the Magic of the Marketplace....

[Phil DeBar]

or, Let's Bring Back Consumer Protection!

The repair person pronounced our 7-year old clothers dryer dead at 9:56 a.m., for the low, low cost of $72.

Cause of death: heart failure of the electronic motherboard control panel. Cost to replace - in 10 days when the part ships in - $489.

He soothed the feelings of the survivors with a $65 (major chain store) coupon, and kindly advised that a $400 expenditure on a new dryer was the wiser course.
It was a practiced, calibrated, funeral-director level presentation.

He was very persuasive, had a laptop with all kinds of schematics, diagnostic lists. To be fair, he tested the thermostat first (because it 'only' costs $200) when he saw the type of venting we had (it's our only choice due to lack of space). But that wasn't the problem.

Opened it all up too, a complete sales-autopsy.

To me, my whole interface with him, the manual (no user-friendly replacement components), and website (vague and continually recommending 'call us for service' by their in-house repair corp)…. had the flavor of market-tested obsolescence…and predatory pricing. And it all steers you right into their showrooms to be fleeced once again.

It's ridiculous for a major appliance to die after barely 7 years. All other electronics have declined in price all this decade, but the replacement electronics here "cost" more than the entire original purchase price, and are of course solely warehoused 10 days away, when an ordinary closet could hold many dozens of them.

What a waste. Helluva racket they've got goin'. Right up there with absurdly high priced replacement shaver blades, electric toothbrush tops, and computer printer ink cartridges.

Any suggestions?
THX,
singin phoole

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire
at last and the White House will be adorned by a
downright moron." -H.L. Mencken, (1880 - 1956)

[ThePhiant]

since you got it diagnosed, all you need now is the part #
you can get this for about 25% of what he quoted you on Ebay.
worked for me!

and Braggi can install this for free for you!
LOL


[quote=singing phoole;36560]or, Let's Bring Back Consumer Protection!

The repair person pronounced our 7-year old clothers dryer dead at 9:56 a.m., for the low, low cost of $72..../quote]

[Juggledude]

Well, you could build a better moustrap (or clothesdryer) with more sensible engineering...

Or, I'll sell you a piece of line for $2, guarantee it for 3 years, and toss in free solar drying action to boot, but i gotta warn you, the replacement cost of it's components will probably be higher than the original purchase price as well.

Can I have your coupon? I need a new dryer.

Royce


P.S. i really like your writing style, thanks for the fun post!

or, Let's Bring Back Consumer Protection!

The repair person pronounced our 7-year old clothers dryer dead at 9:56 a.m., for the low, low cost of $72.

Cause of death: heart failure of the electronic motherboard control panel. Cost to replace - in 10 days when the part ships in - $489.

He soothed the feelings of the survivors with a $65 (major chain store) coupon, and kindly advised that a $400 expenditure on a new dryer was the wiser course.
It was a practiced, calibrated, funeral-director level presentation.

He was very persuasive, had a laptop with all kinds of schematics, diagnostic lists. To be fair, he tested the thermostat first (because it 'only' costs $200) when he saw the type of venting we had (it's our only choice due to lack of space). But that wasn't the problem.

Opened it all up too, a complete sales-autopsy.

To me, my whole interface with him, the manual (no user-friendly replacement components), and website (vague and continually recommending 'call us for service' by their in-house repair corp)…. had the flavor of market-tested obsolescence…and predatory pricing. And it all steers you right into their showrooms to be fleeced once again.

It's ridiculous for a major appliance to die after barely 7 years. All other electronics have declined in price all this decade, but the replacement electronics here "cost" more than the entire original purchase price, and are of course solely warehoused 10 days away, when an ordinary closet could hold many dozens of them.

What a waste. Helluva racket they've got goin'. Right up there with absurdly high priced replacement shaver blades, electric toothbrush tops, and computer printer ink cartridges.

Any suggestions?
THX,
singin phoole

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire
at last and the White House will be adorned by a
downright moron." -H.L. Mencken, (1880 - 1956)

[Sonomamark]

Yes, actually.

Tomorrow, anytime between 6:30 in the morning and 7:30 at night, go outside, avoiding any large trees or other overhanging objects, and look up.

There will be a large, dazzlingly bright object overhead. Do not look at it more than fleetingly, or component obsolescence may be triggered in your visual receptors as well.

This object presents a considerable amount of heat and light energy for a very reasonable price, and returns to visibility overhead rather frequently for most of the year.

My recommendation is that you use this competitively-priced heat source for drying laundry, and, when it is not available, use a public laundromat or collaborate with a friend which has a private dryer.

Less snarkily: microprocessors are subject to heat--that's just a fact. Dryers make heat--if you didn't have proper ducting to carry the heat away, the problem was not with manufacture. Of course, if you wanted, you could look for a pre-integrated circuit dryer circa 1975, which would consume far more power than a modern one but would handle higher heat--of course, it's also 32 years old, and probably has a lot of other problems.

The problem isn't that the products aren't as good. By pretty much every standard, they're generally better than older machinery: more energy efficient, more features, more safety. But ICs are just vulnerable to heat, and all the controllers are now ICs. Yes, repair people cost money--but it's not as if they are living in wild luxury. They don't get paid for 40-50 hours per week, they only make what they can bill. So it goes.

In our climate, you only need a dryer for 4 months out of the year, more or less. See what you can work out with a neighbor who has one--might be cheaper. I use a clothesline nearly all the time--lovely fresh smell, doesn't cost a nickel.


M

or, Let's Bring Back Consumer Protection!

The repair person pronounced our 7-year old clothers dryer dead at 9:56 a.m., for the low, low cost of $72.

...

Any suggestions?
THX,
singin phoole

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire
at last and the White House will be adorned by a
downright moron." -H.L. Mencken, (1880 - 1956)

[mykil]

I tell you what; Look in any paper around the country and get a free one right from the free section on the paper, or buy a used one for nearly nothing. Twenty or thirty bucks I grew up extremely poor and never had the opportunity to buy anything new. I have made a living out of my misfortune to the tune of I can buy any thing I want. Still I would never ever ever even conceder buying a new dryer or washer or anything for that matter. I have alwayz had a washer and dryer in my household that I did not pay anything for. If you are worried about what it might look like than I don’t know what to tell you besides used things really look almost the same as new just a little dust and sometimes they don’t match. If you are good you can even get them to match! I think living in Sebastopol you need to make a decision about your priorities. Are you a yuppie or a hippie? Or both?

[Lorrie]

Stringing a line from one post or tree to another about say 6ft., while the wind is blowing, works pretty good too!

I have a design in mind for a solar clothes tumbler.
If anyone wants to help with building a prototype, please email me.

[Dixon]

...Any suggestions?
THX,
singin phoole

About every 10 days or so, I take my laundry to my friend Laura's house and enjoy dinner and Scrabble with her while I use her washer and dryer. I recompense her for this by bringing food of her choice for our dinner. Not only do I get my laundry done in an environment that's much more pleasant than the laundromat, but I spend quality time with a friend, so community is built as the clothes get washed. I recommend such an arrangement to everybody.

Dixon

[mykil]

https://www.waccobb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25761 free right here on wacco!

[Shandi]

I'd just look for a good used one, which I see all the time. If you get it through a store that sell used appliances, they usually give you a 30 day warrenty, which is better than none at all. But, I'd try to find a fairly new one, since people have to sell theirs because of a move to a new place that only uses gas or electric.

Good luck,
Sandy

or, Let's Bring Back Consumer Protection!

The repair person pronounced our 7-year old clothers dryer dead at 9:56 a.m., for the low, low cost of $72.

Cause of death: heart failure of the electronic motherboard control panel. Cost to replace - in 10 days when the part ships in - $489.

He soothed the feelings of the survivors with a $65 (major chain store) coupon, and kindly advised that a $400 expenditure on a new dryer was the wiser course.
It was a practiced, calibrated, funeral-director level presentation.

He was very persuasive, had a laptop with all kinds of schematics, diagnostic lists. To be fair, he tested the thermostat first (because it 'only' costs $200) when he saw the type of venting we had (it's our only choice due to lack of space). But that wasn't the problem.

Opened it all up too, a complete sales-autopsy.

To me, my whole interface with him, the manual (no user-friendly replacement components), and website (vague and continually recommending 'call us for service' by their in-house repair corp)…. had the flavor of market-tested obsolescence…and predatory pricing. And it all steers you right into their showrooms to be fleeced once again.

It's ridiculous for a major appliance to die after barely 7 years. All other electronics have declined in price all this decade, but the replacement electronics here "cost" more than the entire original purchase price, and are of course solely warehoused 10 days away, when an ordinary closet could hold many dozens of them.

What a waste. Helluva racket they've got goin'. Right up there with absurdly high priced replacement shaver blades, electric toothbrush tops, and computer printer ink cartridges.

Any suggestions?
THX,
singin phoole

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire
at last and the White House will be adorned by a
downright moron." -H.L. Mencken, (1880 - 1956)

[Tars]

Perhaps consider Googling "rotary clothesline".

I bought a rotary solar clothes dryer online & had it delivered - total cost was about $75 (there were cheaper ones too). That was 3 years ago. I use it exclusively for clothes drying between March and October. It costs $0.00 per use. It needs a 12' circular sunny area to operate. I have one of those newfangled gas/electric clothes dryers for November thru Feb. With some patient scrolling on craigslist (yes, WaccoBB too!), you can usually find one of these machines free for the hauling.