raggey's Profile

I have an Asko Dishwasher Mdl 1996. We really had no significant problems and were very pleased with its performance until recently. One year and one week out of manufacturer warranty and 1 week out of extended warranty, the control board caught fire, melted and fused the wires, destroyed the door latch, melted some trim and scorched underside of granite countertop. The entire house smelled and there was soot all down the front of the DW and on the hidden control strip which is now bumpy. Even the interior insulation has excessive burn marks. Estimated repair by visual inspection was over $1200 without any guarantees. Repeated calls to AM Group (formerly ASKO) were useless. We were repeatedly told they were working to see if they could do anything for us. Initially they proposed to supply the control board "if" that was the cause, then they retracted and said "sorry, out of warranty." Although we were given the names of a few supervisors who were suppossed to be involved, they were either not in or on the phone every time we called. None of our messages were ever returned. At one point they implied that we wanted something for nothing. Yes we wanted something. We wanted them to ante-up more than just the cost of a control board. We don't believe that a $1400 DW should be totaled through no fault of ours after just 6 years and 1 week of use, especially when the problem originated in an area that customers do not have access to. Even our service company got involved by calling AM Group. Finally the service company contacted Fretz. We have been without the DW since 8/4. The Fretz rep worked with us and with AM group until we reached an equitable solution. I have a feeling that the Fretz Co. is eating more of the cost of the replacement than ASKO. Hopefully I can stop hand washing dishes very soon. We love the product and are getting a replacement at minimal cost. Yet, I still am very upset with Am Group (ASKO) as the service provided them is worse than a bad joke. Oh yeah, just for the heck of it I called ASKO (AM Group) today and pointed out that I counted 8 reports of circuit board shorts (fires) since January 2006 as noted at this site. Somehow all of us must have done something wrong because there really is "nothing wrong with the control boards." Apparently they do not bother to analyze complaints for a common problem in order to avoid recalls.