Maine has a Faulty Appliance Law - that Covers anything up to 4 years

Here's a law that ALL STATES should enact- a law that protects consumers from buying appliances that seem to stop working or working well after the 1 year warranty expires. It's a law that covers appliances for 4 years.

Faulty appliance? Maine law could cover it, but many struggle to take advantage 

by Dan Lampariello, WGME-TV CBS13 I-Team  February 26th 2024

 WEST PARIS, MAINE (WGME) -- When you purchase a major appliance, there's an expectation it will last, but if it doesn't, a Maine law could have you covered.

The only problem is that the CBS13 I-Team has found many consumers often have to fight to get those household items repaired or replaced under the law.

"It just all of a sudden stopped cycling from the fill cycle to the wash cycle," Candace Durgin, who's family purchased a Whirlpool washing machine new from the Home Depot in 2020, said. "There were days where it would take literally all day to fill or wash one load of clothes."

After trying to troubleshoot the issues on her own, Durgin called both the manufacturer and seller for help, but both told her there was nothing they could do.

"Whirlpool said, 'Well, you need to talk to service,' but then service said, 'We have nobody to service your area,'" Durgin said. "Home Depot said, 'Nope, your warranty is expired.'"

While Durgin, like many consumers, was convinced by the seller to also purchase an extended warranty for the machine, she didn't actually need one. That's because Maine's Implied Warranty Law covers faulty appliances that are under four years old, but Durgin says neither the Home Depot or Whirlpool told her that.

"I never would have known if you guys hadn't already done the stories on this law and somebody in the family hadn't seen it," Durgin said.

The I-Team has been trying to educate consumers about the Implied Warranty Law for years, helping many of our viewers get everything from stoves to dishwashers repaired or replaced.

The law has three major points: the item needs to be poorly designed or seriously defective, it hasn't been abused and the item was purchased less than four years ago and is still within its normally expected useful life.

If your appliance or product passes that test, both the seller and manufacturer are legally responsible for repairing or replacing it.

The 3-part test under Maine's Implied Warranty Law 

While the law seems simple enough, consumer advocates believe many people don't even know the law exists and that makes it hard to take advantage of.

"The first thing out of a their [a company's] mouth is 'We don't know what you're talking about' or 'We've never heard of that' and 'We don't do that here'," consumer advocate Carol Roberts said. "I bet 98 percent of Maine people don't even know they have it."

Carol Roberts is an advocate who has decades of experience helping consumers navigate their rights under Maine's Implied Warranty Law  

Complaints about faulty appliances are usually one of the top complaints into the Maine's Attorney General's Office. They also offer a mediation service to help resolve things if a manufacturer or seller refuses to honor the implied warranty. 

Bills have been proposed to strengthen the law in previous legislative sessions, but nothing has passed. Roberts says she hopes to revisit the issue with lawmakers in the near future but hopes education about the law will continue in the meantime.