My washing machine died mid-cycle last night and flooded the laundry room

Called a repair guy this morning who said fixing it would be $350 so I said nope and bought a $250 dent-and-scratch model from a place in Phoenix that arrives Saturday, has anyone else rolled the dice on those blemished appliances to save money?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan_murphy801mo ago

Man that sucks about the flood, hope you caught it before it wrecked the floor too bad. Been there with the dent-and-scratch gamble myself, picked up a fridge with a big gouge on the side for like 40% off at a scratch n' dent place in Tucson last year. Thing's been running fine for 18 months now, nobody sees the side anyway. But here's my question - did you check if that Phoenix place actually includes a warranty or just a 30-day return window? Some of those off-the-back-lot dealers will sell you a unit that's been sitting in a warehouse for two years or has a minor internal issue that ain't just cosmetic. Wouldn't hurt to run the serial number through the manufacturer's site to make sure it's not a recalled model or something.

brianreed1mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? Seems like you're overthinking a dent and a flood that got caught early. Floors can dry out and dings in a fridge don't affect how cold it gets... I mean, a warranty's nice and all but most of these places give you like 30 days anyway and if it runs for a month it's probably fine. Checking the serial number feels like a lot of effort for a discount appliance that's already saving you money. Honestly if you're that worried about it maybe just buy new and skip the headache altogether. But to each their own I guess.

umar491mo ago

Man, I gotta be honest here - I used to be one of those people who said just buy new and skip the headache, kinda like what @brianreed was getting at earlier. But after my brother grabbed a scratched-up dishwasher for a killer deal two years ago and it's still running like a champ, I totally changed my tune on this. That dent-and-scratch move you pulled sounds smart to me, especially since a repair woulda cost more than half of what a new one runs anyway. Just make sure you plug it in and run a quick cycle as soon as it arrives, maybe check the serial like Ivan said to be safe. Worst case you're out a Saturday afternoon if it's busted, best case you saved a bunch of cash on a machine that'll do the same job as a perfect one. What's the brand on the new one you got?