Sunday, August 9, 2009

I want my washing machine back!!

I haven't blogged in a while, and I hate for this to be my first one after a break, but I have to put this somewhere, or I'm going to scream. So here's the story. On July 4th my washing maching, a 3 yr old Whirlpool Duet Front end loader starting making this twittering noise and all of the lights on the control panel were flashing. I pushed the cancel button and even flipped the breaker to see if it would reset. Nothing worked, thankfully I had my kid's $10 sleeping bags in it, instead of a load of much needed laundry. I called Sunrise Appliance, the company that we purchased the washer and dryer from and also purchase the 5yr extended warranty that covers any problems. As expected the repair department was not in on Saturday, but I left a message for them to call me back. They called at 9 am on Monday morning and said they were backed up and couldn't come out until Thursday. I though "oh great, I have a 3 and 4 yr old, and a ton of clothes that I had already let go for wayyy to long," but I didn't have a choice. On Wednesday I went and bought a few more towels, washcloths and pj's for the kids, thinking I'd rather spend the money on items we could use instead of wasting it at the laundrymat when the washer would be fixed the next day. When the repair guy came out on Thursday, he looked at it for 5 minutes and said they would have to order the part and it should be in in about a week, this was on July 9th.

So on Saturday I had to break down and go to the laundrymat, it was only going to be once right? I spent about $14, thankfully I found a newer nicer one that had WIFI. I called on the following Wednesday, July 15 to see when the part was supposed to be in and see if I could go ahead and schedule the service. I was told the part would not be in until July 17th. What!?!?! That's 1 1/2 weeks, longer than I was originally told. She said that she could schedule the service for the following Wednesday, they needed to send 2 people out since the washer and dryer were stacked. On Friday I got frustrated and sent and email to the company, and as of today, I have yet to get a reply back. I went to the laundrymat again on Sunday, and spent about $10 this time.

The following Wednesday, July 22, they repair guys came out and replaced the part. It continued to make the noise, and they even tried plugging it into another plug just incase that was the problem. Then they determined they needed to replace the front control panel. I'm afraid to ask how long it will take to get this part, but to my surprise they said they could get it by the next day, and come out after dinner. I'm thinking "I can make it another day." Well they came back out the next day as promised and replaced the panel, guess what? It still did it!! Now everyone is stumped and have no clue what is going on. They said they had never seen anything like that before. They called Whirlpool, and Whirlpool said they would send it to the engineers and get back with them within 5 days, this was on July 23. When they left, I could barely speak, am I to go to the laundrymat and waste yet another day?

I could barely sleep that night thinking about how my weekends and family time were being spent in a laundrymat. I was so frustrated the next morning when I woke up. I asked my husband if he would go by and ask if there was any possibility they could give us a loaner washing machine. I knew he was the calmer and more rational of the 2 of us, I don't know what I may have said if I had gone and later regretted. At first he was told they did not give out loaners, but when he told them what the situation was, they sent him downstairs to talk with the guy over the repair department. Turns out, he's the one who had come out both days, so he knew the situation. He said that they would bring us a loaner that day.

I was thinking it would be 5 business days before Whirlpool would contact them. I waited until Monday August 3rd to call and see if they had any information, 7 business days, I was told they hadn't heard anything back, and when they did, I would be the first to know. Ok, now it is August 9th, and still no washing machine or information. It has been a month since the first person came out to look at it. I don't know what to do. I am thankful they brought me out a loaner, but this is a basic 1 function top loader that can only wash 1/3 of the normal load, and cannot handle delicates, or about 1/3 of my laundry needs.

I am at my wits end on this. How much longer am I supposed to wait? I'm not a very patient person, and I am trying to keep from calling them up and yelling, but how much longer am I going to be able to hold out?