Chaos Ranch
Well-Known Member
I bought one of those front load GE washer/dryer sets (red) and I got it from one of those "rent to own" places. Well, I got a substantial discount on the set because a couple had previously gotten it and only had it a month and during that time he lost his job, so they knew they wouldn't be able to make their payments and the place let them bring it back. Well, anyway, they told me that as long as I make payments on it then it is under warranty.
Well I had it about a month and a half, and I noticed my clothes didn't smell clean when I took them out. I'd re-wash them two or three times...still same thing. When you open the door it smelled like old dirty laundry water in there. We checked the drain hose, perfectly fine. Well it got to the point that it just was not worth going through bottle after bottle of laundry soap when I wasn't getting my clothes clean. When I went in to make my payment two days ago I told them about it and they sent a repair-man out right away.
Well, when I bought it they told me to always use the laundry soap that says "he" on it. Said the new washers are very sensitive to the type of soap you use. And also, even though it has a place for it, you should never ever use powdered laundry soap....and regular bleach is NOT good at all as it breaks down the rubber seals in them. The repair-man looked it over and could not find a problem. He noticed that my bottle of "Tide with Febreeze" did not have the "he" symbol on it and he asked me if that's what I've been using. Well of course it is, why would it be there if I weren't using it? He tells me that is a BIG no-no!!! Plus, he asked me how much I have been putting in. I tell him that I fill it to the fill line on the washer's dispenser drawer. His jaw literally dropped! He says THAT"S your problem!!! He says that soap that doesn't have the "he" makes too many suds, and when it drains the water off, there's a ton of suds left in there. Then those dirty suds get spun right into your clothes, thus putting the dirt (and smell) that they've just removed, right back into your clothes. He told me to throw out my Tide with Febreeze and only use the "he" soap, and do NOT go by the dispenser, go by the bottle's cup, and only use HALF of what the cup calls for. Ok...so I really didn't know all of that... but was very glad he told me.
So, the part that makes me angry is that our 5 year old refrigerator totally stopped working all of the sudden the other day. We had him look at it while he was here. He tells us that he thinks it went into defrost mode, and the board shorted out or something and it got stuck in defrost. Here's the stupid part. He tells us that a year ago when he priced that part it was $200. and recently when he prices similar parts, they've doubled in price over the past year...then you add in his house call fee, and the labor fee, and some other things, and by the time you add it all up you can add a couple of hundred to it and just buy a brand new one instead. He told us that the manufacturer does that on purpose because some of the appliances they were making lasted too long and they weren't selling enough of them, so they made them less durable, and jacked the prices up on the replacement parts so that people would just throw them out and replace them instead of paying the ridiculous prices to repair them !!! That just seems very very wrong to me. He said he went to repair a stove, and the part alone was over $200. and his other fees would be another $100. + and she could just have went and bought a brand new one just like it for a hair over $300. !!! Isn't that just wrong?
I told the guy, I'm not a "green" person or a re cycler or anything like that, but the first thing that came to my mind was the manufacturers of these appliances are directly responsible for massive appliance disposals in the landfills because they want to make more profits by selling more, less durable appliances so that you have to replace them rather than repair them. Even the used appliance stores, and the repair stores will not buy, repair, and resell the appliances because they come out "in the hole" on them. Shouldn't something be able to be done about that? Is there a brand that does not fall into this practice, that actually makes dependable, repairable, affordable appliances? My refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and window air conditioner were all Frigidaire brand. (so far, the window air unit has quit, the refrigerator has quit, and the dishwasher does not function as well as it used to.) and they are only 5 years old. The a/c unit quit after only one and a half years use.
Well I had it about a month and a half, and I noticed my clothes didn't smell clean when I took them out. I'd re-wash them two or three times...still same thing. When you open the door it smelled like old dirty laundry water in there. We checked the drain hose, perfectly fine. Well it got to the point that it just was not worth going through bottle after bottle of laundry soap when I wasn't getting my clothes clean. When I went in to make my payment two days ago I told them about it and they sent a repair-man out right away.
Well, when I bought it they told me to always use the laundry soap that says "he" on it. Said the new washers are very sensitive to the type of soap you use. And also, even though it has a place for it, you should never ever use powdered laundry soap....and regular bleach is NOT good at all as it breaks down the rubber seals in them. The repair-man looked it over and could not find a problem. He noticed that my bottle of "Tide with Febreeze" did not have the "he" symbol on it and he asked me if that's what I've been using. Well of course it is, why would it be there if I weren't using it? He tells me that is a BIG no-no!!! Plus, he asked me how much I have been putting in. I tell him that I fill it to the fill line on the washer's dispenser drawer. His jaw literally dropped! He says THAT"S your problem!!! He says that soap that doesn't have the "he" makes too many suds, and when it drains the water off, there's a ton of suds left in there. Then those dirty suds get spun right into your clothes, thus putting the dirt (and smell) that they've just removed, right back into your clothes. He told me to throw out my Tide with Febreeze and only use the "he" soap, and do NOT go by the dispenser, go by the bottle's cup, and only use HALF of what the cup calls for. Ok...so I really didn't know all of that... but was very glad he told me.
So, the part that makes me angry is that our 5 year old refrigerator totally stopped working all of the sudden the other day. We had him look at it while he was here. He tells us that he thinks it went into defrost mode, and the board shorted out or something and it got stuck in defrost. Here's the stupid part. He tells us that a year ago when he priced that part it was $200. and recently when he prices similar parts, they've doubled in price over the past year...then you add in his house call fee, and the labor fee, and some other things, and by the time you add it all up you can add a couple of hundred to it and just buy a brand new one instead. He told us that the manufacturer does that on purpose because some of the appliances they were making lasted too long and they weren't selling enough of them, so they made them less durable, and jacked the prices up on the replacement parts so that people would just throw them out and replace them instead of paying the ridiculous prices to repair them !!! That just seems very very wrong to me. He said he went to repair a stove, and the part alone was over $200. and his other fees would be another $100. + and she could just have went and bought a brand new one just like it for a hair over $300. !!! Isn't that just wrong?
I told the guy, I'm not a "green" person or a re cycler or anything like that, but the first thing that came to my mind was the manufacturers of these appliances are directly responsible for massive appliance disposals in the landfills because they want to make more profits by selling more, less durable appliances so that you have to replace them rather than repair them. Even the used appliance stores, and the repair stores will not buy, repair, and resell the appliances because they come out "in the hole" on them. Shouldn't something be able to be done about that? Is there a brand that does not fall into this practice, that actually makes dependable, repairable, affordable appliances? My refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and window air conditioner were all Frigidaire brand. (so far, the window air unit has quit, the refrigerator has quit, and the dishwasher does not function as well as it used to.) and they are only 5 years old. The a/c unit quit after only one and a half years use.
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