The purchase of a home appliance can take a big chunk out of a budget. An El Cajon family learned the hard way why it’s good to know the warranty details before stashing the information in a drawer.

Sonia Ruiz said back in July, her growing family found the perfect washer/dryer combo to fit in a small space inside their new home.

Sonia Ruiz and what she calls the perfect washer/dryer for her home, which for months, she was unable to use.

“We needed to free up some space, and this little room was perfect for the stackable unit,” she said.

They paid more than $1,200 for the new unit. It was delivered to their home a few days later and hooked up perfectly in a little closet-like space.

However, Ruiz says her enthusiasm was quickly washed away shortly after she tried to wash for the first time.

“It would start, fill up with water, but it wouldn’t drain, and it would just stop,” recalled Ruiz. “So I called the manufacturer and told them what was going on, and they said to me they would send someone to repair it about a month later.”

She added that had she found the washer wasn’t working within 48 hours of its delivery, the store where she bought it would’ve replaced it for free. Since they reported it more than two days later, they had to reach out to the manufacturer, General Electric.

Ruiz wished she had caught that detail in the store and manufacturer’s warranty information she was given.

Failed repairs

August finally arrived. Ruiz said several parts were delivered to her home shortly before the repairman showed up. However, there seemed to have been some confusion.

“He told us the parts were not the ones he needed and that he would reorder other parts, so they made another appointment to come back about a month later,” she said.

Ruiz said the same thing happened in September. Rinse and repeat. The same cycle, involving parts delivered to her home before a repairman showed up.

“He took it apart and reassembled it and said it still wasn’t working, so they then made another appointment to come back, and I began to get upset,” Ruiz admitted.

She said she asked for a replacement unit or for the company to just take it away and refund what she paid.

“They told me they couldn’t do that because the warranty only covered repairs. I just couldn’t understand why I am dealing with repairs on a new washer that’s never been used. It shouldn’t need repairs,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz showed NBC 7 Responds these boxes with parts that were delivered to her home each time a repairman showed up to fix her washer.

She added that she went from upset to angry when, in October, the repairman didn’t show up to the appointment and postponed it for another few weeks. Her home continued to store washer parts delivered with each visit.

NBC 7 Responds helps

She called NBC 7 Responds, and we reached out to GE to find out what was going on. Ruiz recalled how a few days later, she was surprised by a call from the company.

“When I got that call, I knew you had already contacted them because they never call me to tell me anything. It was always me calling them,” Ruiz said to the NBC 7 Responds team.

GE sent us the following statement: “We are pleased to be able to work on a solution with Ms. Ruiz. We appreciate NBC7 for bringing this to our attention.”

A few days later, a new unit was delivered to their home. Well, another new one. As soon as it was hooked up, Ruiz crossed her fingers and turned it on.

Sonia was able to use her new washer for the first time, like she’s been wanting to since July.

And it worked perfectly.