depot customers who will read about your product experience. Unfortunately, your review did not meet our guidelines to be eligible for publication on our site. We want to post your review, so please remember to omit references to other websites and do not include URL links. We encourage you to look over our guidelines below and resubmit your review regarding 25.3 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator in Monochromatic Stainless Steel. Writing Guidelines We want to publish your review, so please follow these writing guidelines: Focus on the product Avoid writing about customer service issues - instead, contact us to discuss your concerns Do not mention competitors or the specific price you paid Do not include any personally identifiable information such as your full name or address Thanks for being an active member of The Home Depot community. Sincerely, The Home Depot Team If you have questions regarding the submission and approval process, please call us at 1-800-466-3337 (1-800-HOME-DEPOT). - SAVINGS CENTER  |   LOCAL AD  |   STORE FINDER

Please do not reply to this email. To contact us, click

"I am sorry to inform you Maytag and Home Depot, but" ... 
CombatCritic Gives the Maytag MSD2576VEM Refrigerator, Home Depot, and Maytag Corporation 1 Out of 10 Bombs … MORE BOMBS ARE GOOD!

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Redbox Instant by Verizon Delivers Instant Nothing!

Redbox Instant by Verizon Delivers Instant Nothing!

I ordered Redbox Instant with live streaming video and 4 credits per month for $8 on November 10, 2013.  Since then, the streaming option rarely works on our PS3 even though Netflix works just fine EVERY TIME!  Then there are the 4 "FREE" CREDITS per month, of which I have only been able to use one.  The last two kiosk reservations I made charged my credit card instead of automatically using credits (as their "HELP" FAQs imply is the case) and it is impossible to apply credits to a kiosk reservation either on the website or the iPhone mobile app. 

The Redbox applications and customer support options are useless as far as credits are concerned and I wasted a great deal of time online and on the phone trying to connect with Redbox Customer Service.  The website and app are obviously not ready for implementation and they must have one customer service rep for the US because every time I call or try to chat online, there is a long wait.

I should have known better than to sign-up for a service that has anything to do with Verizon (see my article Your Verizon Data Is Vulnerable for more information on how Verizon allowed my identity to be stolen and refused to do anything about it), so I canceled my subscription.  I do not have either the time or the patience to deal with a vendor that obviously could care less about customers and Redbox's affiliation with Verizon tells be a lot about their values or lack thereof.

CombatCritic Gives Redbox 2 Out of 10 Bombs ... BOMBS ARE GOOD!

Key Words: Redbox, Verizon, video, streaming, Blu, Ray, disc, kiosk, rental, movie, TV, internet, film, help, problem, customer, CombatCritic, InstitutionalTerrorism

Great idea … bad product! (Defiant 180° Motion Activated Solar LED Floodlight)

Great idea … bad product!

REVIEW: Defiant 180° Motion Activated Solar LED Floodlight

I purchased a Defiant 180° Motion Activated Solar LED Floodlight on-sale ($79.95) at Home Depot less than a month ago.  I read the reviews beforehand and, although mixed, most were very positive and the rating average on HomeDepot.com was well over 4 out of 5 stars, a pretty good bet!  What do they say about gambling?  The house always wins?  I lost this bet folks.

We have a dark area on the side of our 150+ year-old house and I thought I could save the expense of hiring an electrician to run electricity and install motion-activated floodlights ($150-$200) while being “Green”, saving electricity by utilizing the power of the Sun.  Great idea … bad product!

After reading the reviews, it was imperative that I follow the instructions to the letter.  Almost every reviewer mentioned charging the battery for a full 4 days prior to installation and that was exactly what I did.  I also tested the unit as instructed and everything seemed to work fine, at first.  The installation was straightforward and took about 15 minutes, not difficult.

Since then, the unit only comes on 50% of the time.  I return home after dark and park right in front of the light, so a vehicle the size of an SUV should easily trigger the motion sensor.  Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not.  I tried adjusting the sensors to various angles and changing the shut-off delay between two and three minutes (the only two options), but nothing seemed to work consistently.

When the light does illuminate, it is “adequate”, but being an LED, it has nowhere near the illuminating power of the electric floodlight in the rear of our home.  It is much better than nothing and does provide enough light to help see in the dark, but the light is so dim that it is nearly impossible to tell if the light is on or off when in the kitchen, adjacent to the light’s location.  One of the reasons we wanted the light was to alarm us if someone was lurking on the side of our home, trying to break-in or “peep” through the window.  Unfortunately, the light does not illuminate consistently enough to serve its intended purpose.

Based on the reviews I had read, I had a 70-80% chance of being satisfied with the product.  Maybe I am unlucky, like to 20-30% of reviewers appeared to be, but this product is a non-starter.  It is cheaply made and at $80 plus tax, not a bargain in the least.  The light, when it works, is dim and inadequate and only having worked half the time, a rip-off.  I am returning the light to Home Depot today for a refund a recommend you do not waste your valuable time or money on a product that, while a great idea, was poorly designed and brought to market before being perfected.  I do not know about you, but I do not enjoy wasting hours of my valuable time buying a product, charging it, installing it, testing it, adjusting it, testing it again, removing it, and returning it to the store where I bought it.  All that for $80?  I have better things to spend my time and money on, like an electrician!

Key Words: Home Depot, home, depot, Defiant, LED, motion, activated, solar, floodlight, energy, efficiency, efficient, product, faulty, poor, light, CombatActivist, institutional, terrorism, InstitutionalTerrorism