modern washers and dryers rant

[qualin]

In the capitalist world, companies have to "lead by example". The company that makes the best product will sell the most of it. That's just a fact of life. If everyone sells a shoddy product, it won't take much for someone else to come in and eat their lunch.

I think Alliance is doing that. They're expanding their factory because they can't keep up with the demand. If they eventually start outselling the large manufacturers, they'll start taking notice and they'll have to step up their game.

Keep in mind that when someone gets burned on a $1200-$2000 machine, they won't forget it and they'll start looking at another manufacturer. Maybe they'll even start asking questions on forums like these, or maybe they'll Google it.

There has to be a bottom to the whole cost cutting thing.

Big box stores don't want to sell stuff that doesn't make them money either, especially if consumers keep returning it. The LG Spinsplode scandal, I'm sure, cost the big box stores a lot of money. I'm sure their buyers had a word with them. A statement like, "We buy millions of dollars of your product every year. You will redesign it, or we'll stop buying it." carries a lot of weight!

 

[joeypete]

Yes it's all about competition. Alliance, as odd as it seems now, really is catering to a "niche" market now. A market that doesn't want anything fancy and modern. Granted their sales have taken off because of their reliability and probably due to the fact that there are still a lot of Americans (and Canadians) that want a top load machine with agitator. Actually that was why GE designed their new machines the way they did, because people still want that agitator!

A lot of the issues the HE machines have I think are pretty isolated and though not always, due to user error. Of course you always hear about those stories instead of the ones like mine that praise how well something works.

I'm not sure about Speed Queen, but most other manufacturers make their parts to be replaced not repaired. While reading up on my Filter-Flo there was an article from about when their "new" machines came out in the 90's and how the components could not longer be rebuilt. Basically you throw away a broken transmission and buy a new one. Honestly I'd be surprised if you could rebuild any of the components in a Speed Queen either....

Case in point...my coworker just bought a new Samsung gas stove. She noticed that the burners did not change between medium setting and high setting. Her husband used to repair appliances so he knew that it needed to be adjusted. They have propane so he suspected it wasn't set right. So they call Samsung for a warranty repair and right of the bat they told them they would just send them a new stove. A NEW stove...they had theirs for like a week and that was the only thing wrong with it. They didn't want the expense of sending a repairman out to adjust the burners, instead just send a whole new unit. Samsung in particular (from what I've read) prefers just to give you a new ---- instead of repairing. Throw away products. I suspect if you call even GE or WP they would send someone to look at it. While great, it makes it clear how they think of their products. Kinda sad really.

But to be fair too, manufacturers do what their customers want. Everyone is in a hurry these days. Do you want to wait a week for someone to come and fix your dishwasher? Or do you want to go online to Sears, Home Depot, etc and just buy a new dishwasher and have it delivered within a day or 2. No one wants to wait for anything these days. I want it NOW!!

 

[washman]

FWIW

A friggin washing machine should not be so complicated that poor results are from "user error".

User error, as a reason for something not working, can apply to a lot of things. Washing your darn clothes should not be one of them.

 

[joeypete]

lol

I know huh? You can't really do "mindless" washing with HE machines...well the top load ones anyhow. Because they clean differently you have to really pay attention to how you load them and what the load consists of. Pain in the neck I know, but I truly think that's why some people have problems with them.

Another coworker of mine lives with her sister and she bought a new Samsung front loader (they had a pair of Neptunes before). Her sister wouldn't let her do her laundry until she showed her how to use the new machine. LOL. I thought that was funny. However FL's are more forgiving and I think a better choice for people who don't want to put much thought into doing laundry.

 

[johnb300m]

throw away

joeypete and qualin, you're 100% correct from what I've learned.
Home Depot and Lowe's don't want to sell products so bad, that customers will return them in large numbers. It eats at their profits, and causes lost customers.

In fact, an awesome salesman at the Naperville, IL Home Depot, told me that they've certainly had difficulty with LG and Samsung.
He said that tradition would be for companies like GE and Whirlpool to stock replacement parts for all their machines for about 7-10 years.
He said LG and Samsung stock NO parts, and they redesign most of them every 2 years.
So if you have a broken LG washer that's 3 years old, there's a good chance there are NO parts for it. LG will send you a new machine. IF they so choose to cover it.

So what Lowe's and Home Depot have had to do, is stockpile tons of parts with their in-house coverage services, so there's at least some parts availible for the most issue-prone components to satisfy their customers.

They LOVE selling the glitzy, high margin Samsung and LG stuff, especially because the companies throw TONS of marketing money at them. But as a business, GE and Whirlpool are by far still the better companies to deal with.

This actually happened to some friends with a 2yr old Samsung dishwasher. The drain motor died, and there were NO Samsung parts! The repair man had to find a similar after market drain pump.
Jeez!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

truth about HE washers

I am so sick of the high efficiency washers! You have to dump buckets of water to get anything remotely clean! You can't get clothes clean without water, let alone a cup or a few inches of water! Clothes are meant to be underwater when washing! Keep the feds out of my laundry room! Flimsy design! Modern washers are Chinese pieces of crap! I'm glad my dad has his 15 year old GE set and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. However, if it comes to that, it will be Speed Queen! They are real washers, not clothes fresheners like these so called high efficiency washers! The green movement is out of control!

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2NXvDd39Yc

 

[DADoES]

 
GELaundry4ever,

How many different brands and models of high-efficiency washers have you used and tested to verify your claims?  How many buckets of water are you having to dump in to get the clothes underwater and attain some remoteness of clean?  You've had feds in your laundry room?  What did they do in there?  What did they say?

 

[mayfan69]

@dadoes

LOVING the questions being thrown back at him Dadoes!

 

Cheers

Leon

 

[johnb300m]

I smell a .....

 

[rapunzel]

I've just come...

...back out of the kitchen, where I've opened my running dishwasher a lot in the last 1/2 hour. I do this to make sure that my dishes are still there at the end of the cycle. This thread is really interesting. Now I have to go downstairs and open my washer until it finishes its cycle. Amazingly, my clothes and dishes have never gone missing ever.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I have 1 HE washer.

I have a real HE front loader - one that does what it's supposed to do! The Feds keep changing water regulations! The HE top loaders just leave your clothes dirty! Theere videos of where these HE top loaders explode without warning! You have to dump several buckets of water, then agitate it yourself because there is too little water in there! The machine just barely vibrates your clothes! The Feds make us go green! Green isn't clean in the laundry room!

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/green-isnt-clean-in-the-laundry-room/?_r=0

 

[joeypete]

Ohhhhh

You mean the hand crank HE top loaders. Yeah, mine is one of the new electric ones with a motor. :-/

 

[golittlesport]

washman

Yes, "user error" can apply to anything and unfortunately that includes washing your clothes when people do not know how to operate machinery correctly. I have an example to share of user error featuring a basic, old-fashioned agitator washer. No load sensing or selecting proper temp and speed for the user here.

Years ago a friend of my son's was staying with us. He literally packed our top loader full of clothes and neglected to change the water level from "minimum" where it had been set during the previous load. He then started the machine on the longest cycle.

You can imagine the results. Damaged clothes and I believe a damaged machine -- the transmission blew a year later on a five year old machine. He told us something was wrong with the washer -- complaining that only a few clothes were even wet when he took them out in knots and detergent was still sprinkled on the top of the load! I could have crowned him!

That was before the days of You Tube and iPhones, so he wasn't able to make a video of his experience. LOL

 

[iheartmaytag]

Much like the dishwashers we discussed on another thread, I would say that newer HE type washers are an adjustment for some from the high dillution top loaders of yore. 

 

When reading through the threads on this site you will see that other countries that have adopted HE machines much earlier than us are quite happy with their results. 

 

Anything we purchase has a different feel.  Some quality has been lost, some have improved.  Take cars for example.  In the 50s and 60s we had all metal bemouths that weighed close to three tons and had all the safety features of a toaster in the bathtub. Those cars could take a hit, kill all their occupants and still look good.  

 

Now we have a lot of plastic, aluminum, and fiberglass.  These cars are designed to crush, disipate energy away from the occupant cage and let the passangers survive instead of the car.

 

Which is better built?  Open to interpertation.  So are modern appliances worse than vintage?  In terms of durability, yes.  We all know that a washer used to last 20-25 years, now the average is seven.  Are electronics the doom of the industry, or do they help you customize, and better the performance?

 

Past generations had to boil their water in a tub in the  yard, scrub their clothes on a scrub board with home made lye soap and dry them on the fence regardless of the weather.   Thank God we have moved beyond that.  I remember my Grandmother, who never had an automatic washer until 1974, complaining that "That Norge uses too much water."  "I could do all my washing in that amount of water, now it takes all that for each load."  Times do change.

 

It can get frustrating that we can't have everything remain the same, but we have to make some movement to reserve or maintain our resources or the restrictions will be even worse for the next generation. 

 

[DADoES]

GELaundry4ever,

I understand now.  You have not used any HE topload washers to get personal hands-on experience on how to make proper use of them.  You don't know for sure that buckets of water need to be added or how many buckets are required.  Your complaints are based only on what other people have said and what you've seen in videos made by other people who possibly were not loading the machine correctly or using the wrong cycle for the load type.  Have a great day!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I have yet to test the HE top loader!

I have yet to do a load in the HE top load washer! Something tells me that it is never going to get clothes clean! Clothes need water to dissolve laundry detergent, bleach and fabric softener depending what you're washing! Something ttells me that it's never going to work! less water plus less energy equals dingy/dirty clothes! I am sick and tired of the stupid auto temp! You are forced to use it on the electronic controlled washers or you will get an error code! Whites need hot water not tepid! Temp control is stupid! Impossible to wash whites in so-called hot water, even when bleach is used in the designated white load in the designated dispenser! You have to wash the same load several times in a HE top loader to get anything clean! What a waste of time, energy and water! Energy efficient my ass! This is ticking me off! This is why we have washers that don't wash! Excuse my language, but I am frustrated! I am going to get a 2010 or older modern washer with mechanical controls next time, or buy a brand new speed queen matched electric set!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I decide!

I decide what load size, water temperature, spin speed, and cycle I need, and still come out cleaner than these overrated HE top load washers! I decide! Not the machine! Top loaders trying to be front loaders! Fail!

 

[kb0nes]

Jerome,

Does your key board have one of these keys?

You inability to end a sentence without an exclamation point greatly undermines any (remaining) credibility that you may have left...

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I do research.

I research consumer reviews and they are true. There are numerous problems with most modern washers today. Here is an example a website with complaints..

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/maytag-bravo.html?page=12

 

[kb0nes]

I do research.

Jerome,

How many appliances do you read about that work fine and people are happy with??

Without knowing about the percentages of properly working machines, your "research" is DEEPLY flawed. Alas you don't seem to be concerned accuracy though as long as it sharpens the edge on your axe...