This is one in a series of posts I’m doing on problems I’m having with LG appliances. Why a series of posts on LG appliance problems? Well, great question. You see I purchases three LG appliances. An LG Microwave, LG dishwasher and LG french door refrigerator. All three of them have broken in around three years.
My hope in posting this is to educate customers on the types of problems you can encounter owning an LG appliance.
This post is going to focus on my microwave.
In July of last year we ran into a problem with our LG microwave. The gist of the problem was steam from boiling water on the stove top seeped into the the button panel and shorted out the buttons. Since this is an over the range microwave it seemed to me that it should be able to handle moisture from cooking food on the stove.
When I tried to contact customer service they indicated that the unit was out of warranty and were not interested in helping me. When I explained to them the defect and pointed to a few articles I found on the internet they indicated they would look into the problem and contact me with more information.
A week went buy and I did not receive a return phone call. Rather than go through the normal customer service line, I decided to contact Jay Vandenbree an executive at LG. My email correspondence is attached below.
Jay,
I hope you don’t consider this email out of place or inappropriate but I could sure use your help.
I’m sure you are even more busy than me so I’ll cut to the chase. I remodeled my kitchen in October 2007. With the exception of my stove, I outfitted the entire kitchen with LG appliances.
I’ve had problems with each one. The most recent, the microwave, is triggering this email.
A few weeks ago we hosted a graduation party for our daughter. My wife cooked potatoes and pasta for salads on our stove top. This which the fan on the microwave over the range dealt with. Or so we thought.
When we attempted to use the microwave later that day, we noticed the keypad was no longer functioning. Upon closer inspection I noticed that there was condensation on the window covering the display. My engineering background led me to hypothesize that the problem was a short caused by moisture on the keypad. I unplugged it and waited until the next morning.
Unfortunately, waiting for the unit to dry did not fix the problem. I did some more research noticed a number of people with similar issues. A sample of these are here:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t2534658-lg_over_range_microwave_boiling
As you can imagine, after my problems with my LG refrigerator icemaker, LG dishwasher and now microwave, I’m extremely frustrated at the quality of LG appliances.
I would like you to help me figure out how to best handle this problem. I’ve contacted your tier 1 and tier 2 customer service. They have copies of my receipts and have told me that the unit is out of warranty. While I understand the unit is out of warranty, I also have an expectation that an over the range microwave should not be susceptible to moisture problems. My last microwave lasted 10+ years.
If you were in my situation, how you would handle this problem?
Thanks for your time.
To which he replied:
Joe – Thanks for your note. It is always our intent to make sure your experience with LG is one we are proud of, and one that makes you confident is your choice of an LG product.
I have forwarded your note to our Consumer Executive Service team, and they should be in contact shortly. If for any reason that doesn’t happen, please let me know, and I’ll follow up.
Jay
I never received a reply from the Consumer Executive Service team.
Our solution was to replace the microwave since the repair on the panel would cost nearly as much as the microwave.
I had an even worse experience, but much better resolution. I had a new LG I had purchased for my 2 year old home. The second to the top of the line over the stove unit. 6 months after purchase, it died. Absolutely nothing would work. No power seeming to come into the unit at all. Did some googling, and found that it’s something some people have seen before, and it was usually resolved with a specific part. So with this information in hand, I began my quest.
Contacted LG support people, who put me in touch with a local LG authorized repair center in my area (southeast Wisconsin). They listened to the problem, said they’d seen it before, and would send someone out since the unit was clearly under warranty. It took 5 days, but someone did finally come out. Much to my chagrin, they had no part with them – they simply came out to “verify” my problem. So he came, made sure it was plugged in, and that power was seemingly not there, all buttons were nonresponsive. He said they’d order the part and call me when it came in. I asked “Well, won’t you at least take it with you?” Reply was that they didn’t like to keep units waiting at their location. I inquired whether they could just replace the part here in the house when it arrived, he said “No.” When I asked about how it would make more sense than having to make another trip just to pick up the unit to take back to fix, he just said that’s how they do it. So I sighed, said “OK,” and he left, to put the part on order.
A week went, I heard nothing, so started calling. Never got through to anyone, left messages, and this went on for three or four days. When I finally got a warm body, I found out they never did order the part.
Called LG again, complained, they gave me authorized repair center number two. Called there, explained what happened, and they said they’d order the part, not even send a tech out to check it out. Four or five days went by, didn’t hear anything, called, and for the next three or four days, the woman who was evidently “the only one who can get into that system about parts” was never there. Not like I always called on her lunch break or something, the times varied, anywhere from 7:30 AM to 4 PM, and every time I called she was either out doing something else or not in for the day. Finally after another three or four days of this nonsense, I finally pressed the manager there to ASK her next time she came in if my part was on order or not, and make a note so someone ELSE could answer when I called. So I called a day later, and was told that yes, she has the part on order. When I wanted clarification if the part was ALREADY on order from when it should’ve been a week and a half ago at this point, he couldn’t specify, so I said to find out and let me know. Called back the next day, and found out that no, it wasn’t ordered when I originally placed the first call, NOR was it on order the previous day when she said it was.
Got back to LG, they gave me the third authorized repair place in this area.
And, of course, rinse and repeat.
By this time, I had no microwave for a little over a MONTH. And I decided enough was enough.
Of course LG doesn’t list contact information for the principles of the company, but I did find an article a week or two old about a brand new CEO that just took over running the entire LG corporation. So I had his name, but no email address. Being a network geek (I’m an IT director of a consulting firm), I did some digging in internet records, found the mail exchanger record for their company, and from a terminal prompt, manually entered in commands via telnet to connect to the server. Then I tried to send an email to every combination of this guy’s name @lg.com until I got a response from the server that said it accepted one. From there I then used that email address and emailed him directly, politely outlining my horrible experience, the fact that I also had the top of the line brand new LG direct drive front loading washer and drier, and that I was not hopeful of their longevity or any possible resolution based on what I experienced thus far. I also suggested he keep his resume handy because my experience hardly seemed atypical, based on what I was googling about LG customer service, and that at this rate LG will be nonexistent in a year or two, so he needed to be ready to move on to the next company.
I did this email on a Friday night.
I came home from work Monday and there was a voicemail from some woman speaking “not too good” english, telling me I would have a new microwave soon.
I came home from work Tuesday and I had a brand new microwave. The one that died was the second from the top, they just sent me the top of the line model.
This was over three years ago, and I still have that one working fine fortunately…
I like their technology when it works, but I will not buy another product from them because an end user should never have to email a complaint to the CEO of the parent company to get service on something that is under warranty…
That’s a bummer. I don’t even really like calling them out on this. I’d much rather LG fix the problems they have with their product. I’m hoping that if enough people complain loudly others can avoid the pain that we’re dealing with.
So for what it’s worth my LG dishwasher has begun malfunctioning again only six months after getting it repaired.
I am NOT a satisfied customer! My microwave stopped heating after about 6 months. I tried to get service but what a joke. First they referred me to someone who asked me to have my contractor remove my over the stove microwave. He said he was the only employee that worked for the company and it takes two to get it out and make repairs. I called LG back to get another company to help me. They referred me to the Technology Doctor. I called them and they diagnosed the problem over the phone. They said when I get the parts in the mail to call and make an appointment. They came out a week later after the parts arrived. They installed the parts only to find out it still did not heat. They ordered another part and again I had to wait till I received the part to be allowed to make a follow up appointment. Another 7 days till they could come out after the correct part arrived. Now it has been 3 weeks without my new microwave. The day before my scheduled appointment they called and canceled. Now they want me to wait another 5 days for the repair and want to come on a Sunday. I asked the girl on the phone to have her supervisor call me to discuss this unsatisfactory situation. I never got a call back from anyone. I called the next morning and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was connected to a RUDE female named Crystal. Very cold and would not help me at all. She told me she was NOT obligated to help me. She told me to call LG and get another company to do my service. She hung up on me NOT once but TWICE. The technology Doctor employees are very RUDE and uncaring. I talked to another female at the Technology Doctor who said she was a supervisor named Valerie, who was also RUDE and uncaring. I asked to speak to her supervisor and she replied RUDELY “NO”! Now are these two companies you want to do business with? I sure don’t. I still have no service date to install the correct part to complete the repairs. It seems that whenever they have a problem, they put the customer back at the end of the line.
I wish I would NEVER have bought a LG microwave. I will never buy another LG product. I will also tell everyone I can possible tell NOT to buy any LG products. You make your own choice but you have been forewarned.” LIFE IS NOT GOOD WITH A LG PRODUCT.”
Bruce & Linda Hunter
We bought all new lg appliances for our new home in 2007. Stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave,washer, dryer and even a TV. The same thing happened to our microwave, I noticed moisture in between the glass on the door then the keypad went out. I am not a happy customer and will never purchase another LG appliance.
I HAD PURCHASED ONE LG MICROWAVE OVEN IN JULY 2007 AND SUDDENLY IT BECOME DEAD IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2010 WITHOUT HAVING ANY ACCEPTABLE REASONS AS IT WAS IN A VERY MUCH RUNNING CONDITION AND ON USE ON THE LAST NIGHT – WHEN I HAVE SEARCHED OUT THE SERVICE CENTRE IN OUR LOCALITY WITH THE HELP OF YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AT KOLAKATA TRADE FAIR, 2011 “SAHANA ENTERPRISE, 68/1 NARASINGHA DUTTA ROAD, HOWRAH-711101 E.MAIL Id.: sahanaenterprise@rediffmail.com THEY SEND ONE REPRESENTATIVE ON 26/12/2011 TO INSPECT THE PROBLEM. ON SCRUTINY HE HAD REPAIR THE PROBLEM AND THE MICROWAVE OVEN BECOME USEFUL IMMEDIATELY. SATISFACTORILY I HAD PAID RS. 271/- AS CHARGE OF THE VISIT. BUT ON THE VERY NEXT DAY WHEN WE TRIED TO USE IT THERE HAS NO RESPONSE – AND ON INFORMING TO THE REPRESENTATIVE AND THE SERVICE CENTRE THEY ADVICED TO LODGED A COMPLAINT AND AFTER FEW DAYS THEY EXPRESSED THAT IT IS NOT REPAIRABLE – THE SPARE PARTS WHAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IS NOT AVAILABLE. IN THIS CONTEXT I NEED YOUR SUPPORT BY WHICH I CAN ABLE TO RE-USE THE MICROWAVE OVEN AGAIN – PLEASE ADVISE IN THE MATTER AT YOUR EARLIEST.
YOUR BEST ASSISTANCE IN THIS REGARD IS HIGHLY EXPECTED.
THANKING YOU,
YOURS FAITHFULLY
SHIVAJI BOSE
We’ve owned a LG microwave that we bought new in 2010 (model LMV 1630ST). Just after Christmas in 2012 it died suddenly (complete failure to power up).
As owner of a clinical laboratory equipment repair company with over two dozen years of experience with instrumentation, I immediately suspected a power surge caused a thermocouple to trip inside the microwave. We have similar safety electronics in our analyzers. I suspect this since we had just chosen a power supply of 6 at 30 seconds immediately before it ‘died’. Having done this dozens of times before without incident, we (my wife was standing next to me doing dishes) heard a stronger hummmm coming from the microwave shortly after pressing START for two or three seconds before it went completely dark (no noise, spark or explosion). The unit was then unresponsive to anything.
And yes, we double and triple checked the supply cord, circuit breakers and fault trip outlets.
I suspect that the part mentioned above by others is a thermocouple. But would like to hear who might have experience or knowledge to the contrary.
Does anyone have an email that I can send this letter to, other than customer no service. Also there is a recall (that they never told me about) on certain ranges. Seems the burners don’t turn off they turn up and you have to unplug the range…you would think that they would have sent an notice.
Here is the letter…
Dear Sirs,
You need to remove your canned slogan from you customer service lines….Life’s good! That’s a joke! Life’s ghastly when you own an LG.
I was so excited when we redid our kitchen and (for the first time in my married life) got top of the line matching appliances. Guess whose? Yes, you guessed it, LG. We got a stove, refrigerator, microwave, and dish washer. We have had each appliance worked on from 3 to 5 times. We’ve had our range replaced because it had a dangerous mind of its own and the oven turned itself on and we couldn’t turn it off. Your repairman left minutes ago after replacing a board because the burners on my model turn themselves up, not off. Oh, and guess what? I have another repairman coming Tuesday morning because when I try to cook with the microwave, it errors out. So, my warranty is up next month and I am going to have him replace whatever he replaced six months ago (same problem) so I can cook for at least another 6 months. After that…..no warranty and I’ll have to learn how to cook using the EZ on.
I guess the most frustrating thing is that you don’t care. No one cares. It’s just a little consumer who has been disappointed with your products. But please don’t add salt to my wound by having a cheery voice tell me how “Life’s Good” whenever I call with yet again, another problem.
Linda Hartleib
Thank you, thank you, thank you is all I can say to everyone who posted their nightmarish experiences with LG products! We bought a house last fall (2012) which had an LG over-the-range microwave in the kitchen. There were times that it would heat the food and other times it wouldn’t. Since we didn’t have the manual for it I googled it and found that apparently this is a common problem with our model. Today I thought I would look to see if there is a recall on it and this is when I found LOTS of sites with very UNHAPPY customers. I am now using my stand alone microwave until we totally remodel the kitchen. I don’t know what brand of appliances we will purchase but I will tell you it will NOT be LG and that is why I say THANK YOU for posting your experiences. Also I will advise anyone I know looking to purchase appliances about LG products so that they can make well educated purchases. Sorry for everyone’s terrible experiences but thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
Purchased a counter top LG microwave with a 12 month warranty. The unit completely failed to operate 14 months after the purchase date. Contact efforts with LG were totally fruitless. Never Again, with any of there products.