Thread Number: 7554
Appliance Owners/Manuals 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 147807   8/9/2006 at 16:36 (6,463 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho)        

Have large appliance user manuals become less and less useful in recent years, or is it just my imagination?

The manual that came with my HE3 washer doesn't even tell you what that little thingy insert in the back of the detergent dispeser is for. Is the pre-wash option a true pre-wash or does it render itself useless by just adding more time to the wash cycle? That is not real clear if you read the manual. Each cycle should be explained more completely, so people like me would understand why we don't see more splash drama in the heaver duty cycles, or why the damn things take so long to balance a load for spin. These people are so stupid, that they don't realize they could save a bunch of calls to their English third language, customer service center in Borneo if they just printed more helpful information manuals.

The manual that came with my new GE 8200 dishwasher is even worse. Printed in three languages on low-grade tablet paper, it trys to cover so many models that aren't alike, that I lost count of how many times I saw the phrase "on some models." I would like to know what each cycle does, such as "Wash-Rinse-Wash-Rinse-Rinse-Dry" like in the old days. The manual for my machine, tries to cover 10 dissimilar models. You need to set up a spreadsheet to figure out what features your machine really has.

It used to be so nice to buy a new appliance, and spend some quality bathtub time with the instruction manual. Now the only appliances that I can do that with, are the "As Seen on TV' ones.




Post# 147829 , Reply# 1   8/9/2006 at 20:30 (6,463 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
I've noticed the same trend with some manuals. I think corporations now just want you to push the damn buttons and not think about what the machine is up to until the end-of-cycle signal sounds.

Like you, I appreciate detailed explanations of cycles, features, etc.

I've been reading washer use-and-care manuals online. Manuals for KitchenAid washers and dishwashers don't have any explanations of cycles at all. Nothing, nil, nada. I'm wondering if they have a hard card of operating instructions enclosed in the washer.

Post# 147843 , Reply# 2   8/9/2006 at 21:44 (6,463 days old) by portendere ()        

I think they realized that nobody ever reads the manuals, anyway. Sad, but true: people will drop $500-$1000 on something, but never bother to spend half an hour to make sure they use it properly.

I'll bet if you asked ten people if they've ever read even a portion of a major appliance manual, eight of them would just look at you funny.


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