Fred's Appliance — Local services in Spokane

My 18-year old Maytag washer (made in Germany) failed to spin just a few days before the Memorial weekend. I purchased this appliance from Fred’s in 2007, so I called their service division and reached a regional call center that severs multiple states in the Pacific Northwest. I was told that they were booked out 3-4 weeks and that someone would call me within 24 hours to schedule. (I have seen other reviews listing the long wait times for Fred's appliance service.)

I called Jeffrey’s Appliance Service and Jason came out the following day. The charge was $20 less than Fred’s quoted. At a minimum, the drum and bearings needed to be replaced, but parts are no longer manufactured.

When Jason left, I started researching washers. Consumer Reports (Feb 2025) rates LG washers the highest at 87. (There is no washer that rates in the 90s – a sad reflection of our lower quality standards and planned obsolescence that drives future sales.)

Luckily, Memorial Day brings appliance sales!

I then called Fred’s and spoke with Devin. I told Devin I was interested in the LG WM4000HWA. Devin kept trying to up-sell . . . “for just a bit more, you can have a better model” . . . “we have another model on the floor that you can have that is just slightly higher.” The washers that he suggested were both 3” deeper that the washer that I currently own (the model I chose was the same depth). I said that the upgrade models wouldn’t fit on my pedestal, which was 29” deep, but he kept trying to convince me that they would because of where the feet were positioned. Toward the end of the call, I directly told him that he wasn’t listening to me and that I didn’t want to be up-sold.

I advised Devin that my washer and dryer sit on a contractor-built pedestal (a solid core door with solid legs). He indicated that Fred’s may not install for “liability reasons”. “It would be up to the driver.” I told him that I need to know one way or the other before the washer is placed on a delivery truck. I remodeled this house in 2007 and bought all of my appliances from Fred’s and my washer and dryer were placed on the very same, sturdy pedestal (which has served me well).

I then drove to Fred’s (on Monroe). Devin was with another customer, so Josh stepped in to help me. Josh was respectful, knowledgeable, helpful, and listened to what I wanted rather than trying to convince me that I would be better off with something else “for just a bit more”. When Devin finished with his customer, he became involved in my interaction with Josh.

I asked and was advised that the sales person who answers the phone receives the commission. I asked that Devin and Josh split the commission (and also mentioned this to the regional manager, Steve Ellis). Honestly, Fred’s would have lost my business had Josh not stepped in. I want to be clear . . . Devin is a nice guy . . . he just seemed more interested in selling me "a better machine" at a higher price rather than listening to what I wanted. He wasn’t a good fit for me.

I showed Josh and Devin photographs of my contractor-built pedestal. Josh checked with their installer, who declined to place the washer on the 20” pedestal (because it wasn’t the plastic pedestal sold as an accessory to the washer). Fred’s has some sort of arrangement with J&J Plumbing and Heating to perform the installs that they won’t.

J&J installed the washer today and hauled away the old one. They did a lovely job. The cost was $60 higher than Fred’s quoted for the same service. BUT, I have a working washer and both Andy and Ryan were knowledgeable, efficient, and super easy to work with.

In summary, the long wait times for Fred’s appliance service felt excessive. As a sales associate, Josh was a much better fit for me. And, I believe (hope, pray) that I made a good selection. (Heads up . . . Fred's will charge you an additional fee if you pay by credit card, so bring a debit card or a check with you.)

And, a shout out to Steve Ellis for our discussion of how to add a retaining bar to my...

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This is not the company to buy your appliances from unless you enjoy very bad service. I had purchased a very high-end Bosch dishwasher from them a couple of years ago. I am a general contractor so on the install of the dishwasher, which was just a change out of an old one I did the install myself, no problems, I recently ordered a new $1,800.00 Samsung refrigerator, the delivery and install has become a nightmare. When the dispatcher called, we warned the dispatcher that our driveway is 250 yards long with 5” of fresh snow on the road. When the truck arrived, the driver knew there was no way of getting that truck up the driveway and back out of my property. I had to use my side by side Polaris with a small trailer to get the refrigerator up to the house. Then the driver by company policy stated that his helper had to stay with the truck. This was a two-man job, now the driver had to man handle this very expensive heavy appliance by himself in 5” of fresh snow and an Icey deck. This risked the health of their employee, damage to my property, and possible damage to the appliance. He did bang into the doorjamb which did leave a minor scratch but not bad enough to need repair, but easily could have been severe. Nowhere in their contract does it state that they are only responsible for water hookup if the valve isn’t right behind the refrigerator. They informed me of this policy at the time of install not before the install and again this is not stated in their contract. In this circumstance, the refrigerator is about four feet from the value and is extremely easy access. This refrigerator comes with ¼” thermoplastic tubing like what’s used in a water filter system. This tubing uses a simple slip on connection / adapter. This is NOT difficult. At the time of install it appeared that there was no adapter for the tubing. The delivery person was not trained at all. He was not aware that there was a provided adapter, the adapter was taped to the bottom of a drawer in such a way you could hardly make it out (it’s very small). Being a remodeling contractor I also didn’t like the adapter that Samsung provided but that issue in on Samsung. There are better adapters available. When presented with the issues of the purchase the company’s position is NOT OUR PROMBLEM call a plumber. We got our money out of you so you are no longer important to us. I guess they just don’t need repeat customers. Now I have to install this unit myself, an install that should have been provided by Fred’s Appliance. I WILL NEVER DO ANY BUSSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY AGAIN.

Douglas E...

Dealing with Fred's appliances was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life. We built a brand new home and our builder contracted with Fred's Appliances for all of our appliances. We received a fridge with a dent in it, a stove with a dent in it, a dryer that makes a rattling sound, and a dishwasher that didn't work at all. The doors for the stove and the fridge will take 6 to 8 weeks to come in I am tolf and scheduling a technician to come look at the dryer was a nightmare as no one would return my calls. Once they finally did they were a month out. The worst part was contacting them to try and get a new dishwasher. We were working with Steve and he was absolutely horrible. He would not answer my calls nor return them. He would have other associates answer my phone calls instead or have them call me back. My son has life threatening food allergies and not having a dishwasher complicated things for our family. I explained this to Steve and many other associates and trying to get a technician out to look at the dishwasher. They told me that it would be over a week. I told them that that was completely unacceptable as my son has many allergies. They did not care nor would they work with me. So I called JT who works at the Valley location who sold us all the appliances he arranged for us to pick up a new dishwasher. He was the ONLY helpful person that actually tried to make things right. So my husband and I ripped out the old one took it to Fred's returned it grabbed the one and installed. That one did not work either! Steve blamed our electrician so we had an electrician come out and look at the house...nothing was wrong. So then Steve said that he would send his own technician out ro looka the dishwasher it took three days for a technician to come to our home. The technician said it was a bad circuit board and that was most likely what was wrong with the fkrst one we had. We finally got a different model and that one did work it took almost two weeks to get this resolved. However, my builder is the one that ripped out the second dishwasher and got us the third. Fred's did nothing! There was no sense of urgency nor did they care about my son and my family. I have never been so frustrated in my life. I was ready to rip out all their appliances and have them come get them and take them back. I would never recommend them to anyone. I will never purchase anything from Fred's Appliance's again. I will never forgive Steve for not caring about me...