ASKO washing machines

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Jun 20, 2011 · , published by CPSC Aug 12, 2011

   The product, in the report: Washer Dryer Combo

   INCIDENT DETAILS I purchased an Asko WasherlDryer Combo -model WCAM1812 on March 31,2006 from Albert Lee Appliances in Seattle, Washington for $1,169.00

   After about a year, I noticed that whenever I tried to dry the clothes, after one hour they were still damp or the other extreme was they were so hot that I had to let them cool down before reaching in to take them out of the machine. The thing that was most puzzling about this was that in spite of setting the drying time button to 20/40/0r 60 minutes that it was unpredictable how dry the clothes were. Often the machine on dry would continue going even after I set it for only 20 minutes drying time.

   I called the Asko on 10/27/08 and spoke with a woman name [REDACTED]. She had no record of proof of purchase, so I gladly faxed a copy of my sales receipt. A month later, on 11/28/08 I received a call from a woman name [REDACTED]. Her repeated questions to me were how much laundry was I trying to dry at a time and perhaps I was “filling the machine to the top” which was not the correct way to use the dryer. I explained to her that I was only using the dryer for sheet and towels and never had a full load. Also, explained to her that because the sheets were queen size, I would dry one sheet at a time. Towels were never more that 3-4 and were the regular size bath towels. After much banter back and forth and her rude, demeaning manner, she agreed to make arrangements to have a service person come out and take a look at the problem.

   A male serviceman did come out shortly thereafter, opened the machine and his comment to me was that I had a “burned out heat pack”. He was even kind enough to show me the pack. I took a picture of it while he had the top off the machine. He replaced the pack.

   Problems continued with no control over the drying time regardless of what time setting I set the dry knob on, and the clothes continued to come out not dried or the reverse of being so hot that I could not touch them and sometimes I would pun them out of the machine, in spite of how hot they were, for fear of a fire.

   On June 19,2011, I put a load of clothing in the washing machine and noticed after one hour the clothes were still on the wash cycle. I immediately called the Asko in a panic because I did not know what to do since this had never happened before. I spoke with a very kind woman name [REDACTED]. I explained to her what was going on. She talked me through a procedure that she said would alleviate the problem, get the machine to go into spin and drain the water from the machine. I tried 3 times with her on the phone but no results. The machine just kept washing in the wash cycle. She was at a loss as to why the technique she was walking me through was not working. She then suggested I pull the drain plug at the bottom ofthe machine and allow the approx.5 gallons of water to drain. I told her I could not do that because the machine was not on a platfonn, in other words the drain plug was too low to even slip an adequate bucket for the 5 gallons of water. I also explained to her that I was living in a condo with hardwood floors and did not wish to damage my unit as well as my neighbors unit below me. She was very sympathetic, apologized and gave me the number of a few repair companies in the area with the understanding no one would be available to come out today. I thanked her for her time and we hung up. The saving grace for me was that I kept repeating over and over the technique she tried with me over the phone. It eventually worked.

   I am very displeased with this product. There are definitely some safety issues and ooncerns as I have documented. I would have to conclude that not only is Asko WasherlDryer Combo -Model number WCAM 1812 - not a user friendly machine but that the drying component is a safety hazard. We as consumers should not have to worry about using a product that is unreliable, unsafe, or requires rebooting to operate.

   Model

   WCAM1812

   Serial number

   200513055371

   Bought from

   Albert Lee, Washington

   Bought

   Mar 31, 2006

   Where

   Unspecified: Unspecified

   Who was involved

   Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand ASKO, made or sold by ASKO Appliances Inc

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources