We have had nothing but problems with our Milguard windows and strongly do NOT recommend either. Also, the paint/finish on the Honda Accord we acquired from Hertz is pretty poor and was dull, “dead” and having problems within 5 or so years, which is much shorter than any of the other cars we’ve ever had. We were very surprised as we always thought Honda had pretty high quality.
Pella windows have gone down the tubes (forget the ones you get at home depot, like the Anderson windows sold there, they are junk). What happened is Pella and Anderson started selling low quality versions so HD could say they carried them at great prices, but then they basically did the same thing with the ones you buy from them directly or from their own stores, they cheapened up to increase their margins.
I won’t buy any stuff made by Kohler (with the exception of maybe a generator), their plumbing stuff is overpriced and they don’t last, and parts are hard to get and expensive as heck. The worse one was we have a Kohler whirlpool tub that was done as part of our reconstruction about 20 years ago. The tub actually hasn’t been used much, and the problem now is that both the hot and cold water faucets leak when you use them from the valve seats. A repair guy said that the base itself is shot…so I called Kohler, and they basically said that unit (the tub) was no longer made and the faucet base was no longer available…which is kind of ridiculous, a whirlpool tub like that is expensive and is something you likely will have a long time, and you stop making a basic replacement part like that? Kohler’s answer was to have someone take the tub out, then modify the tub to fit in another unit, which likely is going to cost several thousands of dollars (I might as well get another tub!)…in the auto industry, basic parts like that are kept around a long time, and if the manufacturer doesn’t have the parts, they allow third party firms to make them, Kohler is proprietary and as a result, leaves you stuck.
I had a Black and Decker cordless drill that was nothing but trouble. Couldn’t tell if it needed a new battery or a new charger and had to buy both, for more $$ than the whole thing, and it never worked well anyway.
I went back to a corded drill, Ryobi, and it’s been a rock. I wish I could bring back the chuck key, they tightened much better than these removable heads do.
Really old “not a good buy” story from when I still lived in London. I bought a pair of expensive brand tights (panty hose over here) that were marked as seconds. Had often done so as they generally had just a small flaw in an inconspicuous area. Took them out of the sealed manufacturer’s package. They had 3 legs. Three full length legs. The store (i think it was Selfridges as I worked next door) had the seconds clearly marked as no returns. I took them back and said “I know it says no returns, but…” & held them up. Refund was given amongst much laughter. In retrospect I should have kept the for a laugh, but I was pretty tight for money which is why I was buying seconds (not sure if that term is used here?)
Andersen tilt-wash 400 series, 1998, were rotten. Literally rotten. Sold as vinyl-clad, pine interior, but really just a poor exterior paint that cracked and let in moisture. Moldy very quickly. Andersen passed me off for years until a contractor put me in touch with a regional rep. They would acknowledge nothing, but paid and installed 31 huge windows for free. There’s a class-action on this problem; they were well aware.
Their tilt-wash system is also almost impossible for a female to open. I need a thread on “good” windows to buy 
@sryrstress Jeldwen are very good windows.
I realize this is the ‘not a good buy’ thread but since the comments veered toward plumbing, I thought I would pass along a recent discovery. Moen offers lifetime warranty. I had no idea. Two of the bathrooms have Moen shower heads and after searching fruitlessly for a replacement, my handyman mentioned the lifetime warranty. Needless to say I do not have the receipts from nearly 20 years ago, but after less than ten minutes on the phone, two shower heads were shipped to me free of charge. They are not the same as the old ones, but they fit and work wonderfully.
Now, if I could just find free replacement parts for the four Jado sink faucet sets…
CT1417,
That is good to know because we are about to redo our bathroom.
swimcatsmom, oh, I think I would have saved those!
@swimcatsmom the three legged pantyhose made me laugh out loud!
Re: Moen…this does belong in th NOT good but thread. We had a Moen kitchen faucet. It failed. Yes,MBAs replaced free. That one failed…replaced for free. That one failed too. And yes…replaced for free.
But come on…what junk!
We have Hansgroh now. I would never buy a Moen kitchen faucet again…never.
Last summer, we wanted to buy a new car. Emphasis on the “new”. As it was the end of the model year, DH researched online, and attempted to find the car we wanted in the area. After a few weeks of searching, we found it! Listed as new, and with all the options we were looking for. We called the dealership, made an appointment and drove an hour to buy our “new” car.
When we arrived, we waited a few minutes, and the salesman drove the car around from the back. It had just been freshly washed (great, I thought!), but what was strange was that all the windows were rolled down. As DH chatted with the salesman, and gave him our car keys so they could look at it for a trade-in, I hopped into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The odometer flashed a number…1500 miles. That was strange to me, for a new car. Then I realized why all the windows were rolled down. It reeked of cigarette smoke. Oh, no way.
It turned out that the car was a dealer car, driven by the general manager’s wife, obviously a smoker.
They enticed us to come in and sit down (I don’t know why we did this), but we then spent 45 minutes telling them why we did not want a “new” car with 1500 miles on it that had been driven by a smoker. The salesman told us they were able to list it as new, because it had not been titled yet. I kept asking for our keys back, and he kept trying to get us to buy this car, or any car. and then brought his general manager over to help with the sale. I really felt I was a hostage and was never going to get out of there. Once I had my car keys in hand, I just about ran for the door.
We finally found the car we wanted, at a different dealership, and will, of course, never return to this one.
“But, the one that came up today is timely and really ticking me off. I dropped my iphone Saturday and only had about 1/2 its functionality. DH works for a phone repair company and took it to their best tech today. He opened my phone and showed dh that my phone was refurbished. The battery wasn’t original and there were some other things that showed it had been worked on. Bought it from Staples. So Staples is selling refurbished iphones as new? I wouldn’t have thought it possible but this is the first time my phone has been serviced.”
@collage1 We bought the Verizon iphone insurance through Asurion…expensive and a $200 deductible which must have been in VERY fine print. Anyway…son’s phone stopped working…filed claim with Asurion and they overnighted new phone to him. Verizon was unhelpful in transferring data from old to new phone so some info and all photos were lost…but that was his own fault for not backing up, I guess. Anyway…he came home from college this summer and said, I need to go to Verizon, this phone has never worked right. Verizon sends him to the Apple store…Apple tech opens it and says it has been refurbished. And shows my son that on the back it says “refurbished” in tiny, tiny letters. So just a heads-up, folks. Check for that. @collage1 , I would be interested to know if you can find that on the back of your phone. Anyway…son called Asurion and they sent a NEW iphone (presumably) and all data transferred safely.
Also, I have heard nothing but GREAT things about Speed Queen. I would buy them next, although my LG top loader is pretty good…except for the low water issue. But I can work around that (by using the “add extra water” button at exactly the right time) if I make laundry my full-time job one day a week.
@thumper1 – what a hassle about the kitchen faucet. I only had Moen shower heads and they were fine until the water started squirting out unevenly. The expensive Jado shower head and Grohe diverter in my shower required a $300 repair this year. (Most of the charge was a $200 part—ouch!)
I hadn’t touched a sink or faucet in my house in 17 years so had not noticed that Hansgroh brand, but now I see it at Costco. Is it new?
I recently redid part of the kitchen and replaced the workhorse Chicago faucet with Grohe, but I don’t know if Grohe is related to Hansgroh. Meanwhile, Chicago moved out of residential and into commercial work.
We have Schlage door locks and deadbolts on our three outside doors. We special ordered all brass with a lifetime warranty, but the locks inevitably tarnish within 4-5 years (we live near the ocean and get a lot of salt corrosion). Home Depot has never given us a problem in honoring the “lifetime warranty” and replacing the locks.
Kolbe & Kolbe windows are excellent.
My understanding has always been that phones received through Assurion are refurbished. It might even be in the fine print.
@Madison85 You are right…it is definitely stated in their policy. I didn’t read it since my son went to Verizon himself and just said “Yes” when offered the insurance. Squaretrade also says they may supply refurbished. Live and learn.
Ooh-I wish I had known about the Schlage lifetime warranty!
49 - YES. We had Moen also, which failed after 10 years. They sent three different replacement parts and finally a new set. All failed wishing a short period of time.
This is a not sure if it was a bad buy or not, hopefully not–still pending–…Last month, here in AZ, our AC failed in our rental unit. It was an old old system. As it was already HOT and we had a tenant, it had to be replaced quick. This is a roof install with a crane. I got two quotes, ending up going with the higher one at $4800 because they are a well known, well regarded, local company. Install seemed to go ok—just a call that “It’s in! All done!”. Until a week later our HOA sent a letter saying the roof had been damaged on install. It had been a random roof check. It appears the company will take care of it, to the tune of $500, and they told me the installer had said it had been a “difficult” install…but if the HOA hadn’t been out there I can’t imagine how this would have gone down.