Screwed over by convenience

Convenience doesn’t always make your life easier.

LET ME EXPLAIN

Two weeks ago our wash machine decided “yup, now’s a good time to screw this awesome family over, let’s go ahead and burn our rubber seals out and call it a life.”. Really, truly, he said it just like that!

I was hanging around in the basement while Sofia had a shower, should she need any help I was close by. I was tidying up our always ignored media room, organizing the toy piles (am I right people, it’s really just moving toys into neat piles when storage is lacking), and that’s when I heard it. The music we all love to hate, the instrumental called “your wash is done”. You know the song right? Yeah! THAT ONE!

It chimes and I think, HOLY HANNAH, perfect timing, I did not want to sort another little person into their farm, another Shopkins into it’s grocery bag, another straggling puzzle piece into the right box, nope, I WAS DONE. Great, onto the next adulting task, laundry. I walked into the laundry room just as the music was finishing up and I open the washer door and that’s when it hits me!

OH SH&T… the house is gonna burn down, all thanks to my most hated task ever. 

Smoke billowed out of the drum into my face, at this point all I can see is smoke, but the smell… OH GOD, the smell was definitely burnt rubber. In a panic, I pull out the clothing thinking maybe something was on fire. Negative. I step back and just stare at the machine to see if I see any flames anywhere. Negative. I jump atop the machine (ninja like, minus anything that looked or resembled a ninja move) check down the back to see if something there is up in flame. One again negative.

WHAT THE HELL!?!

What’s with the smoke show buddy? Sat back and watched it a bit more. Then it donned on me, if I don’t start opening some doors and windows we’re all going to be eating rubber for dinner. 

At this point I’m sure you’re wondering what happened to Sofia and her shower. Right! Yah! That’s when I went back and played the cool with little miss worries-a-lot. Apologized for taking so long to check back in on her and asked if she needed any of my help on washing her hair. 

“Nope, got it all done mum! But why does it smell so bad in here?”

People, our wash machine is not yet 6 years old. Naturally our extended warranty was out, and the warranty the brand provides only lasts 12 months after you buy it, because OF COURSE. But what gets me is this…

My parents still have their wash machine, running smooth, cleaning clothes 15+ years. TELL ME why don’t they make appliances like they used to? The next week was spent getting someone to come in to take look and give us a quote on fixing it. Told it would likely be just as much for us to buy a new SET then to spend the money to fix the one machine. WELL THEN. AWESOME. We went out the next 3 nights sourcing out machines, reading up on brands, comparing reviews, prices and warranty’s and ended up getting a new LG set delivered the following week. 

From all the stores we visited and all the sales guys we spoke to, you wanna know the tip they gave us that stuck with me, and this just wasn’t from one sales agent, OH NO PEOPLE, this was from them all;

Laundry sets are built to last 5 to 7 years, you’re lucky to get more, should you get less, your machine was likely built on a Friday.

Should I give you any sorta’ advice on your next washer and dryer purchase, it is to not go with the cheapest units you find, but definitely not their most expensive either. Find a brand you trust in, read reviews online, price compare to other retailers and go with their mid-line units. Should you be replacing these units every 5 to 7 years, don’t spend the money there, use it for something else, like maybe a house cleaner or a chef. Ha! A girl can dream can’t she?