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GE Microwave Ovens

GE Microwaves • Fires • No Heat • Other Problems --- • GE Microwaves Prone to Spontaneous Fire, Suit Claims • GE, Kenmore Recall Microwave Combo Wall Ovens

Melissa of University Place WA (08/18/08)
Our GE Sensor mirowave Model JES1351WB almost caught our whole kitchen on fire! My neice placed a large frozen bagel on a paper plate and pushed the defrost button, walked into the other room, 60 seconds later black smoke poured out of the top of the microwave. I got up from 12 feet away and we opened the microwave to see flames. We had to get a fire extinguisher to put out the blackened bagel and finally the fire department came to help us remove the microwave. It was plugged in behind a heavy microwave hutch filled with dishes and canned food, so it was not easy to unplug the unit immediately.

Now the yellow extinguisher powder has left an irritating coating on everything (inside of closed cupboards included), and we have nasty smoke damage in the living room carpet and furniture. Our insurance company will not pay for the cleanup and I am disabled. My niece has since gone home to another state, my daughter had to be treated for smoke and extinguisher chemical inhalation at the hospital, and she cannot help me clean up because she is asthmatic and the chemical dust triggers another attack. What a nightmare! I have to wash every single dish and dust every single cupboard and container of food in my entire kitchen now! I cannot even go in there. I am so overwhelmed.

Joseph of El Dorado Hills, CA August 18, 2008

Joseph of El Dorado Hills CA (08/18/08)
We moved into a new home Build by Pulte Homes in a area known as Serrano. In El Dorado Hills, California. All the appliances came templated by the hundreds of Pulte Build Homes. Pre-installed are all General Electric Appliances.

The Built-in microwave now has a f3 error. It has been absolutely annoying to beep every 30 seconds for the past four days in our house. I have turned the power to the whole house off and it seems to be on a different breaker. There is NO Way to see a power off switch either in the Breaker or on the Microwave. There are no instructions from PULTE homes to turn off the microwave or to find out where the plug is on the built in Microwave.

Annoying beeping sound. for 4 days. No access to a power off switch. The GE Alliance person said they can come out in 5 days. It is still under warranty but the GE Appliance person is still not here.

Cindy of Harbor Beach, MI August 14, 2008

Cindy of Harbor Beach MI (08/14/08)
Purchased a new GE Spacemaker in Feb. 2002. The turntable motor quit after a year & a half (of course, it would have to be after the mfg. warranty had expired). It's now Aug. 2008...I'm now trying to find a new motor for it(tired of hearing the grinding noise if I forget to run it without turning the turntable off) and wondering (after reading all the other complaints on these models), if I should just bite the bullet and buy a different one (although a new motor is about 40.). I would definitely stay away from a GE model though.

I owned an Amana Microwave prior to this unit, for over 20 years...not once did I ever have a problem with it. Whatever happened to Quality Control with GE...did they take a permanent vacation????

Lisa of Dwonigtown, PA August 10, 2008

Lisa of Dwonigtown PA (08/10/08)
Manufactured March 2004 - 4 year old GE JKP86-27 just stopped heating. It still goes on like it is heating/working but the food comes out cold.

This is a double oven unit with the microwave on top of the in cabinet oven so it is expensive to replace!

Linda of Desert Hot Springs, CA August 1, 2008

Linda of Desert Hot Springs CA (08/01/08)
I bought an over the stove microwave on Feb 28, 2008 and installed it the middle of April, 2008. Around the third week of June I noticed a smell whenever I used the microwave. The smell got worse with each use and within a couple weeks I was unable to use the microwave. I called for service and they sent someone out within the week.

The technician arrived on July 7th, 2008 and thats when the real problem started. The technician said he would order the parts and they would be shipped to me and he would return the following Monday to put the parts in. However, I had to take the microwave off the wall for him to work on it.

I had not received the parts by Friday, July 11, 2008, I called GE again and was told that I was not on the schedule as they had one of the parts but that the magnetron tube was on backorder with no estimated date of arrival. I stated that this was unacceptable and that if they couldn't fix it they need to replace it. The customer service representative then told me to call the next day as the parts could come in and be shipped and would be here on time. I called on Saturday only to find that all I got was an automated response. The automated response indicated that I was scheduled for service as promised, so we took the microwave off the wall.

The following morning, Monday, July 14, 2008 I received an automated call at approximately 7:45 AM that stated I was the next service call. I waited until 10 AM, then called to find out what the delay was. At that point I was informed that there was no service as the parts were not in and still not estimated date of arrival. She said she would check into it and call me back. I contact another customer service rep at noon and was again told they had no estimated date of arrival for the parts.

She suggested I contact a different division of the customer service, when I demanded that something be done to rectify this problem. When I called the other division, I was told they had an estimated date for the parts to arrive as July 25th. I stated that waiting another two to three weeks with the microwave taking up a large portion of my counter was unacceptable. As this representative was uncooperative and somewhat rude in her responses, I hung up on her and called back to speak to someone else. This representative said she looked it up and that the parts were due in on July 18th. When I questioned the fact that with four different people supposedly looking at the same computer screen there were three different answers, she said that this was what her computer said and that it was the best she could do.

I contacted the store where I bought the microwave, Lowes and explained the problem to them. Since I bought this particular microwave based on their recommendation, I ask if they could help. I was told that there was nothing they could do but they would make a call and see if they could find out any additional information. They called back to tell me there was nothing they could do and that they had gotten the same response I had already received.

At 3 PM I received a call from someone who identified himself as the GE repairman and he informed me that the regular guy had called in sick and so he was doing double the work and he wasnt sure when or if he could get to my place that day. After some discussion with him whining about how it was already 3 PM and he had not even had lunch yet, etc, I ask if he had the parts. He told me they were to be shipped to me and I should have them. When I explained the situation he said he just wanted to let me know he might be late or not get there and that he didnt know what to do about the parts. I finally told him if he did not have the parts, it would be useless for him to come by as he couldnt make the repairs anyway.

On July 24th, 2008 I received a call from A-1 Delivery Service. I was ask to set up an appointment to deliver my microwave. I ask if this was a new or reconditioned microwave and was told it was new. The appointment was set for Tuesday July 29th, 2008. On Monday, July 28th, 2008 A-1 Delivery called again to give me a set timeframe of before noon for the delivery.

On Tuesday I waited until almost 1PM before I called to see if there was a problem as the delivery had not yet arrived. I was told I was the next stop and they arrived shortly thereafter. However, once again there was a problem. The driver/installer informed me that the microwave was the wrong color. I told him to install it anyway as I didnt want to wait any longer. He started telling me that they could have the white one out on Friday morning, that since my other appliances were all white. I stated that I really didnt want to wait any longer, but he said since I had a white one and that I might want to match all the appliances, and it would only be 3 days. When I expressed concern about the fact that I didnt want to waste another day waiting for a delivery, he promised to deliver it before 8 AM. He said that they made their deliveries to the desert early so they could get out of the heat and that his first delivery that day had been in Indio at 6:40 AM. I finally agreed to let them bring a white one on Friday, August 1st, 2008.

On August 1, 2008 I got up early to make sure I was ready for the delivery. However, once again I was disappointed. I called A-1 Delivery at 8 AM to see when they would be here only to be informed that they wouldnt be making the delivery. Once again I had been lied to. When I spoke to Campos at A-1 Delivery he said the only way to order a different unit was if the one they delivered was damaged.

As it was never taken out of the box, I am quite sure it was not damaged. He stated that they did not re-order for a color change. It appears that I was put off once again by GE in an effort to keep me from calling my lawyer. With the effort the delivery guy put into convincing me to wait three days for the white one, I am suspicious about their involvement as well. At this time I still do not have a working microwave, but a box from GE arrived the day after the driver convinced me to wait for the right color. No one has contacted me about any repairs and at this point I am sure there must be so many problems with this unit that I worry I will have more issues even if it gets fixed. After all why would there be such a backlog on parts for a unit that was manufactured in January 2008??

The last conversation I had with anyone was with Campos at A-1 Delivery at approximately 9:30 AM today (August 1, 2008). At that time he said he had sent an email to GE, [after he told me he was going to call them when I spoke to him at 8 AM this morning] and that he would send another.

Since this began I have been lied to, put off and just plain ignored. Why is it such a problem to simply fulfill a warranty promise??

Extra cost of gas to cook with, which created more heat, therefore causing extra use of electricity for cooling unit to maintain a comfortable temperature in my home. Inability to utilize kitchen to fullest extent due to space required on counter for defective unit. Not to mention the stress and frustration I feel in trying to deal with this situation

Lanette of Vancouver, WA July 30, 2008

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