My GE Dishwasher Tragedy, Manufacturer Parts, Car Repairs and Doctor Visits: Let's Be Mad as Hell and Not Take it Anymore!
I had some experiences recently I thought I'd share that may have happened to you. Experiences that cost time and money and seem designed to screw us, while perpetuating a steady flow of income for other parties. In the first case, before you remind me, I will readily admit I caused the problem. My objection is with the available solution that now confronts me.
I bought a General Electric portable dishwasher a number of years ago. It has worked fine, and I have no complaint with its operation. The problem is its design. In order to connect it to my sink, I have to fasten a unicouple -- a device that delivers water to and from the dishwasher -- to the faucet and over time it has become worn, making it a bit more difficult to disengage. After the last usage when I tried to take it off, the entire faucet adapter (which connects it with the faucet) came along with it. Try as I might to detach the unicouple, I couldn't get it to budge. I finally tapped it against the sink and, in the process, the unicouple broke.
Okay, it was my fault. However, instead of being able to replace a cheap plastic part that might have set me back a few bucks, I am stymied by the fact that the unicouple, designed by mega-corp GE, is attached to two hoses that extend well inside the machine.
Now it's a humongous job. The part alone costs over a hundred dollars, not to mention a repairman who would charge anywhere from $75-$100 an hour. A new machine costs about $450, so it'd be dumb to pay so much just to get my dishwasher repaired. However, the simple question is why wasn't the machine designed so that the unicouple might click in and out of the hoses or attach with common screws, enabling a simple and inexpensive replacement instead of combining all elements of the operation into one device? Not to mention the fact that the hoses go all the way inside the machine, requiring me to open the dishwasher up and figure out how to disconnect and reassemble the part.
It's absurd that a simple appendage made of cheap plastic and thus easily breakable under many circumstances cannot be replaced without undergoing the options I've described. And yet without the unicouple, the machine, even with its primary operating functions working perfectly, is now kaput!
And consumer headaches don't stop there. Have you looked under your car hood lately? In order to repair something otherwise very cheap, a mechanic often has to disassemble many of the parts to get to where your $5.95 hose or fuse might be. The other day a dashboard light came on in my Toyota Corolla -- one I'd never seen. I looked in my manual and discovered it was the "Check Engine Light." I went to my local PepBoys, and they said the "Check Engine Light could be a myriad of causes and they'd have to hook my car to an analysis machine, costing $90, which was in addition to any work they might have to do. Fortunately, I'd secured a coupon from their website for, among other things, checking the engine light. They happily agreed to do so and later informed me it was smog device related, referring me to a Toyota dealer.
As I was headed for an important appointment, I got their assurance that my engine was not in jeopardy and the car wouldn't break down. However, out of curiosity I called the Toyota dealership and gave them the engine analysis code number PO 404, and was told the repair could cost over $400.
I consulted the Internet about this PO 404 code -- thank God for Internet "Ask" sites -- and was advised the light might simply be due to a loose gas cap (which I tightened) or possibly some water in the gas. Such circumstances might correct themselves after a few days of driving. Sure enough in a couple of days the engine light went off.
But why is this "Check Engine Light" such a catchall of scary possibilities? There are separate light indicators for oil and battery and overheating problems. Since newer cars have computer systems, couldn't they have a number system that would identify the problem, e.g. a "32" appears on the dash, and your manual lists the problem or at least localizes the area of the dilemma?
Manufacturing CEOs do very little to reduce the need for maintenance work and perhaps there should be legislative enforcement requiring them to do so. We have laws about emission controls and gas mileage. Why not for manufacturing devices mandating modular parts that are easier to get to and for systems that would more easily identify the problem and not subject us to "analysis" costs?
And while I'm at it, there should be a recoupment procedure available when doctors make us wait an unreasonable amount of time. It's quite common to be made to wait more than an hour -- sometimes two and three -- and when you complain to the receptionist you are treated in a "how dare you" manner, as if it's unconscionable to gripe about a doctor. Not to mention the fact that many people are intimidated from doing so, perhaps after years of being told that that profession was the gold standard when nailing a husband.
A friend of mine, who has severe glaucoma, waited two and a half hours, having already inquired about the tardiness of the doctor after the first hour. Only after almost three hours of waiting was she told there were emergencies that had come through the door. My question, of course, is why weren't the waiting patients notified so that they could determine whether they wanted to reschedule? Indeed, my friend decided not to wait further and she told me the receptionist looked at her like she was crazy for not hanging out longer.
Why can't we bill a doctor for our time when we are kept waiting -- let's say -- more than half an hour? What's our time worth? After all, they have the cheek to bill us if we cancel our appointment within a short time frame or don't show up at all.
It's time to rise up and not take crap, like Peter Finch's character Howard Beale advised us in Paddy Chayefsky's classic film Network. Isn't it time for Anderson Cooper to do a Keeping Them Honest report on CNN? How about 60 Minutes on CBS, Dateline on NBC or 20/20 on ABC? Maybe Oprah could do a show.
Meanwhile, as I live alone and mostly cook for myself when I'm home, I'll just deal with washing my dishes the old fashioned way. As I said at the outset, this particular problem was my own fault. Pity the solution isn't less costly and complicated.
Michael Russnow's website is www.ramproductionsinternational.com
Follow Michael Russnow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrloy
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
My favorite is complicated electronic equipment that depends on a drive belt--always made of plastic. Sure it is cheaper to manufacture that way and with products designed to be disposed of as quickly as possible, it succeeds.
Right now, however, what I worry about is how we can stamp indelibly on the American consciousness that a call for deregulation is always, always an excuse for consumer exploitation. I know we can't pass a law against deregulation. Sure, sometimes the law needs to be rewritten. But the blanket advocacy of deregulation leads to economic disaster. Whatever happened to "trust but verify"?
I understand no one likes to wait on the doctor; however, I think its a prudent policy not to tick off anyone who is going to come at you with sharp objects, or who can subject you to uncomfortable procedures . . .
It is planned obsolescence, and cost cutting.
A manufacturer does not want the product to last too long. They do not want it to be repairable. They certainly do not want to stock and continue making parts for old models.
That money is better spent on ads telling you how reliable and well made the product is. Ads telling you how they devote their lives and sleepless nights worrying about serving their customers best interests.
Every cheap widget that breaks is another percentage of your hard earned wages going to the top 1 to 10 percent of the wealthiest. So they can buy real quality products, with gold and diamonds embedded to boot.
The real problem is people will buy shoddy crap, because they will just want to change it soon anyway. The color, finish and looks of things are often more important than the actual quality of build and function. Better yet for the manufacturers, since they need only change the look, not the quality.
One bit of merchandise keeps improving. The packaging has become the closest thing to indestructible. In fact, just trying to get your piece of crap widget out of the plastic may destroy the widget and customer appendages.
"We have laws about emission controls and gas mileage. Why not for manufacturing devices mandating modular parts that are easier to get to . . .?"
Because the Republicans don't want anything to do with the French, who invented the whole concept of interchangeable parts. Before that, each part was made individually. What's next, "freedom parts"?
we could start an underground network of shadetree mechanics. Liberate our parts!
Hi Michael, I'm Megan Robison, Community Relations Manager for GE. We should be able to help you resolve this issue. Please email me your contact information at megan.robison@ge.com and I will have someone from our consumer relations team contact you.
We must have been born under the same stars.
I try not to be spoiled and have patience but this kind of thing undoes me.
I have a dishwasher that works great except for a leak in the pump...I'm told I have to buy a new dishwasher. Not fix the leak, not even buy a new pump, but the whole kit and kaboodle.
So I wash dishes by hand and use the dishwasher as my rack.
Once again our monetary system rears it's ugly head. Planned Obsolescence is something that we have built into our lives so that we can keep on consuming. If they can make more money, they will, because money=survival and power in our system. This is filling up our landfills, it's polluting our waters, and it's costing us dearly in the money that we need to survive with. Unfortunately, the big companies doing this don't have any incentive to create durable long-lasing products. Lather, rinse, repeat; use, dispose, buy another. We are 70% of the economic engine, so you can see how important it is for us to continue buying stuff.
In the long run, however, durable, long-lasting, easily repaired objects will be much more valuable than the disposable wares we've grown accustomed to purchasing. Technology has the ability to make all our lives easier, so let's get smart about how we do everything since the economy is changing irreversibly.
A lot of what you're complaining about Mitchael, is just piss poor engineering! The products are designed to be assembled with as little human intervention as possible, and there is little concern for how repairable they are. There is nothing new about it., I had to pull the engine on my 1989 Ford Tempo just to replace its water pump. It was not a fun job but I got it done.
As for your dish washer, don't let the complexity of it intimidate you. Go ahead and take the back off of that bad boy, At this point you've got nothing to lose and it should be relatively easy to replace the offending hoses. Just wear your jeans and expect to be dirty when you're done.
Hahaha, after exporting these dysfunctional "competitive and efficient" systems to the rest of the world - partying while the booty flowed home - Americans are getting a taste of what the rest of the world was experiencing by the tone set by manifest destiny... the same company that brought you 'socialism for the rich' (as your anti-intellectual right wing mob calls it, right for once!) at GM brought you built-in obsolesence... lets jsut forget that US unions used to NEGOTIATE technological change with employers in the post-Ford years (to save jobs and ensure quality), but that too was given up cos many unions thought it best to use the School of the America's training and concentrate on getting the commies killed... so now you have a busted uni-connector and an environment that is burning up and we need growth which means more consumption but there are no jobs... I guess its time to look to the developing countries, who thanks to US hegemony have been here for decades. Look carefully, there is hope, but mostly its wretched... and the natives are restless...
Your post is something that everyone has experienced in some degree for the last 30 years. When I was a kid my father always had used televisions since we didn't have enough money for a brand new one. Back then they had tubes (1960's) and I can remember him looking up parts in a book he bought and going down to the drug store to test the tubes. He was able to fix himself for the most part. My 30 inch CRT television is only 4 years old and a "gun" has gone out on it. The picture is pure orange and no way for me to fix it. Things are designed to only be fixed by special tools, or certified techs. The check engine light covers a miriad of problems and you need the analizer to plug in under your dash to find out what fault code has come up. 15 years ago the car companies had designed in a little known trick to check this. Turn the key on and off rapidly 7 times and fault code keys would light up on your dash. You can't do that anymore. Wonder why? lol
You can buy and analyzer at any auto parts store or online. It'll cost you at most $200 but it may be worth it.
I meant "an" not "and" Sorry about that! My fingers and brain are not working together this morning.
Your GE portable dishwasher was designed with the intention of making you buy a new one if a five dollar plastic part breaks. They sell a lot more dishwashers that way. Your satisfaction with their product is not their first concern. Their bottom line is their first and only concern.
I couldn't agree with you more. We end up between a rock and a hard place. Do we replace our cars and dish washers just because a weak part has worn out or broken? Or, do we spend nearly as much to have a professional repair it for us? Either way it's costly! I always look to see if I can figure out how to fix it myself. There are repair it yourself books available and tons of info on the internet. Nothing is more satisfying to me than outsmarting a balky machine. Then there's the great feeling I get for a while at least, from outsmarting the masters of the industrial complex who are doing everything they can to sock it to us.
See Michael Russnow's Profile
The problem is -- apart from taking the time to repair something and whether you have the ability to do so -- that a repair such as mine -- even if I could find the old part -- is costly.
The part costs $113, because the plastic unicouple is attached to two long rubber hoses -- all part of the same unit.
The point of my piece is that the unicouple should have been designed in a manner that this relatively cheap contraption could be snapped on and off or screwed on or clamped onto the hoses so that one could simply replace the unicouple itself rather than a much larger machine part that was in fine working order.
The responses indicated here seem to agree that the engineering is done in such a manner to ensure the slightest machine mishap will make the device so expensive to repair that the owner will have to purchase another.
There ought to be a law!
We are constantly finding new examples of designed-to-break parts in our lives. Usually this involves plastic being used somewhere where the stress of repeated use will wear it out. Most recent example: knob to start the dryer; and perennial favorite gas cap door. (we tend to drive older cars)
Almost thirty years ago we had this president that set out to transform our society into a service sector society. Almost all of our large scale manufacturing is done off shore and we are witness to the systemic dismantling of our labor unions. Unemployment is at a level that has not been seen since the conservative coalition set out to claw back the new deal. I am of the mindset that finds it hard to believe that the sequence of events, of conservative nature, were not engineered to benefit the oligarchs at our expense.
My TV, which is not even three years old yet started getting lines across the picture. A TV is something I expect to last 15 to 20 years. I've been told since then they are about like Bic lighters. At least I didn't throw it out the back door onto the concrete patio. That is what did to my last computer. I do have to admit Hefty bags are good. Even with the heave ho it didn't bust.
Before doing that I actually called a repair place. Yes they are such places. I paid 70 bucks to get capacitors replaced. Capacitors are passive and usually just sit there. Well the board where these capacitors are, are located near a heat source. So every two or three years I can look forward to this happening. A known fault and the manufacurers keep doing this. It really makes me want to spend my money.
I have automatic windows in my car. I'd rather not, but you can't away from them. I had a window quit working. A 50 cent piece of plastic shit made in Mexico was the problem. Fortunately I have a very good mechanic that I pet set and house set for when they are on vacation etc. So I wasn't raped, robbed and pillaged on labor. But even at that, to replace this piece of crap plastic, one as to buy an "assembly" for $125. If I had gone to a GM garage, I would not have gotten out of there for less 500 bucks for a piece of plastic that is a known problem.
If I ever buy another car, I think I will buy anything not made in this country.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
