Millie


July 18, 2005

02 05 01 61 05071801




Ray Craft
Manager Consumer Relations
General Electric Company
AP6 Suit #129B
Louisville, KY 40225
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Subject:   Demand for Recovery of Extra Cost $753
Design Flaw GE Refrigerator
Model GTS201CNAWW Serial #HD041826
Purchased from Home Depot July 25, 2002
GE Case Number 4944578

Dear Mr. Craft,
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This is a demand to recover $753 for equitable relief caused by defective products, and failure to disclose a known defect. Please respond by email (******************.net) to expedite communication.
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I purchased subject product for approximately $600 on July 25, 2002, and was not told of a latent defect in the condensate drain system. This defect became manifest with leakage on the kitchen floor on or about October 26, 2004. GE service department then disclosed that this is a common problem. GE made repairs on October 27, 2004 and charged an additional $145. About six (6) months later this past May, the problem occurred again. On June 16 a service representative again stated this is a common problem. Service was performed on June 20, and the cost was reduced to only $100 because a local mechanic performed the work to save GE's administrative costs.
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GE Customer Relations replaced the defective unit with an upgrade model GTS22JCPWW at an additional charge of $508. To mitigate damages, I approved this transaction. This makes a total additional outlay of $753 for repair and replacement to acquire a serviceable refrigerator. At this time, I am prepared to forego recovery for labor managing the case of approximately $1,300 in exchange for the amortized value of the original outlay in July 2002, which is estimated at approximately $120 (20% of $600).
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GE's liability rests on evidence showing a latent defect, that GE knew of this defect, and failed to disclose to the customer through GE's vendor Home Depot, who maintains that sales representatives are required to disclose defects that require regular service expense, as occurred here, and would have done so in this case to alert customers, but did not do so, because GE failed to give Home Depot notice. Home Depot's explanation is supported by Mrs Turner in GE Customer Relations. On June 28, Mrs Turner advised that, while the defect in the condensate drain system is commonly known in the GE Service Department, the matter is not documented by Customer Relations, and so Home Depot was not notified. Therefore, this sounds like a GE matter.
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Please access case history on line for more details, if needed, at...

http://welchco.com/sd/08/00101/02/05/07/12/084754.HTM#0W8L ...or call me if you prefer to work with printed documents. I can submit the full record by mail, but this is rather bulky, and so more awkward to manage, compared to the online version supported by precision access.
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I am pleased to commend Mrs Turner in the Customer Relations department. Her work on June 28 got the ball rolling to balance policy with equity that builds customer loyalty.
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Phillips Delivery company installed the replacement refrigerator on July 15. Dayna at Phillips (209 833 8930) advised this morning to contact GE about replacing the freezer door, which was blemished and dented, noted on your shipping order #T5065119 dated July 12, 2005, and witnessed by the delivery agent on July 15.
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As you know, step four (4) of GE's instructions (taped to the front of the refrigerator on delivery) say for the installer to remove all tape and packaging, and to use polish wax to clean residue from the tape that holds moveable parts in-place-during-shipment, e.g., shelving. The installation agent advised that, during his two (2) months on the job, he has not previously removed the temporary transport tape, and was provided no cleaning agent by Phillips. This was therefore a struggle to get the tape removed, which the agent eventually performed, partially, after reading GE's instructions. I note further that the agent was at all times courteous, and professional, though obviously some details were overlooked.
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Additionally, the ice maker has not produced ice for the past four (4) days. I tried to trouble shoot the problem with guidance shown on Page 10 of the product manual (200D2462P007 49-60339). This has been unsuccessful.
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Yesterday, I pulled the refrigerator out from the wall and kitchen cabinets (no small task for a 70 year old), and found that the water valve was still in the "off" position. I turned the valve on and managed to maneuver the unit back into position. Still no ice after four (4) days. This sounds like another defect. Temporarily, I have worked around the problem with conventional ice trays. Possibly the ice maker is defective, or I am doing something wrong? Hopefully, the problem is correctable by telephone. This ice maker does not have a switch, like the previous model, which worked well.
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Today, I found ice build up on the exhaust manifold running vertically in the middle of the back panel, and partially across the ceiling inside the freezer compartment. Somehow, I think this should not be occurring. Maybe this is related to the ice maker problem.
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Please submit GE's plan to resolve these new issues on customer value.
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Finally, this is a complaint, but probably not actionable. When GE offered to replace the previous model (see subject above), I noticed on the Internet that the dimensions were slightly bigger than the prior model. I also verified the replacement would fit in the refrigerator space constricted by kitchen cabinets. This worked. The new unit barely fits, so far so good, except this may have caused the blemish and dent on the freezer door, when the delivery man elected to bring the unit through the front door, which is constricted by a short turning radius, rather than use the direct route through the garage door entry, as was done for the prior delivery, and without incident.
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When the new unit arrived, I removed everything from the freezer, and from the food compartment. After the installation technician left, I tried to put everything back just as it was, assuming that, since this is a replacement, and since the dimensions are slightly bigger, there would be more space. You can imagine my surprise to find there is less space in the food compartment. I had about 15 jars that just could not fit into the door of the new unit. About ten (10) of these items are sauces and exotic items I had forgotten I had, and so the problem was partially solved by throwing them out. The other five (5) items, I squeezed into the three food storage shelves. But, my sense is there is, also, less space in this area than the prior unit.
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For one thing, there was room in the prior unit below the lunch meat crisper on the third shelf, and above the vegetable bin, to fit two (2) plastic containers about 5 to 6-inches high, where I store asparagus in one and onions in another. The new unit has only about 2-inches for the same space. This reduced space prevents using the prior arrangement, and so everything is much more crowded and squeezed, reducing utility compared to the prior unit.
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I next took everything out of the refrigerator, and tried adjusting shelf levels for an efficient configuration. Raising the shelves to clear the plastic containers that fit in the prior unit, prevents storing juice bottles on the top shelf of the new unit. Since previously everything fit with room to spare, I was disappointed having to fight to fit things into a smaller space on an "upgraded" refrigerator that is nominally bigger.
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My hunch is that the freezer compartment was expanded by the engineers, and this reduced space for food storage. Another possibility is that the walls were thickened for more insulation to improve temperature retention, which saves energy use. Again, there was no disclosure to the customer on GE's website, nor by anyone at GE involved with this transaction, that food storage in the replacement unit has markedly less space. That seems like a useful fact for customers to know in purchasing a refrigerator.
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Needless to say, after owning GE refrigerators for going on 50 years, and never having spent a moments thought about operations and maintenance, other than filling the ice tray, and keeping things neat and tidy, I am disappointed to be spending so much time worrying about an appliance, and writing letters to GE, whom I have long admired.

Sincerely,


Millie
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Post Script

By copy notifying Phillips of delivery issues for quality control. ..
Copy to:
  1. Phillips Delivery, Attn: Carla, Office Manager