The Customer Is Never Right

I promise to not do too many of these, but disclaimer: This is a rant post.

We bought a Whirlpool brand Washing Machine after asking a friend and appliance guy about what brand we should get when our LG bit the dust and flooded our house again. This was about three years ago.

He said he saw the least Whirlpool washers and figured that meant that there was a large success rate with them working. We don't usually buy the cheapest brands on the market, so we are very appreciative of his advice and purchased one.

Unfortunately, Whirlpool sucks. At least ours does.

I did my homework, read the reviews, made sure to get reviews that were updated after people had tried the washing machine for more than a few cycles. The biggest issue with this machine was that you could accidentally push buttons by leaning over it and interrupt your cycle. I could live with that, I figured, (by the way, this turned out to be really annoying since little fingers can also easily push the buttons without meaning to).

Before the factory warranty ran out we had the drain pump replaced. The filter for the drain pump is under the washing machine meaning the unit has to be physically tipped over (and all the water goes onto the floor), to access the filter.

A few months later, it was acting up again. That solidified my choice - I bought the extended warranty through Domestic & General. I'd never bought an extended warranty before, but it seemed needed at this point. We'd just bought the dang machine.

Every three months since my washing machine has gone kaput. I've been 8 months pregnant twice filling an entire minivan with all the laundry in the house (remember, there are 8 of us), to the point that the only windows we could see out of were the drivers side and the front, to go to the laundromat. Like clockwork. Every.Three.Months.

To all the pregnant mommas out there at the laundromat, I feel for you ladies. Oh.my.gosh that's hard work.

I'm to the point now that I know the Gunco techs when they come out. There is a nice one who is very understanding, replaces the pump, the filter, and does his best to make sure we stay within the parameters of the warranty. He's honest with the company, but he's also taught me some consumer things to do to keep the machine at it's cleanest so we have this problem less often. They haven't worked, but maybe they've kept it from getting worse.

Then there is the grumpy one. This dude is nice to my face, then writes his report like we've broken open a piñata, washed it and the candy inside, then poured an entire sandbox into the laundry machine AND washed a cat.

This last time, I got the grumpy one. I had talked with D&G (the warranty company) and they agreed that this was excessive, my machine was probably defective, but the tech would have to write it up as unrepairable. So, when I got there, I asked him to do that. He told me he didn't have the power to do that. Not that I was wrong, or that he could fix it, just that he wouldn't.

I admit, I plead with him. Being out a washing machine when you do several loads a day for two weeks while I wait on the tech to be scheduled and come out is awful. I have bed wetters, I have animals, and I have two pubescent kids who are not always accurate with their deodorant. Oh, and one plays football. The whole house smells as the laundry builds up in our laundry shoot.

So he called the company for me. He told me that they would call Whirlpool and plead my case to them, and that I needed to call on Monday to see if I get a replacement unit. Then he left. I thanked him wholeheartedly, finally thinking that he understood the predicament. His report however, just as blatantly my fault as ever, and he didn't fix the issue, (which was somewhat expected).

So I call D&G yesterday. I told the guy what I was told both by D&G and by Gunco. We kept cutting each other off and he didn't like that at all.

Here is where the story turns into a rant. This guy at Domestic and General told me the following:

1. No. I was wrong and so was everything that everyone else told me.

2. Your washing machine is likely not rated for sand or pet hair.

3. You probably shouldn't do so much laundry

4. The way the BERs work is that we get parts at cost and once the cost of all the parts exceeds the cost of the washing machine, then you get a replacement

5. We have people that call in every other day to report issues, go ahead, we don't care

6. No, we can't expedite repair appointments despite you already waiting two weeks, you have to wait again.

7. A car's oil is not exactly easy to change (regarding my filter under my unit) but it's there anyway.

   
   

   I'm not really on the corporate greed wagon. I'm a small business owner and I set my prices to what I need for the profit that I want for my family to enjoy our life. Corporations do that too, but for their shareholders and their executives and other employees to a lesser extent. Fine. We have a choice to buy or not buy, or, to work there or not work there. While I wish they would give more to the "little people", profit is a way that businesses measures themselves.

   
   

   But here is where corporate greed gets my goat. When they don't make a product that is good. Sell it at a premium so you think it's good. Then refuse to acknowledge that it is not a good product and train their people to act like it's completely the consumer's fault.

   
   

   I manage engineering programs for a living. We build aircraft parts. Could you imagine being on an aircraft and the toilets start overflowing into the cabin because of a filter that cannot be accessed easily to be changed? That airplane would be diverted, the company who built it would be reprimanded, they'd make the news, and not in a good way, and all that happened was some biohazard stuff. The plane didn't fall out of the air, no one died. Then imagine a fortune 500 company telling the company flying the aircraft that it was their fault, too many people were onboard. The food must've been too potent, too many people were pooping during that trip. It was only rated for pee. They'd never have business again.

   
   

   On the phone with Domestic and General I felt like they told me the following:

   1. You're not allowed to have so many kids due to the washing machine that you bought

   2. You do too much laundry, you should limit it within the washing machine's specs, which you should know, memorize and treat like the Bible

   3. Your kids shouldn't be allowed to play in the sand or dirt, (it's a sand table by the way, not even a sand box), and then wash their clothes

   4. Your family should be perfect and never forget that they have stuff in their pockets

   5. You as the mom should do all the laundry in the house. Don't train your older kids to do it because if the machine can't handle the candy wrapper in their pocket, it's on you

   6. Because you bought that washing machine, you're not allowed to have pets or body hair, nor can you shed or shave that body hair anywhere near clothes

   7. Fluffy towels and fabrics like linen are not allowed at all

   8. Your washing machine should determine the type of life you have. It is a God and should rule over everything in your home.

      
      

   Yeah, there is satire in this, but it is totally true. I kid you not. It no longer matters if the clothes tags say they can be washed, if they don't agree with the washing machine, they can't be. Apparently, the trace amounts of sand my kids have on their pants after wearing them for an hour after they play on a sand table, are an absolute no-no. Pet hair, even just the stray hairs, not allowed. I need to pluck every one off of every piece of clothing before putting it in the washing machine, per the spec.

   
   

   That is corporate greed. That will ensure we never purchase another whirlpool product again, and we currently have three of them in the house that we've purchased over the last several years. It'll ensure that after this machine is either replaced or formally bites the dust we'll never sign up with Domestic and General for anything. One by one, as consumers get pissed off, they'll learn. There are alot of companies in the learning cycle right now.

   
   

   Meanwhile, I'll call D&G at the very first sign of distress from my washing machine. This means I won't try to force it to work for a couple of weeks before giving up. It starts throwing codes at me, D&G will have to pay Gunco to come out, look at it, fix it, and get it back to working. No more Mrs. Nice Mom.

   
   

   Cheering for you from behind a laundry mountain,

   Kristian

   
   

   _______________________

   Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

   
   

   Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

   
   

   I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

   
   

   Welcome to Six Sweet Smiles — where we celebrate the mess, the miracles, and everything in between.