Jennair
Complaint 14147 Details

Please see my email to Jenn_air and their response. Your thoughts or comments are appreciated



Dear Mr. Wolf:

Thank you for visiting the Jenn-Air web site. We appreciate hearing from you.

I'm sorry you are not happy with the performance of your accessory burner cartridge. However, there is no defect with this product. The cartridge (when installed on the left side in place of the grill and regardless of whether natural gas or propane is being used) operates on all Jenn-Air gas cooktops and ranges in the same fashion.

The output on the left side with the E-Burner grill installed is 8,500 BTU’s for the front and back section of the grill for a total
of 17,000 BTU on high setting. When turned to the low setting the output is 4,000 BTU. The low setting of 4000 BTU is the
minimum output that will assure the flame will not be pulled away from the burner when the downdraft ventilation is on.
The unit has two fixed sealed burners on the right side. The right front burner has 16,000 BTU on high and 1,600 BTU on
Low. The right rear has 5,000 BTU on high and 650 BTU on low. When going from 16,000 to 5,000 BTU’s on high or 1,600
to 650 BTU’s on low a visual difference will be noticed when adjusting the flame. When the two burner cartridge is installed
on the left side, the output will be 8,000 BTU on high and 4,000 BTU on low with both burners on. When going from 8,000
BTU’s to 4,000 BTU’s, little to no visual difference will be noticed when adjusting the flame. This would be considered normal operation.

We appreciate your business with Jenn-Air. We invite you to contact us through email or live chat at www.jennair.com or by calling us at 1-800-JENN-AIR (536-6247), Monday to Friday between the hours of 8AM and 8PM EST.

Sincerely,

Kathleen G.
Jenn-Air Senior Specialist
Jenn-Air Customer eXperience Center
http://www.jennair.com
1.800.JENNAIR

*If replying, please use Forward versus Reply or New as that will leave this message intact and will help us to respond faster.


[THREAD ID:1-GDJTVM]



-----Original Message-----

From: (Personal Information Removed)
product: Ranges
model_number: JDS9860CDB00
serial_number: JDS9860CDB00
date_of_purchase: 06/02/2011
body:
Sent: 8/19/2011 07:41:23 PM
To: "[email protected]"<[email protected]>
Cc: Terry Wolf <(Personal Information Removed)>
Subject: Jennair.com Contact Form Submission

Dear Kathleen, thanks so much for responding to my request. We purchased our current primary residence 5.5 years ago. The home had a JENN-AIR range/oven that had the grill/griddle cartridge. Not having a need for that configuration we replaced the unit with a new JENN-AIR flat top electric in 10/08. In the meantime we purchased a winter home in Florida. In doing the renovations we replaced all appliances and since a down draft unit was not needed opted to try a duel fuel range/oven (Kenmore). We became so enamored with the gas range and its finite temperature control we decided to replace our electric JENN-AIR (in our primary residence) with the only duel fuel unit we understood to be available through JENN-AIR. Of course, a consideration was the down draft feature as the unit is installed in an island in the kitchen.
We purchased the unit from Hawkins & Sons in Wilmington, De. on June 2, 2011, serial #
D12278098. It was installed 6/20. When talking with the sales person at Hawkins I stated I had no interest in the grill feature of the duel fuel unit. (We use our Weber outside all seasons.) He did mention the only duel fuel unit available through JENN-AIR was the one with the grill component. He did offer the unit that was gas, both range and oven, but suggested there was a learning curve in using the gas oven as temperature consistency was not one of the selling points of the oven (lack of convection technology). The convection feature in the electric we were familiar with and comfortable. He also offered that for an additional cost we could purchase a cartridge to take the place of the grill unit- which is what we did.
After the unit was installed we found 1) we had essentially no control over the flame in the cartridge that was installed and 2) had only limited control over the right side gas units. We quickly had one of their service technicians in our home trying to improve the control issue. While he did achieve a level (and somewhat acceptable) modification in the ability to regulate the simmer unit and front right heating unit, he had essentially no success with the controls in the left cartridge. As a result we have a gas range were with 2 burners we have a degree of control and 2 we have only high and moderately high heat. Those units can be used to bring something to a boil or a high heat fry but that is the extent of their usefulness.
The technician offered an opinion that the JENN-AIR range when utilizing natural gas seemed to have less of a problem than one using propane. There was no discussion with us when we were considering the purchase as this being a potential issue, and in fact paid extra to have a "conversion kit" to accommodate our propane use.
To me JENN-AIR is in the same class as Wolf, Bosch and other high end units. The fact we were relegated to a downdraft unit also directed us in our decision since the unit is installed in a granite island.
I trust I have expressed my frustration with what we are dealing. I would never have questioned the JENN-AIR product and it's ability to deliver the quality of performance we had come to enjoy from our earlier experiences. The unit as it currently is, does meet the standards we expected from JENN-AIR.
When we first realized the problem it was suggested by the technician I call your company to discuss the issue. The young lady in Customer Service with whom I spoke stated: "most people who buy the duel range unit do so because they are vegetarians and prefer grilling their vegetables in doors." Not a response I was expecting and I trust not the company position as well.
If the technician was correct in that this is an "expected" inconvenience of the duel range and the cartridge issue, especially for propane gas users, I would hope that JENN-AIR is addressing the issue through it's competent technical advisors with a remedy forthcoming. If in fact this is an inherent deficiency with the unit, without a technical remedy, I would like to know what alternative you have to offer me.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,