LTS. Let s Talk Service. - Service Professionals Profile - Alexander Collins of Allen and Sons Appliance

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1 Volume 2, Issue 8 September 2008 LTS Let s Talk Service SERVICE BULLETINS: Cooking Jenn-Air Gas Cooktop Nuisance Sparking Gas Oven does not heat freestanding & slide-in all brands KitchenAid oven won t heat when cooktop is hot INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Service Professionals Profile 1 TechLine Tips 2 Claims Processing Dept Goes GREEN Whirlpool Regional Training Centers (RTCs) Trade Partner Support & Techline Info Page Appearances 5 ATC/RTC Info 6 Decals & Patches Flyer 7 - Service Professionals Profile - Alexander Collins of Allen and Sons Appliance The Whirlpool Service Network consists of a wide variety of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and stories. This article focuses on Alexander Collins of Allen and Sons Appliance, located in Los Angeles, California. It offers a nice lesson on how one s future can be altered at any moment. Alexander is currently the Service Manager at Allen and Sons which employs about 40 technicians. Born in Russia, he arrived in the United States in He had served in the Russian Army from , which was mandatory at the time. Not being well acquainted with a lot of the restrictive policies within the Russian military, an ironic twist of fate soon occurred. While stationed as a training engineer in the Ukraine at a large military construction project, and during a break, he visited the base library and began reading a trade publication. He was spotted doing this by a base colonel, who was not fond of this educational practice at Alexander Collins, of Allen and Sons Appliance, Los Angeles, California his facility, and subsequently he had Alexander reassigned to Eastern Siberia at a less desirable facility. The train trip to Alexander s new opportunity took over nine days to complete. Soon after he arrived, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred and the majority of the military people stationed at his prior facility in the Ukraine were forced to clean up the nuclear fallout in Chernobyl. This, unfortunately, was basically a death sentence for anyone coming within close contact with the radiation. After dodging this bullet, Alexander was able to complete his military term and take advantage of Perestroika and the opportunities that resulted. Collins is also a professional violinist and performed in the Russian symphony. In July of 2008, he earned his U.S. citizenship. He continues to stay active in the appliance industry, attending several conventions throughout the year, while providing his customers with excellent service. Don Dellario, Field Service Representative

2 Volume 2, Issue 8 Page 2 W h i r l p o o l T e c h l i n e T i p s SxS Freezer Doors with In- Door Dispensers All Brands, All Models Whirlpool Corporation has introduced new ice and water dispenser systems in Side by Side models. In the event you need to replace a freezer door, do not assume that all doors are appropriate for every application. Only order the replacement door for the specific model and serial that you are servicing. Do not assume that any other door is appropriate for that application, even if the dimensions appear identical. If you receive a replacement door that has a different wiring harness, or the number of wires are different from the original door, do not try to adapt the wiring and do not install the door. Contact your parts distributor to make arrangements to order the proper replacement door. Mark Gogel, Senior Engineer Whirlpool & Maytag Dehumidifiers Whirlpool Room Air Conditioner Until further notice, it is Whirlpool policy to repair all Dehumidifier and Room Air Conditioner sealed systems failures that are under the 5 year, sealed system warranty, including units that are 8,000 BTU and below. Repair unit under warranty (LaPorte has secured service parts). Note: Maytag dehumidifiers are licensed products, direct all Maytag dehumidifier Consumers to call: Whirlpool labeled units manufactured after are serviced by the licensee (Hisense Kelon) See July LTS for more KitchenAid Induction Cooktop models KICU508SBL & KICU568SBL The type of pans used on an induction cooktop are critical... The U&C guide states to test cookware with a magnet. If the magnet sticks to the bottom of the pan, then it will work with the induction system. This is not a foolproof test. Some pans are too thin or lack enough ferrous material to properly operate the induction element. An induction element won t always heat unless the pan is of proper size for the burner and/or has enough ferrous material. The pan must cover most of the element. To ensure the unit is working as designed, try the following: Place a weak magnet (refrigerator magnet, shower curtain magnet) on the cooking utensil. If the magnetic sticks to it then the cookware should be ok. If the magnet clings to it weakly or not at all, then the cookware is not suitable for induction cooking. Carefully place a cast iron pan (without sliding to prevent scratching) or a pan marked as designed for induction cooking on the induction element surface. If the element operates with the cast iron pan or the induction cookware, then the cook top is operating as designed. Dave Shertzer, Product Service Manager, Cooking Missing Graphics on Some Whirlpool Electronics Cooking Controls: RF114, RF212, WFE301, WFE361, YRF115, YWFE301, YWFE361, TES325, TES326, IVE323, IVP338, IVE823, IVP858, TEP340, TGS325, and TGS326 The Touchpad (Overlays) were printed without "to lock Hold for 3 sec" under the Start button (see picture), or with an explanation in the U&C guide that this feature is on this control. (Hidden feature) Whirlpool brands have the feature installed on the start button that, when held for 3 seconds, locks out the control. The graphics were left off the stylemaster and no update was put into the literature to explain this feature. Manufacturing is placing a flyer into the literature for each range to explain to customers how to correct an accidental lockout. Both of these items are in process of being changed. To turn on the Control Lockout feature: 1. Check that the oven and timer are off. 2. Press and hold the START keypad for 3 seconds. 3. A tone will sound and LOC will be displayed. 4. Repeat to unlock. Only the CLOCK, OVEN LIGHT and TIMER keypads will function with the control locked. Bob Crawford, Product Service Manager, Cooking

3 September 2008 Let s Talk Service C LAIMS O R N E R Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007, Whirlpool Claims Processing and the Product Exchange (PEX) departments took a hard look at all of its processes, in an effort to identify ways to become more efficient - save time, save money and save the environment. We knew we wanted to leverage technology, but without sacrificing service, and we feel we have made some giant steps forward in efficiencies. One example is in our PEX Payment Team. Previously, PEX turnaround documents were manually received via fax and then were re-faxed and scanned digitally into our system of records. The paper faxes were discarded once the documents were scanned. With the help of our telecomm resources, we created a new toll free fax# that allowed all of those PEX documents to bypass any manual intervention, and now they go directly into our records system. The 100% digital process means that no more paper is being used to collect these documents. This translates into about 150 pages of paper not to mention about two hours of time--saved each day that can be used performing other tasks. The Bonus? Turnaround time has greatly improved, allowing us to better serve our customers. Another example of technology use within our group is the move to an electronic fax system, allowing all our employees to receive and send faxes through their PC. Since the documents are digital, they can be saved, stored and sent without printing a single piece of paper! Add to that the attachment capabilities through Service- Bench, where invoices, photos and other documentation can be appended directly to claims. [Editor s Note: See August 2008 LTS, Page 5] As we continue to evolve, you will notice more tools being utilized to do business better, faster and smarter. How can the service network join Whirlpool in its efforts to help save the environment? If you currently do not use ServiceBench to process your warranty claims, sign up today! It s fast, it s free and it saves you time and resources. Call either of the phone numbers listed below, and we ll walk you through it. Don t stop there! Sign up for direct deposit through ServiceBench. Direct deposit allows you to receive your funds faster and saves you a trip to the bank. You ll receive an ed check stub that allows you to easily reconcile your records. Check with your parts distributors to see if you are able to receive and access your parts invoices electronically. That beats an ugly, paper stack in your in-basket, any day! For more information on these or other tools available, you can contact Whirlpool Claims Processing at , or ServiceBench directly, at Join Whirlpool in achieving excellence, setting industry benchmarks, and saving the environment -- one claim at a time! Contributed by David Gordon Team Advisor, Claims Processing Whirlpool Corporation LTS PUZZLER Thanks to all of you who played along in our Let s Talk Service Puzzler contest this past summer. We had fun just looking for the tidbits old and new in the SOG for you to find. Here are names of monthly contest winners: Fred, Maillet Appliance Co., AL; April, Wiggins Appliance Repair, GA; Debbie, R&D Refrigeration, LA; Sand, Joe s Electric, MI; Sharon, Kevin s Appliance Service, MI; Dawn, Bill s Appliance Service, NH; Dawn, Houshold Centralized Service, OH; Craig, Walt s Sherwood Appliance, OR; Jim, Professional TV & Appl Service, OR; Cynthia, AAA Appliance Services Inc., PA; David, Fullerton Appliance, PA; Bryan, Quality Repair Service, TX; JD, Guinco Service, TX; Jerri, Appliance Rescue Service, TX; Erica, Betty s Home Appliance, VA.

4 Volume 2, Issue 8 Page 4 Whirlpool Regional Training Centers What are they, and what can they do for you? You may have heard about Regional Training Center (RTC) training, or that Whirlpool has several RTCs. You might have wondered what they are all about, where they re located and who runs them. Finally, are they worth the investment to attend one of the training sessions? First, what are RTCs? They are part of the Whirlpool answer to the industry-wide shortage of IHSPs (In Home Service Professionals). This allows employers to send experienced and inexperienced IHSPs to be properly trained on a variety of Whirlpool and Maytag products and service procedures. Whirlpool operates seven Regional Training Centers throughout the country. Each of these RTCs conducts four, one-week, training sessions of in-depth hands on and classroom training. That s 28 training sessions a year! At each of these centers we will have: - Week 1 - Refrigeration - Week 2 - Laundry - Week 3 - Kitchen - Week 4 - Refrigeration (our most requested class, a repeat of week 1) We use three dedicated instructors, Greg Doster, Bob Davie and Dan Wood, all managers of business and employee development for Whirlpool. There is always a second instructor, one of our Field Service Representatives, to conduct each training session. So, your training will always be provided by Whirlpool professional trainers. Bob Davie Greg Doster Dan Wood What is included in your registration fee? 4 nights in a hotel Transport from the hotel to the training center and back Continental breakfast at the hotel Lunch at the training center Sodas, bottled water, coffee, pastries and candy 28 hours of instruction, including classroom and hands-on CDs containing a complete set of job aids for the subjects covered A Program Guide Useful information on obtaining your EPA certification Use of all hand tools, meters and specialty tools A Certificate of Completion (A detailed per-week description of each training session can be found at under IHSP Services/ educational solutions/ regional training centers/course description) Each registered applicant will also be enrolled in Brand Academy, Whirlpool Corporation s on line training courses. We request that all participants planning to attend a training session at an RTC complete the Brand Academy pre-training courses that are suggested prior to arriving at the RTC, to help put everyone on equal footing. On-line pre-training courses are: Basic Electricity l & ll Meter Usage Level 1 Basic- Refrigeration or Laundry or Kitchen There also are 28 additional courses that might be of interest to you. You may log-on to Brand Academy at any time and take advantage of these additional training courses free of charge. Brand Academy may be accessed from the home page of ServiceMatters.com by following the link in the upper right corner. Now, how are we doing at the RTCs? That s a question we ll answer using both the participants survey scores and the results of our latest Employer Survey. Following each training session, all participants rate the week s training session and their experience at the RTC on a scale from 1 thru 5 (with 5 being the best). Currently, we have a rating of 4.85 from all participants attending a training session at our RTCs. Periodically, we also survey the employers of the participants to get their opinion as to how well we re doing at the RTCs. Based on the responses to the survey we are able to find out quite a bit of information. The most recent survey results are below: Productivity increase after attending a Whirlpool RTC: All IHSP s - 17 calls per week increase. (That s an increase in your store s income of $80, per year, per IHSP) Experienced IHSPs - 7 calls per week increase. Inexperienced IHSPs - 26 calls per week increase. Hiring Trends and RTC ratings as reported by IHSP employers: 63% are looking to hire in the future, with over half of them in the next 12 months. The overall rating the employers gave the training received was a % of the employer s surveyed responded would send additional employees to a Whirlpool RTC. A couple of the comments we received from the employer surveys: J knew most of what was taught but the class reinforced his knowledge and helped validate his previous OJT training with Senior Techs. Was worthwhile!!! D (Owner) The training I got at the RTC has been extremely beneficial I rate the training a big 5. It would be a 6 if the scale went that high. C.. (Owner) Whirlpool knows that the long term solution to the IHSP shortage is increased training, not only from manufacturers, but at Whirlpool RTCs, Continued on Page 6

5 September 2008 Let s Talk Service Clip & Save Who and Where to Contact for your Service-Related Issues Trade Partner Service Support (TPSS) Functions» Schedule service calls» Expedite service calls» Arrange for property damage inspections» Order warranty parts» Research and act upon service history» Authorizations for policy overrides» Approve and process product exchanges» Investigate product exchange payments» Negotiate fair and reasonable resolutions for consumers» Replace missing/damaged parts from new product» Research and report product issues Other Functions Where to verify product warranties: ServiceBench ServiceMatters Rejected Claims Exceptions Management Team: Additional Mileage approval: Contact your Field Service Representative (FSR) Security code or account number for Tech Line: Contact your FSR Technical Assistance Line» Technical Support for Authorized Service Technicians through Phone, or Fax» Control Pre-Authorization (all printed circuit boards)» Subscription Technical support (out of warranty only)» Non-repairable authorizations on all products» Technical assistance on only part installation Information needed before calling Whirlpool Techline: Service account # and Security Code (changes every 3 months) Customer s phone number, name, address, city, state, zip code Complete model and serial number Appliance history available, including any parts previously used Have diagnostics run and ability to report on failure codes that appeared Basic tools needed: voltage meter, thermometer range , amp probe Other Contacts» Part imaging or breakdown, wrong part, part color or part in box, Contact your Part Distributor» Tech sheets, Wiring Diagrams, Job Aids, Service Pointers, ServiceMatters.com» Kenmore Products, contact Sears Stan leyadams, Whirlpool TechLine Techline closes the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, at 3 p.m EST, for training. APPEARANCES By Jeff Mackzum We ve all heard the phrases, You never get a second chance to make a first impression, or for the sake of appearances, and my personal favorite, dress for success. The expressions hold both truth and promise. Effort that we put into our appearances will always pay off in the way people respond to us; e.g., our appearance slips and we justifiably lose the respect of those around us. The service business continues to be a prime example of these truths. When a technician wears a dirty shirt or old pants with the knees worn through, the consumer will instantly form an opinion of him or her and the service company itself, whether deserved or not. The truck that pulls up in front of the house is a rolling advertisement of your company and should at all times promote the appearance that you want to reflect to current and future customers. A customer does not have any idea how welltrained a technician is or, for that matter, whether they even know how perform their job at all. They will simply make that judgment from the signals that they get from your appearance and your actions. Think about it as a customer, what would you think when a service technician comes to your home in an old, cluttered truck and rings the bell, wearing an old dirty uniform, a wornout ball cap, and scuffed tennis shoes instead of work shoes. The technician will never have another chance to form his first impression. Now, how would you feel about a service technician that shows up wearing a clean uniform with a name tag or ID badge, no ball cap, steel toed work shoes. His shirt is tucked in and his pants are not worn out at the knees, and he carries a cloth tool bag with a protective cloth to work on. Then he hands you the company business card and introduces himself and reason why he is there. That s a first impression to be proud of! Those of us in this service business depend on the judgments of customers for our success and future business. When we fail to impress a customer for the sake of appearances, we are really giving away future business to someone that is willing to make the effort. So let s all take a second look at our vehicles and uniforms, take a few moments to dress for success, show the world how we truly feel about ourselves and the company, and go out and impress that customer! For those of you looking for uniform patches and truck decals, you can still contact Competitive Edge, at , Ext 126, or Sarah at shadley@competitive-edge.net See pages 7&8.

6 Volume 2, Issue 8 Page 6 Organization W H I R L P O O L C O R P O R A T I O N Whirlpool Corporation 553 Benson Rd. Mail Drop 8020 Benton Harbor, MI to: Judith_A_Wittmann@Whirlpool.com Fax: Let s Talk Service is a monthly publication of Whirlpool Corporation. It is designed and intended to be used by Authorized Whirlpool technicians. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, electronically or otherwise, without the express written permission of the Whirlpool Manager of Publications. Registered Trademark/ Trademark of Whirlpool, U.S.A., or Maytag Corporation, or its related entities. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies. REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER (RTC) TRAINING SESSION SCHEDULE 2008 Call RTC SUMMER/FALL 2008 TRAINING SESSION SCHEDULE Hacienda La Puente Adult Education (LA PUENTE, CA) Refrigeration Oct. 14, Oct. 17, 2008 Laundry Oct. 21, Oct. 24, 2008 Kitchen Oct. 28, Oct. 31, 2008 Refrigeration Nov. 04, Nov. 07, 2008 AUTHORIZED TRAINING CENTER (ATC) TRAINING SESSION , ext 7231 SCHEDULE 2008 ATC FALL/WINTER 2008 TRAINING SESSION SCHEDULE Center for Manufacturing Excellence (GALESBURG, IL) Refrigeration Nov. 10, 2008 Nov. 14, 2008 Kitchen Nov. 17, 2008 Nov. 21, 2008 For more information, visit Whirlpool RTCs Continued from Page 4 the local and state level. Greg, Bob and Dan, along with supervisor Mike Hall, work at encouraging the opening of Major Appliance Technology (MAT) programs, at both high schools and post-secondary schools across the nation. This same group also works with school counselors to recruit new blood into our industry by letting them Mike Hall know that this can be a very rewarding career. Their overall message? M o r e T e c h l i n e T i p s Proper Care of Ice Dispensing System Great Tips Build Customer Confidence... The ice chute on your customers SxS products can build up ice flakes in the ice chute over time due to the use of crushed ice. To prevent the ice chute from clogging with ice, please encourage customers to clean the chute on a regular basis approximately every two weeks. To clean the ice chute, first remove the ice storage bin. Use a warm, wet towel to wipe the inside of the chute to clear any ice build up. Also, inspect the bottom of the ice bin to ensure that ice has not started to collect on the ice bin as well. After removing the ice build-up, be sure to dry both the chute and the bucket thoroughly to prevent additional ice formation. Occasionally, it is best to empty the all ice from the ice bin and thoroughly remove all ice build up. (Bag the old ice for summer coolers!) This will help prevent ice from clumping as well as provide a fresh supply of ice for dispenser use. Mark Gogel, Senior Engineer It s not just a job, it s a Career... If you are aware of any high schools, vocational schools or community colleges in your area that would like to start a MAT program, please contact one of us so that we can contact and work with them to make it happen. The Whirlpool RTC staff is looking forward to training you or your IHSPs at an upcoming RTC training session. Remember you can get all the information you need at Thanks, and a tip of the hat to Dan Wood

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8 September 2008 Let s Talk Service