The manufacturer is the one supplying the warranty. Retailers don't have much pull with any of them either, small family owned or big box. I personally know of several issues that even big box stores were unable to resolve for a customer until they went through the whole cycle of repair visits from the GE authorized warranty techs. Even Lowes or HD can't make GE move faster or perform outside what their warranty specifies that they will do. The retailer is completely uninvolved with warranty issues, except to maybe gripe at their rep about it. They are not a service provider under that manufacturer's warranty, nor do they do anything but act as a conduit of sales between the consumer and the manufacturer. "Local service" is pretty much a dead issue as the mega corporations and bargain hunting consumers have really tightened down margins. They can't afford to take the financial hit of taking back defective products unless the manufacturer gives them the OK. Legally, it's all the manufacturer, as they are the ones providing the warranty, and the retailer is never even in the picture on warranty service. THe good news is that they (eventually) get around to replacing an appliance if the consumer is persistant and documents the attempts at repair.

Speaking from my personal experience - it pays off to be careful and read what other people think regarding the appliance you wish to purchase. We wanted an open burner range and bought a premium BlueStar six-burner. When I turned on the oven there was a strong smell of unburned gas since day one. After I complained about this the factory phoned and told me to adjust the air-gas ratio. I decided not to touch anything. The flames were okay. I just didn't want to insert myself into the repair process. The problem got progressively worse and one day the range had caught fire while I was cooking and I had to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. First BlueStar wanted to dispatch a local technician who would repair the range in our kitchen. I refused, on the grounds that the problem was pretty serious and the factory should take the range back and find out the cause of the fire. They said that this kind of a problem has never happened before. They offered to replace the range, which was still under warranty. But we discovered that there were numerous complaints about BlueStar ranges leaking gas and some customers have indeed experienced fires as well, contrary to what the factory had claimed. Someone else had an ongoing problem that never got properly fixed, and when the warranty expired he was basically told that his warranty had, well, expired. From reading about those complaints and realizing that what BlueStar told us ("This kind of a problem has never happened before.") actually wasn't true, my wife thought it would be foolish to accept a replacement. What if the same problem appeared again? Could we trust the quality of their products, as well as their word? We thought that the best and most simple solution would be to get a refund. They wouldn't have to build a replacement unit and we would be free to purchase something else. But BlueStar flatly refused. Finally, under duress and with no other option to speak of we decided to take a gamble and take them up on their offer. Finally, some two months after the initial fire in our kitchen the replacement unit had finally arrived. We went to the showroom and realized that what BlueStar had sent us had a different color from what we ordered. At this point we were fed up with their attitude and decided that we would find our own solution to this. We ordered a different range, a Culinarian by Capital. The dealer had agreed to put the newly arrived replacement piece up for sale in their showroom, so that we could get our money back that way. When the new range by Capital arrived, we removed our original BlueStar, the one which had caught fire from our kitchen and replaced it with Culinarian. The old BlueStar, which I called Godzilla was taken to our dealer, where I thought it would be picked up by BlueStar for a transport to the factory, so that they could find out what the cause of the fire was. But it never happened. BlueStar wasn't interested in doing anything else. The range was sitting in the showroom for a while and ultimately was scrapped by the dealer. This told us something about the manufacturer. I decided to share my experience with other people, figuring that some potential buyers might be interested. I posted the story on Chowhound, where my post was removed the next day. I posted it again, just to have it removed again. I also posted the story on GardenWeb, where it inspired over 85 replies. Prominent among those was one particular person who also posts here, who immediately launched attack directed at the post and my person. Among other things, he blamed me for not following the repair instructions by the factory (adjusting the air-gas ratio) and so on. This generated more exchanges and finally the post was declared disruptive by GW staff and removed. Later there were some new developments and I posted Part Two of my original post. Again, I was attacked by the same person, called names and accused of having a nefarious agenda. I tried to support my case with pictures, but was accused of manipulating the scene through fiddling with distance, angles and the flash settings, although no flash had been used. All this resulted in having my post removed a second time, which was probably the goal of this other person all along. Newsflash! Mojavean, another senior member here was booted from this forum by GW staff for having the audacity to come to my defense. His was the welcome voice of reason and now he's gone. This is inexcusable! Anybody interested in more details can follow the story on wwww.iwvnews.com in Appliance Talk. So, as for purchasing any appliance, do your homework. Don't believe everything you read or hear, but if there are enough people complaining about something, they probably have a reason. Check from various sources and think before you jump. We wanted open burners and have no problem with our Culinarian so far. It is a refreshing change, after what we had with BlueStar by Marcus.

Dishwashers can leak from basically everywhere. A leak from the door is usually easily detected because there will be water right underneath the door. If you have "build up" - clean it. The seal pulls right off, easy as 1-2-3, and can be soaked and scrubbed in the sink. If you are generally concerned about a leaking dishwasher, get a Bosch or a Miele. These have a fully enclosed base that catches any drips and alert the user immediately. I don't get why no American manufacturer, besides some TOL GEs, offers this - it's a standard feature on European washers and dishwashers. Alex

Yeah that's R22 and while that is a builder grade Trane unit that is probably out of warranty by now... typically those were sold with 5 year parts warranty. Because R22 Freon was already obsolete by 2013. With that said, this condenser 'could' last another 10 years, provided the coil repair work is done appropriately. The replacement coil needs to be a coil suitable for R22 / any coil can be retro fitted to work, but skill is required in choosing the coil. Typically home warranty companies are known for tom foolery. If the condenser was a dry condenser (nitrogen gas) it would say it was on the data plate in some manner. That's the down side in anything Trane or American Standard because they were one of the last manufacture's to switch over to R410a refrigerant. The R22 conundrum only effects you if there is a leak... otherwise it doesn't matter much. While the cost for it will only go up now that production has ceased, it's serviceable life is still around another 10 years or so. Without United Technologies Corporation heavy investment in R410a AC equipment development we would be no where near where we are today. R410a equipment has been available now for almost 20 years if you can imagine that.