Having owned five homes in 20 years we’ve replaced appliances often. We’ve found that a local, non-chain appliance store is ultimately always better than any of the deals from major big box stores. I bought a stove at Sears and will never shop there again. Menards was decent, Home Depot-not so much. The small local stores were far better in price and service.
I believe Home Depot (Lowes as well??) uses deceptive tactics to sell products. Flooring, for example. When they advertise whole house installation for $99, the installer is not getting paid only $99. Home Depot is paying him the full rate so they make up the difference by jacking up the prices of supplies (carpet pad, etc) or skipping steps (not using adhesive on concrete). My cousin installs flooring and just explained it all to me. As customers are left no recourse when carpet wrinkles, they call an installer who has to redo it all-costing more than just installing it. This makes me not trust them for appliances either.
I agree. I now buy appliances locally from smaller merchants. I may not get the absolute best price but the Customer Service makes up for it.
Last stove I bought from HD was dropped by the animals they hire to deliver it. The damaged was concealed until I went to install it finding that the legs were driven up into the bottom and destroyed.
Then it was thirty phone calls to get it straightened out. I gave up and repaired it myself. It was for an apartment and needed it in and working right away.
Never again
As the owners of a few apartment units, we buy more appliances in 5 years then most people buy in a lifetime.
We agree on flooring -- local company, we have our own preferred installer. I wouldn't recommend adhesive on concrete -- how do you get it off when it wears out?
However, on appliances, the local "Hometown" Sears is our preferred supplier. For reefers, dishwashers and ranges, they almost always have a mid-level model on sale at a price barely above the low-end versions. They beat Home Depot and the other all other local suppliers by at least 20% if you want the one on sale.
For our purposes, Kenmore is as good as any other brand since I am confident parts will be available for a long time, although we get whatever brand is the best deal at the time we need it. Service is a non-issue. I install them myself, and if I can't fix a problem, the unit is considered "beyond economic repair."