Adventures in Major Appliances

Our washing machine broke this weekend. It wouldn't spin, and the problem was not the belt. After tipping it over and pulling it apart, H decided that it was the clutch and the part alone would cost $300. We bought the machine in 1998, so I guess it had a good life.

Poor old machine can't be revived

I asked my friends on Facebook what machine they have that they like, and it seemed that half the people hated front-loaders and half loved them. That wasn't helpful. I looked online. That was equally confusing. Then I found out that there are these new hybrid machines that are high efficiency, but are also top-loaders. Again, these kind of machines got either very high or very low reviews.

I finally decided that we should look at the Whirlpool Cabrio, and we looked at Lowe's and Howard's. The guy at Lowe's was fairly helpful, but when we walked into Howard's, it didn't appear that anyone wanted to sell us anything. They pointed us towards the hybrid washers and left us alone. We went away for a bit and then decided that the price at Lowe's and the particular model were the best bet, so that's where we went.

Here is where Lowe's failed at this point (even though we ended up buying the washer there):

• No one came to help us for 20 minutes. As we walked out, someone finally came by.
• They did not tell us that we could get rebates from the Electric and Gas companies (we saw a little sign on the washers at Howard's). This amounts to $135. Major fail.
• They said they would call that night to schedule the next-day delivery. They did not.
• They did not call the next morning. I called them and got quite a runaround on the phone.
• They finally said, "Oh, they'll deliver between 6-8 p.m." But they might be early.



New machine ready to be installed

• They delivered at 3:00. Good thing I was home.

So, I've read the novel that came with it and seem to have successfully washed two loads of laundry. It requires special detergent (HE - High Efficiency) and a college degree to load the clothes and push the right buttons, but I think I've got it.

Time will tell if I will be in the love it or hate it camp, but I do like the idea that it uses less than half of the water than my last washer, and it spins pretty fast so the clothes take less time to dry. This little video demonstrates the strange sounds it makes in the wash cycle.