Still Under Construction

Well folks, the kitchen is *mostly* completed...however, our new stove has decided to be incredibly uncooperative. It died within the first 7 minutes of use when it was first installed. I'm frustrated because we did our research and bought based on reviews and brand reputation, among other things.

I miss cooking and baking, and I'm sorry I can't post any new recipes!

I don't normally do this, but I'm taking to social media outlets because I'm so frustrated. GE wants to repair the stove, but I do NOT feel safe using it. I'm worried that it's going to spark again and fry my circuits, or worse, cause a fire. Here is the email I sent them. We'll see if I get a response!

I guess my conclusion here is that GE stoves aren't worth the money or the stress. Seriously, not worth it. If I could just rewind 6 weeks, I'd go with another brand. 


Dear GE,
 I'm writing to let you know about my experience with our new gas range (Model #JGBS18DETBB), purchased at the ********, Maryland Home Depot on 9/29/12. My husband and I were incredibly excited to remodel our kitchen, and after doing a lot of research about different appliance brands and models, we decided to purchase all 4 GE models (fridge, stove, dishwasher and microwave). We went with GE because of online reviews, reputation and price.
 The new appliances were delivered on 10/9/12 and installed on 10/10/12. At that point, we'd been without a stove for 2 weeks for the remodel, and I was excited to start cooking again instead of living on take-out! However, after the stove had been running for 7 minutes, I went to turn on the inside oven light and it sparked. It then tripped the circuit breaker, turning off the stove and the fridge. I flipped the breaker back on, and while the fridge came back up immediately, the stove did not. I could light the burners, but the display board was off and I couldn't use the oven.

I immediately called our contractor and Home Depot to report this problem, and HD immediately reached out to you (GE). Each party blamed the other. Our contractor came to look at the stove and said it was a faulty unit. Home Depot and GE blamed the contractor and said it was installation error. Honestly, at that point, I didn't care. All I knew was that I spent $600 on a new stove and it didn't even last 7 minutes.

Over the next 2 weeks, I spent about 1 hour a day on the phone with either GE or HD, going back and forth over who was to blame and who was going to do something about it. No one could give me a straight answer. Finally, GE sent out someone to look at the stove last week. He checked the stove, the electrical outlet and the gas hookup. He then declared that he thought it was unrepairable and that we shouldn't use this one. We should demand a replacement. Well, we tried. Apparently this man was a plumber and not an official technician for gas stoves, so we had to wait ANOTHER week for that person to come out. He was at our house today, and declared that he just needed to replace the display board and we'd be okay. There is no way I feel safe using this stove. NO WAY.

Frankly, GE, I'm beyond frustrated. We spent $600 on a brand new stove and it FRIED ITSELF within 7 minutes. Not only are you NOT replacing it for me, but it will be 3+ weeks before it's repaired. Let me repeat, I DO NOT FEEL SAFE USING THIS STOVE. It fried itself and shorted out my kitchen circuits. It's a faulty stove. Who's to say this isn't going to happen again? Oh, but according to our repair technician, if it does, well, we just call and someone will repair it. No, thank you. I am NOT waiting another 3 weeks when it happens again. Do you need to wait until this causes a fire in my kitchen?

We bought GE because of your brand reputation. We invested $2700 of our hard-earned savings on new appliances and you can't even replace a stove that fried itself within the first 7 minutes? We can't even return this stove because GE won't accept it as an exchange (according to our Home Depot) because you all have now deemed that it's repairable. Would *YOU* feel safe using a gas stove like this?

I want this stove replaced, at no cost to us. We are within our warranty. I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation to want your brand new stove to work properly and not fry your circuits. I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I hope to hear from someone soon.

Regards,
Beth ********
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