I am writing due to the piece of crap Cabrio we purchased exactly 4 years ago this week:
This was the review I wrote after having this piece of crap one month:
I bought the Cabrio on 10/9/06 and by 10/23/06 it was not working properly. I contacted Whirlpool on 11/9/06 and they informed me that they needed to send a repairman out. It has several problems. The load is out of balance (UL) or I get an error "F51" every single time I try to wash a load. My husband and I are the only ones in our household so the machine is not abused (By teenagers etc). The repairman was at our house for 3 1/2 hours on 11/14/06. He ordered a wiring harness, a computer board and a censor for this 1 MONTH OLD MACHINE. I called Whirlpool in frustation simply asking them to take this LEMON back. They offered nothing and they were quite rude in the process. They said my only option was to have my machine repaired....and so the circle begins.
Our last set was a Maytag and we had the set (still are using the dryer) for over 12 years. Boy how we regret going to Whirlpool. Please take my advice and SAVE YOUR MONEY. I would hate for anyone to go through what Whirlpool has put us through.
BTW...my BRAND NEW machine is sitting idle until the repairman can come out IN A WEEK (for another 3 1/2 hours) to put in these parts that he HOPES will work.
UPDATE:
It is now exactly 4 years later and the only reason I suffer with this machine is due to the fact we PAID SOOOO MUCH MONEY FOR IT!!
The front is now rusted out!!! YES, RUSTED OUT!! And, it takes me about a day to wash ONE LOAD of Laundry...I get an "F1" (I believe it should be FU) about 4 times at the beginning of a load and then when it goes to rinse I get an F1 again approximately 3 times!!  Sometimes I have to start from scratch with an entirely different setting.
The only satisfaction I've gotten over the past 4 years is writing horrible reviews on your product and making sure everyone I talk to about laundry (and it's a lot more times than any normal person should have to talk about laundry!!) how they should NEVER spend a dime on a whirlpool!
This is an absolute piece of crap and I cannot believe you have never done a thing to rectify this situation!!
So sad that you could have and should have taken care of this FOUR YEARS Ago!
When my husband calls your useless 800 number he just gets sent around in a big circle and then is told you are CLOSED.
I will never buy another Whirl pool product as long as I live!!
Please do something about this piece of crap taking up space in my laundry room and BEEPING at me ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I have over the last 20 years owned 4 trash compactors, one Whirlpool and two Sears models, and they they might have been made by Whirlpool anyhow. The compactor is built in under our center isle. When our last Sears model broke, I wanted to see what was available that might be higher quality and perhaps higher capacity. I was not unhappy with the three models I had before, and the pickins are slim in this category. But I found the Broan and after reading the reviews, decided to take the plunge. Here is what I found:

1. You must have a garbage disposal in you sink to deal with organic trash. The house had one when we bought it, and honestly, it is one of the wondrous inventions of the 21st century! All organic trash goes down the drain, so that you are only throwing away paper and plastic essentially, and should never have an issue with odors, although the Broan seems to have an effective odor control feature. Don't really know because out garbage never has a chance to smell.
2. The capacity of this compactor is somewhere near twice the capacity of the other models. This means two things. 1. Fewer trips to the outside garbage can. Fewer bags used. Because of the generous capacity, the unit does not really need or seem to be compacting unless a tremendous amount of trash is in it. We empty the bag once a week because we have once a week garbage pick-up. Honestly, there are weeks when I could go another week because of the excess capacity, but the wife says out is goes! We are a family of 4 or 5 people, by the way, and I think we generate an above average amount of garbage.
3. The front mounted release door( behind the front cabinet door- more on that later)  is a breeze compared to the side release of the Sears. The bag goes in easy and comes out just the same. The plastic lined paper bags of the Sears unit was a real pain to fit into the drawer, and just as hard when really full to get out. Also, those paper bags were really difficult to seal, where the plastic Broan bags are not.
4. Relativly quite when operating, and the compact hold on schedule feature is really nice.

Now the complaint.  You must swing open the front door, and at least 90 degrees and pull out the drawer to put trash in the container. This is a two step process if you do not want to keep the door open 90 degrees and the drawer sicking out into the kitchen all day to throw away track. The Sears unit, which was IMHO a better design. The "door" was the facia of the garbage drawer, and had a no hands step lever which levered the draw open 6 to 8 inches so you could throw away trash. Simple, easy , and so much less intrusive then an open door and a manally pulled out drawer!

Over all, I put up with it because of the other advantages, and it really seems to be a well built, solid machine.


Edit:  See update below.

I was captivated by the drawer idea from the moment I saw the machine and had to have it.  A dishdrawer was installed in 2004 and it just had its third service call since then.  The first two calls totaled about $700 and the third one is for $500, and I'm just about done with the brand.  The drawer design is great as I'm tall and don't need to bend over as much to load dishes.  I like the simplicity of the magnetic motor, and Fisher & Paykel was good enough to send a new motor without charge and out of warranty when one was damaged by a broken piece of glass that got sucked into it.  It was quiet in the early years but maybe it's me because it seems to have gotten louder over time.  I like being able to do small loads without having to wait to fill a traditional dishwasher, and during parties I can start one load while waiting for the other drawer to be filled.  I would give the dishes a quick rinse before loading and rarely had a problem getting them clean that didn't have to do with a loading fault of mine.  Space for cookie sheets and larger pots can be a bit smaller than a traditional dishwasher, but the convenience of the drawer design was worth the occasional hand-washing.

I really loved the machine but the latest repair estimate has me shopping for a different brand while trying to justify buying another Fisher & Paykel because of the reliability and price.  Servicing the machines is spotty since most repairmen don't know them well, and getting parts all the way from New Zealand takes longer than If they were stocked at least in my county (the U.S.).

It's said a dishwasher can be expected to operate for 10 years and I got seven plus an extra $700 in between, so I'm not sure I want to stick with the brand, especially after so many recent negative reviews.

Update, Feb. 11, 2013:  Since installing a replacement dishdrawer in November 2012 the new machine has worked flawlessly after a warranty repair one week after installation.  I also need to update the service comment - F&P now has qualified repairmen and parts are stocked in the U.S. - two changes which are big improvements in my confidence in the product and repair times.

The new machine was professionally installed, which makes a big difference in its performance and is highly recommended.  The installer also offered advice on how to get the dishes really clean every time:  the higher the water temperature the cleaner the dishes because the detergent dissolves and cleans better and the grime on the dishes wash off cleaner.  He said NOT to use the Eco setting because it doesn't get the water hot enough, and for the best results, to have heated water flow into the machine from the beginning of the cycle and not depend on the machine's heating element.  The advice has served me well.


This is the second Water Sentinel WSS-1 filter I bought from Amazon. These filters are $10 - $15 cheaper than the OEM filters. We've used the OEM filters a few times, but saving $15 and getting a filter of similar quality is more important than name brand replacements. Below are a few features I think are important.

Ease of Installation
Not too bad. These filters are a little bit larger than the OEMs, so I needed to remove the upper shelf to install. After filter installation the shelf can be replaced at its original position. It's very simple to install. Open the package, remove the red cap, lube the o-rings with included lube, remove the old filter, and twist in the new filter. Takes a few minutes at most. A little bit of water will drip after removing the old filter, nothing to worry about though.

First Time Use
After install, you should run a few gallons of water through the filter to clear out the carbon dust and air pockets. The manual says 5 mins of water, Samsung says ~3 gallons. I did ~7 quarts of flushing this time. The first 2 quarts will be quite black from the carbon dust. Definitely flush with another 2 quarts to remove any further dust. Filter another 2 quarts for good measure. I think a couple gallons or 3-4 mins of flushing is sufficient.  The water will taste a bit funny for the first few gallons, but nothing that will impact your health or to be concerned about. After a few days of use the water does taste much, much better.

Taste
Subjectively, I think the taste is a little bit worse than the OEMs; the water is sort of flat. I'd say it's about 80-90% on par with the OEM filtering. The water doesn't taste horrible and you get used to the taste quite rapidly. The filtered water tastes "cleaner" than regular tap water. It does remove some of the minerals which does leave a flatter taste, but it's nothing like distilled water. The taste does improve after about 10 gallons of usage. I guess it's the residual carbon dust and other stuff from manufacturing that slowly comes out after the initial filtering.

Longevity
I bought our previous WSS-1 filter on July 10 and the check filter light on the fridge came on about 5 months later. I think the check filter light is time based rather than usage based, but I could be wrong. Anyway, these filters are rated for about 300 gallons. We use quite a bit of filtered water, so I'm not surprised we'd go through the filter quicker. A five month replacement cycle isn't bad at all.

4 out of 5 stars because of a little bit of inconvenience with installation and a taste not quite as good (but by no means bad) as an OEM. Try this filter out once, you should be pretty happy with it, especially since the price is much cheaper. I think we'll continue buying this replacement filter in the future.


After thourough research on sears, home depot and consumer reports I bought the GE Profile WPRE6150KWT 'colossal' capacity top loading energy star washer and matching gas dryer in 7/09.  I wanted a top loading washer but also an energy efficient one and this one seemed to fit the bill. They were purchased through sears over the phone and came as described without any hiccups. Then the problems started.

First, I should state the matching gas dryer is wonderful and have nothing but high remarks for it.

I noticed clothes weren't being cleaned as thourough as they should be, with previously easily removed stains remaining afterward. After a couple weeks we noticed some torn clothing but couldn't attribute it to anything specifically. As time went on clothes just started to smell dirty on coming out of the dryer. On investigation some clothes weren't even gettig wet when set on the 'colossal' load setting (which is a joke).

As time continued (a couple months down the line) nicer, new clothing was torn, sometimes noticed while being worn, were torn!  At this point I contacted Sears which stated I was just beyond the 90 day return policy and nothing could be done from their end.  AND, when I called the store I didn't actually reach the store with the area code I dialed but a phone center.  The sales rep said had I come into the store he would have told me this washer was not very effective and I likely would have bought another.  So I worked on contacting GE directly.

I called the customer service number on the webpage and was sent to a message center.  After multiple repeated calls (repeatedly dropped calls in mid conversation or directed to the 'wrong department') I finally had to talk to a GE rep who happened to be at Sears one day to get a service tech to come to the house to evaluate the washer under warranty.

The technician found nothing wrong with the washer but that I was probably overfilling the machine.  He felt that filling the tub any more than half full was too much and this machine will work best with small loads.  So much for being energy efficient, water efficient or 'colosal capacity'!!!

I emailed GE this time after my frustration with calling them and had no response for weeks.  Finally a month later recieved a letter in the mail stating 'thank you for your support of our fine company' or something along those lines and 'if your concern has not yet been resolved please call us' (the same number I had a fun time with before).

I called and someone actually picked up.  But disappointedly was told there is nothing they will do as it is working properly.

So here I was with a new washer that doesn't wash clothes well and no support from the sales department or manufacturer.  In the end I figured the best thing I could do with it is sell it online and be truthful of the problems that I had with it ( I couldn't in any fair means trick someone into my own problems).  It's gone.  Now I have the front loading Kenmore that is rated #1 on consumerreports.com and I am very happy.


Prior to purchasing, initial research pointed to a replacement OEM or equivalent to Whirpool part# 2198597.  The least expensive aftermarket unit on Amazon that cross referenced to #2198597 was the Supco RIM597.  Seemed straight forward enough and I was about to purchase when I noticed that, at the time of order, the RIM597 wasn't offered as Amazon Same Day Prime shipping, rather it was 3rd party shipped.
Given the specific scheduling circumstance I was under a time crunch to get this done and couldn't wait the extra 5-7 days ship time.

So, I noticed that the Supco RIM900 was offered as Prime Same Day and appeared identical to the RIM597.  So I reached out to the mfg; reviewed the respective model's spec PDFs; as well as received direct emailed responses from Supco's tech support.  Additionally two respondents to my Amazon Q/A (one of which appeared to be from an experienced seller).  All of the feedback and data confirmed they they are identical units despite the marketing materials which would lead one to believe otherwise.  The only difference: RIM900 does NOTE include a new wiring harness.

So you would 1)Use your existing harness or  2)Use a separately purchased new harness--note, a new harness alone cost upwards of $25 - $30 (..ya, it's silly)
Is there an issue with using your existing harness? No, unless the inline thermal fuse of the existing harness is the root culprit of your non-functioning ice maker...and based on my queries, this is not common).

In my case the RIM900 along with my existing harness took <8 minutes from start to finish; and the pleasing sounds of ice dropping began within about 3 hours.

Simple recommendation: If your replacement calls for a RIM597 and you don't mind that it's not listed as Prime (again, at the time that I write this review, it was not, but it may be now...), you should order the RIM597.
Why?  because the price difference between the RIM597 and the RIM900 is negligible ($1.71 more for the RIM597); and since the RIM597 includes a new wire harness (which you likely won't need) and in the off-chance that the existing harness is the culprit, it's worth the extra $1.71 to have it just in case.

Also, there is a lot of misinformation around what is included and what isn't for the RIM900.
In the Q/A several people indicated that a "new wiring harness is included".  This is incorrect.  It's possible that the mfg simply isn't consistent in what they pack, but according to Supco's tech support, the RIM900 NEVER included a harness.  So, again, the one I received came with only a replacement metal swing arm (note, if your fridge uses an elec. eye, you will not use this BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER TO ENSURE THAT THE SWING ARM SWITCH POSITION IN THE THE "ON" SETTING WHICH IS IN THE 'DOWN' ORIENTATION).

Hope this helps.


DO NOT buy this refrigerator  (Electrolux French door with ice maker in the door)  - you will be SORRY!  Mine is 14 months old and repairman has been out  15 times to fix the ice maker and it still will not make  A CUBE OF ICE!  It has worked some , on and off for the  first year I had it,  but no ice after  12 months .  And it only makes enough ice for 3 glasses.  So if you have a family of  4 - 5 ,  you will have to buy Ice.  I found that out for Thanksgiving,  when after I filled 3 glasses it was EMPTY!  So had to send a family member to BUY bags of ice  real fast!!!  Also - they get you with having to purchase air and water filters  every so often.  I agree with the water filter - but the air filter to me is another gimmick for them to get more money!  And they are NOT CHEAP!
The service man has been out 15 times to work on  the ice maker.  He has replaced the entire thing 3 times in 1 year.  I figured I had better buy the  $488  3 yr warranty -  because I knew it was going to be trouble.  Electrolux offer me a GENERAOUS  "NOT"  60%  of the  $3400 I paid,  toward another one.  Mine was only a few months old  - and I was only going to get  60% of it.  They would NOT even stand behind their pile of junk for  a year!  We continued to negotiate  and they finally offered me a new one,  but wouldn't let me transfer the  $488  warranty I just bought to the new one.  SO I said no.  Finally they agreed for 2 yrs full warranty  instead of 3 yrs.  It has been a month and I have not heard a word from them after their promise of a new one for me.  I have called twice in the last 2 weeks - leaving messages to please let me know what is going on and they will not return my call.  So now I am sure they were blowing Smoke up my rear end.
I am just saying,  save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache and FIND ANYTHING else out there,  but I strongly suggest staying away from Electrolux products.  Also - I was very skeptical about having an ice maker in the refrigerator part.  I questioned the salesman and everyone on that.  I just didn't see the work-a-bility of that!  And now I know my common sense was RIGHT ON THE MARK!  I will never buy another refrigerator with the ice maker in the refridge part!~  I will stick to only ice makers in the FREEZER part!  Either TOP - Bottom - or  Side  by side  "Freezer part.  I suggest that highly when looking for refrigerators.  And my repairman that has been out here 15 times -  said he would never recommend  ice makers in the refrigerator  part - because he hasn't found many that work for very  long.


I have owned several different Temperature/Humidity meters over the years. Since every room in the house has a different humidity reading depending on how many windows are in the room or which direction it faces, we always like to know the humidity to keep the rooms all more normal and similar. We have the worst humidity in a bedroom on the north wall with large windows. For anyone with any collectibles, keeping the humidity out of the room means not damaging your collectibles or items from too much damp or mildew.

My brother has an expensive weather meter system, as he has a large collection of remote control planes- many fabric made, so I always have something 100% accurate to compare my meters to. This Amprobe Relative Humidity & Temperature Meter is actually the most accurate meter I have ever owned. We tested this inside, outside, even in crawl spaces and duct work to see the results. The temperature was always 100% accurate, whether it was ambient, dew point or wet bulb.

As for the humidity temperature readings- we found this Amprobe to be off by 1/2 to 1 % depending on where the reading was taken.  Inside duct work- it was off by only 1/2 %, but in a room or outside it was off by 1%.  This is the most accurate meter I have ever owned. I had owned a Pyle meter that was always off by 6-10%, and a Fluke that was off by 4-6 % on the humidity readings. My best meter before this Amprobe was made by Ambient Weather- the humidity was off by just 2 %. The temperature readings on all my meters was always pretty accurate- it's the humidity readings that are never completely accurate.

This Amprobe THWD-3 Relative Humidity and Temperature Meter comes with the meter itself, a removable protective metal sensor cap, black carrying case with belt loop, 9 V battery, User's Manual and a Wet Bulb Chart. There is an On/Off Switch- which automatically turns off should you forget to turn it off after 30 minutes. The Min/Max button allows you to use it for memory. The Hold button allows you to hold the present reading. The DP/WB button gives you the Dew Point Temperature or Wet Bulb Temperature- which came out 100% accurate. The last button is for your readings in either Celsius or Fahrenheit temperatures. There is also a Low Battery Warning picture.

Besides being the most accurate Temperature/Humidity Meter I have owned to date, I found when you remove the protective metal sensor cap, the reading is given in a few seconds- way faster than with the cap on. You just have to take more care that the sensor is not damaged when the cap is off. This is a great, well made, extremely accurate temperature and humidity meter and is definitely worth 5 Stars, being the most accurate meter I have ever owned, and Amprobe even warrants this meter for a year, making it well worth buying.


Here is a letter I sent to Maytag about the above:
Maytag customer service.
To whom it may concern,
I purchased a Maytag Centennial washer; model number MVWC6ESWW0, serial number cy3241548 in August 2009. It is now broken. The machine fills and agitates as soon as you turn it on. It also "dumps" more water onto the clothes after the final spin cycle making them unfit to dry.

 I contacted you and got a negative response to my complaint. I was told it is now out of warranty and I had no recourse to fix it other than calling a "Maytag Repairman" and pay the full price of the repair. The broken part in question is the water control switch part number W10177795.

I feel this is unfair due to the many instances of problems others are encountering with this particular repair. I found these on You Tube.

I did some checking to purchase the necessary part and found the part number was changed to W10292584. This tells me the original part was apparently defective and poorly designed therefore necessitating the engineering of a new part to fix the defect.

Further evidence of a defective part (worthy of a recall) is the fact that part number W10292584 is on backorder from the factory due to high demand. Obviously there is a problem here that goes beyond normal wear and tear. I think it is a shame a Maytag product should fail after a little over two years after purchase.

I feel I should be at least reimbursed for the part in question which I purchased from Marcone appliance parts. I purchased from them because I receive a discount for being a Lowe's employee. I was told the part would be shipped in 3 to 5 business days but now I have been informed it will not be in stock before January 1st 2012.

To add injury to insult my wife and I now have to take our clothes to a Laundromat costing us twenty two dollars to clean our clothes per week. You times that for the five weeks waiting for the part and it totals well over a hundred dollars out of pocket.

My mother owned a Maytag washer and dryer for years with out any problems.
This was one of the leading reasons I bought Maytag.
I have had a Maytag dryer at least 5 rears which is serving me very well.

As I told the representative who called me the first time I reported this, I will not even consider or recommend Maytag products due to the poor response I received initially.

I know this is not related to this but I had a Sony Television which "claimed "it would be the last Television I would ever need to buy and it failed after 5 years. It had been under a silent recall of which I was not made aware of until it was too late. I found this information on the internet. They eventually gave me a substantial discount on a new Sony TV after I emailed them a second time. Though this was not what I expected, it eased the pain of having to buy a new one.

I am not expecting a free washer just compensation for a defective part that should not have failed so quickly.


Works great - with a few exceptions. Don't get me wrong, we totally enjoy our wonderwash. It's a really fun way to do small loads of laundry -- of course, we're in our early/mid-20's, so perhaps not everyone will agree. My review is based upon the wonderwash' usage as a SOLE washing machine for typical laundry. This means that for several months, we only used the wonderwash for every item that would fit, and did not have another washing machine. I don't think the product design holds up to that standard.. if it were just for camping/treks, it would have 5 stars.

Pros
-------
~The hand-crank is very easy to use -- despite the actual weight when the washer's full, spinning & tumbling is exceptionally easy, so major points for thoughtful engineering there.

~It's much more efficient than a traditional washing machine. Don't even worry about your water bill.. because you're barely using anything! If you're an apartment dweller like me, though.. you have had to deal with coin-operated washers and watch your money disappear. Not with the Wonder Wash. Yes, it's money up-front, but our family recouped that money within months and has saved hundreds on laundry.

~Clothes seem to genuinely get cleaner than with a traditional machine. This is entirely subjective, and only an observation on my end - our denims, washed with the wonderwash instead of through our coin-op laundry, seemed to be genuinely cleaner. The fabric was more pliable, pants were more comfortable, and everything put through seemed to be CLEANER.

CONS
------------
~Load size is very small. I would purchase a redesigned product again, if it were 3x as large. That would, of course, necessitate a swap to a heavier frame, EG Stainless Steel.. but would be worth it. With an overall time of 30 minutes per load, I can't recommend this for anyone with a kid that hasn't learned how to pee in a toilet vs. whatever she happens to be wearing. Luckily, we're past that stage now.. but the wonderwash got beaten to bits from extremely heavy use (Another PRO, it held up GREAT!)

~The "watertight" seal on the lid proved to be.. not watertight. It held up for the very first load, but all subsequent loads.. it simply leaked. Now, from what my knowledge is, that lack of water-tight seal meant a loss of pressure, which meant less efficient washing. That's true, but ours worked pretty well for what we expected out of it. If I were to purchase this product again, it would have to have a redesigned seal system that holds up past the first use.

~ The frame is not built heavily enough. It's a lightweight plastic frame that you assemble using plugs, which are prone to fall out during usage. We lost a few of those plugs just from standard usage. Because of the frame's weight disadvantage, when it's fully loaded, it does seem to "sway" side to side and be affected by the rotation of the bin. If I was going to purchase it again, I would need to have something like a lightweight steel or more overbuilt plastic frame.


We built a little cottage on the water to replace our river house after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.  Got the plans from the Lowe's website in August 2008 and built the little 700 sq ft cottage we now live in. Because of the dimensions, we were very limited in what kind of appliances we could put in.  The Bosch washer/dryer set stacked together exactly perfectly in the very small closet we had downstairs.  They remind me a lot of the washer and dryers you run across if you spend much time traveling in Europe or the Middle East.  Because of the cost of utilities overseas, these systems are designed to be extremely energy efficient.  They're also the quietest systems we've ever owned...they need to be, because not only are they in a tiny house, they're stacked in the closet immediately outside of our bedroom.  We never have trouble sleeping while they're running, as long as we're not washing or drying something like dog collars with a lot of metal parts.  They are unique for an American to use...unlike the dryer I grew up that just blasts heat non-stop, this system will take longer to dry your clothes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  It uses a little more gentle heat, and rather than running continuously, it runs silently for a few minutes, stops to let the heat it's built up continue to dry the clothes without motion for a few minutes, then runs again.  That's what makes it so energy efficient.  We've had ours for about four and a half years and have done nothing other than clean the filter with each load.  The only downside I've found with it is that we'd like to buy a new lint filter because the filter light is starting to stay on, and the bosch website is fairly useless for providing detail on how to purchase what I would assume would be the most often touched/highest wear and tear part.  You can find every single nut/bolt/spring on this device on the bosch website, but you apparently can't buy the filter there...that seems like more than a minor oversight.  Anyway, I would rate the dryer a five star for our situation.  I'd give the washing machine a four star, primarily because no matter how much you clean the gasket on the door, it develops large mildew spots quickly if you don't dry out the gasket, and if you ever decide to take the gasket off to try to clean it more, you need an SEC football offensive lineman to help you get the spring that holds the gasket in place BACK on to the machine.  Other than that, it's actually fairly easy to service a lot of the things yourself, and I've never thought highly of my ability to work on appliances.  We're building a bigger house now and we're going to go all Bosch on that one as well, although we'll look at getting a larger Bosch washer/dryer if they make them...but if it comes down to it, I'd buy the exact same ones again.


I purchased a Bosch washer (model WAS20160UC) and dryer  (model WTV76100US) set in December 2011.  This is the experience I have had with the Bosch appliances.  It is a vented dryer, not the condensation model.  This review is mostly about the dryer.

Pros:  Stylish (witch makes no difference since the dryer is so poor)

Cons:  This dryer takes very long to dry even small loads.  It  will get warm but not hot.  A Bosch technician measured the temperature of the dryer at 122 degrees Fahrenheit.  But, he informed me that this was normal for this dryer.  In one test; two bath towels, two hand towels, and one facial towel were washed in the washer and rinsed on maximum spin to remove as much of the water as possible.  It took the dryer 1hr. 20 min. to dry the load.  After many phone calls and 3 or 4 service calls, they replaced the dryer.  It performed as poorly as the first. So, I called an electrician to really find out what was going on.  With freshly washed towels in the dryer, he observed the dryer drawing 10 amps (about the maximim rating) for 15 to 20 seconds.  Then it went down to 5 amps for about about 30 seconds (he described it as half heat) then down to room temperature air coming out of the exhaust for another couple minutes.  It repeats this cycle.  At no time does the dryer actually get hot enough to remove the moisture from the load.  It mostly just uses ambiant temperature air to dry the clothes.  If touch the clothes in the middle of the load, they mearly feel slightly warm. While it is not practical for most people to use a clothes line, I think it would be just as effective as this dryer.

The thing that bugs me the most about this whole debacle is this:  Both Bosch and the appliance store had the attitude that I should just accept the poor performance because it is a European design.  I heard many excuses defending an appliance that I truly believe they KNOW does not perform as it should.

If you buy a coffee maker, do you expect it to make coffee in about 15 minutes?  If you buy a blender, do you expect it to blend what you put in it?  Well, when you buy a DRYER, you kind of expect it to actively dry.

In fairness, this washer/dryer set may be suitable for a single person who does small loads of laundry.  You can expect a small load to take 60 minutes to wash and 80 minutes to dry.  So you are right around 3.5 to 4 hours for two small loads.

Update:  The appliance store has taken back the Bosch washer and dryer.  I have replaced them with a GE unitized washer/dryer (model GTUP240EWH)  This dryer completely dried the same load in 30 minutes.

I hope this review is helpful for you.


I have had the Wonder Wash for a couple of weeks right now and after doing a few loads of laundry, I can say this thing does work rather well, but there are a set of rules you want to fallow in order to ensure it gets your laundry clean.

1) Don't use a lot of laundry detergent. You will need about a third of what you would normally use for a small load of laundry. Anymore than that and you are going to be stuck rinsing and wringing out your clothes for ages before you get rid of all the detergent. Also, I did use both liquid and powder detergent. I found liquid worked much better because powder detergent always seemed to leave spots on clothes. While they where not that noticeable on things like jeans or light color clothes, they stuck out like a sore thumb on my black t-shirts.

2) Get a lint brush. While it will get a lot of the stuck on junk like lint and hair off your clothes, it will not get a of it and that's especially true with hair. Earlier this week I got a hair cut and even after washing the t-shirt I was wearing a couple of times, there was still a bunch of hair left. So get a lint brush and run it over your clothes a few times before washing them. This way you won't have to wash your clothes more than once.

3) Small loads work best. I can't stress this enough, do not try to cram this thing full and expect your clothes to get clean. Three to four t-shirts or two to three jeans at a time is about all you want to put in the Wonder Wash. You have to remember, just like a washing machine, you want to leave enough room for your clothes to move around as they are being washed. If you have this thing so full your clothes can't move around as it spins, you are NOT going to get anything clean.

4) This is not a full replacement for a washing machine. While it will do a great job getting your everyday ware clean, work of heavily stained clothes will still need to be  thrown through the washer. Sure if you are willing to spend 4 hours washing you chefs  jacket or mechanics shirt, you might get it clean, you can do it. But, do you really want to waste all that time and effort? Not only that, you are going to have to scrub the heck out of your Wonder Wash afterwards to ensure you don't pass on any grit and grime to your other clothing

5) Washing your clothes will take longer than you expect and will require some honest effort. You are not going to be able to throw a load into the Wonder Wash hardly spin it for two min and get them clean. You are going to have to spin this thing at a decent speed for about three to four min, wring out your clothes and check them. If they are not clean, be sure to empty the Wonder wash fully before putting them back in. Also, before rinsing, throw some hot water into the Wonder Wash, given it a few spins and than dump the water out. That way you know for sure there isn't any left over soap or lint in the Wonder Wash. Also don't just spin a load clockwise. Alternate between clockwise and counter-clockwise. This will ensure that your clothes don't clump together as you are washing them.


We got this because the washer quit right before the holidays and we wanted to wait and buy a replacement washing machiune when appliances went on sale.  Now that I have this, I will never buy another washing machine.  Love it.

- I recommend putting it up on a counter, workbench, etc.  Ours is on our head washing machine.  I think putting it down in the bathtub is awkward.

- I also recommend filling it with a hose instead of trying to hold the tub under a faucet.  I disconnected the water hoses to our dead washer and use those.

-- Some people dump the tub over because they don't like to wait for the Wonderwash to drain on its own.  I use the drain pipe and let it fall into the utility sink.  I think I will switch to a five-gallon bucket at some point and use the gray water outdoors for gardening or landscape plants.

-- The clothes look better than they did using the regular washer.  I think the compression pushes out the dinge by percolating out the old detergent from previous washes.

-- I bought a janitorial mop wringer and bucket to squeeze out the clothes.  I hang most of the wash on the basement clothesline and then do the rest in the dryer.  Some people buy a little electric spin dryer.

-- The tub holds about half of the normal load I use to put in.  It takes less time to do each load, though.  I can put both the top and bottom queen-size bedsheets in and then do the pillowcases with the towels.  If I was doing king size sheets, I'd just do the top and bottom sheets separately.  I do one or two tubfuls of laundry daily and our clothes hamper is usually empty for the first time in my life.

-- I timed out the spins and for a normal load, I spin the washing tub moderately slow 30 times in each direction.  If the clothes are very dirty I do double the number of spins.  To rinse, I can do more like 15 or 20 spins each way.

-- The stand has suction cups on the bottom but I put mine on an old bath towel as I splash a bit as I pull out wet clothes.

-- It was easy to assemble it.  Five minutes tops.

-- I use a fourth of the detergent I used to use, and much less water.  The dryer runs a bit longer as the towels and jeans don't spin dry but I hang most of my stuff on the line so I use the same amount of electricity to run the dryer or maybe a little less.

-- The shipping speed was fantastic.  I think I got it the day after I ordered it.

*** UPDATE: The Wonder Wash lasted over a year, with a lot of use. I literally used it every day. One day the glue quit on the axle peg which holds the tub to the supporting frame. I tried to repair it, but couldn't figure out a solution. I have now switched to a plastic laundry plunger.  I got my money's worth out of the Wonder Wash, and it got me started with doing my laundry without a machine. I am glad I bought it. Here is more about my laundry switchover process: http://mgseltzer.hubpages.com/hub/I-Never-Replaced-Our-Washing-Machine-Part-One


I live up three flights of stairs from the shared laundry facility in my building.  Due to some injuries, schlepping the laundry up and down was tough.  So this looked like a fantastic solution!  I was excited to receive it.

The box in which it shipped worried me because it made me think the thing must be TINY.  But it's disassembled inside the box and actually larger than I expected once assembled.

Assembly was super simple -- no tools required -- and seems to be a reasonably firm unit during operation.  There is a bit of twist/wobble to the support base while you're rotating the handle but nothing that interferes with using it.  My counters are very small so I can't get all four of the very effective suction cup feet adhered to the counter before use.  That could be a big part of my problem, and I suspect it is.

I do wish that the drain swiveled or had a flexible hose instead of the rigid one.  Because I'm right-handed, I want it facing in a direction during use that doesn't work well for draining it after the washing is done.  But it isn't heavy - even when loaded - so moving it into a draining position after you've finished rotating it the specified length of time is easy enough.

The instructions that come with the unit are minimal.  I think I used too little water/soap in the first effort so added more the next time, which seemed to do a better job.  Likely user error, as I underestimated the weight of the laundry I was adding.

The volume is small.  You're not going to be doing bed sheets or bath towels in this unit.  But for shorts, tee shirts, socks, tea towels, and other small garments/pieces, it's a great size and saves on trips up/down the stairs.

It does NOTHING to help you wring or dry the clothes.  So when you're done you'll be faced with absolutely waterlogged clothes that need to be hand-wrung, which was a bigger mess/hassle than I predicted.

When empty, it's really light and very easy to move -- except for those SUPER grabby suction feet!  I've never had such luck with suction cups on most products but these are EAGER.  They also have little tabs on the edge that makes it easy to lift and break the suction when it's time to move it.

There are some clever things they could have done to make it a bit better. Some built-in lid holder that would let you keep the lid off when it's stored.  Same for the drain pipe, which I've just left inside the unit while stored.  A bit more rigid stand would be nice but might add to the weight, with which I was very pleased.  It's really light and easy to move.

Oh, and I had thought that the product write-up suggesting that the hot water would create pressure inside the unit was probably optimistic.  But it really does create enough pressure to cause the drain water to come shooting out with some force after you're finished washing.

The clothes that I've washed so far have not been as clean as if I had used a proper machine but that isn't the point of this product.  It doesn't pretend to replace big machines.  And what it promises, it absolutely delivers.  I can highly recommend this product.


Today I received the Wonder Wash I ordered from laundry alternatives. I absolutely love it! I have a HE set of washer/dryer but I wanted something for those small loads of hubby's work clothes (oilfield - ugh!), vacations without electricity, etc.
I played with it for 2 hours and got the washing for 4 people done in that time. Fast, efficient, and even gets the oily grime from the uniforms out!

I can fit 3 pairs of MY jeans in it (plus size) and they come out great. 7 M Adult t-shirts and 4 pairs of undies in one load; I only did one set of uniforms at a time...they get really grungy.

I'm not saying I will use it all the time, but here are the facts: I did 4 1/2 regular loads of laundry in 2 hours using 12 gals of cold water (reused rinse water for next wash), same amount of soap, and NO electricity. Very easy to turn, did not seem unstable at all. Larger loads turn easier FYI. No leaks. Simply fill, wash, drain, fill, rinse, drain. I used a garden hose. Unit has suction cups to help it stay in place, but didn't have any trouble with that.

I set it up outside so I didn't have to bother with wringing out much, just hung straight out on line, drippy wet. It was breezy and 90 degrees...jeans dried in a little over an hour. NO wrinkles. Took about 7 mins per load. Definitely going to use it for uniforms regularly, save my good washer.

I did use an old salad spinner I never use from the cupboard (crank of course) to spin out water from socks and undies...works GREAT! I would wring what water I could from them, set the clothes in evenly, gave it a 30 second spin and VOILA! they were MUCH dryer!

I am seriously considering a sturdier, larger salad spinner. I would like to be able to do laundry easier on camping trips (2 weeks long) and vacations so don't want to go electric. I figure I can pack clean clothes in both during travel and just set up in the bath...no more laudromats!

Considering the success with the salad spinner, I think the regular spin dryer would work great. The same place I bought my mini washer sells some that crank up to 3200 rpm's and can handle about 13 lbs wet laundry. By my calculations, I can only spin the salad spinner at about 700 rpms (every turn of handle turns interior 4 times...can turn handle about 3 times per second if I REALLY try...12 X 60 = 720).

Well, there ya go. My experience with the crank-style mini washers is exceedingly good. Definitely worth the total price of about $60 including shipping.


I bought a Frigidaire FPHC2399KF in November 2009.  It has never worked properly.  Nor has the replacement unit Frigidaire supplied.  That's right, 3 service calls, one entirely new replacement unit, and a new temp sensor later and I still don't have a fridge that works properly.  My first unit had a large wave in the side that was noticeable, and even more troublesome both fridges have had awful temperature control.  The freezer can not properly control temperature, and drops as low as -14 F several times a day (with a setpoint of 0 F).  We were careful not to make any changes to the default settings on the second unit before observing this problem for a while because we were afraid that somehow we had messed it up.  Only after watching the unit overcool for several days did we attempt adjusting the setpoint to +3 deg to see if maybe that would work better (it didn't).  Not only does this excessive cooling make such things as digging through the bags of painfully cold veggies, or eating ice cream inconvenient (so rock hard that neither my husband or I have a prayer of scooping it straight from the freezer), but it causes some of our fresh food drawers to freeze because some air exchange occurs between the two compartments.  Delicate items, like lettuces, have to be carefully positioned in the fridge to prevent damage.  Even carrots & celery can't be kept in certain compartments because they got frozen all the way through and totally lost their crispness.  To top it all off, the humidity adjuster on one of the drawers totally broke off.

Frigidaire's customer service is equally dissatisfying.  I've spent hours on the line with them to be provided with no useful information.  Originally they just told me to adjust the humidity control sliderson the drawers, but now they are just telling me to have my local service provider continue replacing the parts he is guessing are bad.  They provide NO actual technical assistance from anyone who has any kind of in-depth technical knowledge of how this unit works.  No one who might know what part really is defective so that I could talk to the repairman about replacing that part.  Just the same routine over and over - they tell you to call your local servicer and continue with the repairs because the unit is fixable.  But then my unit never actually gets fixed.  I just waste time having parts replaced with no affect on my fridge performance.  I've even had them tell me that my first unit didn't have this problem - apparently their rep didn't note that in my file.  Fortunately, the service company did document that issue so I can prove that it is a recurring problem.  The only helpful person I've spoken to was a corporate lady who was calling to follow up on a survey I filled out giving them horrible customer service marks.  She at least sent me a contribution toward my food losses.  But even she hasn't fulfilled her promise of having a product technical specialist call me.


Pros: Stylish looks. Easy to control lockout feature for children. Stove top heats up really fast.

Cons: Preheat doesn't get to desired temp after alarm goes off. Can't have timer and clock on at same time. Exhaust fan is right where you stand so you're constantly getting air blown on you.

I like this stove. It's not worth the price the big store chains are selling it for ($2000+) but for the price I got it at, it's worth it. I really like the lockout feature so my children can't accidentially turn it on without me knowing. The top burners heat up super fast but the glass stays really hot for an extended period of time after they are off. Way too long for my standards. The exhaust blowing is directly where you stand making it so if you're cooking at the stove, you constantly getting blasted with air right in your face. If you're cooking a pizza or something else that has strong odors, you're going to get that odor on your clothes. Whoever thought this would be a good place to vent should be fired. Also the preheat feature doesn't go to your desired temp when the alarm goes off. I preheated the oven to 425F and the alarm went off at 225F. So I had to set it on bake to 425F to get it the rest of the way. The fans stay on the entire time it's cooking and for about an hour after the stove is turned off. It's not very loud but if you're in the kitchen you will hear it. Overall I have some good points and some bad points. I would be very mad right now if I bought this at Lowes or Best Buy for full retail price but I didn't.. got it much much cheaper at a smaller chain store. So overall I'm happy with it. I just wish that exhaust blower was in a different place. It would be almost perfect if it was.

*EDIT* After one year and three months, the internal cooling fan, the fan that blows the air at your body when you're standing at the stove, well it now sounds like it's off centered or not aligned correctly.  It rattles and shakes and super loud.  Really glad I bought an extra three year warranty with it when I bought it.  Repairman came over and knew exactly what is was.  He had to order the part so it's not fixed yet but he said I was lucky to have an extended warranty because this repair would have cost me $400-$500 to do.  He has to take apart almost the entire stove to get to this fan.  I got the extended warranty only because there are so many electronics on this stove.  It's not like a stove from 20 years ago that's mostly mechanical and doesn't break down.  I knew the circuit board's would be costly if they needed to be repaired.  Well worth the extra $129 I spent on it.


I purchased this range (from another source at a much lower price) last May, it was to replace an older model of the same range...but this unit had a few issues of great concern for me.

After I prepped the slide-in slot for the new (and a little wider) range, I had a problem hooking up the new pigtail. It all looked correct (according to the instructions), but something just seemed wrong? I finally called a contractor to come over and take a look, and at first he thought it all looked correct also.

So to be safe we removed all of the metal coverings and connectors on the back of the range (where you attach the three pigtail connectors) to see how it was set up, and to our surprise all three connector sites connected directly into the metal frame of the range.

This would mean that the metal frame of the range would be directly hooked up to the 220 volt power cable in such a way as to give anyone a great electric shock if it was touched once it was connected and plugged in.

We corrected the problem, and hooked it up without a problem after that.

Now here is the scary part. The next day as I was cleaning up the pieces of the cardboard box the range came in, and all of the many pieces of paper and plastic that came with it...I came across a small plastic bag with some paperwork in it, and three connectors.

In the bag was an Alert to open the connector box on the back of the range, and connect the pigtail using the connectors provided in the bag (as illustrated). Doing so would prevent the pigtail from being connected directly to the metal frame of the range. I immediately called Frigidaire to urge them to add this Alert to all of the installation paperwork that comes with the range before someone gets electrocuted. But they did not seem to be as concerned as I was.

My next issue was with the four top burner knobs. While they look great, it is much too easy to accidentally turn a burner on just by bumping or brushing against them. Since May I have had at least 12 fires related to this problem (do to a dishtowel, paper towel, or paper or plastic bag, etc., laid on the range top while working in the kitchen near the range). Frigidaire was not much help with this issue either.

I first thought about adding childproof  knob covers, but after reading reviews of others with this same concern...the best idea was to just remove the knobs until I needed to turn a burner on, so that was my solution for that problem.

Other than the above, it is a great range...but wish I had converted to gas like I had considered before ordering this range. I do most of my cooking on one of my woks (using a butane gas stove), or one of the many electric pans, grills, etc., so don't use the range that much more anyway. So for me removing the knobs was not that inconvenient (and much safer).

Hope my comments are of help if you are considering this range, or having any problems with one you already own.


Item arrived in only two days and I've used it a few times now. I took the shipping safety motor mount brace off as it mentions and at first it would not start up. I reached in and manually turned it for a little while to manually work the motor a bit, and then it functioned just fine.

It can be tricky to get items inside balanced right but 90% of the time everything works great the first run. (just be sure to hold onto it when it first starts and when it's winding down, in between if things balance it's fine on its own) Also, remember not to over-load it. It only has to run for about 3 minutes, so just put in a few items each time you run it... about 70% full or so if smaller items, though it can run completely full if it's just a couple items. You'll have to judge that as you use it and learn what works best. (you'll know if it's over-loaded as it won't balance itself out) If you want to do more at one time, get a larger unit.

TIP: It helps if you make a less dense clothes area, in the center of the items in the basket before starting it, so that the items are already kinda pushed up against the outer wall of the basket. No need to make center area empty so much as just less dense so that the motor has an easier time of getting up to speed, as the clothes are already heading in the right direction towards the outer wall once the centrifugal force increases.

Water extraction: it does a nice job of getting most of the water out... I would say it's far more effective than manually doing it by hand, and faster as well. (plus saves loads of work)

Noise level: this is reasonable, and in fact it's very quiet once it balances... though there is a vibration that can be pretty up there in scale sometimes. Keep this in mind for apartments where you may not be allowed to have clothes washing gear like this. (such as me) It is mostly ok though. Just use the item as far away from vibration conducting surfaces that are near your neighbor's walls if you can. The little rubber feet it has helps cut some of the vibration and holds it in place pretty well, but again... hold it down tight when it starts and when it's finishing. You can also open the lid once it's done and a brake will apply and stop it faster.

Relating to size: the reason I got the lower cost one is of course the price, but also the size. This one is smaller and easier to tuck away and hide in small apartments as compared to some of the larger units.

Nice bonus: the unit comes with a drain hose extension in case the really short one on the unit itself is not long enough. This gives you plenty of extension in most cases.

I will use the item for some time and come back to add information on any issues as they come up, if they do. For now though, it pretty much is exactly as advertised, and functions well.


This is my third of these Danby fridges and it is still wonderful and holds and keeps cold all we could hope for (well, no, that would require a walk-in fridge, still...).

Danby made 2 changes that I have discovered so far. One is infinitely for the better, the other may bug some people but it's meh for me.

Staring from the meh. They have re-designed the LED light. It no longer takes up a ton of room at the top of the fridge which is great (see below). But, it is now either on all the time or off all the time. Door activation is no longer possible. As far as I'm concerned, I'll turn on the pretty blue light when I have company and leave it off the rest of the time.

The good change. Because of the light redesign, the very top shelf that sits under the light and in front of the blower has been redesigned.  It used to have this cage thin protecting the light assembly and took up a ton of space, making the shelf of dubious value. Now, it is a flat shelf (a little shorter than the ones below so as to keep the  blower clear) and is actually useful.  I currently have 7 easily accessible cans of soda up there.

Also because of the redesign, the shelf can sit in the top slot. Because I use it for a mix of soda and beer, I don't use one of the long shelves. Now that it uses the top slot, it frees up the space to be able to have a beer height shelf and a taller soda shelf (I like the new design Diet Coke cans what can I say).

Annoyances left over from the original fridge:
It may be a clever door  reversal system, but it is a pain in the....butt...to actually do it.
The half shelf that abuts to the jut out to make the thing full depth is designed assuming...I'm not sure what about us consumers. It has a rod coming off the edge of the shelf to (I guess) keep the shelf from sliding backwards onto the ledge (I have no idea how that would happen in the normal course of things). It's half an inch in from the edge and I have actually had to rearrange my beverage layout because of it. I keep meaning to buy a bolt cutter to snip it out.
I have no idea where they got the 120 can capacity figure. When I do the math, I can't make it be more than 90ish But, that's just a quibble.

As things stand now, I can put half a dozen cans on the tippy top shelf) (probably 4 beer bottles?),  25 regular soda cans (or 30 of those new tall skinny cans) on the second shelf, 20-25 bottles of beer on the third shelf (depending on the bottle shapes), and the very bottom (which is only half as deep as the others has either a couple bottles of champagne or beers that comes in cans ....it's my catch-all shelf.

If all you use is regular can-sized cans, the other long shelf can be inserted and you should be able to somewhere between 75 and 90 cans of beverage in it.


TL;DR:
I received my fridge with some dents on it, but besides that it works perfectly as expected!

Initial impressions:
After looking around for a little bit for the perfect little fridge to keep my drinks cool, i finally pulled the trigger and bought this Danby DBC120BLS Beverage Center.

Originally I was looking for something that was a little smaller, but after seeing that great reviews and what you got for the price, I was sold.

First off, I have had this fridge for a couple of weeks now and I can say that it has served its purpose pretty well so far! It has only one job and that is to keep my drinks cool in my office. It is working perfectly.

Shipping:
I did not realize the weight nor size of this fridge until it arrived on my front porch. The shipping was pretty quick thanks to Amazon Prime. There was a slight issue during the shipping process however. The fridge comes double boxed, there is the box that it is shipped in and the actual fridge box itself. Upon receiving the fridge, both boxes appeared to be in mint condition. After opening the box and removing the fridge everything looked to be great  upon further inspection there appeared to be a small but substantial dent on the left side of the fridge.  I started thinking, what the heck am I going to do? Ship this back to Amazon? Heck no. I had already cut open both boxes. I contacted Amazon and asked what I should do, I was provided the option for a replacement or a full refund. After a little bit of thinking, I just settled on keeping it, dents and all. I am not sure whose fault it is, but I do wish UPS and or Amazon would be a little more careful next time.
(Note: I did not base my review on the fact that the item I received was slightly damaged upon receiving it. I based my review only on the item itself.)

Pros and Cons:
I really like the overall design of the fridge itself, the stainless steel body and glass window on the front is really appealing. The built in lock is also a nice touch, it works but not as well as I hoped. (More on that later) I do have a couple of gripes about some of its design flaws. I wish that maybe the light inside was a tad brighter or something. It does not make that much of a difference but I do wish it were a little brighter though. Another thing would be the shelves; I wish there were more adjustment options with the shelves. The last thing that slightly annoyed me was the lock mechanism. I am not sure if it is maybe a defect or something, but the lock does not fully secure the door when engaged. The door is locked when you insert and turn the key, though you can still open it, just not fully.

Overall:
Overall all I can say is that the fridge is perfect, minus its small design and cosmetic flaws. It keeps a good selection of my drinks nice and cool while looking sleek and modern.


This beverage center proved to be a very bad purchase for our family. However, at the end of my bad-news story, there is a happy ending.

The first Danby DBC120BLS Beverage Center we ordered lasted 3 months before it stopped working. No warning; it just died a mysterious and unexpected death. Amazon was wonderful and quick to replace the lemon, which we hauled to the street for city pickup. The second (identical) Danby functioned but was so terribly loud that the noise intruded on conversations, TV watching, napping, and everything else connected with daily living. Our oversized fridge, in the same room, was silent compared to the little-but-clamorous Danby Beverage Center. The noise was driving us crazy, so we contacted Amazon.

Amazon told us to contact the manufacturer, and the manufacturer told us to contact Amazon. (You know how THAT goes.) If we were to hope for a replacement, Danby required an authorized technician to examine the appliance. We scheduled a visit and waited (and waited) our turn. The technician agreed the noise was abnormally loud. He said the Danby needed a new compressor, which would cost more than the purchase price of a new unit. He suggested that Danby simply replace the appliance.

Despite the authorized technician's written report, Danby squabbled about a refund. We were, however, welcome to crate and ship the unit back to them -- a heavy-lifting project that would end up costing as much in handling/shipping as the mini-fridge itself. (You can imagine our frustration.) Long story short: Danby non-cheerfully sent us a refund for the beverage center, which we unplugged and got rid of ASAP. Now what? We still needed a beverage center to fill the hole in our kitchen. We certainly were not willing to try another Danby, although it was the exactly-right size for our cabinetry.

Here's the solution: First, we searched online for all beverage centers of appropriate dimensions, including units that were smaller than the above Danby. Next, we researched each of the units on our list to compare features, price, and RATINGS FROM CUSTOMERS. Because excessive noise is a common complaint in these little fridges, we did not want to order a new one (of any brand) and get stuck, again.

We found a beverage center that looked good on paper and was not criticized for noise: Summit Model SCR312L. We had never heard of this brand before. We found out it was sold online by a "big box" store but was not available in-store. We spoke with the local store manager, told her we were interested in the Summit, but would need to plug it in at the store to listen to it before we committed to it. She agreed to order it for us; no problem... Well, the Summit SCR312L passed the test! It cools AND it is quiet!  It isn't as tall as the Danby, but it holds a lot more than it looks like it will hold, which is enough for us. We use the excess space at the top to store a decorative box filled with extra beverages... Did I mention that this little fridge is quiet? ... My intention is not to promote Summit here. But I am suggesting that you find a way to see and hear the product before installing it in your home. We learned the hard way.


I'll update this over the next few months, but after the first two weeks of using this Bosch my wife and I are nothing but pleased.

We have three boys who eat a lot and subsequently we run the dishwasher one or two times a day. The first time I ran this, I couldn't hear it at all and had to put my hand on it to verify it was running. Also opened it to make sure - water was dripping as typical when you open a washer mid-cycle. If it's quiet in the house, you can hear it running but barely. You can also hear when the washer is purging water before and after the rinse cycles through the drain but that's not bad either. But if you have the TV on or have kids in the house, you generally can't hear it at all.

But if it's quiet but doesn't clean, what's the point? We've had no issues with cleaning due to the washer. We have hard water in our area and the only issue we had some problems with spotting, etc. was when we didn't have the rinse agent in with standard detergent or using our usual special detergent. That was the same with any of the washers we or our friends have or have had.

Both the top and bottom baskets have lots of slots for things and at least 50% of them will fold down to accommodate whatever you are trying to wash.

Also, there's a timer to let you know how long the wash cycle has left. Not essential but nice.

Only issue we've had in two weeks is the door is extremely heavy (I believe a spring loose or missing). It has slipped or people new to using it have just let it drop. It goes fast enough I have worried about our dog. With the repeated drops the door has gone past horizontal. I scheduled a tech repair today and will update this once we see what normal should be.

But again, no issues with cleaning or sound. Both have been great for the first two weeks of use. You'd hope that'd be the case. Will update after we get the door squared away and again at the six-month mark.

--------------update on door-----------------
The door issue was as the comment from Lynn said - contractor screws that were too long. After the fix by Bosch (who's repairman said this was fairly common for appliances installed by contractors), the door is back to out-of-the-box condition.

New observations:
-the insulation on this thing is amazing. If the cycle is done running even two hours previous, the dishes and air inside is still really warm. I'm guessing once hot water goes in, it stays hot.

-drying dishes can be an issue if you run out of rinse agent or seem to run it on Auto Wash vs. Regular Wash. I'm going to keep a better eye on this as well.

-if you have any back issues, the bottom rack is extremely low to the floor. Likewise since the controls are on the door, there's more room in the top of the washer too. Again, lots of room for almost anything you could stick in it.

Again, overall satisfaction is high. We'll see where we're at in two more months.


We've had this dishwasher just over a year, and I'm writing this review now because we finally figured out how to get it to dry dishes once washed.

First, it replaced an excellent LG (which we gave to our kids) because the LG was white and there seems to be some sort of law that you can't have a white dishwasher with a stainless steel refrigerator or range. The LG was the quietest dishwasher we'd ever had, often having to check it to make sure we'd turned it on. Well, this Bosch is comparable. It is extremely quiet in all but the "drain cycle." That's to be expected, and even that is quiet, well, as quiet as the LG and quieter than out old old GE.

We required the buttons be on the outside of the door, NOT on top so that they disappear when the door is closed. Believe it or not, this cut our choices in half. Another issue was the handle. In a galley kitchen (or not), we would not have a dishwasher with a handle that sticks out - even if you could have another dish towel hanging. We definitely wanted flush "handles" which, btw, is how we ended up with the Bosch counter-depth (flush) refrigerator.

The capacity is good, not great, one reason why I can only give it four stars. People talk about "holding place settings for 6," but they never mention what happens to those place settings when you add a pot or pan or a broiling rack or pan! But we're only two people and on a daily basis, this more than meets our needs.

Drying: Ah, drying. This has been a problem with many of our dishwashers. We've tried all the products for drying from Jet-Dry to a "cake" that was made to fit in the dispenser. We washed the dishes after dinner and let it go through the cycles and left the dishes and pots and pans to dry overnight. In the morning, there would still be spots that were wet though the dishes were dry and squeaky clean. Basically, we were running into the age-old problem on the lips of pots and the tops of cups filling with too much water for the machine to dry. Cups we dealt with by lying them on their sides, and that really worked. Pots or pans with lips we loaded on top when possible, and they were the first things we took out in the morning, and hand wipes the lips. And now - so we added 60 seconds to the unloading routine - all is well.

In the old days, dishwashers had a heating element in the bottom and did a better job of drying. But in the old days, you couldn't have a conversation in the same room as the dishwasher, they were so noisy. You learn to live with these things.

Washing, this gets 5 stars. Quiet, this gets 5 stars. Reliability, 5 stars. (Never a problem or repair.) Capacity and price ratio, four stars. Would we get another? Probably.


I love Haier products .. they cater to a portion of people that most other appliance manufacturers do not .. people who live in small quarters or have no laundry hook ups! I used to live in an apartment with no laundry hook ups and I was too busy to make several trips to the laundry mat during the week. I seen this that came with the Haier portable dryer for about $400 .. I was skeptical of how well this would work at first. The setup was surprisingly quick and easy .. take it out of the box, screw a few things on, hook the water intake and drain hose and you are ready to go .. honestly took 10 minutes! Since there is no agitator but a pulsator ... it allows you more room for clothes. I was surprised by how much clothing I was able to fit in this little washer. I was also surprised by the array of fabric settings and loads sizes, including an extra spin cycle ..and a setting to allow for a long soak before the wash. There is even a countdown timer that informs how many minutes remain in the cycle and shows you which par tof the cycle it is on (fill, wash, rinse, spin) ...  Honestly .. I was amazed at how well this machine cleaned my clothes and with the pulsator .. it is more delicate on fabrics. Everything from the fill, wash, rinse, spin and drain worked perfectly ... the spin works just as well as a regular sized washer and the operation is pretty quiet .. as long as the washer is level on the ground .. there should be no issues. Now my reason I gave this a 4 star rating is because of the exterior shell. This is obviously not as strong and durable as a regular sized washer since it needs to be light weight enough to be "portable:" so I have had issues where if the unit gets banged by say the counter ... the outer shell can crack and the top loading door is not very durable either .. do no set anything on top of it or drop anything of heavy weight on it because it can and probably will break! I also had an issue where the area surrounding a couple screws/bolts on the exterior started to "spider web" crack around it. Now none of this affected the operation of the unit in any way, but the cracks can grow worse overtime. I personally know Haier customer service is great! Their warranty periods are pretty long, a few years, and they even have a separate warranty on the interior basket. If you have an issue with your unit .. they WILL send out a whole new unit if they have no Haier repair services in your local area. And they will NOT ask you to return the unit to them .. they will ask you to sign a letter saying you did properly dispose of the defective unit. I know some reviews state they had issues with the washer not starting after fill up ... this probably is because the washer is not level ... if this unit is even a small amount off level (even an inch) it will not run .. so adjust the legs accordingly.


omg! so amazing! very cute and SO SMALL! fits in my hallway closet. was on the fence about buying it but after reading many reviews and watching youtube reviews, I bit the bullet and pressed 'add to cart'. I looked at a few other models, but all of them seemed pretty janky and this one looked like it would legitimately clean my clothes, not just get them wet. (and it does legitimately clean my clothes -- hooray!!)

the machine arrived in MINT condition - not dented or scratched - totally pristine.

there were only a few assembly steps and they were both very easy (just make your husband do it!) -- screw on the bottom cover and attach feet or wheels. the wheels DO spin in all directions, so if you want to ride inside of this washing machine and play bumper cars, you may.

the drain hose is already attached. you just have to attach the filling hose. def do this with a wrench or something. don't trust your weak lil hands to do the job, because if you do, it WILL leak, and your neighbors WILL complain. just use the dang wrench.

make sure you can remove the aerator of whatever faucet you plan on using to fill up this beauty. I wanted to do this in my bathroom, where we have a delta sink, but our delta sink has a stupid plastic lil aerator that you need a special $10 delta aerator wrench to remove. ummm -  h e l l  no! luckily we have a faucet with a reasonable screw-on metal aerator in our kitchen that we now use instead for all our washing needs.

I set this bad boy up last night and ran two loads on 'normal' and I didn't even have time to finish two eppies of Parks and Rec - that's how fast it was !! (well I had to keep pausing the show at each step of the wash cycle just cause I was so excited to run into the kitchen and witness each little thing that the machine was doing now.. Oooh, it's draining! Omg, it's rinsing! Wow! It works!)

The spin cycle made my clothes super duper dry but did not destroy them (important). The spin cycle was also super quiet for how fiercely it spun. (I was expecting it to be bouncing all over the place, but the machine was pretty still). The spin cycle is legit tho. Nothing is drippy and some of my thinner clothes dried in like an hour after coming out of the wash. If I had some thick stuff like towels or sweaters or jeans on the wash, I might do a double spin.

FYI- I have a pretty small kitchen sink and when this machine drained it didn't even fill it up a quarter of the way at any point. So if your sink likes to take its time draining, don't fret. This lil bugger is super considerate and drains the water out in small portions. How nice!

If you are still schlepping to the laundromat, who even are you?


I finally decided to take the plunge and by this to keep some people out of my mini fridge. I have a mini fridge pretty much the same color as what is in the photo, which is why I bought this item. Upon receiving this item, I read the instructions to see if there was anything I might miss if I just skipped them. This item comes with the following: 1 Black Colored Anchor Clip. 1 Silver Colored Anchor Clip, 1 Master Lock, 2 Alcohol Wipes, and 1 Scrubby Pad.

The instructions read: "2. Clean and prepare the chosen pad locations with the included kit. Use the scrubby pad to clean the attachment location, wipe area clean with the alcohol swab. Let dry completely"

Easy enough. And having done this a million times with other adhesive products, I didn't think would be any issues. Boy was I wrong! The "scrubby pad" doesn't just clean the attachment area, IT SCRATCHES THE CRAP OUT OF IT!!!

I looked back through the instructions. NOPE! NO WARNING ABOUT SCRATCHING SURFACES!!! I thought "well, maybe there us just soap residue in the pad, and maybe it needs to be cleaned better". Nope! It's scratched!

If there was a warning that said something like, " be sure to only use the scrubby pad to clean an area NO BIGGER than the size one of the Anchor Clips will cover", I would have been MUCH more careful with the included scrubby pad! But, no such warning exists! And, since I was just scrubbing the general area I was going to attach the Silver Colored Anchor Clip to my Stainless looking (I say looking because I don't know how it could actually be now that it's scratched to crap by what appeared to be a simple cleaning pad) mini fridge door, now I have scratch marks all around where the Anchor Clip is secured. :(

Like I said, I tried cleaning the area with my alcohol spay bottle and some paper towels in the hope that it was just some sort of residue, but it isn't. The best I could do is use the scrubby pad even more around the Anchor Clip to try to make it look...umm...better? But, instead it just looks like I was being dumb, using the incorrect tools for the job. Too bad, they were the tools that were INCLUDED to do the job!

Even though no one will really see it other than (the people who aren't supposed to be trying to get what's inside) me, it's just going to infuriate me off every time I go to get a drink!

I'm not really sure how well this product actually works yet, seeming I just received it today, and also because the instructions say not to use the lock with it for 48 hours after attaching the Anchor Clips because "full adhesive strength is not achieved for 48 hrs".

So, IF you are going to buy this item, this is what I recommend:

1. ONLY use the "scrubby pad" to prep an area which is SMALLER than the actual surface of the Anchor Clip.
2. Use your OWN alcohol and paper towels to clean the attachment location. The wipes they include are not enough to clean this area adequately enough.

Hopefully this review helps someone save face...the face of their mini fridge that is. ;)


I looked for many months for a countertop dishwasher, and read many, many reviews.  I finally settled on this one as it seemed to fit my needs and garnered decent press.  I was leary at first because all I can remember are those lovely bubble-top countertop "dishwashers" from the 60's and 70's that did little more than rinse the dishes.  Was I ever mistaken.  The carton arrived a week earlier than estimated, with absolutely no damage (extremely well packed).  The instructions are straightforward, and putting the adaptor on the kitchen sink took less than a minute.  Then it was simply a matter of hand-tightening the connections, and presto! it was ready to go.  The inside of this dishwasher swallowed a complete service for 6 (I tried - with 10.5" plates no less), with some space left over for a few serving dishes.  It has several cycles to choose from, and I have found that the glasses only cycle seems to work well for most of my daily needs.  It has a built-in heater (to 149), and the wastewater discharge is pumped - not gravity-fed, so you could place this dishwasher lower than the sink.  The exterior is very sleek and no-nonsense, with few bells and whistles that can eventually go wrong.  And it does a phenomenal job!  I have yet to find any unclean dishes or utensils when it's done.  It does take a while, however, with the heavy cycle lasting 112 minutes, normal - 85 minutes, eco - 77 minutes, glasses - 71 minutes, speed - 45 minutes, and soak - 10 minutes.  It also has delayed start in increments of 2 hours, up to 8 hours.  The interior is all stainless steel, and it sounds like quality (if there is such a thing) when you close the door.  Yes, it is fairly noisy, but most dishwashers are, and this one is setting out in the open on a countertop - so I can easily live with that.  The rinse-aid dispenser even has a warning light that comes on when it needs to be refilled, and Edgestar also lists the proper amount of detergent to use.  This last is dependent on the local water, and you'll have to make a call to get the "grain count" (hardness level) of your water, but that wasn't even an annoyance for me.  Overall, I am very pleased with this unit.  It does take up considerable countertop space, so measure carefully - it barely fit under my cabinets, but was convinced to go finally.  It really does a full-size job in a countertop package.  I definitely recommend this to anyone who is not a large family - it works amazingly well for 1, 2 or even 3 people.  And it's very water and power efficient.


I've had this range for about two months now.  It looks great, performs better, is easy to clean, built solidly, and did I mention it LOOKS GREAT!?

pros: very heavy continuous grates made from cast iron.  the cooktop uses a ceramic glass with sealed burners that makes cleanup very easy - i just use a microfiber and a little water, and voila, clean.  I haven't had to scrub and scrape like i did with my old porcelain steel.  The burners are fantastic, with the "power" burner going from an absolutely micro simmer to extremely powerful, wok-fire.  the accessories that come with the range are great - a cast iron two burner griddle, a cast iron simmer plate, and cast iron wok ring.  The oven is PHENOMENAL.  easy slide out racks are something i didn't even know i needed until i have them.  it comes with 3 racks, meaning I can be baking 3 sheets of cookies at once.  The convection bake means those cookies come out faster, too, meaning that I've got a batch of 6 dozen cookies done in 16 minutes.  Lighting is quick, and heating of the oven is fast.  Also, it seems that the oven keeps temperature much longer (after having the oven on at 400, I've turned it off, come back 15 minutes later, and the oven is still at 350).  this likely means it is more efficient.  The door is easily removable.  It is cheaper than competing "pro-sumer" style ranges.  the oven is big enough to fit half-sheet pans, unlike some other pro-sumer ranges i tested.

cons: it is HEAVY and difficult to install yourself simply because of weight.  There isn't much room behind this thing, having a big, flat, inflexible panel that makes up the back.  if you are building, and have the opportunity to dictate where the gas and electric outlets are, you'll be fine, but as mine was a replacement, I had to finagle things to make it fit properly.  because of the location of the plug, i was unable to sit the range completely flush to the wall, and instead have a 1/2 inch gap.  not a deal breaker, but if little things drive you crazy, this might...  The cooling fan of the oven tends to stay on long after you've turned it off.  The stainless is a bit softer than what I care for - I've already put a few scratches in it from hitting the front with my belt buckle, or accidentally scraping a pan along the wide front.

summary:  One of the better looking gas ranges out there, heavy, well-built and easy to love.  It performs well, and that's what really matters.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that that it also has KILLER LOOKS.


This is a really great washer. I had a medium capacity Kenmore washer with an agitator that lasted 26 years and when it passed on, I replaced it with a LG front-loading 2.7 c.f. washer.  I bought the smaller LG since I wasn't sure their larger front-loader could make it through the basement doorway (later I found out that I could have just refused delivery had that been the case).  I wasn't happy with the LG front-loader for several reasons.  The width of the door is much less wider than the drum.  The machine has a setting for bulky items, but you have to squeeze them to get them in there.  Once I started using the machine, it seemed doubtful that I could even get a twin size comforter in there that would get tossed around enough to clean well.  Also, with the front-loaders, you have to leave the door open for a few hours afterwards and wipe the rubber seal very well, otherwise you'll get a musty smell over time.  I also noticed the rubber lip of the seal that you have to wipe under to dry off accumulates lint, cat hair, etc.  That's a little too much maintenance after each load for me.  Also, the LG, despite its delivery man leveling it, does walk a little on the high spin settings. The cycles are long, one commonly used is an hour and three minutes.

This Maytag Bravos at 4.7 c.f. is even bigger than my old Kenmore.  There should be no issue with getting my queen size comforter in there and it cleaning well.  Cycle times are shorter, one used for normal loads is just over 40 minutes, much shorter than the LG.  It cleans very well.  With both my LG and Kenmore, when I washed washcloths that were used once while showering, they'd come out with that deodorant-like smell in them.  With the Maytag Bravos, in using the extra rinse feature, I noticed no scent in any of them.  Success!  And it's nice to not have to bend over to open the door. I also think the Maytag is a bit quieter than my LG while spinning and the little LG cost $300 more than the $600 I paid for this model of the Bravos.  The Bravos doesn't walk while spinning like the LG did. I thank the store for being willing to take the LG back, after some arm twisting and discussion with the store manager.

Initially I did think there was a problem with the Bravos as after the very first load I did, I noticed the pocket where you add fabric softener was filled with water at end of cycle.  It should just be a little wet afterwards.  The next time I ran the machine I set the fabric softener added indicator and this flushed it out.  The fabric softener pocket has been basically empty since then, as it should be.  I had initially called Maytag and the lady promptly suggested sending a service person to look at it, no charge since under warranty.  I'll give them a call back and cancel that appointment as it appears I don't need it. I really love this machine, I'm going to dig up a little laundry to do another load!


My oven wouldn't light, and after a little research, I discovered my glow bar wasn't glowing, and as a result the oven wasn't either. After I pulled the stove out I found the parts list/manual sheet on the back of the stove. Yours should be there unless some dummy took it off. Found the part number for the glow bar/oven igniter and hit the net. Amazon had the best price of course....
 This glow bar is an exact replacement for my range, which is a 2002 GE XL44 range. And it was inexpensive.
I accept no resonsibilty for your mechanical skills. It shouldn't take much to do this anyway.....

 The swap was simple. You will only need a straight slot screwdriver and a 1/4 inch socket or nut driver (if you have a screwdriver with the removable tip bits, when the bit is removed, thats a 1/4 inch).
Unplug the oven.
Turn off the gas valve to the oven.
Remove the baking racks.
Remove the bottom bake shield by taking the two screws out in the very back bottom of the oven with a straight slot screw driver.
Push the tray to the rear until it comes out of the slots in the front and lift it out.
You will see the burner bar running front to back.
In the very bottom of the oven you will see a verticle aluminum heat shield with a screw on one end.
Remove the screw and the heat shield should slide to the right and come out. Set it aside.
Next you will see a little "D" shaped access cover on the back wall held on by a screw with wires coming out. Remove it and set it aside.
Pull out wires going to the igniter carefully until you see the white plastic plug. Carefully get the plug out of the hole. The plastic may be brittle from the heat- BE CAREFUL. Also I noticed a couple of reviews where it looks like people didn't pull out the wires to get to the plug and just cut them. The plug is in there.....
Grab the plug by the two little latches on the sides and pull it apart.
Next, take the nut driver and remove the glow bar igniter off of the burner bar by taking out the two screws.
On my oven the plug did not fit between the burner bar and the back of the oven, so I removed the two screws holding the burner hood to the back wall of the oven and slipped the old igniter wires out past the bracket. This is all of the disassembly.
Slip the wires of the new igniter behind the burner hood bracket and plug them in.
Put the two screws back in holding the burner hood to the back wall.
Screw the igniter to the burner bar, it has four holes. It should be the holes that mount it closest to the burner bar.
Feed the plug and all the excess wire back through the hole in the back wall. Make sure the wires aren't touching the burner bar.
Reinstall the "D" shaped cover.
Reinstall the heat shield.
Plug in the oven.
Turn the gas valve on.
Turn on the oven, stand to the side and back a ways... safety first.
After 3-5 seconds the bar should beging to glow bright orange, then the gas will come on and light.
If it's working turn it off and replace the baking shield and it's two screws.
Done... Good luck!


We bought this washer and the companion front-loading dryer in December 2011 and loved it, it worked great.  Easy to use, did a wonderful job, no complaints whatsoever.  Around August 2012 I started noticing that the spin cycle sounded louder than normal though there wasn't any obvious "broken" noise to it so I thought maybe I was imagining things.  Since then it's gotten progressively worse and now has started making a sad asynchronous thunking noise when it spins along with a roar that sounds like a train is passing through our living room.  It's gotten so loud that we can't even be in the same part of the house without having to shout at one another to be heard.  "IS THIS NORMAL?" I asked my husband and he answered, "I DON'T KNOW, WASN'T IT ALWAYS LOUD BEFORE?"  This week a couple of loads have been left sopping wet so something was surely amiss.  A friend was over and heard the washer in full swing and said, "Whoa, what is up with that thing?  That is not normal!"

I searched online for "Maytag 4000" and found a number of reported issues online about this very washer.  I realize, now, that we had become so desensitized to the noise of this thing over a year's worth of time that we didn't notice just how bad it had gotten.  It's pretty bad.  Search for a YouTube video "Daily Greg Maytag 4000" - this cinched it for us as it sounds *exactly* like our washer so we're calling Home Depot in the morning to hopefully get some sort of resolution.  Thankfully we have a 4-year extended warranty.  I'm a little worried as I've read multiple reports about the washer being repaired and having the same issue recur after a few months.  I really hope we're able to get it fixed for good because it wasn't cheap.

Now before anyone starts saying I'm a moron who can't read manuals please be assure I did read the manual and we had the machine leveled when it was delivered and we only use Charlie's Soap HE detergent - 1 tbs (sometimes less) per load.  We don't stuff the crap out of the thing or otherwise abuse it.  Now it scares the daylights out of the cats and wakes the neighbors.  To say I am disappointed in what was a pretty large household investment for us is an understatement.

Update 06/18/2013: Right after writing my review we had a repairman in and he had to replace the main rotor and the entire wash basket.  The works had gotten so unbalanced that all the parts were shot.  After replacing the guts, tracking tons of dirt and gross sooty crap all over my hallway, and leveling the machine, it works fine again.  I'm very glad we got the 4-year service plan for this machine as I expect we'll be calling them back in another eight months or so.  The invoice for the repair was more than we paid for the machine brand new - thank goodness for service plans!


I purchased a Maytag washer, the 9000 Series, model MHWE950WW, in October of 2010.  The washing machine seemed to work fine until about 1 month ago, when the washer became loud in the spin cycle.  Finally, last week the noise and vibration became intolerable.  We called Maytag service, (we have a service contract) and they sent a service man a couple of days ago.  He was in the house five minutes, when he spun the tub by hand and stated that the bearings were shot.  He said that it would take about ten days before the new parts would be installed.  The bearings in a 16 month old machine were SHOT?  How can that be?  According to the service man, "it happens".  Oh Really?  It happens if the product is DEFECTIVE AND PORLY MADE.  Wait!  It gets better.  Two days later I received a call from Maytag's service people, and was told that the machine would cost $689.00 to repair with new bearings, and that the prorated value of the machine was $629.00, therefore they were not going to replace the bearings, but would instead reimburse me $629.00 instead, since the value of the machine was now less than the cost to repair it with new bearings.
The cost for the washer was $899.00; the cost for the washer's service contract was $186.31, for three years.  Maytag is sending me $629.00 for all my troubles, on a machine that is 16 months old.  Get this!!!  They will not reimburse me for the remaining 3 years on my service contract.  They claim that it is part of the claim total.  So here is how it breaks down:  $899.00 (excluding taxes and delivery) for the washer, $186.31 for the service contract until 2014. That brings my out of pocket total to $1085.31.  I am getting back only $629.00.  You do the math!  I lost $456.32 in the whole process in less than 16 months and do not have a working washing machine to boot.  WAY TO GO MAYTAG!  You will not see one cent of my money ever again, and I make will it my life's work to bad mouth you and your products, every time I pass by a sellers appliance section.  I will tell everyone in my development, in my city, in my state, and anyone who will listen, to avoid your products like the plague that you and they are.  Your products, business model and your customer service, are the world's worst.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice?  Well, you will never get that chance again.  Personally, I will work toward making your company and its products extinct.  It is what you deserve for shoddy products and bad business practices.
I wish you nothing, because that is what you deserve.  NOTHING!!!!


I bought this refrigerator in October 2010 for $2,390.  It works, but this refrigerator sells for a premium price and is not a premium refrigerator, especially the ice making capability.

As many others have pointed out in their reviews, the ice maker often quits making ice.  The problem comes from the ice maker not always detecting when the bin is full so additional ice gets jammed up in the mechanical mechanism and no more ice is made.  What happens is that ice from the compartment gets caught up in the mechanism so that when additional water flows and freezes the ice in the mechanism becomes a big blob of connected ice cubes and binds the mechanism so no more ice gets made.

You can "fix" the problem by removing the ice bin, unscrewing the anchor screw on the left front side of the ice making mechanism, and sliding forward the ice maker mechanism where the top tabs align with cutouts. This allows your to drop the ice maker down to where you can rotate it the left and see the frozen mass of water inside that clogs up the operation. The connecting electrical cable from the mechanism to the back of the ice making compartment does not detach in any way that I can find. There is just enough slack in the cable to move the mechanism to the slots to let it drop down for inspection and defrosting.  Since you can't completely remove the mechanism to do the defrosting, you have to leave it in the compartment and carefully use a heat gun or hair dryer to melt the ice blob enough to remove the ice that binds up the mechanism. I put several micro-fiber cloths in the bottom of the ice maker cavity and gently use a heat gun to melt the ice enough to remove the big blob of ice then dry everything out, put the mechanism back in place, and ice making works for a while.

Once you do this the first time it is pretty easy to do a couple of times a year if you are half-way handy.  You only have to remove the one screw on the left side that holds the mechanism into the ice making compartment.  You can also remove the top screw and gently lift up the mechanism top cover just enough to take a peek, but there are other screws in the back that can't be easily reached, so you may not want to take the risk of breaking the top cover of the mechanism.  The mechanism is open on the right side, so rotating it to the left gives you access to heat up and defrost the ice that builds up and binds the mechanism.

Since the basic design of this ice maker is flawed, defrosting isn't a fix, but a temporary remedy to the problem.  I hate to think how many people have paid to have the ice making mechanism replaced when all that was wrong was a frozen up mechanism due to this design flaw.

This product should have been better designed and tested before being sold, especially the ice maker.  It is definitely not a premium refrigerator with this ice maker.