The End of an Era:
What Maytag Means to Me
For decades now, American companies have been sending manufacturing overseas in order to take advantage of the low wages paid in third world countries, whether in direct manufacturing or the processing of raw materials for that manufacturing. The reasons for this are myriad and complex, and to the casual viewer of statistics, overwhelming to wade through.
Few things, outside of food-related manufacturing, are still manufactured in the US. American brands are often not made in America. There are a few exceptions, and one stands out: Maytag.
For at least three generations now, Maytag has been a brand that Americans have associated with “dependability” that came from the products’ quality and durability. Indeed, the Maytag brand has been among the most respected for generations.
Maytag started out its life as a maker of washing machines and from the start the brand was associated with “dependability.” And the company has weathered two world wars, the Great Depression, the 70s, the chainsaw CEOs of the 80s and 90s, and much of the off-shoring that was happening with so many manufactured goods in the 2000s.
Since the 1960s, Maytag television ads have featured a lonely Maytag repairman who seldom gets to repair anything because the machines are so dependable. Add to this the limited 10 Year Warranty that is badged onto every appliance and the perception is that Maytag is fine American brand, manufactured here in the US, and the icon of dependability. The icon!
Maytag’s history is an impressive one, and its successes, especially pre-2000, were due not only to the quality of the manufactured product but also to the savvy business decisions of the people who ran the company.
All that has changed since the acquisition of Maytag by Whirlpool. That acquisition, along with a series of changes in the how and where the appliances are manufactured, marks the end of an era, an era when Americans made their own stuff, and made it well.
Maytag has now become junk. This is what happens in a world where everything is a race to the bottom. Cheap, cheap, cheap. We swarm dollar stores, where almost all of the non-food manufactured good are made abroad. Whirlpool (Maytag’s new “parent”), without actually moving the business overseas, has managed to cut cost by cutting corners in the quality of the designs and the materials, and by keeping the wages if its workers low.
Granted, this is my opinion. But I am not alone.
In 2018 and 2019, I replaced three appliances in my home. Full disclosure, this was a weekend home that I had purchased in 2011, and that had a suite of Sears Kenmore appliances from the 1970s and 1980s. All of them worked well. No problems, not until the washing machine broke down due to a rusted tub. The refrigerator and range were a little worn and little dated, so I decided to upgrade. I was drawn to the idea of Maytag and replaced the washing machine, range, and refrigerator. Within six months of installation, each appliance began to fail.
Finding a qualified Maytag repairman is next to impossible. Finding any repairman willing to work on a Maytag is also next to impossible.
“My labor alone will be more than your paid for it. Junk. Buy a different brand.” That was the refrain I got from no fewer than six appliance repairmen. Apparently, taking these things apart and putting them back together is a tedious and frustrating job that takes hours. Repairmen, at least in my area, charge upwards of $150 per hour. And they can. They are in high demand.
Maytag had no interest in my woes. I spent hours on hold. I spent days trying to get repairmen to just talk to me. And when I did find someone who was willing to hear me out and “take a look,” he told me to bring the appliance to him. House calls are a thing of the past.
In frustration, I googled “I hate my Maytag” and found that I was not alone. I tried reaching out again to Maytag, via their website. I was being a good consumer and following all the rules and guidelines and being polite. Nothing. No replies to queries or emails. Nothing. So I checked to see if they have a Facebook page. They do. So I sent a message to that page, outlining my woes and asking for help. I did receive a reply, and an offer of $150 per appliance for repair (submit receipts to get reimbursements). But there I was, back in the same predicament — no one will touch them.
Then I discovered another Facebook page. “I hate my Maytag appliances,” and there I founds stories similar to mine, although I think I am the only one who has three failing appliances, all manufactured and sold in 2018 and 2019. The refrigerator even had a manufacturing date.
While I don’t like being out the $2800 and having to deal with failing appliances, I am more disturbed by the fact that this brand, this icon of American manufacturing and know how, dependability and service, has been so cheapened that the stainless steel contact paper that makes the range look as if it is stainless steel, started peeling from the knobs and the oven door.
Cheap, disposable, unreliable, unserviceable. It is something that I can’t really wrap my brain around. Why buy a brand KNOWN for dependability and solid manufacturing just to drive it into the ground?
Obviously, Marc Bitzer, the CEO must know what he’s doing. After all, he makes $17,000,000 per year so his brain must be very, very big. His bank account certainly is! Meanwhile, the medium income for the employees is $22,100. Wow. If you want to know why these appliances don’t hold together, just look at this statistic. This is public information because it is available on the proxy statements, per SEC rules. What do the employees earn per hour? How is that fair to them? How is this fair to the consumer? Clearly, the company has money to increase wages and quality, but no, they’d rather give it to the CEO so that he can buy another mansion somewhere.
What will happen is that same old sad story. Maytag will fade away, and will die known not as a brand that represents dependability but as a cheap, heartbreaking brand that underpaid it workers, fleeced consumers, and rewarded a CEO with hundreds of millions of dollars. Truly, the end of the well-paid American worker, producing well-designed and well-made goods, is over, and we have won the race to the bottom.