Mary B. posted this sordid story of schlocky appliance service in the Samurai Appliance Repair Forum:

Last week, during a normal load of laundry our HE3 Washer started making a horrible loud sound! It sounded like a car coming through our garage. We got the washer stopped. When we removed our white clothes, there was a rust color all over them. There is a gaping hole under one of the baffles in the seam of the Stainless Steel tub.

I did not buy the extended warranty 3 years ago when we paid $1,000 for this machine. I called Sears, their service guy claims he had never seen this before and handed me an estimate for $1,100 to repair it. I laughed and showed him out!!!! I read in the manual that the Stainless Steel tub has a Limited Lifetime Warranty, so I called Sears to complain. The service guy said nothing about this warranty. When I explained to the woman on the phone what had happened, she looked up my model (Model # 110.42822201) and told me there were two Service Flashes on this model for tub problems. They are sending a different service guy out tomorrow. I am mad that the first service guy did not know the warranty and knew nothing about the Service Flashes.

Where can I go for some of these answers. I have digital pictures of the damage it it helps. (Note from Samurai: the photo Mary posted is shown here, click it for a larger view.)

After a several phone calls to the corporate bureaucrats at Sears and a visit by another Sears tech, Mary ended up with a choice: pay $300 toward the repair cost with Sears covering the rest OR take a $500 store credit toward a new washing machine (limited, of course, to what’s available on the Sears floor). Oh, BTW, they did offer to just give her the parts to do the three-hour, two-man job repair herself. 🙄

Even though the Sears techs claim they have never seen this problem, my latest intel shows that this drum seam failure is an emerging issue with these washers (also sold as the Whirlpool Duet). The problem is aggravated in areas with corrosive water, which apparently accelerates the corrosion at the critical drum seams, resulting in the Mary’s dilemma.

So what should Mary do? I give Mary the same advice I gave Rickie on his Asko washer. Look, if you buy the store brands, you are resigning yourself to bending over for one of the Big Appliance Manufacturers and appliance servicers. Is Sears going to give you technical repair help on the phone or in the form of repair manuals? Is Whirlpool? Is Asko? I think you’ll find that you are SOL, my friend. Why throw good money after bad and buy yet another store brand with all the built-in obsolescence and secretive technical information?

But, hey, this is Ameedica, and we still have some remnant of the free market which means you still have other choices. And your best choice for a washing machine is the Staber washer. You can read my copious writings on the Staber washer here and it was featured in the Fall 2006 issue of our newsletter.

Is the Staber just as vulnerable to the drum seam failure that we’re starting to see in the Kenmore HE3/4t and Whirlpool Duet washers? Short answer: NO. Why? Completely different construction which doesn’t rely on cheesy little folds in the stainless steel to hold the drum together. I’ve posted a picture here– see for yourself (as always, click the thumbnail for the larger, annotated view).

Isn’t it time to finally wake up from your life-long marketing-induced slumber and buy a Staber? 8)

In the Fall 2006 issue of our newsletter, Appliantology, I talked about the Staber washer and the typical happy Staber owner. I mentioned that, “If you’re not a DIYer and expect to call for service, get a commercially available washer from your favorite appliance dealer. Some good ones are Whirlpool Duet, Miele, Asko and Fisher-Paykel.”

Rickie, a frequent reader of these hallowed pages, disagreed vehemently with my mentioning Asko as a suitable brand to consider. In the interest of equal time, I am including her comments here:

MESSAGE SENT THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE

This form was submitted: Sep 14 2006 / 13:58:19
by a visitor with this IP Address: 4.252.98.112
name = Rickie ****
email = ********
country = USA

I have to take issue with your endorsement of Asko washers and dryers. I paid $1000 each for 2 units in 2000, and had NOTHING but trouble with both of them. I got a run around with the 800 number, and the regional rep didn’t return my calls. My washer and dryer had something like 8 service calls each in the first 4 years (I gave them away with my house when I sold it last year–that’s how little I valued them), and I mean for serious stuff that required hours of service and complete tear-downs. I called the company I purchased them from wilthin the first year and wanted to return my lemons, but they wouldn’t deal with me and only referred me to the above mentioned rep and 800#. I went sometimes months without using the units because I couldn’t afford the service charges. I would no more recommend an Asko appliance than I would jump off a cliff. I searched the internet for comments after I had so much trouble (I had done my research before, too, and found good stuff to recommend Asko), but after, I came across forums where people had the same complaints as I, so I know it was not just my units. The company is just plain unworkable. I will never never never use or recommend an Asko anything ever again.

–Rickie ****

Rickie’s saga is a perfect illustration of why you should buy a Staber!

Look, one of the big missions of this website is to empower you, average Joe or Jane appliance owner, to become appliance self-sufficient. That means learning how to fix your own appliances so you’re not at the mercy of know-nothing parts-changing monkeys, jive-turkey “repair” men, or manufacturer bureaucracy. And the simple fact is that if you’re not a do-it-yourselfer, you ARE at the mercy of other people and organizations!

“Ok, Mr. Samurai Cyclops, wouldn’t I still be at the mercy of Staber Industries if I bought a Staber, just like I would any other brand?”

Listen, bubble-boy, if you buy anything from anyone, you are entering into a relationship with that person or company. You are trading Federal Reserve Notes (mistakenly referred to as “Dollars”) for a product or service which you are having to trust is what you are expecting. The only way to avoid this is to live on a deserted island, alone, just you and your coconut.

See, it’s all matter of degree of dependancy. What you’re getting when you buy a Staber is a washer that is designed to be serviced by you, Average Joe or Jane appliance owner. And they help you do that by making available to you, the Staber owner, all the free service information and free manuals you need to repair the washer yourself. Staber offers excellent, free service support to owners– they’ve made it easy for you to have a low energy, low water-consuming, high-efficiency washing machine and be able to maintain it yourself.

That’s why Staber washers and dryers are such a home run with the self-reliant crowd, those living off the grid, and folks like Rickie who are sick and tired of being taken for a ride by manufacturers who could care less that you got stuck with a lemon. As far as they’re concerned, you’re one of the ignorant helpless bastards who expects to call for service every time your machine breaks so you get whatever they damn-well feel like giving you because they know you don’t have a choice. That’s also why I have 10,000 grasshoppers a day visiting this website seeking pearls of appliance repair wisdom to avoid having to call Cheeky the repairclown or 1-800-GE-CARES and then pressing “2” for English and waiting 45 minutes for the corporate bureaucrat to come back from her smoke break and pick up the damn phone.

So, the advice I gave is quite accurate, “If you’re not a DIYer and expect to call for service, get a commercially available washer from your favorite appliance dealer. Some good ones are Whirlpool Duet, Miele, Asko and Fisher-Paykel.” And, as far as the store-bought brands, that, sadly, is about as good as it gets. The corollary to this is, “Why in the world would you NOT want to be a do-it-yourselfer?”

Presumably, if you’re reading this, you have some interest in learning to repair your own appliances. Well, you’ve come to the right place because the Samurai makes it easy for you to do that. With over 3,000 pages of free detailed help, the world-famous Samurai Appliance Repair Forum, a Live Help subscription service for real-time, personal help, and convenient parts ordering, Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man has everything you need to become appliance self-sufficient.

A young Samurai Apprentice posted this problem in the repair forum. Sublime Master of Appliantology Stumpowitz rendered the illuminating initial diagnostic advice:

Magnetic reed switch on left side below the gray rubber bumper, shown here. Release two spring clips in front between main top and front panel using putty knife. Lift the main top and access the left and right door locks here. To access and see if the magnet is in place, remove the dispenser from lid. Gently pry the bottom of the plastic inner lid toward you then down. This will let you see if the magnet is in place on the right front corner of the innrer lid.

Which, naturally, was precisely the right prescription.

Further investigation by an inquisitive grasshopper revealed the reason why these lid lock switches are failing, click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Seems to be a common problem with this washer. Apparently, the lid isn’t completely watertight and allows water to get into this switch corroding the contacts and the wires. See the attached picture of my water-damaged switch. Note the black wire disconnected.

All is revealed under the power of many good minds focused on a single problem. This is the strength of the forum. Buy your new lid lock switch here.