Maytag Warranty: Is the Maytag 10 Year Warranty a Scam?

We purchased a Maytag dishwasher in 2015. Part of our attraction to the product was its ten-year Maytag warranty.

We recently experienced a problem where the door on the dishwasher would not close. We could see that the latch was not functioning properly, as it was locked shut. With a little research, we also discovered that latch failures are in the top four issues for Maytag dish washers.

So, we contacted Maytag’s toll-free support line.

That’s where the problems with Maytag service started. When we initially called, no one was available to help so the automated line asked us for a call back date and time, which we gave. However, instead of calling us back at that pre-scheduled time, Maytag instead called almost an hour earlier, so we missed the call.

We called back and were put in cue. After waiting almost an hour, we finally were connected to a Maytag rep who explained that we would have to hire one of Maytag’s service personnel to diagnose the problem before Maytag would send the replacement part. We explained that we could send a picture of the faulty latch locked shut and that we simply needed the part. We also explained that the cost of the service call would far exceed the cost of the $40 part. Finally, we suggested that we could send the defective part in for replacement. After talking to her supervisor, the Maytag rep said none of our proposals would work.

The Maytag rep said repeatedly that our dishwasher was “out of warranty” and that hiring a Maytag serviceman was the only process for getting a replacement part. We reminded her several times that the dishwasher has a 10 year warranty plate right on the front of the dishwasher. We also told her that we would have to let others know about our dissatisfaction about a supposed Maytag warranty that requires the purchaser to fork out more money than the warranty covers. She didn’t seem to care.

Potential purchasers beware: the 10-year Maytag warranty for parts should probably not be a factor when trying to decide whether to buy a Maytag appliance.