You are not alone--I had similar issues with a Kenmore washer and dryer (not top of the line, but about $800 total) from Sears. Problem after problem, and I always had to take 2 days off work because they don't equip a technician with the basics in his truck. For example, my plastic tub in the washer cracked. Instead of ordering the part when I made the appointment (I was too stupid to see the crack, the techician had to see for himself.) I had to go through 2 appts. this was about 6 months after my warranty ran out.

With the dryer it was a relay or something so it would no longer start. I could see not having a tub, but a part that's less that 4 inches?

Let's just say I've paid over 50% of what I originally paid for the washer and dryer. I also filed a complaint with the BBB but they could do nothing.

Sadly, I bought kenmore because my parents had a kenmore washer and dryer from before my birth until after I graduated from college. Only a few minor repairs needed that my father could handle.

Next time I'm goig el cheapo--when it breaks I'll just buy new, since most repairs cost a minimum of $300 anyway.

I would feel a lot less unhappy if the BBB or Sears customer service understood that we aren't trying to get something for free - the product is bad and should be recalled.

And you're absolutely right. We should consider washers and dryers disposable, just buy the cheapos and toss 'em when they break.

I have worked for many appliance Retailers. I read this story and I feel that I don't feel it is sear's problem that there was a problem here. Sears from the beginning offered you a Master protection agreement, NOT an extended warranty! That from the beginning there would of been no issues. Machine would of been covered under No lemon guarantee, You wouldn't of had to wait and go after sears with the better business. You declined what they offered to Protect you and your investment. They were willing to stand behind the product for up to 5 years I believe and for a lot less money then it would cost you to get the items fixed by some one! I don't feel sears should be held responsible. They offer a manufactures warranty and you chose to stick with that. Maybe you should of went after consumer reports instead! There the one that made your mind up not to purchase the Master Protection Agreement. Which also gives you a annual preventative maintenance check. I know I have a dishwasher from sears. I paid $139.99 for a 5 year on my dishwasher and it cost sears 120.00 a year to come out and make sure my Kenmore Dishwasher (which is built by Whirlpool for Kenmore) Is in tip top working shape. This year I got new Racks since my water kills steel and they were rusting.. That's $250 for them.. didn't cost me a cent except the original $139.99! I have a Kenmore HE 3 front load washer as well... My sister was doing laundry her Bra under wire ripped the Gasket on the door. Should sears of been held responsible? No but did they fix it? Yes why? I had a master protection agreement on that too.. That's an expensive part as well I would of been out that if I didn't! So Sears does stand behind there products. Their brands and all the other brands they carry as well. If you choose for sears not to stand behind it when the product breaks you should deal with it then instead of going after a company. They gave you the option penny's a day and you declined it! Sears can work on getting more service Tech's back on the road though to cut down the wait for service!

AJ, I will agree to disagree with you. I think that a brand-new top of the line product should not fail 4x within 2 years. Standing behind a product means taking care of KNOWN defects without a person having to buy an additional guarantee. We aren't talking about my misuse or a bra gone haywire, we're talking about a problem common to these machines.

I did not mention that I have an elliptical machine for which I DID buy an extended warranty due to the heavy use, bands and motors and the fact that they are troublesome pieces of equipment.

My previous washers/dryers (GE brand) worked for 20 years with ZERO problems. No, I don't think you should have to buy a warranty for everything you purchase.

Why not just up the price and genuinely make sure your product is worthy of your name?

Unfortunately, the issue is that with a product, regardless of what happens, you get a 12 month limited manufacturer's warranty, which in this case is through Whirlpool. Sears can't do anything to change it. They can only offer their 'protection agreement' or what have you. This is a manufacturer problem.

My grandparents own an Oasis series (they live with my aunt and uncle - they needed a large size) and it has never had a problem in a year. Sometimes you can get products that the manufacturer produces which is called a lemon, meaning there was an error in it's construction at the manufacturer. Lemons are not covered by Whirlpool, or Sears - unless you buy the extended warranty.

Understand that this could have happened anywhere. As a person who works retail I know that it really doesn't matter where you buy from so much as who manufactures it. My grandparents went to Sears because their warranties *tend* to be top notch. There are problems sometimes, but for the most part get the job done. Their products *tend* to be just as good as well.

Hey, guess what! The technician just left and I need a new Interface on my dryer. I won't be able to use it for another week while we wait for the part to arrive! Yippee, I get to spend a few hours at my local (20 min away) laundromat!
Guess I'm just unlucky when it comes to Sears appliances.

You say you researched this washer for months, so my question to you would be: how come you didn't find anything about this so called major defect in all your research? Don't blame your bad luck on a whole company. Any brand you buy will have it's problems.

wow. I don't understand the hostility. I did have bad luck with my appliances and now 4 technicians have told me this series is problemmatic. All I'm saying is that the major defects still haven't been reported. I went on Consumer Reports and it's still rated high.

I got a bad set. As did the many, many, many others on the internet. I'm disappointed. Why am I not allowed to express that freely? Other companies don't want their customers to feel so discouraged. But Sears doesn't care and I do feel cheated. I won't shop Sears as their customer service re: this incident was abysmal. Being kind and considerate and understanding could have changed my opinion, but customer service is not their priority, nor is standing by a product that has significant problems.

I did my part. I researched. I chose what was recommended. Now their part is to make sure that their brand lives up to its reputation. That is NOT my job. My job at this point is to be able to wash and dry my clothes at will. Not based on the whims of a malfunctioning, poorly constructed machine.

Alexandria, I agree with some of your problems. Sears did fix it though while under warranty and there was no charge though right? I am just trying to figure out what you want sears to do? Its out of its warranty Period! Of course they would have to charge you to fix it! Instead the charged you for a agreement so you didn't dish out all sorts of cash. That's all the manufacturer guarantees a product to be free from defects for! Sucks dont it? And yes we all had that machine that was 20 plus years old and nothing went wrong with it. Heck my mothers old Kenmore top load did 4+ loads of laundry a day from 1979-2003 and she bought it used from friends in 79 that only had it for a little over 2 years and they as well used it that much they got rid of it because they always needed new things! But when's the last time you saw a product truly last that long? Not in today's day and age! Too many gizmo's to go wrong circuits and what not. They didn't have them on the older machines! Nothing is built like it use to be. You can thank America for that! My neighbor has a LG that's 2 years old from Lowes. Things had nothing but problems since day one and guess what? They wouldn't stand behind it, it as well was a defective machine from the beginning just like yours seems to be. Latest thing the springs broke inside as it went into the spin cycle. She is a single retired woman and works out of her home doing realestate. Her machine does not see much use! I do agree with you as well you shouldn't have to buy a Warranty on everything you buy. What's nice is when you do buy it though and you never have to use it. That's why sears does offer the option to cancel and get your full purchase price back if you have no issues under the manufactures defect warranty. I just like the fact they they give you preventative maintenence at no cost. Some thing no other retailer gives! I did it on my Generator I never had a problem I canceled the Repair agreement they sold me on that. Same with my Tractor and my computer when they sold computers! Yes I shop there a lot and I have had your bad experience as well. It is frustrating I can agree. I don't understand why a tech would tell someone that there are a lot of these problems going on it just makes you more frustrated! They told me that on my original washer that replaced our old 25 yo Kenmore. What replaced it was the 80 series top load and it was NOTHING compared to what we had so after a year I was fed up and yes Sears Roebuck and Company stood behind it and picked it up that's when I went to the HE3 which today has hit 1526 loads of wash and just the one issue which wasnt due to a defect. But that was a different Sears. After 2005 they merged with K-mart so maybe that's where your problem is? Also most companys will not issue a recall until the cost of the recall cost more then any lawsuits they may have coming in against them! Sucks how big businesses work!

Yes, AJ, it all really sucks. My idea of customer service, from Sears or any store, is that is sells a quality product....especially when something costs $800.

I bought something for $40 (no warranty, nothing) from Walmart and over a year later it broke. They replaced it free of all charges because they care. In fact, Super Kmart also bends over backwards to keep customers happy.

I'm just sayin that this Interface Relay is a very common problem with these Sears machines and a better company would fix the problem that is inherent in this product. Obviously a lot of loyal Sears fans are out there, but these are my (now) $2100 machines and I expect them to work.

I bent over and bought the service plan for these pieces of crap. I will now get them fixed for free whenever they break. That is NOT entirely the point. It is a known defect. Just google "kenmore oasis beeping" and see what you get. A known defect should be repaired by Kenmore and/or Sears.

I guess I will await the class action law suit results, though, because Sears won't do the right thing on their own.

Alexandria, I wish i was able to help you

Thats too bad. To think 11 Years ago sears was the Number One Company In America to Shop at and to Work For!!! Look What K~MART has done to them! I bet if there are any OLD TIMERS left there they have had it with the Place! I know I worked for them For 22 Years and in 06 I left K~mart was the worst thing in the world To happen to Sears. They dont train people anymore they dont have replenisment teams. They use the sales people who they take and take and take from so them make NO money anymore! The company then steals from the sales people with there Once Source and all sorts of programs they have in effect and now there New call Center. I wont even shop there anymore! If they let there sales people actually Sell vrs doing all sorts of tasks they might turn a profit. If they Paid people decent instead of droppign the commission on everything they may have people that actually care about there jobs and go out of the way to make customers Happy but they are just driving them selves in a deep deep deep hole and eventually they will go bye bye like Wards did! Oh Well sears you did it to your sell you can thank Lacy for Letting Lampert Buy them! Lampert does not care about Sears if he did he would care about the People that works for him and make sure they get Paid and make sure that they get Recognized for the work they do and Fix the Service Dept and Instalation Dept! Instead Its a call this number and you jump from here to there to just end up where u started and that it then your fed up and dont even want to be Bothered! Im sure if you shopped there even in 05 They would of replaced your machine and Stood Behind it totally! Your Utmost Satisfaction Would of been Very Important to us and we would want you to come back again and again and you most likely would of! But not no more they make it seem like oh so we pissed you off we dont need you as a customer anyway! WELL HELLO THERE NOT ATTRACTING ANYONE NEW!!! HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE CAN SEARS PISS OF??????? THE COMPANY IS SOOOOOO NAIVE! They probably dont even know that people are afraid to buy from them due to they dont know if there going to be aroudn in a year or 2 cause they are not attracting any new Customers! They dont know how to merchandise anymore! Someone in Hoffman Estates tells a store in upstate NY what they can Sell or in Downtown Miami! Use to be Store owned Sales you fought to sell stuff in your market You could order for demands. They hardly have stuff in stock anymore! Its a shame!

We bought the Kenmore Elite Canyon Capacity washer and dryer set a year and a half ago. IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES WE HAD EVER MADE! We got the error codes which were fixed after a new mother board was installed. These DO NOT live up to the claim of being able to wash I believe 18 pairs of jeans or thick bath towels with no problems. The dryer took FOREVER to dry and the washer went off balance EVERY time I used it. I mean everytime. I called sears and they came out and the techs told me on several different times the machines WILL NOT do as sears claims. I couldnt even fill it half way without it going off balance. We had a garage sale and sold them both. We are looking at the new LG models and from consumer reports and reviews Ive seen they are great. We are moving into our condo next month and have a stacked washer dryer. We want to sell it and get the new all in one washer dryer. The only complaints Ive heard is that you should get the extended warranty which I always do and that it takes it a while to dry things but it cleans the clothes GREAT! If you are looking to buy the Kenmore Elite... DONT ! You willjoin the elite club of not having clean clothes and constantly trying to make the machine level off! They are TERRIBLE! DONT BUY THEM!!!!!!!!!!

full disclosure: I sell fridges at Sears part time.

Sad but companies only need to live up to the letter of the law or agreement. Lowes and HD would have most likely done the same thing.
I get a kick out of Consumer Reports... This model is great. This one stinks. Turns out they are both really Whirlpools with almost identical construction. Oops. Customers come in saying Kenmores are very good. Well they are as good as whose fridge it REALLY IS.

Shrug: You were offered the protection plan. You declined. You rolled the dice and lost. If someone buys a top freezer with no ice maker and declines the PA. I shrug. They are cheap and simple. (in a relative way) When they buy a complex fridge with a ton of toys and they decline the PA, I wince. The new fridges do alot of things unavailable even 10 years ago. They are now computers that happen to keep your food cold.

One thing I always emphasize is who really makes whatever they are looking at. Im gonna tell you like it is when you buy from me. I steer my customers away from some of the turkeys (there are not that many but there are some) I know about. Ill bluntly tell you dont buy that. The more complex the item, the more the protection plan makes sense. period. Complex appliances are insanely complex these days and they cost insane amounts to fix.

Please dont take this as an attack. The probability of you buying something from me is remote. Here it is straight up:
1) The more complex it is the more the PA makes sense.
2) The more complex they are the more they cost to fix.
3) If the power company sends a brownout or a spike your way you can fry your PC boards and its a crap shoot whether the tech will see that and tell you that is not covered by a warranty because its the power company's fault, not Whirlpool's or whatever.
4) As for the PA, The PM is nice. The 250 dollar food insurance is nice, the incidental breakage coverage is nice, but think of the PA as disaster insurance. I read you are well versed in disasters.
5) Since you wont buy from Sears again Ill give you the 2 biggies to look for in coverage.
a) UNLIMITED. some give you X dollars coverage for a fee and when it runs out you are SOL.
b) Lemon guarantee. Sears is 4 strikes and its out. Yes you have to ask for it usually unless its so dead the tech cant fix it. PUSH PUSH PUSH.
6) Get a good salesman or woman. The best way to tell is if they steer you to certain best bang for the buck items not necessarily the most costly. 75% of my business is 10 models and no, not all are Kenmore's. Though most are and Im gonna tell ya what brand it really is. Some models are what I call orphans. There is better cheaper.
BUY from the salesperson who gave you real info. Im not saying dont shop best deal among stores.
If you have a problem your good salesperson will take care of it. Give them a day to fix something. In the past week I ordered a missing door bin for a customer and got panel dimensions for a panel front for another to give to their contractor.
7) Realize many companies are OEM'ing other companies. Some GE's are made by LG. Kitchenaid is really Whirlpool. Kenmore makes NOTHING. etc etc etc. A good salesman will know the real source of most of their models from memory or a simple glance at certain features.

Kenmore is specs. Its built and contracted to companys that build it to Kenmore Specs and then its lab tested. One thing sears does that no other retailer does. They have Quality Labs where they test Diehard Craftsman and Kenmore. Its their brands it has to hold up to their standards. Other retailers take it home try it out for a week if they liek it they buy it. Not sears they put through circuit tests durability tests and all sorts of other tests. But yes some times stuff does not show at first and turns out to be a problem down the road which sucks. But at least you know that Sears had always been known for quality. They make companys build their products to give you the best bang for the buck! Too bad some of these companys are using crappy parts! But thats what happens when we live in a disposable society dont blame break downs on a company blame it on the Joneses

We have had nothing but problems with our just over 1 year old HE4 dryer that dries clothes at the speed of hanging out clothes on a clothes line, after code and panels replaced it is now out of warranty. Then, the HE3 washing machine we bought at the same time has had a panel installed under warranty, after a service call to fix the machine because it would not turn on, I was informed a switch was bad in the door. The tech said I could go ahead and buy an extended warranty for $180.00 which would cover the repair and still have a warranty left if something else goes wrong. Well.......it did, the shocks on the drum BROKE and the drum then hit the lower panel damaging the lower panel. The Tech said the repair would cost over $800.00 which he in turn offered us a $500.00 voucher toward another unit. When my wife asked him to just fix the problem he said that $500.00 was their limit, and did you not read the small print?? He also informed us that he runs in to this all the time, but that he is only the messenger. There was no small print when we bought the warranty because we bought it over the phone right then with the verbal "when anything goes wrong it will be covered"
I am very dissapointed in the Kenmore products and even more so about the misrepresentation from Sears. I don't want a $500.00 voucher because I don't want any other Sears products.

I will NEVER, EVER buy anything from Sears again!!! I am stuck with the Oasis Elite washer and dryer and did buy the 5 year warranty. These machines have been nothing but trouble and grief since I purchased them 18 months ago. I just had the repairman out today for the 5th time in about 14 months. He has already replaced 2 parts in the washer and tells me that he can't find anything wrong with the dryer, or with the washer which continues to do the rumba on the rinse cycle, go out of balance if you put more than a miniscule amount of laundry into it, and DOES NOT CLEAN MY CLOTHES! I'm sure many of you have been dismayed to see that the washer also tends to eat your clothes with its frentic pulling and jagged motions.Sears customer service stinks. I do not have the lifespan to wait through the damned eternal voice menus anymore and then wait to be scheduled for "service" and finally be a prisoner of my house while waiting for the repairman to show up. The lemon replacement policy is a joke: you need to have 4 parts replaced within a 12 month time period in order for Sears to replace an appliance. Fat chance that they will allow that to happen. It took them 6 weeks to mail me the replacement parts for the washer. The repairman had told me that he would bring the parts the following week and install them. As I said, that did not happen. After I waited 2 weeks, I had to call Sears and track down everything myself---the parts hadn't arrived because they had never been ordered. I had to keep calling Sears to make those parts appear in 6 weeks. Left up to them, the parts would have never arrived. When I finally received the parts, I had to call those losers again to schedule the repairman. They call this service? I paid over $2000 for top of the line machines with a 5 year service policy. Like many of you, I researched through Consumer Reports (Bah!) and relied on the Sears/Kenmore reputation that I had known as a child. Obviously, the world has changed drastically. Sears is Sears in name only. The smartest thing I can do now is junk their worthless, useless appliances and buy anything else---a bucket and scrub board would be an improvement at this point---and then make those incompetent nincompoops refund the balance of my "service policy."If a class action suit is going to be filed, please include me!

Today, I search the internet for answers as my Kenmore Elite, which was purchased at Sears 13 months ago, was giving me a variety of error signals and not filling with water. (yes the water was on, I checked that first) Now I find these comments and I am horrified. It sounds like the variety of signals make me a winner of a new interface thingy! I agree that a protection plan was offered to me but I agree with Alexandria, include that in the price if it is needed but if I pay SOOOO MUCH for the top of the line, why is it not top of the line? When you look at this from a green perspective, why are we making items that use so much of our materials that only are built to last a year? This disgusts me.

Well said.
"Top of the line" Bah.

You walked out of the store with the manufacturer's warranty which was 12 months. Sears offered you a Master Protect Agreement where THEY would take on the responsibility for 5 years. You refused.

It has now been 15+ months. Sears is not responsible for your appliance breaking past the warranty. Try taking something back to Wal-Mart 15 months later and see how far you get.

Sears does a damn good job of telling people about those Master Protection Agreements. They are worth their weight in gold if you ask me. Sears will ALWAYS stand behind them no matter what the manufacturer says or does.

Just like a car, appliances need maintenance. The MPA is a great way to get yearly maintenance for free.

You said "no", Sears said "ok" and now it's broke. Who is to blame? Not Sears!

We bought a kenmore elite about 1 1/2 years ago. It was such a big washing tub. Then all of a sudden, the washer kept stopping and reading a F on it. Well my husband called sear's. Well they came out a week later, and the repair man say's he needed a part. he will have to order it, which now take's longer. Then they will send someone out AGAIN!! Well haven't heard anything yet! I'm ticked off!!! Then the service guy tell's my husband, you shouldn't wash your rug's with rubber backing in them, WHAT!! Should I just trough them away. Then he said, when you put the big bath towel's in to wash, don't throw the hand towel's in with them!! WHAT!!! I am soooo discusted I can scream. I will not buy anything at sear's again, I have had it. Thank's for listning.

I don't care what anybody says, I completely agree with alexandria. I too bought a Kenmore Elite Oasis 14 months ago and just last night during dinner it came on by itself. Now its cycling randomly through the spin speed cycle and beeping none stop. I payed 900$ for this machine because it could do alot of laundry and I have a husband and 6 children whose laundry I have to do several times a week. I also did my research and thought it to be a good product. My previous washer last 16 years and I payed 250$ for it...never had a single problem. I just thank God I didn't buy the dryer which I was thinking of doing this year.
Anyways I called got the run around....70$ for a tech to come out blah blah. Then after doing some research read about the recalled control board and called them again. When I brought it up they admitted to it and now they are sending someone out in two weeks to replace it. If this machine has more issues I will personally see it to the dump and head out to buy a regular old 350$ washing machine at leats it will do the job the Oasis isn't doing right now.

It's sad when you have to feel relieved each and every time the machines function as they should. I hold my breath with every load. I am still surprised at the people who write in that it's our tough luck. Sears has generated a lot of negativity with products they won't stand behind. I'm sorry for everyone who has bought these machines.

Well,
We spent well of 5K on all new appliances to include refridge, wash, dry, stove, microwave and all of them but the stove and dryer have had something gone wrong with them. This was the Kenmore Elilite series product line. Microwave light bulbs 22.50 a pop, Washer circuit board $454 and now the Microwave wont heat and the plastic latch on the fridge broke and the list goes on.

Like so many other customers we expected to buy quality products that last more then 5 yrs before breaking but instead we get something that only last only 15 months and breaks. And all of the Manufactures and Dealers want to do is have you pay for the Extended Warranties and "Master Protection Plan" on top of the profit margin for the products themselves.

Parts are being sold to customers 2 to 3 times what they cost and of course the fees that technician charges for the initial visit plus each appliance he looks at.

The bottom line is that manufactures do not make products like they used to do. So it is unrealistic to think most anything you buy today will last 5 yrs. So dont buy the TOP brand models and KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.

To the guy that is a dealer here, if you tell your customers that the Kenmoore Elites series products WILL break in less then 24 months and they need to buy the Master Plan or look at something else then I can respect that.

But,if you casually mention it during the sales deal and act like its no big deal then that rates up there with a used car salesman.

All of us hate buying junk, but it is what it is. Our intent is to sell all of these appliances before the end of the extended warranty that I did purchase and go with something simple.

As far as Kenmoore Elite is concerned. DONT BUY

Well just a quick update..... Technician showed up yesterday to install the "upgraded" control panel to my washing machine. I should have known something was up when he looked doubtful as soon as he took one look at the machine. He put it in and it seemed to fix the problem *no more beeping and random cycling*. Then he turned to me and said that it sounds like the bearing on the drum is getting ready to go. I said "It's sounded like that since the day I bought it". Then he asked me if I had the service agreement and when I said I didn't I might as well have said I had 6 weeks to live.
Anyways 30 minutes after he left the machine started beeping again and throwing random error codes up like they were popcorn. Needless to say I caved this morning and called up and ordered the master plan at 129$ for the full year. The only consolation I have is that they are going to get sick of coming to my house because if this machine so much as smells funny Im calling. Which reminds me....I have to call monday and set up a time for them to come out since it just came on by itself again even with the lid wide open and no clothes in it...can anybody say exorcist.
Like so many others have said DON"T BUY KENMORE PRODUCTS!!! I've already told all my family and friends and I'm thinking of having a t-shirt made that says it just so I can walk around sears during days I'm bored.

Oh Marie, I'm glad you have your sense of humor. But you'll never be bored at Sears, you'll be bored at home waiting for the technician.....

WOW! I am so sorry for you but quite happy its not only me......... I am so disgusted with Sears. We too have the Kenmore Elite Oasis, dream washer/dryer but we paid full price. They stink and are only 16 months old! The washer constantly refuses to spin, if you notice is does not have a spin only cycle either, so once restarted you need to waste water in order to spin your clothes. When It goes into a spin cycle is bounces around my basement and then goes in to a UL code and the lid unlocks itself. Three weeks ago, just past the MR expiration it flooded half our basement! The water was almost covering the base of my brand new eliptical! When we called Sears to complain they told us our warranty expired but for the LOW cost of $227.56 we can have a new warranty and they can send someone to our home for repair in TWO weeks. Lucky us, we were off to our local laundromat a place I used to frequent BEFORE I spent $2,000 on a high-end washer/dryer.

Today was our big day... the tech was to come to our home between 8-12, my husband took a vacation day from work. At 9:12 when the repair man called our home it was the one minute my husband in the loo. No phone number was left, just a message Hi this is sears sorry you were not home. At 9:20 a representative called our home to reschedule our appointment. Needless to say I was irate and spent the day on the phone with Sears Repair. Now we are rescheduled for Saturday, after I refused to relent and let poor "Bob" off the phone. I am happy to read all of these blogs so I can be prepared to go back to the laundromat this weekend too! Please respond we are very willing to go for a class action suit. This is a very inferior product! Not only did we drop the inital money we have had to spend money at the laundromat, on a wet vac to clear out the 4 inches of water in our basement and replace our wrkout mats and equipemnt. UGH!

I to will never buy another sears product. I have the Kenmore Elite washer and dryer. The handle on the dryer has broken off twice - a terrible design!!! The washer has been called for service 3 times in 8 months. Error code, beeping, stopping in the middle of the cycle - all the same problems everybody else reports. My last not very fancy washer and dryer without a computer on it lasted 15 years with out a service call. This thing is a hunk of junk and I also refuse to buy the service plan. I've never boughgt a service plan on anything before and never looked back. This time, I'm not so sure. The waiting for repair person is a joke also. I was told they would be out between 8-12 3 days prior to my appointment and then the night before they called and said sorry it would be between 11-3. That is ridiculous - can't wait around forever for somebody to come and fix my washer every month.

The amazing thing is that nothing goes wrong until just after the manufacturer's warranty expires. These are typical crap american products. Over-engineered and under-warrantied. Poor to non-existent documentation, indecipherable error conditions. No available customer support, but to schedule a local fix-it guy to come and kick the tires. Ridiculous. Just a scheme to sell you the "protection" policy for a product they know is sub-standard.

I, too, had a whirlpool generic w/d combo that was 25 years old. 25 years! These POS lasted 15 months. Never Sears, never again. They are all that is wrong with American products. I'd rather pay a 2x premium (never mind what the exchange is going to rake us for) to buy something from a Bosch, or Miehle, or something that is going to either last or have a real manufacturer to stand behind.

I cannot say this often or clearly enough: DO NOT BUY THE KENMORE ELITE ANYTHING.

Just an update on my Kenmore Elite products from the post above. Well we ended up buying the service plans on all of them and are putting them up for sale locally. I had to chuckle when Sears called and wanted me to pay 3 yrs in advance for service plans on all of the products. We said no thanks and told them we are selling these next year when the service plan is close to being up.

We just put in another service call for the dishwasher (3 times now) and also for the 3'rd time on the refrigerator. Plastic door latches and plastic shelves the crack and break if something falls out of the refridgerator does not seem like a good idea especially if it is cheap plastic. Not to mention the buttons to open up the meat and fruit tray will not come out now.

The service guy was out here last week to fix the microwave because it did not heat. I feel sorry for Sears because the cost of the repair guy driving 120 miles round trip has to cost not to mention his time. And this is good buisness in Sears eye......

Again folks keep it simple and stupid, buy cheap ones that you throw out and replace forget this "high tech" crap from China.

We purchased a full line of appliances from Sears just a few years ago and, much to my annoyance, after about 13 months, I attempted to clean my self-cleaning oven and received an error code. As it was past the warranty (despite the fact that I rarely cook and only actually used the self-clean feature twice) I thought I would let it go as I wasn't going to pay to have that particular non-essential feature serviced.

Now, starting last week, my Kenmore front loading washer has decided to breakdance across the floor whenever it's used. Upon researching the issue, I find that the bearings tend to go on these units with some regularity, costing more than the price of the washer to repair.

As they are both less than 5 years old, it is reasonable to expect that they would still be functional and usable. An issue such as a bearing going on a washer, a crucial part, should be covered for the better part of the advertised life of the product. Not a mere fraction of it.

I will be purchasing a new washer as opposed to having this one repaired. My apologies to the environment as it will be a cheaper top loader that I will consider disposable if after a few years it decides to self destruct. This has been a lesson learned regarding both high end appliance purchases and Sears as well as I cannot believe that anyone feels Sears is in any way justified regardless of what they offer you in terms of extended warranties etc. Their cavalier attitude will likely result in their demise as a respected, reputable company.
Purchasing high end appliances should not be comparable to a day at the casino.
Will I get lucky?!?

Alexandria (and other above): An inside tip. If you are not getting satisfaction from the service department, take your case to the store manager. If you don't get relief there, call Sears Corporate in Schaumburg, IL. You won't believe how fast the phone will ring back to the store manager.

I also have the Kenmore Elite. I haven't had problems with its operation, but we bought ours about five years ago. My problem was getting the pedestals delivered without dings. I had four delivered at various times, all dented from the box. The fourth time the delivery dispatch called to tell me the fifth one was going to be the last one, dinged or not. I called the store manager and politely told him in no uncertain terms would I accept a dented pedestal.

Fifth time was a charm.

I also did my research, but here's the problem:
You are buying a new product, and the research is based on what the tests for this new product goes through; however, those testing don't have access to the product for years; typically only months. So if you were going to buy the HE3 now, you'd find all these issues and use that to make your buying decision. Back when these first came out, you didn't have that as an option.

My friendly Sears technician (# 3 in as many weeks) just fixed my problem, and kindly started a load for me without being asked. I purchased a 3 year warranty; however, I'm in my 4th year and that's when the F11 started flashing. One tech said it was the central control board; another said it was the motor control board. #2 ordered the Motor board; #3 thought it was the central, but installed the Motor board because he didn't have the central in his truck. He then got this washer to work. But, he suggested I order a minimum 1 year, in case F11 started flashing and it turned out to be both the motor and central. So I just signed up for a 2 year MA contract. He also told me that since I'd been using full strength detergent (though a smaller amount) that it could impact the bearings ... they typically have to replace those at a large cost. Now, I'm prepared for the F11, and the bearings to break!!

I HATE to pay for add'l warranty because it screams 'defective warning' to me, and I expect better products out of Sears; now I know better!

Bought the Sears Kenmore Elite HE5 steam washer and dryer set in twilight blue... on August 14th, 2008. Worked beautifully for the first 3 weeks. THEN, the dryer started making a terrible noise on every turn of the drum. And within that same week, the washer started leaking onto the floor. After reading all of the negative reviews, I told them I just wanted my money back. The Sears One Source 800 # said I could do that by paying a restocking fee of 15% or else let the technician come out since it was still under a 90 day satisfaction guarantee and 1 year warranty. Technician was supposed to show up today between 8a.m. and 12 noon. Never showed, never called. I had to call at 12:30 and they said the technician would call me right back to give an estimated time of arrival. Never called. I called again at 1:15p.m. and told them I wanted to get rid of the set and that I did not want to pay any restocking fee. They took my credit card # and information and supposedly will be calling me within 24 hours to arrange to remove the washer and dryer. Supposedly I won't have to pay any restocking fee. Alleluia. I'm going to look into a traditional top loader that my husband is able to fix should anything go wrong. Hopefully they still make this in a non-computerized style somewhere. If not, I will research foreign made and I will only go with word of mouth reviews from people I know who are satisfied with the product they bought. No more consumer report lies for me.

we have now been without a washer for over 3 month!! Thank god the repair man that we are using has loaned us a washer. Although it is a basic model which runs hot water at least i can wash towels and sheets and some other necessities..but as far as some of my good clothes that cant be washed in hot not only do we have to find a washateria but we also have that expense .....we have been put off 3 times on this mother board saying that it has been back ordered and then we were told there was a strike at the plant that makes it and now we have been told that it might be recalled... we bought several appliances from sears when we remodeled our house, and three of them have already had to be repaired.. unfortunately the repairmen have to catch the flack.... why doesnt sears take responsibility for their product. they sure didnt mind taking our money!!!!!!

Our Kenmore FE Loader worked for about 6 months, and now we are in the same boat. The ring in the front loosens over time and leaks into our basement. We have had 4 technicians "fix" this issue only to have it leak again with a week.

We actually had a technician document that the product is faulty and the washer needs to be replaced. Sears over-ruled his recommendation and requested that we have yet another tech come out and examine the issue. He "fixed" it today and then told us about how we don't know how to do laundry.

We purchased all of the extended plans etc. and still Sears refuses to accept that it is broken.
In fact their "lemon law" department told us the front door is not a functioning part of the washer and does not qualify as a defect requiring replacement of the machine. Can someone explain how to me how to run a front-end loader without a front end?

We are now seeking legal advice. I will update this log if I get any promising news.

I PURCHASED MY SET MAY 24, 2006. I HAVE HAD REPAIRMEN OUT HERE TWICE. YES, THE MOTHERBOARD ON THE WASHER. THIS LAST TIME, IT WAS FLASHING A CODE THAT TOLD THE REPAIRMAN "SLOW DRAIN" ??? TROUBLE IS, I UNPLUGGED IT, WAITED FOR THE REPAIRMAN. HE DIDN'T SHOW ON SEPTEMBER 10TH, AS PROMISED. WE THEN WENT ON VACATION, RETURNED ON SEPTEMBER 20TH. THE WASHER HAS BEEN UNPLUGGED THAT WHOLE TIME. WHEN THE REPAIRMAN SHOWED UP, IT WORKED FINE!!! HE EXPLAINED THAT WHATEVER WAS CAUSING IT TO DRAIN SLOWLY, "PAPER OR SOMETHING", COULD HAVE DISSOLVED IN THAT AMOUNT OF TIME, AND NOW IT WORKS FINE!! THAT WAS FRIDAY, 9/26/08. HE LEAVES, MY DAUGHTER COMES HOME FROM COLLEGE, WITH HER 8 LOADS OF LAUNDRY!! WASHER WASHED ONE LOAD, AND QUIT. ONLY BUTTONS THAT WORKED WAS POWER AND OFF!!! I UNPLUGGED IT, AND CALLED THE 1-800 #. THEY ONLY COME TO MY AREA ON WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY!!! ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, REPAIRMAN SHOWS UP, CAN'T FINE THE STICKER THAT HAS THE MODEL NUMBER SO HE REFUSES TO WORK ON IT, NOT ONLY THAT HE CALLED WHOEVER, AND THEN COMES TO TELL ME THAT THEY ARE GOING TO "REFUND MY MONEY". I SAID, WHO IS GOING TO REFUND MY MONEY?? HE SAYS "FOR THE MASTER PROTECTION PLAN", WE CAN'T WORK ON ANY MACHINE THAT DOESN'T HAVE A MODEL NUMBER!!! I HAVE THE ORIGINAL RECEIPTS, ALL PAPERWORK, SHOWING MODEL NUMBERS FOR BOTH WASHER AND DRYER, BOTH BOUGHT ON THE SAME DAY. DOESN'T MATTER!!! I WENT TO LOCAL STORE WHERE I BOUGHT IT, TOLD THEM MY PROBLEM. HE SHOWED ME THE STICKER WHERE THE MODEL NUMBER IS. A STICKER ON THE INSIDE OF THE MACHINE, RIGHT UNDER THE LID! WHERE IT DOES GET WET????? YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE STICKY STUFF, WHERE THE STICKER USED TO BE!!! SERIOUSLY, WHO PUTS A STICKER ON THE INSIDE OF THE MACHINE WITH THE MODEL NUMBER!!?? I WAS LOOKING FOR SOME METAL PLATE OR SOMETHING! I BEGGED, ISN'T IT ANYWHERE ELSE??? BECAUSE A STICKER CAME OFF, THEY WON'T FIX MY WASHER????? I DID PURCHASE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY.....5 YEAR EXTENDED WARRANTY!!! NOW, THEY WON'T FIX IT, AND ARE GOING TO REFUND MY MONEY I PAID FOR THE EXTENDED WARRANTY?? I WANT MY WASHER FIXED!!!! HELP!!! I DID ALL THE "RIGHT" THINGS. BOUGHT "TOP OF THE LINE", "KENMORE ELITE", OASIS HE, CANYON CAPACITY. QUIETPAK 9!!!! BOUGHT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY....5 YEAR COVERAGE? REMEMBER, I BOUGHT THIS MAY 24, 2006. NOW, A LITTLE OVER 2 YEARS LATER, THEY WON'T FIX IT, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE A MODEL NUMBER OR SERIAL NUMBER....STICKER!!!! I TOO USE MY MACHINES!! I HAVE 7 KIDDOS STILL AT HOME, ONE THAT COMES HOME FROM COLLEGE AND BRINGS HER LAUNDRY. I LIVE ON A FARM. YES, I USE MINE, THUS THE REASON I BOUGHT THE BIGGEST ONE THEY HAD!! AND YES, I HAVE ALWAYS BOUGHT SEARS!! I JUST WANT THEM TO FIX MY MACHINES.........

To all of you who have complained about the Sears Oasis line of washers and dryers - I am right there with you. But I must urge you to contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-382-4357 and file a complaint. If enough people file complaints about this product, then they will launch an investigation. I have both the washer and dryer. I purchased them in March of 2006. I did not purchase a extended warranty. I started having problems very early on, but then in February of '07, the motherboard on the dryer went out. Took them 3 months to fix! Now, the power supply mother board on the washer has gone out! I refuse to wait that long to get it fixed and I called every number I could find for Sears to complain. I am getting action, but still have dirty wet clothes locked in my washer!

Please don't just complain on websites like this, but take action! The FTC personnel were very nice and actually urged me to get online on these type of complaint websites to encourage others who are unhappy with these poorly built, poorly tested appliances that cost us all an arm and a leg and now don't work as promised to do something about it!

I bought my oasis set in may of 2006. Tech was at my house 6 times in the year or manuf. warrenty. You should not have that many problems with a new appliance in the first year. The tech that came out usually the same one said that It's a new model and the techs did not know how to fix them. They were resorting to the books that come with the machine. Ok, that was 06 I had problems off and on in 07 and now in 08 just a few months ago my machine has a mind of it's own. I turn it on and it has to finish calibrating before it will let me select anything. It also beeps non stop. Once load is done I have to immediatly remove my load other wise it starts spitting water back into the machine. not to mention it still beeps the whole time. I have to unplug it from the wall when not in use because it will come on by itself in the middle of the snd beep and start spurting water. It's a horrible machine I did not purchase extended warrenty either because I did surf the net to see if there were any complaints and looked at consumer reports. It was to new of a machine for people to start realizing the magnitude of problems this machine was going to have. My dryer no flashes F45 and stops running. I too had a Ge for about 15 years and NEVER had a problem. I think I'll just buy a new set and it will not be Kenmore and won't be from Sears....

Seems like most all the problems concentrate around early 2006 - that's when I remodeled & wanted top of the line appliances (hopefully to last for my duration). I'd owned Kenmore appliances for 50 years & my parents before me & swore by our choice. I purchased the Kenmore Elite HE Oasis (special ordered black).
That was April, the 1st service call was 12/28/06 & there have been about 4 since, & I'm expecting another tomorrow. One of the major problems - couldn't shut the d... thing off, had to flip the breaker, then there were all kinds of wierd codes - demonic machine had a mind of it's own. What a disappointed this store has become.

Wow. The comments on here are funny. I buy ALL Sears appliances. I had a refrigerator that I had for nearly 10 years and I bought the house with it, so it was way over 10 years old. I had to just give it away because it still worked after many years and no repairs.

I bought the bottom drawer refrig to replace that, about $800, the low-end washer $200, and the HE washer $700.00 all around the same time.

I am very happy with my choices. And why I am surprised at these comments is that Sears is a phantom in that they don't make this stuff. My washer is made by Whirlpool or somebody else. I saw the exact same one in a store but with a different name and $100 more.

That's why I'm surprised. It's who made it not where you bought it.

Heloise

Wow...should I sell my Kenmore Elite dryer before it starts freaking out on me? I just bought it used and got it for a real good deal...no wonder!

The Kenmore Elite He3 and He4 have numerous design flaws. There are even a few class action lawsuits occuring. KNOWN issues should be warranted, period. (Hence the class action lawsuits) We did not design the circuit boards with cheap non-humidity proof switches. Didn't Sears/Whirlpool know that it gets damp near washers and dryers? Try this fix, it works for me each time I need to run a load.

I bought 5 new Kenmore products in June of 2005. Washer, dryer, fridg, microwave and dishwasher. Before the warranty was up, I had to have work done on 4 of them and now my dryer has went for the second time!!! I have always bought Kenmore products because they last forever but fixing 4 out of 5 and they are only 3yrs old is making me nuts. Yes, I was offered the extended warranty/master protection plan but it is very expensive and I have never had this much trouble before and never twice on the same item. I am wondering if Sear/Kenmore is making new items that are not as good just to get you frustrated enough to buy all the extra warranty crap. There are products bought in the 70's that are still in working order. I expect to get a lemon now and then but really, 4 out of 5 all bought at the same time?????? Probably won't buy anymore Kenmore products!

Wow, after 34 years our Kenmore top loading washer died. Kenmore=Whirlpool on some models, or Frigidaire on others, then they tell me Whirlpool is owned by Maytag. Maybe I'll get washboard and a bucket. So I'm looking at a Bosch, solid German-made for 50 years? Similar prices and a better warranty....if I can believe anyone? K

I bought an Elite washer and dryer back in 2001..when the touch controls first came out. I started having trouble with wash cycle not starting very early on (18 mo) but if you shut it down it would start next time. Now it works about half the time..the rest of the time, I use the diagnostics program to get it to agitate..Very disappointed as I love the features.
Pondered replacing motherboard ourselves, but due to repairman saying usually motor would burn up shortly anyway, we have not.

One thing I think contributed to this problem is power surges and brownouts--we are in rural area and had low power periods daily--especially when local factories would start up. We had to replace many things that had a circuitboard in them, like TV, microwave, computer, 3 phone systems--in a few year period. Got to be any time there was a thunderstorm the electric would go on and off quickly, and I would just get the keys to go buy a new phone system! An IS person at work told me I should put a surge protector--at least one!--on anything with a computer circuit, to protect it. I have done that, using the small ones for radios, etc, and it has helped. Unfortunately, I didn't think about the washer and dryer! But it was too late for them anyway by the time I found out.
I think with all the info coming out now about things made in China--food etc--we need to look hard at buying items that we know were manufactured properly. My daughter was engaged to a young man from mainland China for a year, his parents came here to exchange gifts, as is their custom..it was ironic that when I shopped for their gift--everything I looked at as representative of our culture--was made in CHina! Once I started looking, it was shocking..just how much industry and jobs have gone somewhere else. And we don't care because the item is $5 or $10 cheaper than it was 20 years ago.
As long as I am on my soapbox..as an economics major long ago, one of the foundation theories was allocation of scarce resources..we cannot continue to buy appliances of metal and plastic and hazmat materials, and toss them out after a year or two because they no longer work. Likewise, I should not have to get rid of my 6 year old Cadillac (which I also love) with only 115000 mi because the repair bills are breaking me! (plus the fact that it has depreciated to a value of only $9900 from the original $42000, my husband hates it but I like to buy American and I love a cushy car as we travel a lot).
It is time that America returned to quality, not quantity. The natural resources are simply not going to be available for us to continue to use the majority of the worlds raw materials and then just throw them away. As we are a market economy, we vote by where we spend our money..we have had a great ride, but it is time to protect the future of the world..we cannot have it all indefinitely.