Happy Ending But It Was A Disaster

The Sears repairman finally showed up this morning. I told him
about the F51 error on the washer and also that the tub was full of
water to the top when it finally shut down. He did not like the sound
of the full tub of water. He said he owned the same machine, and it
should not do that. He checked on the causes of the F51 error. He
tilted the machine backward and disassembled the parts around the
rotor on the bottom of the machine. He said the offending part was not
snapped in completely. He asked me if I had some clothes to wash so he
could test it.

I ran and grabbed some towels. It was about half the number I usually
wash as a load of towels. He had me add detergent and start the wash
cycle. He stood there and watched. It wasn't long before he came up
with a very technical explanation for what was wrong with the washer.
He said, "this machine is sick in the head." He asked for my sales
receipt.

This is where it really got bad. He said if I was with in 90 days of
the purchase, Sears would replace the machine with a new one. I bought
the machine on June 30, but it was not delivered until September 9. He
said the counter started on June 30. He said he would order a new
computer for the machine, UPS would deliver it, and when I received
the computer to call and schedule an appointment for it to be
installed. He packed up his tools and was ready to head out. I asked
if I could continue to use the machine until the computer arrived. He
said yes but stay close to the machine. He said the water might over
flow. I objected to his leaving before the cycle completed. He stopped
the wash cycle and started it on a second rinse cycle and left. I
nervously watched. It got through the rinse and drained the water.
Then the machine became unbalanced. The lid was locked and I could not
open it to rearrange the towels. I kept pressing the stop button and
eventually the lid unlocked. The towels were sopping wet. My towels
are very thick and heavy. I rang out as much water as I could and put
them in the dryer.

The repairman told me to call the store where I bought the machine to
see if they could do anything about replacing the washer. I tried to
call the appliance department of the Beaumont store. No one answered
and the battery on my cell phone needed to be charged.

Right then the Beaumont realtor called and said she was emailing a
document that I needed to print out, sign and fax back to her
immediately. I stopped everything to handle the document. Under normal
conditions I think I would have been crying by then. I must have been
in a state of shock.

I went ahead and finished my lunch and then went down to cry on my
neighbors shoulder. When I came back home, the cell phone battery was
charged. I got through to the Beaumont Sears appliance department. I
got a salesman named Mark. I think he is the same man I first talked
to way back in March when I first started shopping for my new
appliances. He really knew all the details on the machine. I told him
what had happened. I gave him the sales receipt number. He said I was
within the one year warranty and was entitled to a new machine. He
said he did not know where the repairman got the 90 day business. He
ordered my new machine, and it will be delivered on Thursday.

Sears front loading Kenmore Elite machines are more expensive than the
top loading Elite Oasis, but still I have spent a lot of money on
these machines. It just makes me feel sick to think that I have bought
trouble plagued machines. I am hoping the new washer will be trouble
free. I usually do not buy service warranties, but I am thinking it
might be a good idea to get the extended policies on these machines.