McCombs Supply Co., Inc. — Local services in Lancaster

Thieves, unhelpful, sell junk parts they don’t stand by, no expertise to share. Stay away

The cold control on my 18 year old fridge started acting up and the part isn’t made anymore. I did some research and bought a third party replacement from McCombs (the brand was ERP). Unfortunately that part failed three times in a row. They replaced it twice and then decided they couldn’t be bothered and ignored me for months. Each time it happened I asked if they had any suggestions on a different part, since clearly these parts were terrible. They refused to help or make any suggestions — I assume they didn’t have anyone with the knowledge to be able to help.

The first two each lasted just a month or two. The third one lasted over 6 months (I was really hopeful about that one). Each time one failed we lost a lot of food.

When the third part failed it was still under warranty (also less than a year since buying the initial part). Instead of replacing it or helping me buy something new and different (because I just wanted this to work), they just decided that doing nothing was easier. They wouldn’t honor the warranty anymore, they wouldn’t stand by the part they sold, and they wouldn’t offer any knowledgeable suggestions, like you would expect a competent appliance business to do.

Without listening to the troubleshooting I had done they told me that my fridge must be what was causing the replacement parts to fail, which was why they wouldn’t replace the part. Each time one would fail I would put the original part back in and it would work fine until a replacement came.

(The problem with the original part was that on its coldest setting it would keep the fridge just slightly too warm, not that it didn’t work at all. The real issue would be how warm it would get during/after the defrost cycles and how long it would take to return to temp. (It would take long enough that the freezer would start to thaw, ice cream would melt, etc). The ERP parts would either fail completely open (and never complete the circuit, even when checking with a multimeter outside of the fridge at room temperature) or completely open (and run the fridge nonstop, freezing all of the food until we noticed, also when uninstalled no matter what temperature the probe was exposed to or what the setting on the dial, the circuit would never open when checking with a multimeter).)

So after waiting months, while they didn’t respond to my emails (all while the original OEM part was installed and the fridge was working fine, just slightly too warm — and the fridge wasn’t killing the part), I finally called Sears Parts Direct. What the sales rep did on the phone was find me a MODERN OEM cold control that, while it wouldn’t fit perfectly would FUNCTION perfectly. I now have that part installed and it works PERFECTLY (the only fit issue is that the original knob or bracket can’t be installed). My backup replacement was a digital thermostat that I was going to wire into the fridge’s power supply. Before buying the first ERP part I purchased a cheap off brand one on Amazon (it arrived broken (wouldn’t close the circuit) so it never got installed). Cold controls are great, because they’re simple, but they need far, far better tolerances in manufacturing than what ERP can achieve, based on the three they I tried.

The OEM part I bought cost $85. The ERP parts from McComb that keep failing cost $50. (Ironically, McCombs sells an ERP part knock-off of the more modern part I just got for $25.) I’m glad I spent more to hopefully be done with the problem. I think McCombs knows that they peddle a lot of junk and they bank on people not knowing that their junk is the part that’s failing, or that people believe them when they say their junk isn’t the problem, or that their junk lasts JUST over a year, so they don’t have to worry about it. I’m mad about the wasted food, them wasting my time, them making up a pretend reason why they don’t have to send a replacement part, them having no expertise to share, and then taking my money for something that must have...

Towards the end of November my freezer started to ice up and my fridge started to warm. Being handy and always fixing anything I can if possible I ordered a thermostat and a thermistor from Amazon and a heating element from McCombs because the price and shipping time was good, Amazon was going to be an extra two week wait for the heating element.

I knew it was going to be one of/or a combo of the three parts. Got the thermostat the next day and installed it and plugged in my dethawed fridge. About 4 days later I got McCombs order and by then everything seemed ok so I called and got ahold of someone who said as long as I hadn't installed the product to ship it back with the paperwork and I'll get a full refund. I said I didn't even open the sealed bag it was in and only slit the shipping box open to verify the part and I'll ship it back thru my work. COOL

UPS delivered it to them Dec.4th. By the 10th I don't hear anything so I call a few times and get no answer and can't leave a VM so I go on their website for contact info and get an email. Write a polite detailed email with order number, name, and proof of UPS tracking looking for some help.. 3 days later no response so I call, no answer. Wait a few more days call multiple times. No answer.

Literally now, just got off the phone with someone after calling 5x in a row to be annoying, tell the guy my issue and he puts me on hold. Comes back and says "the return is in today's pile, it'll be done today".. Nice! As soon as I hang up I see a Email notification and click it and it says I got a refund but it's $10.75 less than what the original invoice is

There's no info on restocking fees or actually anything regarding returns on their website. The original guy I spoke with said nothing of any money that would be held back and this guy 15min ago said nothing about it either. I call back multiple times, and SHOCKER, nobody answers.

Arbitrarily withholding refund money?? Also reading thru the review mentioning refund they seem to be doing much worse to people. Not to mention it's a made up amount, it isn't even a semi normal 10% or MAYBE 20% .. and if it was going to be 20% I would've considered keeping the part if I had even known.

People wonder why Amazon and the like are eating clownshow companies like these alive everyday. I fully understand it takes a lot to run a supply company, I literally work for a very large private one. This place is struggling and incompetent at best. Underhanded and nefarious at worst. Neither is good and I recommend...

I have ordered parts from McCombs Supply for our appliances and recently had to change out one appliance due to an electronic failure. The appliance was replaced with a newer model that appeared to be exactly the same as as the old model. I called McCombs to inquire as to the compatibility of the parts I had previously purchased for use on my newer but very similar appliance. I wanted to have part numbers compared from what I bought to what are newer part numbers for the newer appliance. Well, the conversation went straight downhill from there. The guy on the phone told me he did not have any time to help me with that. His exact words were "I don't care" and "I don't have time for this". This is not what I expected from McCombs. His tone and inference were off also - much like some cranky curmudgeon. There are better places to purchase appliance parts that will provide some measure of technical support. Beware of McCombs. They likely don't have any time for you either.

Update 1/28/2023. 1) McCombs only spent about 2 - 3 minutes on the phone with me. 2) McCombs did not offer any guidance as to how I could find out if the parts I previously purchased from them, would work on my replacement appliance. 3) My question was simply this "I wanted to have part numbers compared from what I bought to what are newer part numbers for the newer appliance.".

Sorry McCombs, you blew it on this one. It would help if the guy answering the phone improved his manners too. Read your reviews here, on Yelp and eBay. Too many of them mention rude...