All Washed up

OK.  This is my Rant.  Well, call it a vent.....or if you are at Starbucks, a Venti.  This is the story of our new Washer.

As with all stories, there is a back-story.  A "how-did-we-get-to-here" story that leads us to the present.  A lot of movies have an "origin story."  A way to fill in the blanks of the past.

Let's go back to 2010, and my former house.  Part of a condition of selling it included leaving the existing Refrigerator, Washer and Dryer.  They were only a few years old, but the interested buyers wanted it as a condition of sale, and not having many offers, these appliances stayed behind.  

Fortunately, the townhouse I looked at, and eventually bought, had a full range of appliances, including a fridge, and a Washer and Dryer left over from the 70's.  They were white...top load washer and front load dryer.  I was not complaining.  I did not have to buy new.  I did replace the refrigerator with a more energy efficient model.  (If you prank called me and asked if my refrigerator was running...I would have told you it was....all the time).

Anyway, when it was just myself (and my children every other week), I did the laundry once a week, and they worked just fine.  After my wife moved in with the boys, the laundry increased, but they still worked.  In fact, they worked for 5 years, until the issues this spring.

The washer was the first to go.  It started by not drying very well.  The heating element gave out.  It would take 3x to dry a load and was wasting electricity.  We made a decision to purchase a new dryer, using some money from our tax refund.

Well, then last month, the Washer decided it has to outdo the dryer.  The agitator began wrapping clothes around itself and shaking violently.  Now, it looked like we needed a washer and dryer.

We got a break at the surprise party my wife has for my 50th birthday, earlier this month.  My boss from work attended, and he overheard that we were looking for these items.  He told me that he recently replaced his washer and dryer, and he had a dryer for free if we wanted it.  He had replace the heating element in it, but otherwise it worked.


A few days later he followed me home from work and dropped it off.  Now we had a new (used) dryer that was not from the 70's.  Best part for us, it dries a load in one cycle!  We were very excited this worked out.

That left us with needing a washer.  The money for a Dryer went for a new Washer.   So last week, my wife and I went shopping and found one at Home Depot.  We paid for it and made arrangements for delivery, using their 3rd party service.  I paid for a warranty, new hoses, and set up and haul away of the old washer.

It all started out well.  They called the night before with a time frame, and then on Tuesday, the driver called 1 hour out from delivery.  I was at work during the install, but other family members were at home.  Apparently, the install went well and we were told to run the washer frequently during the first 48 hours.  If there was a problem with the washer, we could get a replacement.

Here starts the rant.  When I got home from work, I wanted to see the washer and get cracking on my laundry.  (Wow, so excited to break it in....what an exciting life I lead)  I was told that it was leaking and there was water on the floor in the basement.  My step-daughter was using it for their laundry and she noticed water leaking from the bottom of the washer.  There were towels down to soak it up and washing was on hold.

I called the customer satisfaction number to get someone back to look at it.  The guy I talked to said he had my information and someone would call me on Wednesday morning and come out to look at the install.   Well, no one called in the morning.  After lunch, I checked to see if anyone came to the house.  Nothing.

I called the customer service number again and got "Steven" on the line.  I explained my situation and said I was frustrated that no one called, and that I expected someone to stop out.  He said they had no record of my call and nothing was set up.  I explained I had a warranty and was in mid sentence when I was put on hold.  2 minutes later the call disconnected!!

I laughed it off and called back.  This time I got a woman and I explained my situation all over again, including being hung up on.  She told me she would contact the delivery service and make arrangements.  She would put me on hold, but not hang up.  About 5 minutes later, she came back on and told me the earliest they could come back was on Friday.

"Friday," I said.  "You have nothing earlier?  We have a lot of laundry to do.  Maybe I should try and fix it myself."

"And void the warranty," she told me.   That was good.  So, I told her  to set it up for Friday.  I was frustrated, but she said this was the best they could do.  The delivery service was a 3rd party and will only come when they are in the area.

So now we wait until Friday.  Rant over.  In the meantime, off to the laundromat.  Got change anyone??