THE RETURN OF THE WASHING MACHINE

 

The repairman came twice to this rural place to fix our nearly-new Whirlpool washing machine. I see it as “nearly new” because in the two years since we bought it, it’s seen six months of light use. The dealer and the manufacturer see it as a two-year-old machine that’s out of warranty. 

Despite his two visits, the repairman didn’t fix it, and the dealer suggested that we bring it to the shop. At first Mike said no. Then we borrowed a dolly and the two of us finessed it through three narrow doorways and onto the front porch where we rolled it onto the bed of the pick-up. 

The initial problem was a faulty mother board, which the repairman replaced, but the machine still didn’t work. My opinion was that the replacement mother board was also defective. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If the manufacturer is dealing with faulty mother boards, the new ones might be faulty, too, but the repairman and the dealer didn’t think so. However, working with the machine in the shop, they indeed had to replace the mother board again. 

So, the dealer called to report that the machine was fixed. They had run five loads of laundry through it and it worked fine. Mike agreed to pick it up, then he called back and, as he puts it, pulled “the old man card.” “I know you came twice, but you didn’t fix it. I’m an old man. You could deliver it for me.” And they agreed to bring it on their next trip this way, which was Saturday (the 13^th). 

So, I’ve done a couple of small loads in the machine, and it ran the cycles fine, but I’m just guardedly cautious. If the original mother board and the first replacement were faulty, how long until it fails again? I expect it to be on its best behavior because it can be replaced, but they say all washing machines today are junk on account of plastic parts. It’s shameful that manufacturers put out faulty stuff and then make the consumer responsible. Both the dealer and the consumer are caught in this web. 

“It’s a terrible system we’re getting to have in this country,” said my sister Harriet. Things have not improved in the ten years since she left us. KW