A couple of years ago we were having trouble with the dishwasher not getting dishes clean.  Since it was getting on in age and the problem was getting worse, we bit the bullet and bought a new Kitchenaid.

The thing seemed to work great, but then started also having trouble getting the dishes clean.  We finally called the company and they sent out some service technicians to run some tests.

Now, let me take a break and explain something most Moms probably know, but I was not aware of, even with my engineering background.  In general, a few things are needed for automatic cleaning, whether it is a dishwasher, or clothes washer, or carwash, or whatever:

1) water

2) detergent

3) heat

4) motion or agitation

Ideally, you have all four things.  Having less results in less than optimal cleaning power.

It turns out the problem was not really with the dishwasher.  It was our pipes.  You see, the water heater was on one end of the house and the kitchen was on the exact opposite end, and the hot water line was not insulated.  So, as we were approaching winter at the time, the hot water ran through a long stretch uninsulated line in the crawlspace below the house.  As such, the water was cold when it reached the kitchen.  I eventually got it insulated, but in the meantime we were shown we could run the water 2-3 minutes in the kitchen sink to get it hot enough, and then the dishwasher cleaned great.

OK, enough with the ‘cleaning engineering’ lesson.  That’s a cute story, but the real reason I am writing this is that the repair men were the best SALESMEN for the Kitchenaid brand.  These guys were unintentional salesmen in that they were not pitching to sell (we had already bought the machine), but the way they talked about it was great.  They, like most repairmen, had been ‘around the block’ and serviced all sorts of appliances.  They said they were most happy with the quality and ease of repair of their brand.  Most of the time a repair was not needed, just an education for the consumer (as in my case).

The best thing was this:  the model we bought had a built-in disposal, so they kept telling us “Please, don’t rinse your dishes; you are wasting water!”  This thrilled Robyn, and it actually took us a while to break the habit of pre-rinsing the dishes until they were spotless (that’s how bad the old dishwasher was getting).

Since then we have moved and fixed up a house or two, and I now typically put a Kitchenaid dishwasher in when a new one is needed and when it will fit.

The bottom line is to know your ‘salesmen’ are not always your best sales people.  Your ‘front line’  people (receptionist, delivery person, repair person) should be treated well and understand that they typically have more points of contact with customers than salesmen, and THEY are the ones who will determine whether or not you get repeat customers.