When did appliances get so shitty?

[Texasgal]

I will never buy another GE product as long as I live!

My GE dryer only 4 years old has died! First it started making loud noises and then it stopped heating completely. I called GE's warranty repair and had a very nice fellow come out. The bearings and the heating element is shot, the bearings can be replaced under warranty but the heating element is NOT UNDER WARRANTY! WTF?

After talking to the repairman and assessing my bill... It would be WAY CHEAPER to buy a new dryer!

:mad: :mad: :mad:

What in the hell is going on here? My Mom had her golden harvest whirlpool washer and dryer for almost 30 years! She just recently bought a new set! She never had these repair issues!

What the hell is going wrong with today's shitty appliances? Will my crappy GE dryer become MORE landfill waste????

I am sooooo pissed right now!

* just to add, I've had in the last five years ( after thinking about it ) A GE coffee pot that didn't last, a GE dishwasher.... and an iron that cacked as well... hence my disdain for crappy GE products!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. All of our appliances are frigidaire, I think

Except for the Fridge, that's a Kenmore Elite.

[leftyclimber]

2. Durable goods are just not durable any more.

Cars, major appliances, any of that stuff. They're designed to have a lifespan of five years. x(

That said, I have a Frigidaire front-loading dryer that's a pip. I'd recommend their washer-dryers in a heartbeat. (Since you're shopping....)

[Texasgal]

4. Frididaire is good?

Because GE can kiss my butt!

[leftyclimber]

8. I've only got the washer-dryer combo.

They're high-efficiency/EnergyStar compliant, so they have minimal impact on my utilities (and my carbon footprint, too). I've been very happy with them. They were not cheap, though (about $1400). I paid for them with student loans.

It might be good to get more input than just mine, though. I may have just been lucky. :shrug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. We love our frididaire front loading stackable washer/dryer

[leftyclimber]

18. That's the same set we have.

Good to hear we didn't get the freak "good" ones. :)

[Kali]

3. you can pick up used dryers for ~ $50 - hell, I have 2 in the garage

but my real wish is that you would consider using solar - put up a clothesline. I have friends in Germany who don't have a dryer - if they can do it in that climate anybody can.

[Texasgal]

5. I do hang dry many of my clothes

I only use the dryer for big things like bath towels and sheets... and permanent press. :blush:

That's whats such BS about the dryer,I hardly used the damn thing!

[no name no slogan]

12. Probably wouldn't work in my climate

Sure the air is plenty dry, but if you hung your clothes up on a line outside here for three months of the year, you'd get it back frozen stiff after only 15 minutes.

[Kali]

30. they still dry! Leave them out longer.

That even happens here occasionally, believe it or not. How do you think clothes got dry before electricity?

[no name no slogan]

31. Not when it doesn't get above freezing for months at a time.

Before electricity, you could string them up in front of the wood-burning stove or the fireplace. Most homes don't have those things nowadays. You could dry them out indoors, which I have done before, but it can take a couple days, which is too long if you don't have more than a few days worth of clothes.

[Kali]

37. OK - I will certainly accept that is is absolutly miserable to hang wet laundry in the cold.

But I swear they will dry if you do. Look up "sublimation" - it is what freezer burn is to meat in the freezer. It is why an open container of ice will eventually be empty if you never use the ice. It's how they make "freeze dried" food:think:

[Pharlo]

47. I don't know if you have the room,

but what I do is hang clotheslines in the basement during the months where it's too cold to hang clothes outside.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. They don't make 'em like they used to.

My grandma had an old refrigerator that was manufactured in the early '30s. It sat on four spindly legs, had a big round compressor on top and the door had a big latch like on a car door. And it was still working just fine as of 1982 (though it tended to vibrate and creep across the floor).

[Deja Q]

7. Or laser printers, humidifiers (Hankscraft rocks, but $40 used on ebay?!), et al...

Bit of a shame, but it's a 'hidden market' of sorts: Make 'em cheap and easy to repair or replace. It's a gross waste.

[flvegan]

9. Ah, it seems like only yesterday that I had this very rant.

About the same appliance (dryer).

Nobody makes anything to last anymore.

[Incitatus]

10. They would rather sell you a new appliance every 4 years than every 30 years.

[GOPisEvil]

11. My advice: buy a basic Whirlpool dryer.

My mom bought a fancy-pants Whirlpool dryer not long before I bought a pretty basic Whirlpool. Within 3 years she had given up on the fancy dryer and bought one like mine.

My parents pretty much swear by Whirlpool and aside from the one fancy dryer, they've served the family well.

[Texasgal]

16. from what I am reading online

whirlpool seems the way to go!

[marybourg]

13. My Maytag dishwasher has had 3 new racks in 5 years;

My previous dishwasher had NO repairs and still looked beautiful inside and out when I replaced it after 23 years. Maytag has just recalled all its refrigerator brands, including Amana, Jenn-aire and Maytag. It had previously recalled washers, dryers and dishwashers (but not mine). I'm hanging on to my repair-free 30 year old Kenmore washer and dryer as long as possible, maybe longer.

[femmocrat]

23. We just had expensive repairs to a 2-yr. old Maytag dishwasher.

Some dinky little piece of plastic broke in the door lock. Unbelievable.

[rurallib]

26. Maytag went from building dependable long lasting machines

to trying to wring every nickel of profit out of each sale. And they went from #1 appliance dealer to out of business in about 7 years. They were bought out by Whirlpool for about a tenth of what they were once worth.
I helped my neighbor put in a Maytag washer about two months ago. What a tinny piece of crap. I really had to bite my lip so I didn't say something.

[Kat45]

28. I didn't know that Maytag had gone out of business.

How long ago was that?

[rurallib]

29. They were bought by Whirlpool @2005 or so. I am fuzzy on the year

They had a new CEO who abandoned dependability and went after profit. Appliances continued to sell for a couple years, but it didn't take long and no one was buying them. In about 3 or so years Whirlpool came in and snapped them up. It was a shame to see such a storied company so badly managed. The name remains, but it is now lika GM buick that is just like an Olds and a pontiac etc.
Here is the wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maytag_Company

[Kat45]

32. Phew! I bought my washer and dryer around 2001 or so.

Those might be the ones that are still good.

[rurallib]

41. you might be on the edge

if it's lasted this long, it's probably ok.
We got ours in the mid-90s and they are excellent.

[ogneopasno]

15. When they stopped making them in the U.S.

Seriously.

[jmowreader]

33. Some appliances are still made in the US, but I don't think Maytags are

We bought a laundry pair with Dubya's check. A couple days before the check arrived I went on a recon mission looking for a US-built pair. The only one I found that we could get for less than $1200 was a Whirlpool, which we got and it's been fine. Then again, we've only had it less than a year.

This bad major appliance thing isn't new or restricted to the US either. When Reagan was still in office I went to Berchtesgaden, Germany, on a tour and took the salt mine tour. (http://www.berchtesgaden.de/en/salt-mine-berchtesgaden) As our guide walked us through the mine, he pointed at a very old brine pump. "That pump is over 100 years old, runs every day and has never broken down. I have a washing machine in my house. It is two years old and nothing on it works."

[ogneopasno]

39. You're right, if you look you can still find some, but a lot of people don't.

We did the same thing with our check! We got a Frigidaire washer and dryer, made in the U.S. So far, so good.

[Lil Missy]

17. My dryer lasted well, till the kid tried to "help" with laundry.

He loaded the dryer with clothes, and poured an entire bottle of Tide in there. Turned it on. High heat.

That did not end well. :eyes:

[leftyclimber]

20. Oh, dear.

Reminds me of my eight-year-old first attempt to wash clothes, which involved cramming everything I could find into the washing machine and adding an entire box of Tide to the mix.

I was not terribly popular with my mother for a while after that. :hide:

[Lil Missy]

22. LOL! You were helping!

*groan*

[Lil Missy]

40. This was liquid Tide, btw.

The repair guy found sticky goop on every part in that machine. I taught him to FOLD laundry after that.

:eyes:

[KitchenWitch]

19. My washer and dryer are probably 15 years old

Basic Whirlpool models.

We have a home owner warranty which covers all of our household appliances (we pay $40 a month for the warranty). If anything breaks down, for $60 they will send someone out to fix it. If it cannot be fixed, the appliance will get replaced.

Last spring, our washer "died". The service guy came out to repair it. It needed the belts and some gears replaced. He came out 3 times for the one service call charge. He told me, when he first came out, that we had a good set of washer/dryer and that they would probably last forever unlike many of the new models.

[AlCzervik]

21. I switched over to Bosch after every maytag and whirlpool appliance I owned

Died an early death, the kitchenaide fridge has been making bad noises for 2 years now and I expect it will die soon, it's about 11 years old.

[LeftyMom]

24. When the started using plastic parts and making them outside the US.

These things used to be much more expensive (and not just in respect to inflation- I remember that back when my Dad bought a house when I was a kid his basic fridge was $800, a while back I picked him up a side by side for less than that) but were also expected to last for decades. I mean, my grandmother's vacuum probably she bought around 1950 probably cost quite a bit more than one purchased now would, but it finally quit working in the early 90's. Of course it was solid metal, louder than a jet engine and weighed a bit more than a korean subcompact (for that matter it probably would have performed better in impact testing) but it nearly outlived her.

[Lethe]

25. Edison's light bulbs are still working

as my grandpa always said, "it's made to sell."

[NV Whino]

27. Since they've been made in China. n/t

[FLyellowdog]

38. My repairman says they are all made in Mexico now. n/t

[NV Whino]

48. Ah so.

[leftofthedial]

34. pretty much everything American started to decline in 1963.

It has accelerated alarmingly since 1980.

[sohndrsmith]

35. Not sure how you're measuring this... Things that are well made just

generally cost more and aren't always available at the "regular" retail places (I'm guessing).

Things are still made well, but there are fewer of us who can afford them (much less where to find them).

Arguably, that's not always the case - sometimes products are shoddily made (not just appliances) because the only motivation is a quick buck/short term profit. Some things are made well and aren't massively expensive because they're bought by so many that reducing the price just makes sales go up.

Another component is care and maintenance of any product varies greatly. Nothing works well if it's not handled properly.

I have had experience with every category. I love it when I find a well made item or product that I would have paid more for or am happily surprised by the quality and/or price. Research is invaluable.

You have come to the conclusion that GE products are lousy (and that very well may be - I don't know), but my question to you would be: why did you choose GE items over others? Was it because you researched the product or because you just liked the way they looked - or because they have the most reliable brand name/reputation for whatever device you were buying? What made you choose? Maybe it will provide you with clues, maybe not...

[Lyric]

36. Planned obsolescence and imported crap

made for 25 cents a day (if that) by foreign corporate slave labor, with the cheapest possible materials.

*sigh*

[Symarip]

42. I used to be a GE Appliance Repairman

Most GE appliances you couldn't pawn on me if you paid me. Especially the Monogram line - jesus, what a nightmare.

Appliances went to shit in the 90s for all major brands. Right around the time they realized they can outsource most of the assembly in China, Korea, and Mexico. Everything on the showroom floor these days are disposable. Doesn't matter what brand it is.

[rolltideroll]

43. Around the time everything got mediocre. nt

[TK421]

44. Nothing is built to last these days

and I remember the appliances in our house growing up...those things lasted for years and years. I don't think my parents bought a new washer or dryer in all those years we lived there, but I'm sure there was the basic repair. Buy something new today, and it seems like one stupid part on it goes, the whole thing goes ( or repair costs reach about half of what you paid for it ).

[Pharlo]

45. I have a GE stove.

Works wonderfully. Haven't had a problem with it since the day we got it - in 1978. If it goes before I do, I have NO idea what kind I would replace it with. I hear Aga has a good reputation - with a price tag to match.

On the other hand, I could probably get away with NOT having a stove. I clean the oven once every ten uses or once every five years - whichever comes first. Most times, it's the five year mark. Mostly, I use the range.

Whatever you opt to do, best of luck.

[old mark]

46. Tg: My mom had a Harvest Gold Sears kenmore dryer for nearly 20 years.

WEhen it finally broke, I was able to fix it with a switch (the on/off switch in the door)for about $10. It was still running when last I saw it years later, in the early 1980's.
I hope GE's are not all bad - our kitchen stove is GE and 1 ov our AC's, too.
mark