Way of life expires with Maytag plant

Capital Times ^ | 5-31-06 | Dave Zweifel

[SJackson]

Dave Zweifel: Way of life expires with Maytag plant By Dave Zweifel, May 31, 2006 Of all the columns I've written in recent weeks, none has drawn more response than the one on the plight of little Newton, Iowa, losing its Maytag plant and company headquarters thanks to the latest corporate merger. Many of the letter and e-mail writers recounted their experiences almost romances with Maytag appliances. Others empathized with the folks in Newton and their scary future. An example of the letters is one from a colleague of decades ago, Charlie Forsmo, who was a printer at The Capital Times in the 1970s and now lives in Monona. He put together hundreds of pages on the old lead type "stones" back when I was city editor and overseeing the production of the local pages. Printers and editors established close relationships as those pages took shape, something that is lost in this computer age. His letter underscores that other things have been lost, too. Here it is: AP Photo/Steve Pope Whirpool employees talk outside the corporate headquarters in Newton, Iowa, after of the shutdown. "In 1972, shortly after buying my first house (maybe a little before), I was in need of a washer and dryer. "In talking to the boys in the composing room, it turned out that Kenny Nickels worked part-time delivering washers and dryers for M & A Maytag. He said stop out and he'd introduce me to Ray Mulcahy, the 'M' in M & A. So a couple days later I did. "Expensive, yes. But a good machine? You bet. So good that the washer now lives with my son in Denver. It's gone from the house in Middleton to a house in Medford, then to a rental in Delavan, then back to Middleton and storage for a few months, then, in '80, to Monona, where it lived a happy life till last October, when it moved to Denver. "The original dryer, a gas one, was traded in on an electric one in 1976 in Medford because there was neither natural nor bottle gas at the old farm we bought in Medford. That dryer, only four years newer, now lives happily in Denver, too. They probably washed a couple loads today. "Ray told me at the time that they were made in Newton, Iowa. And some poor facsimile still is today, although the newer Maytags are merely ghosts of their former selves. Really no better than any other consumable piece of junk that you can buy at stores these days. "It was a better day for Maytag when there were little Maytag stores, run by local guys, where other local guys spent their fairly earned union wage dollars to buy things. And where union guys could pick up a part-time job and make a few bucks extra to support the family. 'How to make American companies successful? In Maytag's case, find the engineering drawings and start making 1972-vintage machines. They are way better than today's version." Dave Zweifel is editor of The Capital Times. E-mail: dzweifel@madison.com Published: May 31, 2006

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[SJackson]

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[Don'tMessWithTexas]

I've got clients and friends that live in Newton. On one hand the city leaders are responsible for this situation. On the other Maytag managment and labor drove the company into the ground. Shame.

[pabianice]

Somewhere, Jesse White is crying...

[Calm_Cool_and_Elected]

Newton PING!

[fatnotlazy]

The part about the old Maytag shops and the reliability of the product struck a cord. I bought my first washer/dryer set from a small appliance shop in the neighborhood. Didn't have to buy a service contract. That first pair went without repair for 25 of the 26 years I had it. When it did start to break down, I called the shop owner and he would come right out. Reasonable price to fix too. Didn't have to pay $500 just to have a repairman walk in the door.

My latest set has an extended warranty for 5 years. The pair, not including the warranty, cost me nearly a thousand dollars and it may not last five years. That's a pity. And I couldn't buy the washer/dryer at the local shop. The shop closed down and the owner has passed away. Today, I have to call some authorized service company to come out maybe within a week or so of my call (if they have to come out on an emergency basis, I'm looking at some hefty extra fee that is not covered by warranty). And gdd help me if whatever is wrong is not covered by the warranty. I'm looking at a major repair bill.

It's a shame.

[bnacat]

Compared to the 28-year old models that we had before "upgrading", our current late model Maytag washer and dryer are crap.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

The fabled Maytag quality is long gone, anyway. Maytag is now just another product.

[w1andsodidwe]

I was raised on a farm about 20 miles from Newton. Sad to see this happen.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Sure, the union didn't help much, but management decisions led to the failure of the company. There is still a market for top quality goods and Maytag could've continued making durable, simple machines and sold every one they made. Instead, they bought Hoover sweeper company and a couple of other useless brands and lost millions. The management kept bringing in geniuses who knew nothing about laundry and they made more stupid moves, which were rewarded with $10 million bonuses and buy-outs. If I had been a Maytag stockholder 15 years ago, I would have come to the annual meetings carrying a noose.

[Ron in Acreage]

Washers and dryers are just as disposable now as vacuum cleaners, tires, etc. If you get 4-5 years out of any brand you are lucky. My old Kenmore lasted 18 years, next a Whirlpool 3 years, a G.E., 3 years, now i'm on a Performa? We'll see how short this one lasts.

[Revel]

"'How to make American companies successful? In Maytag's case, find the engineering drawings and start making 1972-vintage machines. They are way better than today's version.""

Amen to that. And you can say the same thing about Whirlpools.

[geezerwheezer]

My Dad, may he rest in peace, aways told me to spend a little more on things I bought as they would last longer and give me better service. I bought a Maytag washer and dryer when we first got married in 1972 as a "house warming" gift for my new wife and our first new home. I remember the man when he delivered it took the time to show us how to clean it occasionally, and remove and clean the lint hose once a year. We still use it four or five times a week, and a lot more when our children lived here. My Dad was a smart fellow, and he gave me good advice. Both of our children bought Maytags too when they started their own families, and continue to be happy with them. I'm going to miss this company, but someone will get smart and make a better unit eventually, like that guy that makes the Dyson vacuums.

[Knute]

My daughter bought a new Amana (part of Maytag) refrigerator in October 2004 when she purchased her home. In March of 2006, after only 18 months, the compressor went out and it took the "Authorized Maytag Sevice Center" 10 days from time of notification of failure to the date of final repair to get her appliance to perform its designed function.... to make the food cold. They refused to compensate her for loss of items that were in the freezer compartment. They also insisted that they HAD to charge her extra for a Saturday service call, although they were unable to actually make the fix until a week and a half later!

My in-laws have an OLD Maytag unit in their basement that they use for cold soda. It has been operating since 1954 when they bought it without missing a day of service.

The new appliances are basically disposable junk.

[Wristpin]

I have a set of the new Maytags also...Almost as bad as yours. I can't recommend them.

[capt. norm]

My mother, in her late 80's, still uses a Maytag washer we bought back in the mid 60's.

Other than regular maintenance (belts that wear out, etc.) it's still doing her laundry to this day.

[mollynme]

In the "they don't make them like they used to" theme, I bought a Litton microwave oven when I rented my first house in '82. It didn't have one of those "new fangled" carousels but instead claimed to rotate the waves from above. The old thing is still going strong and I am dreading having to replace it with some short-lived piece of you-know-what some day.

[Revel]

The EPA has stressed the reduction of energy use by requiring smaller compressors that run all the time, but don't use as much electricity. The problem is that since they run all the time then they wear out. The EPA does not consider the cost to the enviroment or the cost to the consumer to replace such units. So it is basically a sham.

[Revel]

My mother and a friend both have a GE microwave they got back in 1984. They are still going too. You will never get that kind of service from anything you buy today.

[redgolum]

I liked Newton. Great little town. It will soon look like a ghost town.