Morris Minor Owners Club

spent £350 on a new washing machine, delivered, plummed in plugged in switched on when the couldn't give a stuff delivery man drove away and.. nothing. phoned in nice and polite got a number, have to return to the shop sir, Curry people very nice, sorry can't swap it tommorow, need two days at least, I'm at work so's the wife. can't deliver till saturday now, what about my overalls and the kids school stuff. washings piling up gawd, it better work on saturday!
then. Call from the garage that'll be four hundred pounds for the new brakes on your Nissan sir, oh no it won't I've got a Morris thank you very much, I'll fix it myself.

we've stopped making things, it seems we can't even deliver other countys goods properly. Rant over.

Hand-washing really gets the grime out from under your fingernails :D !

Launderette?

davidmiles wrote: we've stopped making things, it seems we can't even deliver other countys goods properly. Rant over.

I bought two aerosol cans at a hardware store the other day. One was a butane refill for my mini blow torch and one was brake cleaner. Butane refill said "Made in England", the brake cleaner said "Made in Australia". I nearly passed out from the shock.

Local electrical store ?? ours delivers, plumbs in, takes old one away, checks its all working and does price matching. Well worth checking out the independant stores sometimes oh and they have a real phone number not an 0845

We bought a new washing machine and after the delivery boys had gone I noticed a dent in the side! Didn't affect its operation, but we had paid new money and wanted a new machine. New one was delivered a week later but the delivery chaps 'couldn't take the old one' Arrangements would be made to pick up the 'old' one - which never happened - so we sold it!
All a bit of a pain, but we ended up with a nice discount!

£350 for a washing machine !!!!!!!!!! I reckon best to always buy the cheapest one (< £200) that will do 1500 rpm spin - and if it goes wrong - just chuck it away and buy another. They seem to last about 6 years - so not too bad.

I've delivered hundreds of washing machines and plumbed a few of them in too. People will tell you the story of each dead one you take away. I've learned that, with one exception, it doesn't matter a hoot who's name is written on the front, it may last a year it may last 10.

never bought a new washing machine yet, always bought second hand or recon
the reason? we have two cubbie hole type rooms just of the kitchen no one can see them so whats the point of having new fasionable looking machines when know one look at them
now to peel this orange in my pocket

bmcecosse wrote:£350 for a washing machine !!!!!!!!!! I reckon best to always buy the cheapest one (< £200) that will do 1500 rpm spin - and if it goes wrong - just chuck it away and buy another. They seem to last about 6 years - so not too bad.

I spent 20 odd years importing the things. Bit like Minor parts YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

billlobban wrote:

bmcecosse wrote:£350 for a washing machine !!!!!!!!!! I reckon best to always buy the cheapest one (< £200) that will do 1500 rpm spin - and if it goes wrong - just chuck it away and buy another. They seem to last about 6 years - so not too bad.

I spent 20 odd years importing the things. Bit like Minor parts YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

I can see both sides of this argument. My parents have a Miele washing machine and they don't seem to have any more luck getting bits for it than they did with all the Hoover machines they had. I'd say the Hoover machines from the 1970s (Keymatic) and the one which came after were about the best. I haven't enough experience of washing machines to comment but I do feel that we are in a throw away age. My grandmother had a Hoover twin tub from the 1950s and she had that until she died in 1992. Progress?

Hoovers have just stopped making washing machines locally (For years they only bolted them together from parts shipped in from Italy). I have to say that we do as a nation seem to want to have our cake and eat it and this insatiable appetite for the cheapest, has no doubt had an effect on our industrial capacity (Sucessive governments may have done little to help but the public are also partly to blame) and on the quality of some items. During the 1980s, I did a lot of work on my MG Midget and I have to say that the parts then were generally of a higher standard (At least more consistently) than some of the junk available now.

Leading on from what David Miles said about the brakes, I think modern cars are now white goods on wheels, which is partly why I don't have one. I was told that the latest Renault Espace has to have the brake pads done with the aid of a computer, as you have to input the thickness of the old pads, in order for the callipers to be reset .

Tend to agree about the overall change in quality over the years. Machines are no longer designed to last. Planned obsolescence. They do after all want you to buy a new one. Same with cars. No one repairs anything these days. You no longer have mechanics (at least in franchised dealers) You have technicians and fitters. The technician plugs in his laptop and diagnoses the fault (or not as is more ofter the case) and the fitter bins the old part and replaces it

Hello Bigjohn,

"having new fasionable looking machines"

Thanks for the information, I was not aware, until your post, that washing machines are fashion items?

Billoban,

" the fitter bins the old part and replaces it".

I know that seems a logical name for someone who does what you describe, but a real 'Fitter' make things fit, through measurement, fettling, shimming etc, i.e a real tradesman.

Alec

Perhaps the modern idioms are euphemisms or perhaps the skills have changed. I suppose it depends on your point of view. My late grandfather was a fitter pre war, when engines still used white metal bearings. We still have some of his scrapers. He wouldn’t have the faintest idea of how to operate a computer but then a modern “Fitter” wouldn’t know how to “Fit” white metal bearings.

A year or two back, I fitted new rear wheel bearings to the Traveller and the gaskets supplied were way too thick. When I asked the suppliers whether they had any thinner, they didn't seem to know what I meant. Luckilly I tracked down some graded gasket paper and made my own.

Where does a “Quick Fit Fitter” fit in with this???

I wouldn't know what washing machine are fashionable but I could believe that there is such a thing. Kitchen design is big business. I know that when houses are sold, the kitchen is one of the big selling points. A nice garage, by contrast, excites very few people.

I know that seems a logical name for someone who does what you describe, but a real 'Fitter' make things fit, through measurement, fettling, shimming etc, i.e a real tradesman.

Alec

Unfortunately Alex those days are mostly gone for good. The same applies to the word 'engineer' it used to mean something. I think you'll find that in the modern world 'fitter' means the Kwick Fit type. Not that there is anything wrong with that it's just that the meaning of the word has changed in my lifetime.[/quote]

Hello Bill,

it's not the modern world, there are still plenty of real fitters about in industry, just as there are real engineers. Sadly these skills are rather under valued or possibly misunderstood, by most people, but that's life.

Alec

1970s (Keymatic)

Memories! my dad had one of these for years, (early sloping front model) in fact I inherited it, we kept it going for ages with parts from scrapped machines, bearngs were a bit of a problem and the programmer, but this was after years of use. The build quality was superb, you didn't need to hide this model!

les wrote:

1970s (Keymatic)

Memories! my dad had one of these for years, (early sloping front model) in fact I inherited it, we kept it going for ages with parts from scrapped machines, bearngs were a bit of a problem and the programmer, but this was after years of use. The build quality was superb, you didn't need to hide this model!

My parents had one of those before the 1970s one. If I remember rightly it had a blue enamelled drum (God alone knows how or why I remember that) and quite a hefty key. That was sold one in working order and was only sold because the kitchen was being re arranged (To accomadate a fridge freezer, which my parents still have) and the pointed front meant it would be in the way. Somewhere in our old photos, there will be photos where it is in the background.

The next Keymatic had two thinner keys (One white and one orange) as it had twice the number of programmes. It had a stainless steel door with a viewing window and was very much like a modern washing machine in appearance.

From the same era, as the original Keymatic, was the Belling cooker. It was only scrapped because we could not get a thermostat for the oven . To this day my mother says it was the best cooker she ever had and I can remember it was nicely made with no rough edges.

Yes the tub was blue, and the key was maroon! The sloping front became a handy shelf when open, but then as you suggest it did not lend itself to all layouts'. I had a couple of the later types you described when the other spares ran out!
Happy days----well I didn't have to do the washing!

Ohhh... the designer kitchen!
My brothers' girlfriend was busy showing her new house off to me, and pointed out the "Miele" built in oven, obviously chuffed at the bit of designer bling. Was VERY visibly shocked when I pointed out it was only the oven that was Miele, the hob had "Creda" printed on it! Sooo un-hip!

Re-washing machines: after a lifetime of replacing silly little drum bearings in cheap Hotpoints, when we moved 10 years ago I splashed out on a brand new Bosch Maxx. The drum bearings finally gave up about 10 months back, but the SIZE of them! Their load rating must be 5 times that of the standard 6205 jobs! So there is some quality out there(or was 10 years ago...)Also, no sharp edges, no belt adjuster(hasn't stretched yet!), and reinforced stress areas-wow!