Summit Appliance

As a professional courtesy I reached out to the CEO of Summit Appliances to try resolve and issue with a ice maker i purchased from their company for a kitchen renovation we completed this summer, directly and amicably.

The ice maker had a faulty water seal (o-ring) and sequentially leaked water behind newly installed cabinets and onto and into hardwood floors. The leak caused substation damage to the newly installed cabinets and floors. The ice maker was professionally installed by a licensed plumber with a slow drip coming from a black cap that blocked off a pump that wasn't needed on the install. The leak didn't become visible for 30 days after the floors and cabinets had soaked up the water hence bucked the floors and caused water damage to the boxes of the cabinets.

We attempted to contact their customer service, which is nearly impossible to get through to after long on hold wait time. We left messages and never had a return phone call. We we able to talk to customer service reps with promises of follow ups, only to find out they closed our cases before any attempt to fix or resolve the issues.

I was able to get their head of customer service after sending him an email to the CEO. After much back and forth, his only resolve was to give me $1,000 OR, have me file a claim with my home owner insurance. The $1,000 would have covered less than 1/3 of the cost of repair and there is no reason for me to file a claim with my insurance company if the damage was clearly from the newly installed unit.

Summit is taking no responsibility for the damage caused by the failed o-ring (which they eventually sent someone out to repair and noted it was faulty). I find it unacceptable that their customer service response was for us to file a home owners insurance claim, which after speaking to my home insurance carrier would result in an increase in my premiums or a threat of being dropped.

I found their customer service dismissive of my issue and concerns and tried to repeatedly blame the installer which seemed to be their default position on everything. Moreover, had I proceeded with filing a claim with my home insurance carried, it surely would have resulted in summit paying more than their settlement offer to me in their deductible. They need to take full responsibility and pay for the repairs their unit caused.