Doing the "Laundry Jig"

My combo washer dryer (it washes the clothes,empties the water, then dries the clothes all in the same barrel)started flashing me three months go. An error message I mean. First the annoying warning ding. Ding Ding. Ding ding. Then the digital display "LE" flashing incessantly. After some serious contemplation - and a loud WTF! - I searched the owners manual for a troubleshooting section. Truthfully, though, I don't actually OWN the machine the landlord does , so I probably should have had a USER's manual. Anyway, it did have one and after I found the section in English (which technically was in English but me being nontechnical might as well have been in a foreign language)and found the "LE" error definition. LE = motor error. Great. Tried restarting. Got it to work for a little while. Then the dang ding ding and the "LE" again. Called the landlord.

Sent their maintenance man out. He cleaned the filter, unplugged it and replugged it in. He left an amusing little pink maintenance slip indicating it was fixed. Now, I'm no appliance repair guy, but to me "motor error" does not translate to "clean the filer and unplug". So I started to do laundry again. Yes! It washed the clothes! Whoo hoo. Doing a "laundry jig". Well, maybe it was more of a seductive wiggle. But wait! Partway through the drying cycle...DING DING "LE" "LE" taunting me. I did what apparently should be done...I unplugged it and plugged it back in. Didn't work. Called the landlord again.

This time they sent in an actual LG appliance repair guy from Boston Joe's. Thats a bar, not an appliance fixer. C'mon! He checked it out. Said everything was okay. Restarted it and left. And left a pink slip. I get home, go to do the laundry and the farking Ding and LE is back! Call the landlord again. They send in Happy Sam the Unplug Man who cleans the filter and plugs and unplugs the machine again. Another pink slip saying "Fixed". Which it was. For a couple of loads. Then the sequel, "The Error Strikes Back".

Now, listen. The "LE" error is a motor error. Wouldn't that seem to indicate that perhap, I dunno, someone should look at THE MOTOR!!!!!!!!! I calmly - well not so calmly - indicated this to rental representative who promised it would be fixed.

Boston Joe comes back...eventually...because they only come to my area once a week. This time they open...THE MOTOR! In the motor they find a collar stay and half of a credit card (not mine, by the way, so its been in there a while). I get a voice mail rather than a pinky saying this was "probably" the problem. I am elated and my seductive wiggle turns into a Shakira shake. Until I try to run the machine again. LE LE LE LE LE. My patience is waning. I make a call again. This time they decide it must be either that I'm putting too much laundry detergent in it or it needs a special mat so it doesn't move on the carpeting. REALLY? This is what Boston Joe has to offer? I am extremely skeptical but at this point I'm willing to try anything so I can have clean clothes. I already don't use that much laundry detergent so that wasn't an issue. But I wait weeks for the mats to be ordered and installed. Ta Da!

LE LE LE LE LE! Arghhhhhh! Trying desperately not to let the TOTAL AND COMPLETE AGGRAVATION sound in my voice, I call the landlord again. I get a voice mail the next day (this is now into the third month of dinging and LEing) indicating Boston Billy/Bob/Joe/Tom stopped by the landlord and thought maybe the problem was it needed a new...wait for it...MOTOR. HELLO! This accountant with all the technical skills of Gilligan knew it was a motor issue when I read the manual and it said that LE = MOTOR ERROR!

So I'm told they will be in Thursday to replace the motor. I get all giddy. When I get home on Thursday...nothing...the LE is still flashing. I almost sob in disappointment. But lo and behold, on Friday while I'm at home, Boston Joe comes...though his name was Brian I think...and he climbs the stairs with his toolbox and a promising looking cardboard box. I am thrilled until I hear a resounding "Damn". NOT GOOD. NOT GOOD. He informs me that the bolt on the motor was on "really tight" and that it stripped his ratchet. So he would have to come back on Monday with a new ratchet to fix it. Okay. So three months have passed whats another three days and 3417 lbs of dirty laundry.

Again on Monday, I come home with a spring in my step (okay, after a long and frustrating drive from Albany so perhaps not so much a spring)to find...the machine taken apart, the bolt still on and my laundry glaring at me. I leave another message for the landlord where the words "ridiculous" and "Give me a break" were used...if I remember correctly.

Boston Buffoon finally came back on Tuesday. I received an excited message from my landlord indicating the motor has been replaced and that he stayed and watched a load of towels go through the wash cycle successfully. This was bright spot of my day. I get home and sure enough, the towels are clean. I set them for a dry cycle - which takes 3 hours by the way - and head downstairs. I get nervous because it is too quiet. I feel sure the LE error is back. I sneak up the stairs and look cautiously in my room and...the machine is still running...just quieter than before. I do an extensive laundry jig that can be likened to the dance Doc Brown does at the end of Back to the Future. And I head back downstairs.

At the end of the night, I go back upstairs with a jaunty walk. And find the LE ERROR IS BACK and my towels are still wet. I fall to my knees and wail at the top of my lungs. I lie on the floor and have a good old fashioned temper tantrum. That out of the way, I took the wet towels and hung them in various spots in my apartment to dry. I tried washing a small load of laundry successfully. And this morning I put a regular load in for both a wash and dry cycle. I'm not optomistic. I'm pretty sure Boston Joe is going to be back. I will leave the machine unplugged for him.