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Black & Decker sucks ass!

Since the original “bash Black & Decker” has been shunted, I have another appliance tale. A few years back the missus decided that we needed to upgrade the washer and dryer units. I went along “to pick out the color.” She decided on two LG units with computer controls up the wazoo. I concurred when she decided that the five year plan was a good idea. I am getting a little long in the tooth to be dragging washers/dryers out in the driveway to fix. LG has an app that lets your phone communicate with your washer/dryer.

The five year plan includes periodic visits from the maintenance guys, even if there is no issue.

The washer the missus selected had a drop panel in the top. (Top loader.) The idea being that when not in use the extra air would aid in keeping mold/mildew to a minimum. The panel is hinged and about two inches deep and almost runs the full width of the lid.

When the second maintence visit was scheduled the tech showed up and we directed him to the laundry room. He came out a moment later stating that the top of the washer was broken and he would need to order a new lid. It was all I could do not to ridicule him for his lack of familiarity with the product he was sent to inspect/service. I guess i need to get ready to work on my own machines again.......
 
Allan said:
I buy coffee maker cleaner made for drip machines. I clean the machine with it once a month and the coffee maker lasts for years. You can usually get it as supermarkets in the coffee aisle.
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YMMV but it's usually the electronics and/or heating element that fail on ours - neither vinegar nor dedicated cleaner will prevent that. Anyway, new machines are cheap, even at full retail - a quick price check shows the machine and vinegar to clean it costs no more than a year's worth of cleaner.
 

Growing up I never saw icemakers that couldn't do their job, so I know for a fact that it is possible to design this stuff the right way.
But you're probably right; I bet all the makes and models fail magnificently nowadays.
I actually don't MIND sliding the icemaker open and grabbing the cubes.

The wife and I do not drink HOT coffee unless it's a brisk fall day or it's winter.
So we MAKE the coffee for the next few days in advance and store it in the fridge in a glass jar.
We gave up on fancy high tech coffee makers altogether after we both got sickened by daughter's Keurig a few years ago.

I just use a super sized 12 cup stove top espresso percolator, the Italian kind that's shaped like a hexagon.
 


Yeah, the thread got derailed pretty quick. Anyhoo, we had a Trane HVAC that lasted 20+ years, about twice its life expectancy in FL. It was still working OK but showing its age, so we decided to replace it before it died in the summer heat. Two years ago, we got a new Trane heat pump/air handler which is more energy efficient but that's about it. Bought a 10-year parts/labor warranty that we figured might outlast us. Good thing as it's already paid for itself - system has had several problems of which the worst was needing a new evaporator coil after 1-1/2 years. Warranty requires we also buy annual maintenance contract (which includes two visits) but we'd do that anyway. Company has excellent reputation but only about half their techs seem to know what they're doing, the rest are numb-nuts.
 
Not nicknamed "Broke N Downer" just for chuckles.
 
Allan said:
I buy coffee maker cleaner made for drip machines. I clean the machine with it once a month and the coffee maker lasts for years. You can usually get it as supermarkets in the coffee aisle.
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Daughter used that stuff, but that POS coffeemaker still got us sick and when it died I took it apart.
Hate to say it but the inner guts on the machine aren't as clean as we'd like to think they are, even if you run cleaning solution through them.
I can put our espresso pot in the dishwasher.
 
American said:
Really? So B&D is a bad brand for dehumidifiers? Do you know a better? This was ordered through Home Depot, but the return policy appears to be contact B&KD
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I have a Frigidaire and it has worked perfectly for over a decade.

Allan said:
I buy coffee maker cleaner made for drip machines. I clean the machine with it once a month and the coffee maker lasts for years. You can usually get it as supermarkets in the coffee aisle.
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White vinegar works well to clean coffee makers.
 
American said:
Really? So B&D is a bad brand for dehumidifiers? Do you know a better? This was ordered through Home Depot, but the return policy appears to be contact B&KD
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To get back on the OP track, YMMV but we've had good luck with Soleus Air (also from H-D). It's an American brand but made in China. They did have recalls in the twenty-teens of some units catching fire - I haven't heard of anything recent but check cpsc.gov to be sure. Several years ago, we had a recalled one (never caught fire) - they refunded MSRP which was more than we paid on sale. Used the refund to buy a 70-pint, which was double the capacity and not recalled. We also bought a second for another area in the house. We run them continuous in the Florida summer and even with AC, they average about 3 bucketfuls a day.
 
Can I just second this dissatisfaction with Bosch dishwashers?
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
Do tell.
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Just a shoddy appliance. Buttons feel cheap and don't always register pushes, the latch system is difficult to operate, the layout is just off for fitting our dishes, the silverware holders are too small, it's a pain to cancel a wash cycle once it's started, etc. We only bought it to match the new stainless steel Samsung appliances. At least it hasn't broken yet, but it's only been a couple years. The Whirlpool we took out was still working fine after 20.
 

Yup, same experience here.
It's a fickle little princess who has to be "Een zee moodt to vash zee dishess" when you press the buttons.
And sometimes they come out sparkling, sometimes they come out still dirty.
Zee Chermun Pr-r-r-r-rinzess zometimess vants to take zee nap instead of vashingk!
 
Just bought a B&D portable AC. Works great. So far.

but I’ve had problems with their dustbusters in the past.
 
American said:
How is this relevant and helpful?
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I'm saying B & D isn't unusual. I've had similar experience with other companies. I've had excellent experience with B & D tools. So, I've not had to contact them, though I don't doubt your experience as being representative of their customer service. Most of whom put together the automated customer service process of my experience with various companies should be flat-out fired, IMO.
 
I think we may have the same machines. Mine looks like the one in the picture below. Mines about 7 years old now and no problems so far.
 

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Black and Decker is garbage, and yet that company also owns DeWalt, one of the most high reliable handy-man tool manufactures on the market. Go figure.
 
American said:
Really? So B&D is a bad brand for dehumidifiers? Do you know a better? This was ordered through Home Depot, but the return policy appears to be contact B&KD
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Ours is GE from Home Depot that I got half a year ago. It was an impulse buy because normally I wouldn’t go for GE. Yet it seems to be doing a good enough job so far.
 
Brand bashing was never a thing with me. I use what ever works, and works repeatedly

I own $15,000 worth of tools (probably more than that) and the majority of them being DeWalt, Bosch, Porter Cable, and Ridgid. But I also find some nice hidden gems from Harbor Freight once in a while which are about 1/2 the cost of the big names.

You can't beat Harbor Freight's drywall lift for the price, and their 10" sliding tile cutting saw is the best I have ever used.
 
Cardinal said:
Black and Decker is garbage, and yet that company also owns DeWalt, one of the most high reliable handy-man tool manufactures on the market. Go figure.
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Black & Decker tools are for the occasional use homeowner and for the most part do a OK job.

I have owned 2 of their Mouse Sanders for about 10 years now and they are real life savers when I get into more detailed areas while restoring wooden flooring.
 
B&D are low budge tools, and have been for a long time. I've had great results with DeWalt and Milwaukee.
 
Cardinal said:
Black and Decker is garbage, and yet that company also owns DeWalt, one of the most high reliable handy-man tool manufactures on the market. Go figure.
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DeWalt tools uses German technology that Stanley B + D does not use on B + D tools.
 
CHuDWah said:
Yup - the following may be of interest...



https://www.protoolreviews.com/news/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/43632/
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Many manufacturers make several “brands” (nearly identical products with a different UPC) such that each “big box” retail outlet can claim to have their ‘lowest price guarantee’ on that item (based on matching UPC) with absolutely no fear that it could ever be enforced (challenged?). I lost track of how many “brands” of nearly (sometimes only the plastic housing color and/or decals vary) identical items that MTD makes.
 
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