After Hours Appliance LLC

Before we start, I need to say this is my opinion based on my years of experience.  There are factors that should have some consideration, that most consumers do not consider.

     The factors that I consider important are:

Price

Warranty coverage

Part availability

brand quality (reliability)

customer service

I'm sure we have all had some issue with customer service from any one of the major brands.  But of all the major brands out there, I feel Whirlpool Corperation is the highest scoring in the factor I have listed above.

My ranking of brands without elaborating are:

Whirlpool

Frigidaire                                                                 GE                                                                          

Samsung & LG

Notice that there are spaces between these brands. There is no 2nd or 5th places. Maytag was at 2nd, but Whirlpool bought them out.  You may think there are alot more Major brands out there then what I have listed. And you are right. Most of the other brands that you may know are either owned by these companies or are out of business.  See Here

Whirlpool (inglis, roper, whirlpool, kitchenaid, maytag, magic chef, jenn air, speed queen, amana, norge, etc)

Frigidaire (electorlux, frigidaire, white-westinghouse, kelvinator, gibson, tappan, philco)

GE (ge,hotpoint,rca)                                                                    

Samsung (?)                                                            LG (lucky, lucky goldstar, goldstar)

Now, to elaborate. Whirlpool, GE, and Frigidaire are all well established brands. With the part support to back that up. That is key. If you have one of these three brands, I can get parts for you in 1 to 3 days. One to 2 days in most common. That is if the appliance is less than ten years old. Part availability start to drop off after that. The more popular the model the longer the parts will be available. Anyway, they are all good choices in price and selection (different models and options).  All have about the same customer service, price warranty and parts availability. But were they are different is Whirlpool and Frigidaire do a little extra. When one of these two companies sees a high volume, in sales of a certain part, they want to get that bad customers part back. They will often place a shipping slip in the package of the replacement part for you to send back to them (FREE). Now, you don't get anything for that, but maybe a good feeling that you are helping them make a better product. So if you see one of these slips you can sure bet that that part fails quite often. Whirlpool started doing this first.

 The two main differences between these two brands are part availability and reliability. Frigidaire has slipped some what in the last few years. Mostly with the refrigerators and freezers. Washer, dryers, and dishwashers haven't changed much. Ranges are all very similar, including GE.  Whirlpool is the leader, in my opinion and aperantly in other companies as well.  Most of the Sears Kenmore line is Whirlpool (not all but most(click here)).

I'm not big on GE their quality has slipped bad in the last ten year or so. My sayings with GE are:

"They make good aircraft engines and imaging scanners, but should quit the appliance business."

"GE, were you are also part of the R&D department."

and

" If GE were to shut down all together, the world would shut down, too. They are into everything." (originally from RS, MrB)

To finish this up, LG and Samsung do not have the part availibility up to speed yet. And are trying new styles of appliances  that haven't been field tested for long. Most of their appliance have electronics, which are costly and problematic. But, parts are the biggest problem. It may take a week or more, to get some parts.

After Hours Appliance LLC does not do any warranty work for any of the above mentioned brands (your appliance shouldn't be breaking that soon anyway). Therefore, we are about as unbias as you can be...........

Tim Martin