September 10th, 2020

Let the happy news ring forth across the land.  My Dryer is Fixed, My Dryer is Fixed.

Oh yeah, I'm doing the happy dance today for sure.  While, simultaneously, playing catch-up with an enormous pile of laundry of course.

As you may, or may not, recall, seventeen days ago I discovered that my dryer wasn't working.  As one normally would, I contacted the repair people, described the problem and was told that A) it was still under extended warranty - hurrah and B) someone would call back within 42 hours.  Well it turned out to be more like 72 hours, but still someone did call.  Once again the issue was explained, the make and model number given and we were told that the part would have to be ordered.  We were assured that once the part came in, we would be contacted once more to set up a day and time for the actual repair. 

In the meantime, there were still dirty clothes, wet towels and regular sheet changes that needed to be dealt with.  Bathmats still occasionally had to be washed and sofa blankets need freshening and well you know, just the stuff that we all do on a regular basis.

In a desperate effort to try to stay on top of things I did a mix of:  a) visits to the laundromat (as few as possible;  b) doing wash at home and hanging up the wet things on my rolling rack which I moved to the living room because it has better air circulation and therefore things dry faster; and, sadly, c) putting off washing some things much longer than usual.  It worked.  It wasn't ideal but it worked.

I know that I am spoiled rotten.  I have become accustomed to all of the modern conveniences.  But that is not to say that I always had these things.  I vividly recall, as a child, very carefully using a wringer washer.  And it wasn't until my kids were in middle school that I stopped pegging my wash on the clotheslines outside several times a week.  And I've already done my time in laundromats as a weekly regular!!

Of course on the other hand I did not ever have to boil clothes outside over a fire in a big kettle or beat them on a rock or even use a washboard to do the family laundry so there is that.

Still, I was overjoyed to hear that the part had come in and the repair person would be here on Wednesday.  That's all, just Wednesday. No time frame, just a day.  I didn't even care. I was so happy to have the dryer repaired that fine, whatever, okay.  Sometime Wednesday.  

When the repairman arrived, I took him straight to the utility room and left him to his own devices.  He was finished in a remarkably short time and I walked him back to the front door, thanked him profusely and he left.

It wasn't until later that I had a moment of clarity.  It turned out that the problem with the dyer lay in a big of coggery that was made out of plastic and had partially melted.   I find it very odd that a manufacturer would make an essential piece of a machine that is literally created with the intention of it being very hot out of a material that melts when it gets hot.  Kind of strange don't you think?

And further I realized that when this whole thing started and I called and relayed the problem, the repair person did not have to come out and determine for himself exactly what part wasn't working.  Which leads me to believe that I'm not the only person who had this problem.  For all I know, everyone who bought this particular machine, at some point, had this melted plastic part issue.

Pretty smart from a business standpoint on the part of the manufacturer.  Parts made of plastic are cheaper than parts made of metal.  So they save money.  And if at year four (in my case) all of these machines start having melted plastic parts, the owners have to either pay for repair (not cheap) or buy a new chaine (also not cheap) and they make more money.    Insert another Hmmmm here.

Did you know that the average length of time any major appliances is expected to last is seven years?  Yup, it's true.  I'm sure that longer lasting machines can be made but the manufacturers aren't making any money on machines that last a long time.  Perhaps I'm just jaded but I don't think so.  What I do think is that it is a pretty dang smart move on their part but  that it totally sucks for the consumer.

But today I'm not going to obsess over that.  Today I'm going to finally, at long last, catch up on all of the household laundry and happydance the whole while.  And hopefully, the plastic part will last at least another four years before I have to go through all of this again.