"In my opinion, while Maytag seriously erred in selling a machine with built-in flaws, it was also in the right for only fixing them during the warranty period."
I differ a little bit on this. It is my feeling that when a manufacturer offers a defective DESIGN, then there is an additional responsibility to resolve problems, over and above the warranty period. The reason is a legal precept called "warranty of merchantability".
Basically, if someone buys a product, the law states that the consumer has an inherent right to expect that the product will do what such a product is commonly supposed to do. A radio should receive broadcasts, a clock should keep reasonably accurate time, and so on.
In the case of Neptune, design flaws with such issues as control boards, wax motors, and door seals created problems far in excess of what should normally be expected with a washer. Unfortunately, the legal climate for consumer protection is not good nowadays; most such law now favours Big Business. Maytag's customers should, I feel, have been able to pick up the phone and complain to State and Federal consumer agencies, and Maytag should have been directed to fix the problem. In actual practise, the only real recourse consumers have is to take manufacturers to court. That's a lot more expensive than giving up and just buying a new product, which is just the way manufacturers want it.
Ford sold me a car that had a defectively designed cooling system; leakage current from the electrical system created electrolysis problems that ruined the car's engine in only 66,000 miles. Ford had been making cars- and cooling systems- for nearly a CENTURY when they designed that horror. As a consumer, I had a right to expect that the cooling system was reasonably well-designed for its purpose. It was not.
As we all know, American automakers- and many other manufacturers of hard goods- are in a lot of trouble. I feel that today's cheap, cost-cutting designs and lack of corporate integrity when a bad design is produced are a big part of the trouble. People can suck up a bad product or two, but after a while, they begin to look for products that are better-designed, and whose manufacturers treat them well. There's a REASON Toyota is poised to become the world's largest automaker; while Toyota is not perfect, they're doing a better job overall than other companies. GM has now upgraded its warranties to 5 years/100,000 miles.
I think that some laws specifically addressing defects of design are long overdue, and that companies should be required to guarantee against such defects, particularly in the case of cars. A lot of cars nowadays have horrendous, design-based problems in the period between the time the warranty expires (3 years/36,000 miles for many American cars), and the time the car is paid for (5 to 6 years). Many Dodge Intrepids with the 2.7l engine fell into this category, breaking their timing chains at around 60,000 miles; many owners could not afford the $6,000-7,000 engine replacement required to repair their vehicles. They had no choice but to finish paying for cars they could not drive, if they wanted to keep their credit scores up. The ill-will generated by this far outweighs any cost-savings, I feel; Chrysler is cutting back production and dropping product lines these days, in response to falling sales. Word of shabby treatment has gotten around, it would seem.
So, it's my feeling that American industry has been unaccountable for its cost-cutting, test-skimping ways far too long, and I hope that some change can be made before we lose our industrial base altogether. I'm willing to bet that the good people of Newton, Iowa rue the day Maytag tried to do an end-run around its responsibility for design problems. Corporate honchos saved some money and got their bonuses. A city whose citizens depended on the good judgement of those honchos is now in serious trouble.
