From "the number one name in laundry" to "a d
When I replaced a nine-year-old Whirlpool because the dual-action agitator began crapping out in 2002 (among other mechanicals), I knew what kind of washer I wanted to replace it. My mother's first and only clothes dryer was a coppertone center-dial "New Generation" Maytag electric which outlived her and moved out of her home into one of my brothers' homes (and may still be running even now).
I looked for a Dependable Care model (even though the control panel had changed, I knew the mechanics were the same as the "New Generation" series)...but Home Depot was the only place I could find them, and they told me they were more expensive than the newer models. I should have suspected something then.
I should have suspected something when the salesman at the Maytag dealer in Granite City told me the Performa models performed as well as the Dependable Care models, even though it had a plastic tub rather than a porcelain one...and the agitator looked like they'd yanked it out of my old Whirlpool. That was June 2002...
Four-and-a-half years later, the top of the control panel has all but completely torn away from the back of the control panel (where the screws join the two pieces together)--just from everyday use (and mucho shaking from unbalanced loads). The machine is making all sorts of noises at this point that remind me of the last couple of years of the Whirlpool's existence. Ironic that the machine I bought because of "Maytag dependability" is no better--and maybe worse--than the one it replaced. This kind of nonsense didn't happen on the older models because Maytag focused on what it did best...washers and dryers.
I think Maytag started going south when it tried being everything to everybody...in fact, many of the companies Maytag bought were once the leaders in one appliance category...maybe two at most...and now they're all down the drain, too...
Amana Refrigeration--Freezers, refrigerators and microwaves
Magic Chef--Ranges (at their peak, Magic Chef was based in St. Louis, by the way)
Hoover--Vacuum cleaners and floor care...
And now "the number one name in laundry" is just another big zero (or should that be an "O"?) in the Whirlpool family...pity...
