A home baker from Foxboro, Massachusetts is frustrated that the expensive oven she bought from General Electric (GE) was not working properly and all attempts to fix it failed. When WBZ-TV's I-Team contacted GE, the response was surprising. A spokesperson sent an email that wasn't intended to be seen by the customer or WBZ.

That customer, Susan Barry, was excited to finally have a high-end range. A self-taught baker, she had been whipping up desserts for more than 40 years when she spent nearly $3,000 on a GE Café Series gas range. But, she said it's never worked properly. 

"I'm a little disappointed," Barry told WBZ. "I've grown up with GE products my whole life. My washer and dryer is a GE, the microwave is GE, I think even the dishwasher even is."

Barry complained to the store where she bought the range and to GE Appliances, telling them the oven takes too long to get hot and has uneven cooking temperatures.

Barry said the items in the front of the oven would end up undercooked and the back items would burn. 

"Cakes were never level. Roasts were taking forever and we can't get the air fry function to work," she said.

Oven unable to be repaired

Repair workers tried to troubleshoot the problems and replaced parts, including the thermostat multiple times, but the issues haven't been solved. So she contacted the I-Team.

"The only people that can kind of wave the magic wand and get companies sometimes to do the right thing are consumer reporters on television," said Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky.

The I-Team reached out to GE Appliances. Their representative, Wendy Treinen, said the range was out of the manufacturer's warranty.  

"I would expect better, particularly from GE, at least in Massachusetts,' Dworsky said. "There's still a warranty in the law, that's the implied warranty of merchantability. That says everything you buy has to function properly for a reasonable period of time and if it doesn't, you're entitled to a remedy, and the choice of remedy is the consumer's. It's one of the three Rs - repair, replacement, or refund."

"Before I bite back"

Treinen offered to send a technician out to look at the range. 

In an email that appeared to be mistakenly sent to WBZ chief investigator Cheryl Fiandaca, she wrote:

"I'm still back and forth with this aggressive reporter and they are going to run a story. Making sure that we have our own trained technicians in this consumer's area before I bite back." 

Barry said GE technicians came out to evaluate the range twice. The last one, she said, told her the range was defective and not repairable. 

Treinen's email mistakenly sent to Fiandaca also included this language refusing to give Susan a replacement:

"I don't want them to run this story without the offer of a service to assess at our cost. It's an important viewing area and a big audience for us to get a smear in but I'm also not willing to give her a replacement to make this go away yet."

Dworsky called that "penny wise and pound foolish." 

"Here it's going to be broadcast on Boston television that GE is not doing the right thing by a long-term consumer. They will lose more in goodwill than it costs them to replace the unit," he told WBZ.

Without a working oven, Baker missed out on baking for the holidays. 

"I'm really disappointed," she said. "This is my season. Crazy bakers, myself and my daughter. I think it should be replaced."

GE Appliances continues to refuse to replace Barry's range, instead offering her a 30% discount on a replacement. Because Massachusetts has laws to protect consumers, she has the right to file a lawsuit and a complaint with the Attorney General's office.

Thousands of complaints about GE Appliances

The I-Team found Susan is not alone. In the last three years, the Better Business Bureau received 3,607 complaints about GE Appliances. Many of them involve the company's ranges. 

One self-proclaimed loyal customer called the appliance "a lemon oven." Nearly all of the complaints mention poor customer service.