the washing machine saga.

[Chisamba]

So, our washing machine of eight years gave up the ghost. We chose not to repair it, but to go shopping for a new machine. This might have been our first mistake. We chose a Maytag, top loading machine with an extra large capacity and bought the insurance. ( i almost did not, but fortunately we did)

So, eight months later, the machine stopped working. It would stop at the spin part of the rinse cycle.
Now i know may of you will empathise here, busy life, two jobs, small farm to run, life is busy and sitting home waiting for the repair man from eight am to one pm is not always convenient. However, wait i did. The machine apparently needs a new motor and capacitor, these things are not in stock, they will order the parts and be back.

one week later, the motor and capacitor is replaced. the technician checks it out, says its in working condition, so i put in a load, start the machine, and it stops at the rinse cycle where it should spin. Exactly the same spot.

Several days later, once more half a day spent waiting for the repair man, he says there is nothing wrong with the machine, i need to learn how to load it, the load was too small, so it unbalanced the machine. Now this little twenty something technician is trying to tell me there is nothing wrong with the machine but i need to learn how to do wash? this machine, that worked for eight months til now? that i loaded and used. he leaves, the machine is still stopping at the same place, the spin part of the rinse cycle.

so, call again, another tech comes out, says the same thing. there is nothing wrong with the machine. So i tell him, okay ill tell you what, you are not leaving until the load has run. Technician says, we are not allowed to test the machine with clothes in, only empty, if it runs empty, then its because you do not know how to balance your load. he does his checks with the machine empty...

says the machine is fine, and leaves.

guess what, the machine stops at exactly the same place. it will not spin. I respectfully, rebalance the load
and rebalance the load
and rebalance the load
and finally take every single bit of clothing out of the machine and start it.
it does not work,
empty, it does not work
so i take a video of it.

call to schedule a repair. am informed that the machine is working i need to learn to load a machine, and that we will have to pay for the technician ourselves.

So call lowes, call maytag, they finally agree to have the technician come out again, but if he finds nothing wrong we have to pay for the call.
tech comes, same one that was here before.
i show him the video of the empty washing machine not working.
he says its our electric supply. i ask if it is the electric supply, then why did he say it was working last time
he checks the electric supply, it is fine.
He says it is the water supply,
i say if it is the water supply, why did he say it was working last time
he checks the water supply, its fine
finally he actually checks the machine,
he says we need a new motor
i tell him the motor was replaced a month ago,
he says well the motor is burned out
i say, if the machine is working fine, why did the motor burn out when it was replaced less than a month ago and if you put in a new motor, how do i know it will run a load, since this particular motor has not successfully washed one single load of laundry.
He tries to storms off in a snit, saying he will order a new motor.I blocked his exit and said, let me give you a small piece of advice, when someone tells you there is something wrong with the machine, i suggest you be both respectful and pay attention, and actually diagnose the problem, because i have been doing laundry in this machine for eight months, and i know that there is something wrong. Next time your company sends a repair man, please ask them to send some one who can actually diagnose and make a repair.

Lowes have finally agreed to refund the money for the machine and we will have to shop for a different model and type, but, in the meantime, two months later and still not functioning washing machine.

anyone have any suggestions on long lasting functional ordinary washing machine, we have to get it from lowes since they are sending a card to refund

[boots-aregard]

What a frustrating experience!

I have an Inglis -- very simple machine with few bells and whistles -- that is going strong. Dunno if it will suit, but that's my recommendation.

[PaulaO]

I think you got a lemon machine.

I have heard over and over that Speed Queen is the way to go. They are still made in the U.S., are basic, and are workhorses.

[kande50]

anyone have any suggestions on long lasting functional ordinary washing machine, we have to get it from lowes since they are sending a card to refund

All I can offer is what not to get if you have heavily soiled laundry, and that's a top loading, large capacity water saver (with the hump in the middle of the basket instead of an agitator). I had one of those and never got a clean piece of clothing out of it unless it went in clean. That was a Westinghouse, which is probably irrelevant, because the machine worked but just didn't get the dirt out of the clothes no matter how many times I ran them through.

So I sold that one and got a front loading Maytag, and that's been doing a much, much better job of actually beating the dirt out of the clothes. It also just works better in general (no long pauses to release the lock on the door, will add or subtract from the cycle without taking forever to completely reset itself).

That said, when the front loading Maytags first came out (maybe 20 years ago) both my sister and mother got one and they both had problems with the computers, which Maytag did fix on warranty. I know that my mother's is still working, but am not sure about my sister's.

[OmegaMare]

Our 40-year old washer recently died. We'd kept it going with occasional repairs because the repair guy said the new ones had lots of problems. But finally, something happened that he couldn't fix. He told us to avoid most of the new ones. He has many customers who bought new and were disappointed. The low-water ones often need extra rinse cycles to get rid of the soap. The digital ones can be difficult to learn how to run properly. And they break. He told us to get a Huebsch. We got a commercial model, top load, all mechanical, not digital. It's fantastic. We're now arguing about who gets to put on the next load of laundry. Things are getting washed that haven't been washed for years, such as hubby's chainsaw pants.
Now we want the appliance repair guy to tell us what SUV to buy.

[Moutaineer]

I have two front loading HE Maytags that both do a fine job, so I don't know what to suggest. What an incredibly frustrating experience.

(Now we all know what is going to break down this evening, having said that, don't we?)

[viscountessleftfield]

I think you got a lemon machine.

I have heard over and over that Speed Queen is the way to go. They are still made in the U.S., are basic, and are workhorses.

I had a Maytag top loader that was agitatorless. Same thing happened to mine, had it repaired many times. The movers murdered that washer - it had dents the size of my fist all over it and I swear I almost tipped them out of thanks.

I love my front loader so much. It works every single time I want it to!

[Koolkat]

I have a Speed Queen (thanks to UDBB advise) that we've had for 2 years with no problems. It's pretty basic, but all I care about is clean clothes. I think it might have been a little pricier, too, american labor and all that. . . .

Gads, you have my sympathy, life w/o a washer on the farm (with a job, too) would put me over the edge.

[Chisamba]

looking at Huebsch and Speed Queen, thanks to the suggestions here, Lowes does not carry either, i wonder if i can actually get my money from lowes instead of a card, and purchase one of those from a different place.

[Canyon]

I have a front-load LG washer that has worked well for six years. It gets clothes clean and yet is gentle. I can choose to add extra water for stuff like horse blankets if I want. No problems with mold, but I keep the door cracked open between uses (and I live in a dry climate).

Now, I also have an LG frig which had a problem with the interior light staying on; LG should have recalled the line, but did not. They did fix the problem when I figured out the proper channels, even though the warranty was up. But my personal protest is to never buy another LG product.

But, the washer is great .

[OmegaMare]

Just stopped at the mail box to find my latest issue of Consumer Reports (May 2016), and it has a big section on washing machines. Your library might have a copy. I was interested to see that Huebsch wasn't mentioned anywhere. Lucky thing our old washer broke before we saw this issue, or we would have been in research hell. Like we are with the SUV.

[Fatcat]

Speed queen heavy duty commercial top load model. You will love it.