Is it over for Whirlpool ?

[henene4]

I don't think it takes any college education to realise that if
a) importing everything is made HORRENDOUSLY expensive (tariffs)
and
b) you still need these things (I mean, yeah...)
the conclusion to still make things affordable and available is makeing them in your country.

What has been asked for in here is the same:
You want things to be made in country - and implicitly at an affordable price. It's further implied you'd still want to pay people in the US the same wages more or less (cause, I mean, if you want to have things made in the US and want to make that possible by paying people low wages - damn..).
So you'd have to make things not made in country less attractive.
And I think it should be obvious where that ends up.

There's really not much difference between those two things, only you go at it from different angles.

Anyway, I will do the same as I usually have to do with about 50% of posts here in Deluxe and just ignore any further responses.
It's really not good for me or the forum to engage further...

 

[gelaundry4ever]

whirlpool disappointment

I am very disappointed in Whirlpool. Everything is cheaply built and sounds horrendous when operating. It's no surprise that they're getting away with this stupid crap. I don't like the removable agitator. It's a huge scam.

 

[user 12105]

Reply #30

Sorry you're made to feel that you have to or need to ignore posts here. Don't let me take up any more of your precious time......

 

[johnb300m]

John, you make valid points on Whirlpool’s footprint, impact on community, technology and innovation.
But none of that matters in our financial infested world, in light of this press release:

“A Look at Whirlpool Corporation's Growth Numbers”
“Over the last three years, Whirlpool Corporation has shrunk its earnings per share by 26% per year. It saw its revenue drop 15% over the last year.
Overall this is not a very positive result for shareholders. And the impression is worse when you consider revenue is down year-on-year. So given this relatively weak performance, shareholders would probably not want to see high compensation for the CEO. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future .
Has Whirlpool Corporation Been A Good Investment?
With a total shareholder return of -44% over three years, Whirlpool Corporation shareholders would by and large be disappointed. Therefore, it might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.”

Bosch lobbed a takeover balloon and then retracted.
Whirlpool has lost investors a lot of money.
Part of that is Covid, the markets outside of their control, Tariffs from Tump 1.0 and now 2.0.
But a lot is their own doing.
The constant “enshitification” of their parts and designs.
The fact that yes, LG Elux/Frigidaire, and shockingly even Samsung, have all marginally improved their designs and reliability (relatively speaking to contemporary times of endless garbage for sale). Whirlpool is languishing.
I’m not in the appliance industry but I’ve been in engineering in retail and industrial products for near 15yrs now (scary!) And there’s definitely some signs I’m seeing at WP from the outside that tell me their culture has radically changed the past decade. Ben’s comments reinforce what I feel I’ve been noticing.
The constant pressure to design things cheaper, faster, or not fully baked. Beta testing your software and electronics in the field. Distancing yourself from customers to the point WP engineering indeed doesn’t know they might have component or PCB issues.
That could be from a few things I’ve seen before. It’s not uncommon for management to not flow up issues from the field. Or the company (WP, service, or both) does not have an easy or efficient way to flow up field issues. Customer service in WP could be gatekeeping.
In engineering, it’s not uncommon for us to be purposely insulated from product/field issues unless they are direct safety concerns that open the company up to liability. Only then do they often become projects.
Product improvement projects are only kicked off if warranty costs will rise above re-engineering costs. Or we just wait till the next design platform.
Sometimes, engineers DO spec out quality designs or components, but sourcing, if they are pressured to cost cut, can skirt those specifications to an extent.
I feel like a lot this is likely happening at WP.
And it all has to do with the current leadership of the departments. Other competitors do this also, but their balance of these tactics might be skewed more to product quality than WP at the moment. Which I assume will win and retain more customers.
And that brings us to the customers. Yes, they are placated on cheap electronics and machines. Only now from inflation have appliance prices meaningfully gone up since the 80s. But part costs and quality have gone down. All while trying to keep more of that margin for the shareholders. It worked well up till now.
Either WP learns this lesson quickly, or their Board will make a move to right the ship. I don’t mean right the ship for us customers with good product, I mean for them the shareholders and their profits.
That could mean anything from ousting the CEO, to forcing the downsizing of brands and the company. Or even entertaining another buyout offer.
Remember, if a company or entity proposes a buyout to the Board, they are legally obligated to entertain it. Especially if it could give more $ to shareholders.
It’s like what happened to Twitter. They were court ordered to sell. Then Elon was court ordered to buy.
I hope they work this stuff out because the appliance landscape will be bleak if they don’t stick around.

 

[user 12105]

I remember seeing some kind of promo video a while back and the guy was talking about changing the culture at whirlpool... Whatever the hell that supposed to mean.

 

[william8]

Reply #29

We still manufacture plenty in the USA, and it's still growing. We also are the number 2 exporter in the world, second only to China. But we still export half as much as they do, with less that 1/4 the population. We were doing fine. Don't buy into all the nonsense.

https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/USA/united-states/manufacturing-output

 

[mark_wpduet]

Right now in April 2025... if I had to buy all new appliances

Dishwasher it would be a Whirlpool or Bosch.. I think Whirlpool makes good dishwashers like the Maytag/Kitchenaid/Whirlpool models

A refrigerator... I honestly do NOT have a clue... I know definitely not LG or Samsung... Maybe the basic GE or Whirlpool or Frigidaire Top Freezer and just make and store my own ice with a countertop ice maker (not that I'm being cheap) I want an awesome refrigerator but they sketch me out more than any appliance. I keep hearing the LESS complicated a refrigerator the better.. (which might be true because I rarely have problems with those little mini fridges... and those are the least complicated of all.)

An all electric Range? I have no clue here either. I guess Whirlpool/Frigidaire glass top range

Front load washer LG or Electrolux (although I don't like Elux doesn't have a drain pump access)

Dryer (definitely Whirlpool standard dryer)

so you see, with appliances, I'm all over the place...

This is just based on videos I've watched over the past couple of years.

It's so weird to me that you can not trust any company to make all of their appliances good... just certain ones. But whatever...

In some ways it almost feels like they're all the SAME to me at this point. Like one giant conglomeration making appliances.

 

[user 12105]

Reply #26

If I had to do all new appliances today it would all be Whirlpool.

Even though the GE top load agitator washers have that huge capacity and a true dual action agitator.

I don't like the feel of the controls. They are rather loose and the smaller dials turn all the way around.

Even the Maytag controls feel more clicky and sturdy and that's not saying much, plus they still have that useless pole wash plate they REFUSE to redesign.

Here we are 7 years into the TR design and Speed Queen doesn't look like it's going to let go of it.

I think the thing though is that most people just throw the load in and add their chemicals and come back when the machine is done. They're not actually sitting there through cycles watching what it's doing.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

agiflow

Too many people are too stupid to know how a washer works. They think or assume that something magical is going on then they blame the machine.

 

[washerdude]

Another WhirlFool Engineering Masterpiece!

Not to detract from the thread, but it immediately reminded me of what I have to do to our Whirlpool fridge this weekend, mainly the condenser coils...

You know the coils which are at the bottom? Those zig zag shaped ones making it ridiculously difficult and clunky to clean? Wonder why literally every other manufacture has the condenser coil stack sitting behind the back panel at the rear that can be brushed and vacuumed off easily? It's almost as if they used their brains and realized that those coils need to be cleaned off regularly in order to help the unit to dissipate heat. Why not just copy Whirlpool? It'll fail quicker and you'll get more money because people will have to buy new fridges since basic maintenance is made difficult. The zig zag coils do in fact add more surface area to dissipate heat which in turn raises efficiency, but where does that efficiency go when they accumulate with dust and are horrendously difficult to clean?

I kid you not, I need to roll the fridge across the kitchen to the sliding door and then use a leaf blower (which I had to buy just for this and not blowing leaves ironically) to blow out all the dust from the coils so that it flies outside and not all in the house. I already have a coil brush that I use to clean out the dryer lint trap housing but due to the way the coil is designed and how tight the gaps are, won't fit at all. Making basic maintenance (but vital) like this difficult only leads me to think that they KNEW it would be a problem and just left it out in the field for people to figure out on how to maintain. If they figured it out, good for them, if not, oh well let the compressor burn out and buy a new fridge! Just more pointers to the fact that Whirlpool doesn't care in the slightest bit. If that does happen, my next fridge will be either a GE or Samsung BESPOKE, they seem to have finally improved vastly with the issues they were having a decade back. LG fridges have remained horrifying with their linear compressors failing.

It really is the case that there is no manufacture that can build every single appliance (fridge,stove,DW,washer and dryer) reliably. Not sure if others noticed, but all kitchen appliances from all manufactures have very identical handle designs now, could this be an indicator that they know that people mix appliance brands and tend to not go with just one brand for the kitchen?

Personally my recommendations would be this:

Fridge: GE, Samsung BESPOKE, Frigidaire and Frigidaire Gallery but avoid french doors from them.

Dishwasher: Bosch, maybe Maytag but I've seen reports of them becoming clogged and also being difficult to clean out. BOL Whirlpool, BOL-MOL GE. Miele if you can afford it.

Stove: GE, Frigidaire and Frigidaire Gallery.

Front Load Washer: LG with Turbowash, Electrolux, GE, Speed Queen if you can afford it.

Top Load Washer: Used WP direct drive, if new then a GE top loader with a dual action agitator. If you have the money and are okay with the extremely restrictive control options, go for a Speed Queen TC5 and only that Speed Queen.

Dryer: Electrolux, LG, GE but only the ones with the controls at the front. The ones with the circular heat grille at the back are insanely complicated to take apart for cleaning. Whirlpool with the top mount lint filter but even with those, have seemed to taken a nose dive of quality and assembly, likely go for a used one of those. Speed queen if you can afford it.

 

[whirlpool862]

I don’t think whirlpool will be over but they’ve been declining recently, their newest washing machines seem to be prone for control board failures.

 

[pierreandreply4]

i wish speed queen could buy maytag from whirlpool

i wish speed queen could buy maytag from whirlpool the reason i think that is my mom and i who use to buy whirlpool inglis products no longer trust whirlpool and back in 2021 when we bough or curent daily driver washer dryer set i have tryed convincing my mom that we look into the speed queen huebsch model line tr7 tc5 ect but did not lisen i knew maytag aspecaly the model we have was made by whirlpool we went with maytag because it cost less 4 years later now with a washer that can not dispense hot water if set to warm wash or hot water wash and i wonder how would maytag speed queen washers look like would they have electronic control like this or would they go with the tr series tc5 series pic of the control as an exemple whirlpool made maytag

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>They think or assume that something magical is going on ...</blockquote> Some brands/models have functions that seem magical.