ComplaintsforRoyal Appliance Parts & Service

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  11/14/22 - Refer to Service Ticket # ****** - Charge of $119.02 for diagnosis a remaining balance of $420.21 due for parts (part should be covered under warranty!) and labor. The $420.21 was not agreed to. After being assured by ** that Royal Appliance and Parts were a recognized service provider for ** Washer Model WM4270H I scheduled a technician to come out and diagnosis the "LE" error code. I was told that the issue was that there was a short with the hall sensor and that replacement of the sensor would correct the problem even though I advised the tech that the motor shook and sounded quite loud for it to be just a problem with the hall sensor. Even though per ** this hall sensor is part of the 10 year limited warranty for parts the tech said it would cost $420.21 to replace the sensor and would also require replacement of the stator which is ** part # ***********. So of course I did not agree to the $539.23 for parts and labor when a new WM4270 washer can be purchased for not much more. Upon further research I learned that replacement of the hall sensor does not require a new stator (which is part of the included limited warranty anyway) and then I also found a recognized OEM hall sensor part on **** for less than $20. The hall sensor was replaced and the motor has lasted an additional 10 cycles before totally failing.

  Business response

  11/29/2022

  Customer called and asked us to come check his washer which we did and only charged him for trip and diagnostic fee $109.95 plus tax, $119.02.
  Customer did not provide proof of purchase. ** appliances are not stamped with year appliance was manufactured therefore we do not know the age of appliance. If a customer knows he has limited warranty generally a proof of purchase is provided at time of service.

  On most ** washers the hall sensor comes with stator. On these models, a hall sensor cannot be purchased separately as the manufacturer suggests replacing the stator, not just hall sensor. That is probably why when customer replaced hall sensor, it only lasted 10 cycles. We do not purchase OEM parts from ******, they must be purchased through ** to be covered under ** warranty.
  We can provide repair under ** 10 year limited warranty if customer can provide us proof of purchase. The labor cost to replace stator is $150 plus tax.

  We do not agree that a refund is warranted because we did not provide an accurate diagnosis. 

  Customer response

  11/29/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
  

  The response from Royal Appliance is not accurate due to the below facts:
   * I did not provide my proof of purchase because I was never asked to provide.  So please see attached receipt from **** ***** showing purchase 11/2015 and installation 12/2015.

  
   * Why should I trust that the Royal Appliance Tech regarding additional repair work if it the Repair Tech does not understand the ** Product SN and the fact that they always provide information on manufacture date of the unit.  I have attached screenshots of my SN in 2 different locations on my washing machine.  From my SN of 510PNLP4K368 it is apparent that my machine was factory assembled in October of 2015.  I have attached verification of this in the remaining screenshot "Image 11-29-22".  This info comes up as the first result in a google search for "** Washing Machine SN".  Further, the repair tech believed the ** Washing Warranty is only 1 year for parts and labor and even mentioned that he was not aware of the terms within the 10 year limited warranty for the motor (including the hall sensor).

  
  * The response to the first BBB complaint Royal Appliance is convinced that an accurate diagnosis took place regardless of trying to understand what actually transpired during the diagnosis.  Below is a summary:
  During the diagnosis the motor rotor was never removed to gain access to the stator and hall sensor.  I also know this because the Repair Tech advised, "he had seen enough hall sensor problems that inspecting the stator / hall sensor assembly was not necessary".  Also, the Repair Tech mentioned he did not need to listen to the noises the motor was making in order to rule out potential motor bearing problems.  It is true the wiring harness to the stator can be checked but in order to determine for sure that the fault is within the hall sensor the resistance between the wiring connection points needs to be done.  I am not sure how the tech obtained access to these connection points by never removing the motor rotor or stator so I am curious to know what items were actually inspected and checked during the diagnosis?  Being a recognized ** Service Provider I know that ** would also be interested to understand what troubleshooting guides are being utilized by the Royal Appliance when looking at ** Washing Machines. 

  This sure seems like Royal Appliance is taking advantage of the "** Limited Warranty" policy which allows for a diagnostic / service trip fee to be charged to the customer regardless of the accuracy of the diagnosis.  If Royal Appliance was really interested to learn if the perception of a customer is correct or not then I am more than willing to propose that I go to another "recognized ** Service Provider" and share my experience so please let me know?  If I am concerned about getting the $119.02 back then Royal Appliance can sort out this dispute through Paypal.  This would be much more efficient for me.

  Please note that due to the length of this reply I am not allowed space to send the referred to attachments so BBB please let me know how to send the attachments with the above message?

  
  Regards,
  
  
   

  
  

  Business response

  12/06/2022

  Our trip and diagnostic is a stand alone fee that covers expenses to send a technician in a van to each customers home. Inclusive in this fee covers insurance, vehicle, fuel, office personnel, technician salary, training, etc. That said, we do not refund trip charges. We also work for several manufacturers and cannot possibly know each warranty on every appliance. Manufacturers recycle their serial numbers ie., ** serial beginning in “510” could be either 2015 or 2005. We cannot possibly know the age of an appliance unless customer provides us with more information such as mentioning it to us or providing a proof of purchase.  My last effort to resolve this matter is to offer customer $30 which is the difference between what he paid and our minimum trip charge fee.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩