Shattered Stove

One day our stove exploded.

OK, so it didn't really "explode", but something crazy happened to it and the glass door shattered into a million pieces.

It was a Sunday night and I was getting ready to start another work week (ugh) when all of a sudden we heard the sound of glass breaking coming from the kitchen.  My first thought was that Joey had launched another plate off the kitchen counter or that the cats had gotten into something, but when we ran into the kitchen we stood watching in horror as the entire glass door of our stove slowly shattered onto the floor.  There were big chunks and little pieces all of over our small kitchen floor.  

Here's the picture I snapped right after it happened:

Notice how Luna's food and water bowls are right there?  So glad she wasn't eating dinner when this happened!

After we got all the glass cleaned up, it is surprisingly heavy by the way, I started Googling "shattered GE stove" to make sense of what just happened.  We hadn't been using it when it broke.  In fact, I hadn't cooked anything in it for a few weeks.  

What I found surprised me:  This is a fairly common problem!  I couldn't find an explanation for it, but it sounds like it is some kind of defect with self-cleaning ranges.  

I eventually called GE's Service Line and was given the prices for how much it would cost to send a tech out on a service call ($79.98) and how much we'd pay in labor per hour if we decided to fix it ($39.98), but I wasn't told how much the parts would cost and if all together it would cost more than the stove is worth.  Although it came with our condo when we bought it my best guess is it was around $400.  

Frustrated that it seemed OK that my stove could spontaneously explode for no reason I Googled this problem again and stumbled on a gold mine of information at a website called "The Consumerist."   The article talks about how a son helps his parents get their GE stove fixed after it shatters into a million pieces like ours by tweeting GE on Twitter!  Genius, I tell you.  Simply, genius.  I followed his advice and tweeted this:  The glass door of our 4 year old GE range spontaneously shattered! Scary - dogs dishes right by stove. Does GE have a Twitter account?   

Easy enough, right?

That same night I got this response:  GE_Appliances

@sabby12s Oh no, that's so scary! Pls email the details to xxxxxx@ge.com & we'll see how we can help. >Megan

Hey, I can do that.

So I sent the listed email address this note:  

Hello,

Megan from GE-Appliances on Twitter gave me this email address to send more information about our 4 year old GE Range.  I've attached a picture of the damage.  Thankfully, nobody was in the kitchen at the time, but what we find perplexing is that we hadn't used it in at least 2 weeks so it wasn't hot either.  After calling the GE service line to get price quotes on how much it costs to repair it we are not sure if it is worth it to fix the door or buy a new range.  I didn't get enough information from the operator to make a decision. 

The model # of our range is JBP70B0K3BB and the serial # is RL253512Q. 

I'd appreciate any help with this matter.

Thank you!

Notice how I didn't ask for anything for free because all I wanted was help trying to figure out whether my range is worth repairing or if I should just go buy a new one?  Pretty incredible considering I got this as a response just 2 hours after I sent it:

Hello Sabrina,

Thank you for reaching out to us at GE.  I'm sorry to hear that the glass in your oven door shattered but so thankful that no one was injured. I can certainly understand your concern and will be happy to assist you.

Although your range is outside the warranty, this is an unusual occurrence and not what we expect from our products.  Therefore, I would like to offer to cover the total cost (parts, labor, and home call) to repair your range. 

I have documented your information and this offer in case file number 12130147. If you would like to accept this offer, please reply to this e-mail with your complete address, phone number for service contact, and the days that are best for you to have a scheduled service call.  With this information, I will be happy to make the arrangements for you.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Michelle

Social Media Solutions

GE Appliances

Holy schnikes!  My stove is getting fixed - for FREE!

OK, kids what did I learn from this?  2 things.  1.  The internet is a wonderful thing and 2. GE has the best customer service I have every dealt with.

I'll keep you posted on how the repairs go!