It has been since October 9th that I've been without service/replacement for my relatively new washer purchased in March... I look through various locations, trying to find more winter clothes, because I have run out. I have on a very long pair of socks, a pair of shorty pajamas, summer silky slacks and a sweatshirt I have worn for over a week to try to keep warm and keep from "catching a cold..."
I had a Sears top loader for about ten years. It was going to be phased out and I bought the last model off the floor. I purchased extended insurance. You see, the main issue with that model was that if something went wrong, the entire inside basket--which held what was to be washed, would become unbalanced and ultimately could not be used.
But no matter how many times I called, Sears was here quickly, replaced the drum inside and I was ready to go again! I loved the washer as only a woman who has special needs for a great washer needs to have. But, unfortunately, I made the mistake of putting aside the notice to continue my warranty, and it got lost in the stack of "to do" bills, etc., My warranty expired... so I made due with having to stand and hold the drum still as it jiggled (a true adjective for what happened) and try to prevent the entire washer from moving and walking across the floor (the latter being a lie used for dramatization.) I never saw it walk...but it did shake, rattle and role...
One of the Biggest Mistakes I've made...
Soooo, I decided to give myself a birthday present and went to a local warehouse for appliances, from whom I had purchased before, and purchased an Electrolux, a front loader, Reference 86734307... I paid cash... Frankly, my main reason for the purchase (both washer and dryer) was that they could be set on two storage drawers. THAT was my deciding point... Living in a cabin which had too little storage space, I was thrilled to be able to complete two needs in one purchase.
Within the first week, I had washed the first load. I had been told that once I set the choices, they would remain, so that when I put in several rugs for the second load, which I had been routinely washing in my previous washer, I didn't verify that it was cold (I always wash in cold water).
Let's talk about rugs...what I mean are those that are considered throw rugs, or area rugs. When I moved from a 3-floor condo, I had quite a number of rugs of all kinds. But in my first winter here in my log cabin, which I love, I realized that by being built directly on the ground, without even a concrete base, meant that my floors are extremely cold each winter... So I needed every rug I can to at least create walkways through the cabin...
Please note that many rugs, which are meant to be used on potentially slippery areas, such as your doorway, where wet shoes and boots carry in rain and snow dripping... All of this type of rug have a non-slip back usually some type of rubberized material. It was these rugs I had put in to wash... Please note that in older rugs, the backing does eventually begin to break into pieces. But with my last Sears washer, the pieces simply laid within the drum and I'd pick them up and throw them away.
So I put a couple of these rugs, again, pointing out, that I'd been routinely washing these in my Sears machine...
The washer had gone back to hot water. I didn't think to check since I'd been told that the settings would remain until I changed them...Not... During the wash, I noticed that the rugs were sometimes appearing in the front, near the door, which I was later told is okay since the front was meant to hold overflow of the water... However, when the wash cycle ended, which should have meant that all the water had gone down the drain, it didn't. And the door wouldn't open. I thought to try another different setting to get the water out. The setting was still on hot, I guess. I am not sure...
However, when it still was locked, I called the warehouse where I had bought them. They sent out 2 men. Apparently, the hot water (or the machine itself) created the result that the backing of the rugs was blown into pieces/smithereens! Literally! They had to take the washer back and work on it to remove the pieces... It worked fine thereafter and I continued to wash these smaller rugs...except the ones that had been blown to smithereens!
Sooo, about a month ago, my caretaker was helping me clean. She put one of the rugs which was in the room she was cleaning, into the washer... I believe it was set on cold but cannot be sure. On the first wash, it would not drain all the water. I opened the washer, pulled out the rug and hand-dipped the rest of the water out. What a mess!
Thinking I would simply clean the washer to get it started again...it only again stopped, had water in the drum, and now the door could not be opened.
So, I admit, I was getting more and more hyper. Why in the world would a company create a washer that, perhaps, uses water so hot that it would blow something to pieces!? I called Reese's and asked for service...Only to be told they don't do service. I'd have to call Electrolux... Which I did... They handled it that first week because it was such a recent purchase, I guess.
You know, folks, I have begun to think that these big corporations purposely put individuals with foreign accents on their telephone service answering calls. I explained what I needed. He gathered where I was located and also told me that they don't service my area. I said what(?), that I had an extended guarantee and I needed service for health reasons as quickly as possible. He said that there was nobody to send in my area and he'd have to move it upward...
I waited and waited...
My caretaker came to take me for groceries and I told her I was upset and asked if she would call again. She did, and the guy asked her to pull the plug and put it back in... When I heard this I got on the phone and was explaining my health issues. In the meantime, she got behind it by squeezing her arm in and then she started the washer! Yikes! In following the company rep's instructions, she had once again started the washer going... and again it would not finish the cycle and the door wouldn't open... The contact on the phone said they would get somebody here in 3-5 days...
Three to five days passed...
I went online to the Electrolux site, tried to sign up. Even that was screwed up! I got madder and madder...
However, I chose a chat...Jeffrey responded. I regurgitated the entire activity so far... And, at the end, Jeffrey, who was at least courtesy while interacting on chat, said that he would have to take it up... I pressed that it had been weeks and he said give me 48 hours...
Forty-eight hours had passed... I've been waiting for you!...
I played the last trick I had...Shaming the company on Facebook...
Someone responded that they couldn't get my message...So I wrote it on their timeline! At least one other joined the complaint of time involved...
I got a call the next day! I kid you not...
From Maryland, A-1 Plumbing... The man was courtesy, what I would expect from a service provider. He was calling to explain that Electrolux had sent quite a number of requests to him at one time (not surprisingly). And that he could not send anybody until at least Monday! I asked him one question: Did they tell you that I had already been waiting for weeks. He told me they hadn't. He said it in an apologetic way. I agreed with no hassle. Monday came, and a young man came knocking...
That young man may have said his name, but I don't remember. What I remember was that he wore a cross around his neck... On seeing it, calm and fear disappeared. I knew I would be able to talk with him... I walked him to the location of the washer and explained that there was still water in it, that I had tried to put it through the clean cycle, but it now wouldn't open. He noted that he had a shop vac that he could use to get the water out...
But it seemed like a long time had passed. I had gone into the living room to read... I was getting nervous... I went out, pulled a cold water out of the refrigerator and fixed a lemonade from a mix and took it in and asked if he liked lemonade... He was grateful and started to talk...
He still could not open the door. And asked if it had ever happened before. I told him a brief overview of that first week with the machine... He picked up some of what he vacuumed up--small particles--but he said that they were not in a place where the water would have been going out... And, that, he didn't really know what to do next... He thought that maybe when the first incident occurred, that they didn't catch all of the particle bits--that where he had found these couldn't have been from an empty machine...
That meant, once again, going up the chain...
It's Monday again, He was here last Monday. I have heard nothing from anybody. The last man said he would probably be the one to come back as I had told him I hoped he would be the one to continue...
Yesterday, I attended a wedding... I had gone out the day before to get my hair cut...Doing things routinely is no longer possible. When I came home (my grounds caretaker drove me to and from the wedding since I didn't want to risk driving at night), I walked in and looked around. I walked back to my bedroom and turned on the light... To the left of me is a stack of clothes as high as my bed and spread across the floor so that I can't easily get into the corner cupboard there. My sheets haven't been changed since I don't know when...If I changed them to the last set of clean sheets I have, that will just add to the stack which would now tumbling over because it is so high...
I explained to each individual with whom I talked that I had health issues that required that I wash clothes often...Apparently that makes no difference to any of those at the top who apparently are only authorized to deal with what to do to handle a repair service call.
Not only has this matter put me into PTSD, I am having trouble with my mind working all the time. Walking through my home, towels and wash cloths lying in my shower because I have nowhere to hang them to dry...Showering is impossible, I have to use the wash basin...throw the newly used towels in on top of that stack... Dish towels, as well, tossed in, waiting for washing...
And I am sharing the worst part openly, because it has become so ridiculous that being embarrassed is the least of my problems... I am incontinent... Under normal times, and with medication, I do alright to get to the bathroom. But when I go out for longer periods, it can be a problem. For instance, the undergarments I usually use were totally out, so I bought another brand..."Always Discreet." Sorry to say that the ads on television are NOT TRUE. At least two longer times when shopping, the product (I even added another pad inside) allowed urine to escape in the back! Obviously this product also is not recommended!
I have had my slacks affected... And from earlier times when I didn't have meds, a number of my summer shorts were ruined because I couldn't get them washed right away... And you can be sure, having to throw clothes into a stack which has sat for weeks, will, again, mean that some of my good clothes will be unwearable for going anywhere.
I've purposely turned this post into a satire/with music...It is my way of getting through this daily hassle of facing the fact that America has changed in the last 50 years. Greed and corruption is now in control. The old saying that The Customer is Always Right..." is laughed at and ignored... Large corporations, not just Electrolux, are delaying, ignoring, or downright refusing to make decisions that would require they spend a little money that they really didn't want to spend...
You can tell who they are... The different in communication between the representatives of Electrolux versus A-1 Plumbing was like night and day... But those individuals often have no ability to actually serve their customers. The young man who was here last Monday said, "I want to help people--that's what I do. I knew he didn't want to have to give up without fixing my washer... He admitted that he was scheduled for two more people that day... He would have to cancel one, but maybe could get to the other... I thanked him, shaking his hand, and told him I hoped he would be the one to come back...
The problem is that, apparently, this company has created a machine that is not able to respond to those of us who use floor carpets to help keep the house warm and to help prevent falls. You know, those of us, who uses everything we own until it is no longer usable...even if some rubber backing starts to break up... I have to ask, would you throw rugs away that looked perfectly nice on the top, but had some breakage of underneath? I've tried to use a sweeper for them as much as possible, but I now have trouble lifting sweepers high enough to sweep up dirt that routinely comes in from outside. And, as I said, I had NO problem with my last machine and never even thought about not being able to continue the same use of the new washer.
If anybody can help me understand how it is the customer's fault when a machine cannot wash smaller floor rugs, especially when I'd been using my previous washer for years with the very same rugs... let me know...
It seems to me that post-Covid, corporations are USING the down time to claim that prices must be higher and delays on such things as repairs or replacements can't be done, because the company leaders and board members may not get the multi-million dollar bonus they give themselves...
This goes for anything that is being sold these days! I can accept it from, for instance, restaurants who are getting the same cost increases to cover their supplies... But... how much are we required to lose in order to have the rich become richer and richer while the poor become poorer and poorer...
My review of the Electrolux Front-Load Washer is
DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE IF YOU WISH TO KEEP YOUR HOUSE WARM AND CLEAN... THEIR GUARANTEE IS WRITTEN IN SUCH SMALL LETTERS THAT I CANNOT READ IT, REGARDLESS I'VE GOT MY HANDS ON IT...THEIR GUARANTY IS WORTHLESS IF THEY NEVER COME, WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?
AND DON'T PAY CASH...ONCE THERE IS NOTHING OWED...CASH IN HAND...FORGET ABOUT IT SEEMS TO BE THE RESPONSE AT THE TOP. I PITY THOSE WHO ARE WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY AND WANT TO DO THEIR JOBS!
Finally, I want to highlight what Job Burnout means. I automatically go into an emotional upset. Depending upon the issue, I either start crying and can't stop, or I become aggressive and refuse to deal with what I call "crap..." After I hung up on that first call, I turned to my caretaker and cried, "I hate myself when I can't control my actions..." The thing is, afterward I am usually very calm and back to normal interaction.
I'm wondering if many of you might be in the same situation these days... On a daily basis, there is a visible recognition that hatred is active, that lives are even in danger...and that those who are trying to help cannot get support to start making those in power, rich and greedy, even to get them to pay their fair share just like the rest of us for taxes.
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