The disposable society (or $35 to say it is broken)

Our washing machine started to become quiet noisy during its spin cycle, so we had a repair guy come out to give us an estimate. Knowing that our washer is 8 years old and a front loader, I suspected that the bearings or motor were bad as the whole drum rests on bearings and puts significant weight on them. So, I hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst; the worst being replacing the washing machine. The guy came out, listened to it for about 2 minutes and said that it will cost about $500 to replace and pretty much he wouldn't do it (he's only done a couple because most people replace them). Of course, this visit wasn't free; $35 to tell me that it was broken and had to be replaced. So we have maybe 6 months left before it blows. A new front loading washer with a warranty runs around $800. While not what I want to buy right now (not after my plumbing fiasco which turned into a bigger mess as I had to redo sprinklers in the back as well), but it makes little sense to put $500 into a machine without a warranty which could go at any time.

I hate to basically dump a washer, but for the extra $300, it is worth it to have years of hassle free operation and a warranty.

Comments

May 9th, 2009
Rob McGoram

I can’t believe I’m replying to yet another post, however a couple of months back, our Front Loader of 13 years decided to start making an awful sound during the spin cycle (possibly the same as yours).

I was quoted NZ$120 to have a tech come out and do what he could within 30 minutes. Like you, I prepared for the worst which would hae been to replace the machine at around NZ$2,000 however, I was desperately clinging to the hope that it wasn’t too serious.

Well, if you can imagine a rather older Asian gentleman turning up, smartly dressed, and speaking with a very thick Chinese accent - he listened to the machine for all of about 30 seconds and then said to me (imagine very thick accent at this point) “Does your wfie wear a bra?”……!!!!!!……..I nearly fell over!……..he repeated the question at which I answer “yes, why?”. He then explained that it was the most common cause of ‘spin noise’ in Front Loaders in his 30 years of servicing. So, 15 minutes later, the offending Bra underwire was extracted from the washing machine!…………

To this day, my wife doesn’t know what bra it came from as they all appear to be intact………….Hmmmmm……….

May 10th, 2009
Scott Gruby

Ha! I wish our problem was that simple. Just by spinning the drum, I can tell that the bearings are shot.