BEWARE: RUN, DO NOT WALK, AWAY FROM APPLIANCE FACTORY OUTLET
One-star review. I would give zero stars if allowed.
Our experience with Appliance Factory Outlet was awful. The sales process was positive, but the moment there was a problem, the company became a nightmare to deal with.
We purchased a brand-new, high-end GE Monogram column freezer for our kitchen for more than $5,000. This was an expensive, premium freezer that was supposed to be part of our kitchen remodel and daily family life.
The freezer never worked. Period.
When the installer left, we were told that in about four hours the freezer should start getting ice cold. We waited four hours. Nothing. It was still room temperature. We waited overnight. Still nothing. We waited 24 hours. Still room temperature. This was a brand-new freezer that had just been delivered and installed, and it simply did not work.
That was frustrating enough. But what made it far worse was how Appliance Factory Outlet handled it afterward. Instead of treating this like a serious customer-service failure, they acted as if the problem was now ours to manage. There was no urgency, no empathy, and no real appreciation for the fact that my family had paid more than $5,000 for a brand-new freezer that never worked from day one.
My family was left without a working freezer in our kitchen for approximately three weeks. We have a family, groceries, school lunches, meal planning, and normal household needs. Appliance Factory Outlet showed little to no concern that their customer was stuck dealing with the consequences.
Rather than quickly taking responsibility and making it right, they pushed us toward service-related steps and third-party appointments. That meant more inconvenience for us, including waiting around for four-hour service windows -- including at least one appointment where they failed to show up -- even though we had done nothing wrong. We bought a brand-new freezer. It never worked. We should not have had to jump through hoops, chase people, or rearrange our schedule to prove that a brand-new appliance sitting at room temperature was defective.
One of the most misleading parts of the experience was the so-called "President's Hotline" promoted on their website. Their homepage prominently displays a President's Hotline phone number, which gives customers the impression that if something goes seriously wrong, leadership will step in and help. In my experience, that was a complete farce. I tried calling it and got voicemail. I also copied owner/president Chuck Ewing on numerous messages as the issue escalated from the salesperson to the store manager to the district manager. He was copied on many communications, and not once did he personally engage, respond, apologize, or try to solve the problem.
This was exactly the kind of situation where company leadership could have stepped in, taken ownership, and turned a bad experience into a customer-for-life moment. Instead, the President's Hotline felt like marketing window dressing, not a real customer-service escalation path.
Problems happen. Appliances sometimes fail. But good companies communicate clearly, take responsibility, show empathy, and work quickly to make things right. That was not our experience here.
Instead, we had to chase responses, deal with vague or shifting communications, and keep pushing just to get basic resolution. It felt like once they had our money, the burden was on us to fight for a fair outcome.
Ultimately, the only way this got resolved was by filing a credit card dispute/chargeback through Chase. Chase reviewed the dispute and credited us the full disputed amount of $5,337. No customer should have to resort to a chargeback to resolve an expensive appliance purchase.
The most frustrating part is that I actually wanted to like this company. The initial sales experience was positive, and I generally prefer supporting entrepreneurial Colorado businesses when I can. I would have considered buying additional appliances from them for our kitchen remodel. Based on how they handled this problem, I would not buy from them again.
The true test of a company is not how they behave when everything goes perfectly. It is how they respond when something goes wrong. In our case, Appliance Factory Outlet failed that test badly.
My advice: be extremely careful before buying from Appliance Factory Outlet, especially if you are purchasing an expensive appliance and may need support after the sale. read more