So, I paid serious coin recently for a newly built home in a hip and happening area of Chicago. One of the features of this home was a washing machine and dryer. Doesn’t sound like much, but it was my being tired of having to block time out during the week to visit my high-rise’s laundry room that was part of the catalyst for my moving. (Well, that and a desire to have a back deck or back yard to grill in, and the limitations that the no pets rule in my building imposed on my blossoming relationship with a woman who has a dog. But laundry was a part of it.)
So, when we close, the laundry has not been hooked up. I call several times to try and get them over to install it, with no real response (other than vague “we’re on it”). Finally, after I say that I am going to call an installer to come out and do it, I get a call from the builder’s agent. (For reference, the builder’s real estate agent is the primary point of contact. I have never met the builder himself. He’s kind of like the Wizard of Oz, I think.) Builder’s agent (hereinafter SchmuckBoy) tells me that if I call an installer, I’m paying for it myself since the builder won’t reimburse. So I tell SchmuckBoy that the builder better get his people out here to fix it.
So, two workmen from the builder show up, only one of whom speaks English. They work for a while, and tell me that the washer is hooked up. Thinking that it is actually hooked up, I decide to test it with some laundry.
More background - this washer is one of them fancy front-loaders. It sprays water from the front, and then uses the rotation of the tub to soak the clothes through and spin them dry.
So I load it up, and start it going. When the wash cycle is complete, and I pull the clothes out, I notice that the ones on the top are bone dry. Not even a little damp.
Hm.
So, I try rerunning the load, this time staying to watch it. I notice that the tub doesn’t really so much spin, just sort of rocks back and forth. I test the tub, and notice that it has a rather short rotation. Kind of like something was holding it in place.
It’s about this time that I notice four plastic stoppers on top of the wash tub.
So, I RTFM (read the f***ing manual), and note that the unit shipped with these bolts in it that locked the tub during shipment. And these four stoppers were apparently intended to be put in the holes where the bolts were. The bolts were also cleverly desiged to hold the power cord for the washer, thus ensuring that you’d have to remove them in order to get the power cord out. The stoppers would then go in the holes.
Thinking I understand the problem, I call the builder’s workmen and get them to come out and finish the installation by putting the four stoppers where they’re supposed to go. (The unit is far too heavy for me to move on my own, and hey, it’s their job). They come and do so. I test the tub and notice that it now has a nice 360 degree of rotation. I am pleased.
Fast forward about a week or so, when we actually are out of clothes and need to do laundry. The Sicilian woman I live with goes down to do a load of laundry. After it’s done, she informs me that the clothes at the top are, once again, bone dry.
Merde.
So, we run it again. Water sprays in the front, but the tub would qualify for the Olympic standing there and doing nothing team.
So I assume that they’ve botched the installation yet again. After a terse voicemail message to SchmuckBoy and a terse conversation with the developer’s attorney, I inform them that I am not going to let the builder’s people come out and try a third time, and am instead going to call an installer from the appliance warehouse from which they purchased the unit to come out and do the job.
Installer came yesterday and tells me that the unit is hooked up fine, no kinks in the hose, no noticeable debris or blockage in the line, water is turned on, etc. I tell him the history, and he informs me that if the tub didn’t rotate fully when I ran the initial load after the first installation attempt, the shipping bolts were still in place. (which means that they took them out to get the power cord out, and put them back after the power cord was free). Apparently, it is not unheard of people doing the installation for builders to forget to take these bolts out. The upshot, however, is that when I ran the load with the bolts in place, I probably damaged the washer, possibly beyond repair.
So, thanks to the builder’s insistence on using his own incompetent people, I am now stuck with no washer. Meaning, that I paid a huge sum of money for my new home, and am forced to use a laundromat.
I am not a fan of my life right now.