First-World Problems...

GE appliances are the Devil, and I dare any one of you to refute that.

Okay, maybe they are his imps, but they are still demonic!

The detergent dispensing tray leaked, leaving a small puddle of water on the floor and even worse, began rusting the painted metal surrounding it. Okay...shit happens. But a series of GE warranty "technicians" couldn't figure it out. Three damned visits, and it still leaked...maybe worse than ever. The last one even brought replacement parts, but couldn't be bothered to install them...instead just slopping some plumbers putty along the perimeter of the tray.

Yeah...that didn't work. But I do have a bit of sympathy for them...the damned thing is a huge pain in the ass to disassemble. Inaccessible screws, clips that are held by nothing when the screws are removed (yup...one dropped into the back of the machine), plastic screw fittings that snap, and on and on.

The worse thing though is those stupid one-time-use hose clamps. They crimp on, require a special tool, and are difficult to remove. But they save 10¢ over the appropriate stainless steel screw-on clamps. Well, unless the machine requires repair. Then they cost a fortune in tech time.

Yeah...I bought a box of those. A lot more than I need, but they are inexpensive and I am sure I'll use the rest...eventually. And best of all they are easy to use...no special tools!

There was one bright spot in this sordid, tawdry tale of a once great corporation* descending into absolute shit...at least the Rust-Oleum epoxy appliance paint worked well. Easy to use, it covered well, was appropriately thick, and the spray top didn't gum up! The paint did take longer to dry than the company claimed, but that is a small price to pay.

*Yeah, I know. GE Appliance is now owned by someone else: a communist Chinese company. But my washer was built before they sold the division, so they get full credit for sucking.

posted by CBD at 02:00 PM

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