whatever happened to the KitchenAid Ensemble washers and dryers??

[passatdoc]

I'm fairly new (<6 months) to this forum, so please forgive me if this topic was discussed in earlier threads.

Some friends of mine bought a pair of KitchenAid Ensembles (washer and gas dryer) from Costco in January. At the time, Costco in our area had no other front loader for sale. The price was marked down to about $1800 for the pair, plus instant rebate on the pedestals (i.e. free pedestals).

To me they looked like a dressed up pair of Whirlpool Duets, sharing the same cycle names like "Whitest Whites" and "Sanitary". However, the price was right; it would have been a good price to pay for TOL Duets. I don't know the model number, but the washer has 1200 rpm spin and on-board heater (probably unnecessary as their water heater is right next to the washer and they don't wash loads of diapers!). They are big Costco fans because of the liberal return policy...one time, they were allowed to return a washer nearly a year later BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T LIKE THE COLOR! (I could understand a washer that breaks, but the color?)

Anyway, the KitchenAid website now only mentions the ultra-expensive built in units (over $3000 each or nearly $7K per pair). Does anyone know what happened to the Ensembles? When/why they were discontinued? Can my friends count on repair support as these units age? And if so, from whom? KitchenAid? Whirlpool?

Again, I apologize if this topic was discussed when the line was dropped. It appears that my friends bought a close-out model, which is ok if they are the same quality as Whirlpool Duets in general, but it's a little scary to own such expensive machines knowing they were discontinued.

 

[drewz]

Whirlpool rebadged

Whirlpool, dropped top loaders and gave Ensembles to Maytag name.

Whirlpool trying to re-position KitchenAid in the marketplace.

 

[gansky1]

I seem to remember that part of the reason the KitchenAid laundry line disappeared was part of the deal with the gubbernment to get the merger with Maytag approved - market share concerns, etc. were resolved and it also allowed WP to re-position Maytag as a premium quality brand with stepped-up features like KitchenAid used to have.

 

[DADoES]

Slight clarification

The only laundry machines KA now carries is the uber-expensive ProLine built-in set, but all the Ensembles that have been sold are still KitchenAid products so they'd be the source of finding service. Or, any independent appliance service that handles Whirlpool probably could also deal with KitchenAid.

I've noticed that in these days of buying appliances at big-box stores that don't have service departments, there's typically concern about where to get service. Seems the days of buying at a local independent dealer who services the products he sells may be coming to an end.