This morning, I read a headline on the Business Page of the ARIZONA DAILY STAR: “Whirlpool’s relationship with Sears spins to a stop.” The story said, “Sears will no longer sell Whirlpool-branded appliances, curtailing a business relationship that dates back more than 100 years.” And, it’s all my fault!
A month ago, my 5-year-old Whirlpool washing machine stopped spinning, and left me stuck with a tub full of wet clothes. I called my home warranty company, American Home Shield (AHS) and they sent a repairman from Sears. Before he arrived, I had to move everything out of my laundry room so he could get to the machine.
Tech #1545 came, lifted up the machine, looked underneath and said, “Your capacitor (a device for starting an electrical charge) is lying on the floor. He picked it up, pushed it back into the washing machine, and wired it to the spot, so it wouldn’t fall onto the floor again. AHS paid $169.00 for that job.
After #1545 left, I put all of the stuff back into the laundry room and did a load of laundry, whereupon my washing machine once again stopped spinning and left me with another load of wet clothes. A few days later, once more, I moved all of the stuff out of my laundry room, and AHS sent out Sear’s Tech #0299 who replaced a sub actuator shifter. He told me that Tech #1545 had a heart attack, shortly after he had left my home. At that, I started feeling a little guilty. Tech #0299 also told me that I was his last job before he left for vacation. This time, AHS paid $268.00. After my first experience, I had wised up a bit and did not put all of the stuff back into the laundry room, until I did another load of laundry. The machine seemed fine—until it wasn’t.
Perhaps, the third repair would be a charm…or not! The next day Tech #8038 came from Sears. “Hooray!” I exclaimed, when I saw a lady technician. She lifted up my washing machine with one hand, looked under it and exclaimed, “#0299 didn’t put the correct wire nuts on the capacitor wires. The wires have slipped out. No wonder the machine stopped working.” I said, #0299 is on vacation.” She said, “I think he quit.” Now I was really feeling guilty. My Whirlpool had given #1545 a heart attack and made #0299 quit his job. No wonder he seemed like such a happy fellow.
#8038 attached the correct wire nuts and said, “Now your machine should work fine.” AHS paid $200 for the job. I trusted her and replaced all of the stuff in the laundry room. The washer did one load of laundry, and once again groaned to a halt. When Sears informed AHS that their service department was backed up, and couldn’t send another repairman to my house for a month, My son advised, “Mom, get a new machine.” However, AHS had already scheduled, someone from “My Tech-Joe” to come fix my Whirlpool washer.
Joe didn’t come, but sent a really conscientious young man who spent lots of time under my washing machine. He diagnosed the problem, “Machine Won’t Start.” The service performed was, “Reconnected Capacitor Wires Properly.” Once again, I was not charged. Don’t know how much AHS paid, but so far I had paid $75 for a service call, and AHS had paid $637 to repair my Whirlpool washing machine that had originally cost me $597.
After the “My Tech-Joe” guy left, I washed 4 blankets and several loads of laundry. So far, so good, but no one really knows when a capacitor may have another prolapse, and AHS will have to call in a urologist to finish the job.
Esther Blumenfeld