Your washing machine opinion solicited

Who better to ask opinions on an appliance than my fellow FLDGers? My 32-year-old avocado Kenmore washing machine finally bit the dust (I use it to wash my food-stained clothers--the food connection). I've repaired it several times in the past few years, but I'm getting kinda creaky and tired and after 3 hours of frustration of tinkering, flooding, breaking a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, and a stopped-up floor drain, I finally admit defeat.

My first wife of 39 years and I looked at three brands that were $400: Kenmore, Whirlpool and Maytag. Kenmore and Whirlpool had porcelain on metal drums, while the Maytag had a plastic drum. Your opinions please.

No, we can't afford a front loader and we'll probably be looking at the wrong end of grass before we could recoup any water/energy savings.

Being on a septic system, we have a stackable. We bought "the best" - a Magtag Neptune. Nothing but trouble -- repaired three times in less than two years. We had the damned thing hauled off and got a Kenmore. No problems. One point of view, Larry.

I've know others who've had problems with the Neptunes as well. I'd stay away from Maytag because of that.

Mike

Whirlpool and Kenmore are made in the same factory. I've one or the other pretty much all my life and they seem to hold up pretty good. While we're on the subject, over the past few years, I've thought about using an automatic washer on spin cycle as a wine press. Not a press really, but more of a centrifuge. I actually had one of the engineers where I work figure out the force. I think it was the equivalent of 80 psi. I doubt if I'll ever do it, just idle curiosity.

I have a Whirlpool with a stainless steel tub and I HATE it. Replaced a Maytag that I thought would last forever - forever is not 4 years. I shopped at a local store (Pearson's) for a new washer and a dishwasher, trying to give the locals business, not going to my beloved Costco or even to Home Depot.

HUGE mistake. The Whirlpool didn't work right from the start. Retained large amounts of water in the tub, would not spin out after many attempts. Called Pearson's who refused to talk to me, referring me to Whirlpool. This, mind you, was with the very FIRST load of laundry. Turns out Pearson's hadn't installed the hoses correctly. Next thing? Water all over the floor. Again Pearson's was of no help, referring me to Whirlpool. Whirlpool said this machine just throws off water through the top of the machine during the spin cycle if the load size doesn't match the water level. Who knew? Obviously not Pearson's with their recommendation of this machine. They also didn't know enough to show me how to tilt the machine to periodically rebalance it, because this machine goes off balance if there is an errant sock.

I'm sure this experience could have been replicated at the big box stores but I do know that had I showed up at Costco with the guilty party in the pack of our pick-up truck, I would've had a refund, no questions asked.

PS - do love the Kitchenaid dishwasher

[Jenise]

but I do know that had I showed up at Costco with the guilty party in the pack of our pick-up truck, I would've had a refund, no questions asked.

I don't know who my beloved husband learned this from, but he cited it as a reason to buy our BATV at Costco this weekend.

Re the return policy at CostCo, Jenise:

I have a friend who bought a big flat-screen HD TV at CostCo. Kept it for 13 months, then decided he wanted a bigger one, so he took it back to CostCo.

They took it back and gave him a credit for it on a new item. He bought a larger, newer version of HD---and because that's the way the market works, the newer, larger version was cheaper than his original. So his wife got the huge fancy, wooden coffee table she'd had her eye on ($300) for free.

He did the same thing about two years ago with a PC he'd bought there (although that time he didn't get a free coffee table).

That is pretty strong customer relation, I'd say. And despite some folk's hatred of big box stores, keeps a lot of people going in there.

Our old washer died last summer and we found a Kenmore front loader on sale at Sears. The price was still higher than the normal tubs but not completely out of our range. With a year of use behind us I think it was a great choice. The water saving is nice but not something I really notice. What I like is that it does a good job on the clothes and holds a huge load. I can full week of my own clothes plus most of the bath towels our family of four uses in two loads.

If you haven't decided yet it may be worthwhile to look again for sales. Right after we bought this washer Costco had a similar machine for the same price.

I was in the process of replacing my husband's cell phone at Costco some years ago; he accidentally dropped it into a glass of soda. The salesperson told me to return it - they'd refund the money. I mentioned at the return desk that Costco's return policy rivaled Nordstrom; they cheerfully sneered at me and said Costco was better. All this occurred after major arguments with Sprint about warranties and such, being told by their rep that there was no way I could get my money back, etc.

I have seen people return stuff that is obviously used - no questions asked.

I love Costco. My purchasing appliances elsewhere was my attempt to "do good" in the local 'hood, but the local 'hood couldn't care less. Never heard one word from the appliance store. Pity.

[Jenise]

Chris,

You did the right thing for the right reason, but got trumped by local arrogance. That's really inexcusable. Maybe in your spare time (I know, I know) someone should print out a copy of this thread and mail it to the locals just so they know what kind of PR they've made for themselves.


And Hoke,

That's an amazing story. A friend here did something similar, but with just a set of telephones. However, she claimed they were broken when they weren't, which I wouldn't do. Interesting to consider though, if we don't find our new TV compatible technology-wise--THAT I would claim.

Okay, I found a deal on a Bosch frontloader. Normally $1100, I can get it for $639. So waddaya think?

BTW, the salesman I dealt with said Maytag is in the middle of a lot of lawsuits with the Neptunes.

The name, the price and the fact it is a front loader all say buy to me Larry. I doubt that you will find a better deal.

Larry: Bosch is good. I'd go for it.

Jenise: Naw, my friend didn't make any claims about faults or flaws, really. He just went in, said he wanted to return it because he wanted something bigger and better, and they said, "Okay".

Even he was astonished at how easy it was. And he had prior experience on another item.

[Jenise]

Larry, as the happy owner of a Bosch dishwasher, I too say go for it.

Well, I got the Bosch washing machine. It was to be delivered Mon afternoon, so I got home at 12:05 pm and waited and waited and waited (and skipped teaching my Mon afternoon writing class).

It finally showed up at 6:30 pm.

It's certainly quiet and uses so little water, it doesn't look like it's working correctly (2.5 gallons). The only drawback is that its door is hinged on the left side and my dryer, which is on the left, is hinged on the right side. (And no, it would not be easy to switch because of gas fittings, etc.) But it sure gets clothes clean.

Well, I got the Bosch washing machine

Smart move IMO.

Just have to put my 2 cents in on Maytag Neptunes. NO GOOD. There was a class action suit regarding them. We did not sign up because at that point we had no problems. Now we have problems and we can't even get an authorization number to get it fixed. They had way too many problems. Have to run plain water and clorox to clean out which is a big waste of water. There is a musty smell as if the water is not draining completely. Even if we had participated in the class action suit, the money you received had to be used towards another Maytag. So we are in the market for a new machine too. Will not get another Maytag.