Brothers Main, Inc.

My experience with Brothers Main was not a positive one. The delivery and installation was a nightmare. Delivery was scheduled for one day, and then told they did not deliver to our area on that particular day of the week. Mi had even called week prior to confirm because we had hired assistance with installation. Numerous conversations back and forth and finally my handyman picked up the two appliances that he was to install. Delivery made on following day of remaining two items, but the delivery crew did not hook up the ice maker correctly and we had hundreds of dollars in damage. Filed claim with Brothers Main and their insurance investigation resulted in being told that it was their policy that delivery staff could not perform hook up of that type. SO they denied their role in the damage. Have never experienced so much frustration in dealing with a service provider. Lesson learned, take pictures of every step along the way when dealing with their delivery and service. Is human to error, but to deny the responsibility is unacceptable in every way.

I bought several appliances from Brother's Main. The customer service was wonderful! The sales agent- [redacted] went out of his way to make sure that everything was satisfactory. Excellent service and quality products!

Review: Bought a Maytag High Efficiency washing machine in October, 2015 for $675 at salesperson's recommendation. Machine developed a problem over a 4 month period: it will not get dark colored clothes clean. Unfortunately, my wife has many dark colored articles of clothing.

Worked with Brothers Main Service Department to try and resolve the issue - proposed resolution did not work (and also required us to "wash the washing machine" between loads - which defeats the purpose of having a high efficiency wash machine).

Talked to Brothers Main Customer Service Manager who was helpful but could not resolve my issue and who - through her own Internet research - determined that there is an un-acknowledged design flaw in this machine which causes my stated issue.

Escalated to Store Manager / Training Manager who was also helpful and who also admitted there is an issue with this machine and that he trains his salespeople (one of whom made the recommendation we followed) to NOT sell this machine. He was not willing to resolve my issue.

Escalated to the "main" owner (apparently there are three) left him a voicemail, asked for a call back and did not hear back.

Received a return call from the customer services manager who offered to let us purchase a machine of our choice at cost.

My wife and I visited the store last night (3/30/16) and worked with our original salesperson (who was helpful and apologetic and who intimated to us that this whole class of wash machine (high efficiency) is problematic) to pick out another machine. Our cost on the one we picked? You guessed it! $645!

I could not bring myself to give Brothers Main any more money. Original sales person offered to try talking to the other two owners to see if he could change their minds - no luck.

Please help me resolve this issue. Since they won't take the machine back, what I'd like is a full refund.

Thanks!

[redacted]

BTW - Brothers Main has a 30 day exchange policy. This problem showed up as a result of proper use of the machine over 4 months - we couldn't have known this was an issue in the first 30 days.Desired Settlement: Business sold us a product they clearly understand has problems. When it exhibited those problems, they were helpful with suggestions but were unable to resolve the issue. Unfortunately the problem renders the machine unusable to me and my family. Business should put the customer first, do the reasonable thing, admit they erred, stand behind the product the sold me and provide me a refund.

Business

Response:

We do not have a Store Manager/Trainer so we do not know who the customer talked to but we have never trained or instructed our staff to not sell this machine. We sold over 70 of this model in 2015 and have had few problems or complaints. This does not include literally hundreds of similar models sold during the same [redacted]e. We feel that our 30 day exchange policy is extremely liberal and that people should be able to determine if a machine is not going to work for them in this [redacted]e period. Due to the low water usage in High Efficiency machines, they do not remove lint as well as the older high water usage ones.We offered to sell the customer a different model at a wholesale price and then they could sell the one they don't like. As the machine is still under manufacturer's warranty, we have encouged the customer to work with them to see if there is a mechanical issue with their unit.

Consumer

Response:

I bought a Samsung Washing machine from Brother's Main November 2012. It self-destructed, the end of April 2013. Samsung's "preferred service/repair "company, /sierra in Hartland first told us Samsung would replace the machine. Then told us they would only repair it. This was AFTER we purchased a different brand from Brother's Main, having been told we could bring the replacement Samsung (in the box) back to the store. It never happened and Brother's Main said it was "out of their hands". I called Call For Action the end of JUNE 2013 and they resolved it for me within 24 hours. I received a check for the full purchase price of the broken machine.

Call For Action just had my story on the channel 3 news.

Review: I sent the following email to Mr. [redacted], Mr. [redacted], and Mr. [redacted] at Brothers Main, which summarizes the complaint:

I’m writing to express my disappointment and frustration with warranty service on my LG washing machine. My husband and I purchased the machine in September 2013, after much research into the reliability and dependability of the product. We decided to buy from Brothers Main given that we prefer to support the local economy when possible.

Over the weekend of May 31, 2014 the washing machine stopped draining. There was no problem with the drain line. On Monday, June 2, I called Brothers Main, where I had purchased the washing machine. Things went very smoothly at first. [redacted] was quite helpful in referring me to [redacted] for warranty repair and she faxed our invoice to them. [redacted] was able to schedule a service call for Wednesday, June 4.

The service man came out and spent about 15 minutes looking at the washer before telling me that it needed a new control panel. I asked how long it would take and he shrugged his shoulders. I asked for a ballpark and he said 3-4 days.

After hearing nothing from [redacted] for a week, I called on Wednesday, June 11 to check on the status of the part. I was told by the woman who answered the telephone that they were waiting to hear back from LG about which of two different control panels needed to be ordered for my washing machine. She said they hadn’t heard back from LG, but that she would ask John to follow up again with them that day. She told me that someone would get back with me on the status.

I didn’t hear from [redacted] on Thursday, June 12, so I called Brothers Main. I explained the situation and was told by the man who answered the phone that [redacted] was out for the day, but that he would have her call me in the morning. She did not return my call.

I called [redacted] again on Friday, June 13, in the afternoon, and was initially told that they could not tell me the status of the part, as they were moving locations and had that information boxed up. When I said that I was told on Wednesday that someone would get back to me the reply was “oh, it’s you.” Then, she said she would check with John on the status. She came back on the line and reported that the part had been ordered and that it should be in early the following week. She indicated that she “assumed” it was in stock.

Again, after hearing nothing from [redacted] or Brothers Main, I called [redacted] on Thursday, June 19, to inquire about the status of the part. I was told it was on backorder and that it should be in the following week, but that there were no guarantees that would be the case. I immediately followed up with Brothers Main and spoke with [redacted] said that she would be in touch with her representative at LG to see if he could assist in getting the part expedited. [redacted] got back to me the same day, and indicated that the part would be rushed to [redacted] – if we were lucky, it would be in the next day, otherwise it would be there early the following week. I assumed this meant that it would be overnighted and that, at the very latest, [redacted] would have the part by Monday, June 23. While this was a relief, this could have been accomplished almost a week prior, had [redacted] returned my call on June 13 as expected.

Unfortunately, I did not hear from either Brothers Main or [redacted] on Friday, June 20 or Monday, June 23, as I’d hoped. I called [redacted] on Tuesday, June 24, and they told me the part had not arrived. I called [redacted] who indicated that she was going to check with her representative at LG as to the status of the part. I did not hear back from her that day, and my husband called her and was able to touch base with her. She suggested that he call LG directly, as she was still waiting to hear back from her rep. My husband contacted LG, and they could only confirm that an order was placed on June 19 for the part, but even that was unclear. The representative and supervisor he spoke with at LG indicated that they do not rush any part orders (they have ground-only contracts with UPS and FedEx) and they could not confirm if the part had been sent out yet. When asked how parts leave the warehouse, the supervisor replied “by gravity.”

This morning, after not hearing anything by around 11:30 a.m., my husband left another message for [redacted]. She called me a little after noon. She informed me that [redacted] was, for some unknown reason, not getting the part. Apparently the rep couldn’t rush a part to [redacted], as she had told me the week before, but she apparently didn’t learn that until today. Her solution was to re-dispatch the call to a different service provider, who she assured me can get the part. I told her what my husband had been told by LG – that they could not “rush” a part and that it would be at least 3-5 days to process and order, and then there is ship time. So, if that holds, we will have gone longer than 30 days without a functioning washing machine. Even if it’s fixed today (which it doesn’t sound like is a possibility), we’re on day 24 from when I notified Brothers Main of the problem.

Throughout all of the calls, up until today, my husband and I remained calm, only expressing that it was irritating to go this long without a washing machine, and asking time and again what could be done to expedite things. If it was a dryer or a dishwasher, it wouldn’t be that important to us – it’s our washing machine, and hauling laundry around isn’t a workable solution for weeks on end – especially when we have, essentially, a brand new machine!

While the folks we’ve spoken with at Brothers Main and [redacted] were pleasant, they weren’t actually helpful. The supervisor at LG was not particularly pleasant, and we’re still trying to figure out his “gravity” comment. [redacted] did the minimum in terms of follow up with LG (who knows how long they would have waited to follow up after not hearing which of the two parts should be ordered had I not called a week after the diagnostic service call – and if the part really wasn’t ordered until June 19, they weren’t up front with us about the fact that the order had not been placed) and they never reached out to Brothers Main to seek their assistance – I had to do that. When I did, once [redacted] reached out to her rep, she seemed to wash her hands of things until I followed up, and then we learned that she was, apparently, misinformed about the rep’s ability to rush the part. LG is now aware of the problem (both through [redacted]’s contact with a rep and by my husband’s call), and they’ve done nothing to rectify things. It simply shouldn’t take this much persistence or time to get warranty service on a 9 month old washing machine.

Today, I expressed more frustration with [redacted]. I suggested that Brothers Main take responsibility for the defective machine sold to me 9 months ago, and that you all deal with LG on getting it reimbursed. I know it’s not [redacted]’s fault that my washing machine is broken, but to offer nothing other than more hassle and run-around, after three and a half weeks is unacceptable. If I ordered a new machine from Brothers Main (or anywhere else) today, I would almost certainly have it faster than it getting fixed, even with a new repair person on the job. Perhaps the repair service could have used a control panel from a new machine to replace ours, or Brothers Main could make the broken machine its problem to deal with directly with LG while providing us with a usable washer. I’d even settle for a laundry service until the problem is fixed.

I wonder how many of the employees at [redacted] or Brothers Main would put up without a washing machine for nearly a month. Or, how many would expect their family members or friends to do the same. I have spoken with plenty of my friends and family members and they are appalled by the lack of customer service and follow through on all fronts. They’re amazed by our patience. They expect that, by this point, Brothers Main and/or LG would have coordinated to get us a new washing machine.

Suffice it to say, I’m extremely frustrated with the lack of actual customer service – it’s been a whole lot of talk with no action. Somewhere along the line, someone hasn’t been telling the truth. There’s a lot of finger pointing ([redacted] suggested it’s a [redacted] problem, [redacted] has said it’s an LG problem). This is a product you sell and that I purchased, very recently in the life of an appliance, and no one is taking responsibility for getting it fixed in a timely manner. To add additional stress, when I spoke with [redacted] a little after noon today, she assured me that the new repair person would be calling me within a matter of minutes, but that was over an hour ago, and I haven’t heard anything. Again, we’ll take it upon ourselves to follow up.

I would hope that you care more about your customers than what has been demonstrated.Desired Settlement: I need a working washing machine ASAP.

Business

Response:

The 9 month old washer was under manufacturers warranty and LG had a factory authorized service agent not affiliated with our business out to repair it. The service agent had some problems getting the appropriate parts for the washer. Our Customer Service representative contacted the parties involved and a 2nd servicer to expedite the repairs. We also have loaned a washer to the customer to use until repairs were completed. We have been informed by the service company that the parts are in but the customer has delayed the final repair due to family issues.

Consumer

Response:

Review: Brothers Main failed to register my washing machine warranty until the 2 years after I purchased my washing machine (in Jan 2011). In 2012, I called and tried to schedule repair, but got the round about between Brothers Main and the warranty company- I gave up after weeks of calling because the machine was still operational and I couldn't figure out why both companies claimed was a fault on the other party's end. However, in 2013, I was disappointed, again, to go through a horrible hassle to get the warranty policy I purchased activated and recognized by NSI, the warranty company, which turned out to be why I had not been able to get service when I first needed it in 2012. In 2013, the washing machine was not operational, so I did not have the liberty of giving up. I contacted Revdex.com, and eventually, after weeks of hassle, Brothers Main activated my NSI account and my machine was fixed within days. Now it is in need of service again, and when I spoke to NSI, they told me my policy was ending shortly, in Jan 2016 which is 5 years after the purchase date, not 5 years after the policy was activated. I was very surprised and feel cheated, because I had tried to get service in 2012, but was unable to because the policy had never been activated. I essentially have received service since Dec 2013, despite having purchased a 5 yr policy in Jan 2011. Here is why I am most upset: I feel if the washer had been service in 2012, the first time I sought service, when it was operational but I noticed a problem and was given the first round-about, it would not be having so many problems today. I called Brothers Main today to speak to them about my concerns. They told me I was seeking a "windfall" and they owe me nothing. I perceived the man I spoke with as very rude. I am very disappointed in their position, and really do believe I should have 5 years of service from the 5 year policy I purchased, and since they didn't activate my policy until 2013, I think I should get 5 years from that time.Desired Settlement: A full 60 months of service policy from the time Brothers Main activated my 60 month policy.

Business

Response:

The warranty should have been entered as soon as the customer has the product but, mistakenly, was not. We are not sure why the issue was not resolved in 2012 but when it came up in 2013, we contacted NSI (the warranty provider) and got the warranty instated. The NSI process in these cases is to enact the warranty from the original start date until the original end date. They do not give us an option to extend the policy past the initial 5 year date.

Business

Response:

NSI does not give us any option to extend past the five year mark. The reason that warranties are not registered at time of sale is that they want us to supply the serial number of the unit that is delivered and that the warranty would then start at time of sale not at the time of delivery which in some cases could be several months after the sale date.

Consumer

Response:

Review: in a nutshell, they have been lying to us. from not delivering at the time promised, to now, stringing us along since march on a small service issue regarding a dent on our freezer door.. first it was ordered, then order lost, then no order.... finally, shelly betz said she would take care of it, that was 2 months ago, haven't heard from her since.

very dissatisfied with their serviceDesired Settlement: at this point i'm not sure that we would trust them with the replacement of the door. I do want to place a negative review in their file. we have never been more dissatisfied with service as we have with them..blatantly lied to.

Business

Response:

The freezer door for the customer was received by us. Our records mistakenly indicated that the customer was informed of it and we were waiting for him to contact us for installation. We have contacted the customer and scheduled installation of the door.

Consumer

Response:

Review: After purchasing 3 kitchen appliances Brothers Main contracted a 3rd party to do the installation. Less than a year after the installation date my wife had run down into the basement to get something out of storage and discovered the basement floor covered in water. After a quick inspection we could not figure out where the water was coming from. I immediately shut off the water to the house not knowing the source of the leaking and called our local plumber. He arrived later that evening and the 2 of us discovered it was coming under and across our kitchen flooring from the dishwasher. The connection from the hard-line out of the house into the new fitting at the end of the new dishwasher had been cross-threaded and failed, leaking gallons of water under our existing flooring and across the kitchen through to the basement.

I first attempted to get in contact with the contractor that installed the appliances and after finally getting in touch with the owner I began to explain the situation to which I got a response of "that's not my responsibility" and after I questioned (in a completely calm and reasonable voice) what he was referring to he responded by saying "screw you!" quite loudly and hung up on me.

I then called Brothers Main and spoke with the salesman that we originally worked with and explained the entire situation including my experience with their contractor. He briefly attempted to question the validity of the story I was telling him about my conversation with his contractor. I explained my concern of having 2 young children in the house and that the trapped water under my kitchen flooring was a serious mold concern to myself and my wife and he agreed. He then told me he would have to do some investigative work and get back to me and I was completely fine with that. Several days went by and I hadn't heard back so I reached out to him to find out what he had to say. He then told me that he had no new news for me but that he was working on it and would surely get back to me. Many calls later and him telling me he didn't have the authority to authorize anything of that nature and how he was still working on it and passing it on to something higher within the organization, I never heard a word. I once spoke with a different individual and explained the situation to her as well and while she seemed concerned, she only relayed the same response.

The total lack of customer service for customers having spent thousands of dollars is jaw dropping. On top of that, the fact they work with a company that would treat customers the way the installation company OWNER does is absolutely absurd.

Now, weeks later I can't even get anyone to take my calls or listen to what I have to say.Desired Settlement: The possibility of mold in my flooring is still present. I'd like to tear it up and confirm my sub-flooring isn't damaged, is free of any mold and have it repalced. I spent hundreds of dollars on top of the thousands on the appliances for the installation that was far from satisfactory, that being said I'd like the cost of the emergency plumbing visit as well as the installation refunded too.

Business

Response:

The customer's dishwasher was installed by a third party. We have a number of installers for whom we do referrals. They are independent contractors and we assume no liability for their work. Our customers are free to use them or have someone else do the installation. I contacted the installers and because the installation was nearly a year earlier, they did not feel they were responsible at this later date. I contacted the customer and advised him that he needed to make a claim through his homeowners insurance so they could investigate and determine if there was liability for the leak. While we were the retailer, we can not take responsibility for installations that were not done by us.

Review: We bought KitchenAid appliances for our new home: refrigerator model #KFIS27CXMS, dishwasher #KDFE304DDSS, clothes dryer #WGD8500BW, microwave #KHMS2040BSS, a range #KERS505XSS and a freezer. They were installed January 2015. We moved in Feb 17, 2015. The problems on these appliances are as follows:Refrigerator makes a very loud noise 22 out of 24 hours a day. My husband who has hearing aid can hear it when he has his hearing out turned offDishwasher door does not lay flat. You need to hold the bottom tray with one hand and load it with the other. If you don't the tray rolls back into the dishwasher.Dryer takes over 70 minutes to dry a load. The sensors do not work at all.Convection part of the oven doesn't work.Microwave fan rattles on the middle speed.Freezer has frost on the sides.We have called Brother's Main and KitchenAid several times in regard to these problems. The salesperson, Dave W[redacted], came out two weeks ago to look at the appliances. He agreed that there are issues with all the appliances and he would let his contact at KitchenAid know about it. KitchenAid has not called us back. When we have called KitchenAid told us that they would have to charge us a service fee to come and look at the appliances. They also said that it is normal for the refrigerator to make so much noise. We mentioned that we had Maytag and a cheap Fridgadair and they weren't nearly as noisy as this expensive one. They repeated that is was normal. The door on the dishwasher was not suppose to lay flat. When we mentioned that it had some missing clips they said maybe it only had clips on the one side. When it was mentioned that the speeds high and low on the microwave didn't rattle like medium speed we didn't get a response. The convection on the oven we were told we didn't set it right. I read the directions several times. The frost free freezer should not frost over in 2 months.Desired Settlement: We would like KitchenAid to replace the appliances. If they won't do it, we would like Brother's Main to replace them. The Salesperson, David W[redacted] did come out but has not followed up like he promised or called us back. We have had to keep calling and still have not got any where.

Business

Response:

We contacted Kitchen Aid and got authorization for a service call to determine what the problems were and how to proceed. Two of the problems were installation issues which the builder is addressing. We have worked with the customer to resolve the other problems and believe we have resolved them to the customer's satisfaction.

Consumer

Response:

Review: We remodeled our kitchen last winter. We have had everything rewired by a licensed electrician and is up to code. On March 6th, 2013 we purchased new appliances from Brothers Main in Madison, Wisconsin. We have had nothing but trouble with the range we purchased. It is a kitchen aid range item number [redacted]. Our appliances were delivered on March 22, 2013 on May 13, 2013 the oven stopped working. The only feature that was available was broil. Anything else we received a message that said "Feature not available". We contacted Brothers Main, they sent out a service technician who ordered the part that was supposedly defective. We waited 2 weeks for [redacted] to send the part. I was told since it was coming from the west coast it would take 2 weeks and there was nothing they could do about it. When the part came in it too was defective, so I asked that the part be sent over night since it had been approximately 3 weeks since I had been able to use my oven. The part was sent overnight, however no service was schedule so another 2 weeks passed and I had to call to find out what was going on. My oven was then fixed on June 10th, on June 15th I had an accident and was hospitalized. My husband used the oven once or twice. We then went away for 2 weeks so that I could recovery from my injuries. We returned home on July 8th and the oven stopped working again on July 9th. I then called and left a message for [redacted], he had the service department call me. I am still waiting for him to call me to try to resolve this problem. I demanded a new oven and was told that [redacted] approved that one would be delivered on July 20th. It was not. We received it on July 26th. On October 5th upon returning from a funeral, I found that once again my oven did not work. The message was the same "feature not available". I then called Brothers Main and spoke to [redacted]. I tried to explain the situation to him and he told me that "There is Nothing I can do for you." He also said that he was thinking about purchasing the same item and that they have sold a lot of that model and have had no problems with it and told me that the problem was on our end and that I would have to call [redacted] to schedule a repair call. Which I did, but they are not open on Saturdays. So I called back on Monday when from work, when I was on break, and spoke to a women in Michigan and she told me I had to check several things before they would send anyone out to look at it. We tried what she told us to, the main item being that the oven was not in demo mode (which it was not). I then called [redacted] back and spoke to a women in [redacted]. She scheduled a service call. When the technician came to the house the oven for whatever reason worked. It worked for 7 days. Given our schedules for that week and that the oven was not working the previous weekend, I planned meals that were made on the stove top or in the crock pot, so we only used the oven twice that week. Now it is Friday, October 25th and I was baking chicken for supper and went to check on it, and the oven was off. I tried to restart the oven and received the message. "Feature not available".Desired Settlement: I want a new oven that works. I also want an extended warranty that covers all parts,labor, service and service calls for the life of all the appliances we purchased, not just the oven. The warranty request is for peace of mind, since we have had so many problems with the products purchased and the fact that Brothers Main & [redacted] are not willing to stand behind the products they sell.

Business

Response:

My partner [redacted] and our consumer advocate [redacted] have been working with this customer to assure she gets the warranty service she is entitled to from [redacted] to fix this range. A service call with [redacted] has been scheduled.

Brothers Main failed to register my washing machine warranty until the 2 years after I purchased my washing machine (in Jan 2011). In 2012, I called and tried to schedule repair, but got the round about between Brothers Main and the warranty company- I gave up after weeks of calling because the machine was still operational and I couldn't figure out why both companies claimed was a fault on the other party's end. However, in 2013, I was disappointed, again, to go through a horrible hassle to get the warranty policy I purchased activated and recognized by NSI, the warranty company, which turned out to be why I had not been able to get service when I first needed it in 2012. In 2013, the washing machine was not operational, so I did not have the liberty of giving up. Eventually, after weeks of hassle, Brothers Main activated my NSI account and my machine was fixed within days. Now it is in need of service again, and when I spoke to NSI, they told me my policy was ending shortly, in Jan 2016 which is 5 years after the purchase date, not 5 years after the policy was activated. I feel cheated, because I had tried to get service in 2012, but was unable to because the extended policy had never been activated. I essentially have received service since Dec 2013, despite having purchased a 5 yr policy in Jan 2011. I feel if the washer had been service in 2012, the first time I sought service, when it was operational but I noticed a problem and was given the round about, it would not be having so many problems today. I called Brothers Main today to speak to them about my concerns. They told me I was seeking a "windfall" and they owe me nothing. I perceived him as very rude. I am very disappointed in their position. BEWARE, Brothers Main is trying to keep your policy money by not registering your policy until you go through a horrible hassle to get the service you purchased. You will not get the entire service policy you purchased. I just don't think this is fair, and I regret having to go through such a hassle. I expected better service from a local business.