From the years in consulting, I well recall the myriad articles about superior customer service in Japan, and then Korea. “Delight the customer” philosophies bring people back to repeat purchase, goes the mantra.
So, the old Maytag started to sputter. It may have been repairable, but it was an old machine when we bought it used about a dozen years ago. Repair wouldn’t be cheap. Money for repair might go a long way to purchase of a new machine.
Samsung VRT washer
Kathryn shopped hard. Get a money-saver, an electricity-saver, a water saver. We settled on a Samsung front-loader with “vibration reducing technology.” It still cost more than my first two cars put together.
It uses a lot less water. The cycles are longer, but gentler. Clothes come out spun considerably drier than the upright, old Maytag, which means much less time in the dryer. We’re saving electricity and water all the way around.
Remember customer delight?
The first load ended with three gentle bells to tell us — and then, as Kathryn immediately recognized, the opening notes of the theme from the 4th movement of Schubert’s “The Trout Quintet.” The joys of modern technology. Who was it came up with the idea to play Schubert?
We smile with every load.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
Same tune? You’re welcome!
(And now I want a Samsung dryer . . .)
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Thank you for identifying it! Our dryer sings it to us.
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Kathryn, my wife, is much better schooled at classical music than am I — she recognized it, not I.
I agree that kudos need to go to Samsung — without intending to, I find myself paying a lot more attention to their other products, too. last week I saw some Chinese government leaders in an interview using a Samsung laptop. Not available in the U.S. so far as I know, but I made a note to check it out. Their marketing people must be quite satisfied with that little theme overall.
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I absolutely love that my washer plays a song for me. It makes me so happy to hear it… Kudos to the manufacturer for creating a reward for a mundane task… marketing 101 says if you create a habit and a reward, you’ll have loyal customeres!
I didn’t know what song it was until today… oddly, I was watching Criminal Minds and they got a music box as part of a clue to a crime. The box played the same song as the washer… thank goodness for google!! :)
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We just donated our 5 year old Miele washer & dryer to chairty. we had a few problems over the years but nothing to expensive to fix. However we now live in a smaller city now & there is no one anywhere around here to work on them. The dryer had a small problem ( according to Miele) but no one here would even try to fix it, said they had never heard of Miele. I had to have a dryer so a call a local mission explained the problem they didn’t care & were trilled to get it.We bought new samsung’s & it’s nice to know where ever we move Sears can fix it Love the little song it plays,
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I noticed the little ditty. It took my much-more-musically-literate wife to recognize the tune.
I’m in awe of people who know so much classical music.
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Oh my goodness! Thank you thank you thank you for noticing your washing machine plays Schubert! Now I know I’m not crazy. My family thought I was nuts when it finished the first load after we bought it and I heard it. I had to verify it, but the only way to hear it was to do a complete wash cycle. Needless to say, a lot of dirty clothes got washed that day. It was nice, since I had to play numerous youtube renditions to prove it to my wife. My favorite was a recording by Marian Anderson. Makes life worth living to know that somewhere in Korea, someone with taste snuck something wonderful in.
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Here in Dallas all washers do that, so they all need to be wiped dry after use. Samsung and other manufacturers are adding a strip of silver, which kills the mold. There is some controversy over whether that is environmentally friendly.
Get a towel and dry the gasket. Works fine for us, so far.
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Well, I hate to burst your new purchase bubble, but give you washer a few months and see if you are still happy. My front load Whirlpool, and from what I’ve read many other f/l brands, collects water around the gasket which turns to mold and mildew and your clothes stink. Maybe makers have “fixed” this design flaw, but I’m not betting on it. It’s not a LOT of water, but its more than enough to create buyers remorse.
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We have a Kenmore front loader (as well as other Kenmore appliances). Always reliable and Sears provides great service.
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Miele didn’t show on our searches of machines available around Dallas — not ranked on the Consumer Reports list we had.
Samsung features a “pause” button so you can add the stray sock to the load.
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Just be sure you don’t drop a sock on the way to the laundry room. Once you start a load, you can’t add anything to it — for obvious reasons.
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What was your opinion of Miele brand washers?
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