Appliance Frustration

   / Appliance Frustration #1  

N80

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This is mostly just a rant but it comes with a question attached. We are going to be selling our house soon. When we bought it, there was a trash compactor in the kitchen. It broke within weeks of moving in and it has just sat there useless for the last 12 years.

We figured we better replace it before putting the house on the market. Well, much to ur surprise, these pretty unpopular appliances (when was the last time you saw one in a new house?) are EXPENSIVE. Most of them in the $600 dollar range!!!

Anyway, we just happened to find a used GE Profile compactor for about $200. It looked pretty new but the decorative front panel was missing. No big deal, we'd just order a new on and that would be quite a good deal. Guess what, the decorative front panels cost $100 at most places. We did a lot of internet searching and finally found this piece of black sheet metal for about $60. It arrived, we put it on, looks great. Except, there is no handle. Guess what the handle costs? About $90 for an 18" plastic handle and two srews!!! We searched again, found one for $55. Its on the way.

So, we still get a compactor for under $400. Not that bad.

Here is the kicker. From GE parts catalog, the decorative front panel (black painted sheet metal) and the handle sell for around $200. But I got to poking around looking at drawings and parts and the whole drawer, can assembly, with about 20-25 parts including the bucket, latches, frame, rollar bearings etc, sells for only $180.

Bottom line is, GE is ripping people off for trim pieces in a big way.

The question: Is this typical for all appliance makers? Or is it just GE? (I'm interested because I'm considering buying a used 48" GE Monogram duel fuel range from the same place. It is in great shape and about 1/2 price compared to new. Comes with a 1 year warranty. But, if this practice of jacking the prices on trim is just a GE thing, then I'm not going to buy anything else from GE.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #2  
George, I know things are constantly changing with all companies. In 1968, I bought an old used GE refrigerator cheap. A year or two later, I wanted new door gaskets, called their Dallas parts warehouse with the model and serial numbers, was told it was a 1946 model, but they had the door gaskets in stock and quite reasonably priced. I was quite favorably impressed.

Then in the '70s and '80s we had GE built washers and dryers and I was not impressed with having to replace thermostats, heating elements. control switches, etc.

Then in 1997, we bought a new mobile home that came with a GE dishwasher that lasted exactly 3 years before the pump sprung a leak. I had repaired leaking pumps before on Gaffers & Sattler dishwashers, but I couldn't figure out how to separate the pump from the motor on that 1997 GE dishwasher and when I called them I found they do not sell the pump and motor separately. They're only sold as a unit, and in May, 2000, they wanted $160.34 plus tax for it. We replaced that dishwasher with a new one of another brand and I haven't bought a GE product since.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #3  
The way I see it, there is so much competition for the sale of new products that margins are low. Manufacturers rely on volume to make things a go. When it comes to parts, they need profits so assemblies are the order of the day rather than individual components. Keep in mind that the larger the assembly the less training the repair guy needs to install it. It's also easier to sell a new unit for a bit more. It's all about profits.
When I sold my house I needed a $220 rack for my dishwasher. It made more sense to replace the washer for $250.
Although it bothers me that WE have created a market for disposable goods, I understand why and how it came to be.
When I can, I spend $200 of my life to avoid buying parts so I can repair something "for free". Although it sure sounds foolish when you consider how cheap things are to replace. I guess I enjoy the challenge of the repair more than I do the trip to the dump.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #4  
WE have created a market for disposable goods

Yep, and I don't understand it. Of course, it's not just appliances, but I still wonder about things like replacing returnable, reusable glass bottles for so many things, like milk, sodas, beer, etc. with plastic, paper, and aluminum, so much of which goes into the landfills. And the huge amounts of paper and plastic "packaging" for everything.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #5  
I guess that as a society we are cheap and of limited attention span. No one wants to pay for quality that lasts a lifetime when the alternative is to go get new stuff cheap.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #6  
Yep, and I don't understand it. Of course, it's not just appliances, but I still wonder about things like replacing returnable, reusable glass bottles for so many things, like milk, sodas, beer, etc. with plastic, paper, and aluminum, so much of which goes into the landfills. And the huge amounts of paper and plastic "packaging" for everything.

This may not be a popular thing to say, but I think that the single best law ever passed in the state of Michigan was our bottle deposit law. ( 1972? ) Before the law, the roadsides were covered in trash. After it passed, nice and clean. I wish they would extend it to all beverage containers, and do something about other packaging also.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #7  
This may not be a popular thing to say, but I think that the single best law ever passed in the state of Michigan was our bottle deposit law. ( 1972? ) Before the law, the roadsides were covered in trash. After it passed, nice and clean. I wish they would extend it to all beverage containers, and do something about other packaging also.

Oops, we don't want to get into politics, which is prohibited on TBN, but I agree.

I guess that as a society we are cheap and of limited attention span. No one wants to pay for quality that lasts a lifetime when the alternative is to go get new stuff cheap.

Yes, but it seems that the raw material to make even the cheaper stuff would either run out or get too expensive.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #8  
I guess that as a society we are cheap and of limited attention span. No one wants to pay for quality that lasts a lifetime when the alternative is to go get new stuff cheap.

I was talking about this with my wife recently...can you even buy stuff that will last a lifetime anymore? I don't think any major manufacturer is out there selling high quality stuff, appliances anyway.
 
   / Appliance Frustration #9  
And cheap appliances aren't necessarily cheap anymore. I used to think paying for extended warranties (just another insurance policy) was not a good financial decision, but with the luck we've had in recent years, I'll probably pay for the extended warranty on any new appliances.
 
 
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