Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Where is the Maytag man?
Remember the Maytag service repair guy advertisements? Home appliance repair has now moved to the Internet and truly replaced him. I recently had my Maytag dryer stop running - and found this superb online video resource maintained by TheApplianceMan that gives step by step instruction on how to diagnose and repair your appliances. Over 250 videos are included. Why can't Maytag provide these resources? Also what about all major appliance manufacturers supporting their products in this way?
In traversing this thread of information it transpires that really Maytag has outsourced its entire repair and support operations, referring you to local distributors and repair. Then another facet is original parts or OEM parts - which is what TheApplianceMan wants to ship you naturally once you figure out what is needed.
What I have learned though is that Maytag make an easy to access and repair dryer from simple parts and materials. This should not be rocket science and it isn't. Maytag do a woeful job of making this easy for owners however. Clearly the next generation of home appliances will know exactly how to self-diagnose and optionally point you out to the right resources on the internet to show you how to clean and maintain them to keep them running optimally. This is also really good for the environment with less stuff ending up in landfills when a simple $15 part can get it up and running again like new.
In traversing this thread of information it transpires that really Maytag has outsourced its entire repair and support operations, referring you to local distributors and repair. Then another facet is original parts or OEM parts - which is what TheApplianceMan wants to ship you naturally once you figure out what is needed.
What I have learned though is that Maytag make an easy to access and repair dryer from simple parts and materials. This should not be rocket science and it isn't. Maytag do a woeful job of making this easy for owners however. Clearly the next generation of home appliances will know exactly how to self-diagnose and optionally point you out to the right resources on the internet to show you how to clean and maintain them to keep them running optimally. This is also really good for the environment with less stuff ending up in landfills when a simple $15 part can get it up and running again like new.
