Clayton Appliances Inc — Local services in Fayetteville

Fair prices, poor after sales service.

We've spent a LOT of $$ at Clayton -- Jenn Air Refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, oven, range top, Electrolux clothes washer and dryer, and a few miscellaneous bits. Their selection is good and pricing is fair. It's the service that stinks. Modern appliances certainly feel like they're designed to break within a year of the warranty running out, this is not Clayton's fault but they capitalize on it.

The "top of the line" fridge went through 2 ice makers before it stopped cooling entirely. They sent a repair person out who really can't do anything other than pull codes and check to see if there is any coolant. He determined there was no coolant, they would have to bring the appliance back to the shop, they would have it for a month and it would cost $1500. Not sure how many of you can live without your refrigerator for a month or want to spend that much to repair something that's already been pretty unreliable, so the service fee was wasted and we bought a new one (at a liquidator.) I really didn't think twice about this service incident but it was an appetizer for what was to come.

Next was the dishwasher. It wasn't washing our dishes anymore and was throwing error codes. We used YouTube to figure out what the codes meant, replaced the part, and it improved somewhat but the dishes still weren't getting clean. We had Clayton send someone out. The service guy shows up and pulls the same codes we already knew about. He tried to connect to an online data base and was unable to connect to it. Without any real proof he told us he thought it was our sump pump that went out and quoted us a price that was roughly 2/3 the cost of the dishwasher when it was new and just as much as a mid-tier new dishwasher. We just cut bait and bought the new dishwasher, what could we do? The guy wasn't even sure he knew what was wrong and we're supposed to throw $600 at a 4 year old dishwasher HOPING it might be fixed?

Next was our clothes washer that wouldn't drain or go into a spin cycle. I did some research on YouTube and saw that there was some extensive trouble shooting to determine what was throwing the error codes we were getting. I called Clayton and very specifically told them they needed to send 2 (TWO!!!) service people to trouble shoot since the units were stacked and without a 2nd person they would not be able to properly diagnose the problem. The person on the phone ASSURED us they would send 2 people but of course after a week of no laundry exactly 1 person shows up. He did his best but it was a complete waste of time. For their service fee of $129 (maybe $179, I don't remember) he told us nothing we didn't already know. All he did was pull error codes -- the exact codes we called Clayton to troubleshoot. They wanted to just throw parts at it with no real trouble shooting for almost $800 on a 3 year old Electrolux washer that cost about $1200 new. I called and complained and they refined their estimate -- just a new motherboard and 2 technicians for about $500. Mind you, all this with ZERO troubleshooting.

I decided to call over a friend to help me unstack and I did the trouble shooting myself. Turned out there is a plastic piece that holds a shock absorbing piston to the wash tub. That piece had come out and was just lying on the bottom of the machine. I reconnected the part and no more error codes. If Clayton had come out they would've replaced the motherboard at a cost of $500 to me and not fixed the issue. I firmly believe their service department is just an extension of their sales department. Send over someone who can't help, quote a price 50% of a new one, and then just sell you a new one with the added bonus of charging $129 and wasting a week or two of your time in the process. They've been to my home 3 times and fixed NOTHING, but I've paid plenty of $$ for...

We had a stackable washer dryer unit purchased there in 2006. I'm a healthcare provider and this is our office unit. Having no washer dryer means I have to bring laundry home where our family of four is already busting at the seams with our own laundry. It's been fairly reliable over the years. Recently it started squeaking badly and then died. The repair guy from Clayton came out and said we needed a $400+ motor. We agreed, he ordered the part, and a week later returned to do the repairs. He said he didn't have the right tool and had to return the next day. He returned and proclaimed that it was fixed. I asked if the squeak was fixed and he said yes. It wasn't. We asked Clayton to send a repair man back out. They said they would be here between 1 and 6 pm. No show - no call. I was finished with patients but paid my staff to wait on the repair man who never showed. They came the next day and said it couldn't be diagnosed without bringing the unit to their shop and pulling it apart. They retrieved the unit and called us a few days later (now we are easily at the three week mark). After pulling our unit apart, we were told the transmission needed to be replaced at $900+!! At this point we obviously needed a new washer / dryer unit. Clayton Appliance had the audacity to offer us $200 toward a new unit! We would have bought a new unit on day one if they sent a competent repair man in the first place. They agreed to credit us $400 toward the new unit so we bought one. A guy delivered it the next day and did not hook it up. I went to do it myself and discovered there was no power cord! I called Clayton Appliance and I was livid. When the woman "helping" me said we will have to call you back, I raised my voice and they hung up on me. I did not curse at her or call her names. I called back again and spoke to someone new. I said I would stay calm if she would hear me out. She heard me out. At the end of my call, I said, "so you see, if any of your customers has the right to be angry, its' (my name)." She replied, "What is your name sir?" I said. "ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME??!! I JUST GAVE IT TO YOU LESS THAN THREE SECONDS AGO! I proceeded to have a staff member in my office complete the call so as to not rupture a brain artery. Do business with them if you like dealing with incompetency. They were good at one time. ...

I placed a $25,000 appliance order for a home remodel when my family was in the process of moving across the state. I ordered on Black Friday and instead of choosing a big box store where I could save money, I chose Clayton Appliance. Kim, the store manager checked the status of my appliances and told me that they were in stock but two appliances would be in store in two weeks. I never heard from Kim again. I left numerous messages and sent emails only to receive no response. I finally was able to reach her by phone in January and asked that my appliances be scheduled for delivery. She told me they were in and the delivery truck came. They delivered two of my five appliances. I was never told that the others were not in. After another series of phone calls, I scheduled the second delivery for the remaining 3 appliances. Two months after ordering, the delivery truck arrives only to have two appliances on the truck. When I called to find out about my refrigerator that was supposedly in stock in November, two months later, it's now on back order and was never in the store at all. Not one person called me to say it wasn't on the truck and wasn't coming. Kim has dodged my calls, been rude, not offered any type loaner fridge, offered to order something that could come sooner. She has denied my requests to speak to the owner of the store as well. The delivery guys smell like a carton of cigarettes, are reading the instructions to install a downdraft and not one person at the store is accountable. I ordered the fridge I am waiting on today. I ordered it through Home Depot and have a delivery date of tomorrow. Kim still hasn't processed my refund for the SAME fridge I have been waiting two months on from their store. Super disappointed and I will never support this business again....