Hi Carole

My recommendation is that under no circumstances should you consider repairing this machine yourself. You say you have a Ph. D. in washing machine engineering? Doesn't matter. Don't do it.

When you purchased the machine a part of the purchase price was for the one year parts and labor warranty, and I think you need to insist that Sears honor that warranty and do so in a timely manner. I realize that some times we just want to by-pass the beauracratic nightmare of dealing with a large company, but in this case you should not do so. If you try to repair the machine yourself you may be able to do so, but you may not, and if you try you may void the remaining part of your warranty.

I would return to the strore and talk with the manager of the appliance section and in the strongest possible terms insist on a timely repair for your machine. If they cannot comply, try to get them to send a new machine out to your house. If you do not get satisfaction I would go to the store manager, and consider the BBB or other consumer protection agencies that are available to you. Also, go to the District Manger level for Sears, or beyond. Make sure the store management personnel know that you are going to continue to insist on your machine being fixed immediately.

From your experience you can see that product quality, along with consumer services and support have become a problem these days, and the only way it will ever be improved is for individuals like yourself to insist on your rights. There is no reason this machine should fail in the first year, and given what you paid for it, no reason you should not get a timely repair.

Well, that's my opinion and I am sticking to it. Other than that I have no strong feelings.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Glad to hear you are getting some satisfaction.

Good luck, hope they fix it and it is error free for many years.