Haier XQG50-11 Front Load All-in-One Washer / Dryer

I joined Epinions for the sole purpose of sharing my experience with this machine. I purchased the XQG50-11 in January of 2004 and owned it up until the beginning of October of 2005.

For years, I had relied on laundromats and finally a very old compact top-load washer made my Maytag which I purchased for $50 at a used appliance place. It worked for five years with no problems, and then I sold it to a neighbor because I planned on getting the XQG50-11 after moving.

The machine was delivered up three flights of stairs to my apartment at no charge, and I was thrilled when it arrived. How great to be able to wash and dry in one machine that can hook up to my kitchen sink and runs on regular household current. No more wooden drying racks and a big fan to dry to my clothing. And with the 3-year extended warranty (which I figured I'd never use), I could rely on years of trouble-free service....WRONG.

For a year 3 months, no real problems...a little of a ticking noise in the dry cycle and once a stuck dial, but nothing to call a technician about. Then the machine shorted out completely and blew out the power in my apartment. Called the warranty and was told they'd get back to me with a service company appointment and all costs covered. Turns out, they couldn't find a servicer.

I spent 45 minutes going through the yellow page ads until I found a company and a technician willing to work on this machine who had even heard of it. It turned out to be a nut on the heating element that had never been properly factory tightened...well, it came loose after a year and a half of spin cycles and made contact with the live wire leading to the element. He cleaned off the nut, secured it tightly, and the machine ran like a champ.

One month later, I came home to a grinding noise filling my apartment. I swear I thought it was a chainsaw outside trimming the trees around the building. It was my lovely Haier. Well, the blower motor had blown and had to be replaced. Fine...same company came over, replaced it. For the next two months, the tech was in my apartment four times for the motor because it kept getting loud again...I mean really loud...so loud my cats wouldn't go in the kitchen. Finally that got fixed.

Two weeks later, a fuse blew in the dryer...no heat at all. The blower motor was finally silent, but now no heat...just wet clothes spinning around and around. Okay...I thought this will be the last repair...not a big deal. For two months, this one wire fuse could not be found anywhere, from any distributor in the country. The service company called me every week on their own to apologize to me and tell me they have never, ever had this much trouble getting a part.

They called Haier...I called Haier....they called my warranty...I called my warranty...nothing...no part, no replacement machine, no answers. I was told by Haier that they don't know when they will be shipping parts, but right now, no shipments are going out. The warranty company said even though I had the repair tech in my home 7 times in less than five months and that parts could not be found, I would just have to wait. Even the service company called to explain and let them know this machine will not be fixed in the foreseeable future. Nothing...no help.

Finally, after almost two years of owning this machine, 7-plus (I lost count) repair visits, and no help from the warranty or the manufacturer, I called the store I bought it from. The manager didn't even ask me to explain. He said: "We have a deal with Haier. Since so many of their products are defective, we just send them back to their factory because they're not even worth fixing." He then gave me a full refund on my purchase price 22 months later!!

You may get lucky and get a "good one" that runs for years without trouble...but probably not. It's seriously not worth the headache. I don't mind a repair or two...stuff breaks. This thing won't stay fixed though. That's the problem. It remains in a constant state of repair after the first breakdown. I'm just lucky I never had flooding problems like some other reviewers have reported.

When this machine worked, it was wonderful. Yes...it takes hours to do a load...but who cares. For me, the time thing was never a factor. I knew the limitations of these machines, but for an apartment dweller, the benefits far outweighed them. I really did want to love my Haier and have it for years...even with the smaller load size and lengthy drying process. It just wouldn't stay fixed.

I obviously don't recommend this particular machine, but I'm all for combo units. Spend a little more, get a sturdier machine...then Haier can take all the time they want to send out parts since no one will need them.