I just threw away a working washer and dryer ...

[Culture]

... and I am pissed. My wife decided she wanted to get a new washer and dryer. Reasonable, as the ones we have are 22 years old (but they do work perfectly, I fix them when the break). I told my wife I wanted to sell them on Craigslist or give them away on Freecycle. She had Best Buy haul them off when the new one were delivered because she did not want them setting on the back porch for a week (I was out of town and she said she did not want to have "to deal with it.")

So the dump is a little fuller, and someone who could use a free washer and dryer does not have one. I got really upset with her. Am I unreasonable?

 

[pb4uski]

... ....Am I unreasonable?

I guess it depends on what BestBuy does with them. I agree with you that it would be better to have sold them or given them away rather than have them go to the landfill.

In our neighborhood, if you put things like that on the lawn nest to the street with a free sign (and perhaps a note that the both work fine), they would be gone in 10 minutes.

Life is too short to stay upset with her for long tho........

 

[MichaelB]

Two rules in my household

1. DW is always right

2. When DW is wrong, see rule #1

 

[ziggy29]

Two rules in my household

1. DW is always right

2. When DW is wrong, see rule #1

Happy wife, happy life?

 

[pb4uski]

Things are different in my house. I make all the BIG decisions and DW makes all the little decisions.

This would be a little decision, so let it go.

P.S. Whether a decision is BIG or little is a little decision.

 

[MichaelB]

Happy wife, happy life?

Sure helps.

 

[Walt34]

Things are different in my house. I make all the BIG decisions and DW makes all the little decisions.

This would be a little decision, so let it go.

P.S. Whether a decision is BIG or little is a little decision.

Yup, that's about the way it works around here too.

"If she ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

 

[Culture]

I guess this is all good advice. I need to let it go. For some reason, it really struck a nerve with me, and I got really upset.

In all seriousness, I keep having this mental picture of some poor single mother taking out a payday loan to get a crappy half-repaired washer and dryer from a sleazy used appliance dealer, when I could have given her one that worked perfectly.

 

[2soon2tell]

Culture,

Why don't you donate them to Goodwill, DAV, Paralyzed Veterans or check with your church about donation to a needy family.

2soon2tell

 

[2soon2tell]

Sorry,

I reread your post and saw that the washer and dryer have already been taken away.

 

[freebird5825]

Not unreasonable...your post indicates that you had stated what you wanted to do with the old ones and DW did differently in your absence.
My guess is the Best Buy delivery people offered to take them away for free and DW was swayed on the spot.
IMHO, it is not something to carry forward beyond the moment.

I recently replaced the washing machine and told them to take it away on the truck, for the ease of having it gone in real time and avoiding injury to myself and Mr B trying to move it. However, my machine was totally kaput.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am also in the reasonable group...

If you made your thoughts known and she got rid of them, I think you have a gripe...

Now, I would take it back if you were like me and say you were going to get rid of them and they would sit on the back porch for months on end.... or maybe years.... then she was right...

 

[Culture]

Now, I would take it back if you were like me and say you were going to get rid of them and they would sit on the back porch for months on end.... or maybe years.... then she was right...

She probably has nightmares that I will become like my Ozark Hillbilly father, who has about 15 cars and 5 boats in his yard, only one of which works .[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

 

[Midpack]

I am pissed. I got really upset with her. Am I unreasonable?

I'd be disappointed and calmly remind her what the plan was, but pissed and upset is unreasonable IMO. It's done, move on...

I'm completely with you re: giving them away? But you mentioned selling a 22 yo washer & dryer, even if they are working that's excessive IMO, I'd rather donate. YMMV

In our neighborhood, if you put things like that on the lawn nest to the street with a free sign (and perhaps a note that the both work fine), they would be gone in 10 minutes.

Life is too short to stay upset with her for long tho........

We'd call AmVets or one of the others mentioned above, and putting anything at the end of our driveway with or without a free sign would make anything useable disappear. And I've only seen the recipient once, everything else just vanished...everyone is happy.

 

[Culture]

I'm completely with you re: giving them away? But you mentioned selling a 22 yo washer & dryer, even if they are working that's excessive IMO, I'd rather donate. YMMV

I was thinking of selling them for $50 or so. I prefer sell to give away, as I am concerned that freecycle is used as a a way for resellers to pick up cheap stock. I still use it a lot anyway.

 

[donheff]

Your DW probably worried that, if she didn't have Best buy carry them away, they would sit for months while no one came to get them. Are you sure someone would have taken 20 year old appliances?

 

[Mulligan]

I personally would be more bothered about getting new ones before they broke than what was done with them afterwards. I have to admit I am a throw away person. I don't want the hassle of being bothered with people over selling something for a few bucks. Couple months ago, I tried to throw a push mower away and the garbage man left it so I pushed it back into the garage. Later on that day the garbage man after work knocked on my door wanted to know if he could have the mower. He left it because he wanted it for himself.

 

[freebird5825]

In our neighborhood, if you put things like that on the lawn nest to the street with a free sign (and perhaps a note that the both work fine), they would be gone in 10 minutes.

I save big clear plastic bags to put around things I put by the curbside so people can see what they are and to keep the rain off the items. Things go quickly around here too.
This thread reminded me to do something...I just put an old fan (bearings gone) and a sewing machine (needs a new belt and a tuneup) out at the curb. 2 less things cluttering up the hallway.
If the metal reclaimers or fix-it tinkerers don't take them away, Friday is garbage day. I doubt either thing will still be there by Friday.

 

[easysurfer]

... and I am pissed. My wife decided she wanted to get a new washer and dryer. Reasonable, as the ones we have are 22 years old (but they do work perfectly, I fix them when the break). I told my wife I wanted to sell them on Craigslist or give them away on Freecycle. She had Best Buy haul them off when the new one were delivered because she did not want them setting on the back porch for a week (I was out of town and she said she did not want to have "to deal with it.")

So the dump is a little fuller, and someone who could use a free washer and dryer does not have one. I got really upset with her. Am I unreasonable?

You got really upset at her? Did you tell her how upset you got? Hmmm...might be time for you to pick out a nice comfy pillow for sleeping on the couch. (Just kidding).

At least on the bright side, I bet DW's new washer and dryer is a lot more energy efficient than the 20 year old ones.

 

[samclem]

I prefer sell to give away, as I am concerned that freecycle is used as a way for resellers to pick up cheap stock.

That's probably true, but I don't have any problem with it. Like you I'd rather sell it (if nothing else that helps establish that the person has a need for the appliance), but if I'm going to give it away it doesn't matter much to me whether the recipient uses it himself or earns a few dollars by making it available to someone else who can't afford a new appliance and doesn't have a truck/trailer, etc. That benefits two parties-- someone who is showing some entrepreneurship and someone else who may be too down-on-their-luck to own a vehicle.

 

[Midpack]

That's probably true, but I don't have any problem with it. Like you I'd rather sell it (if nothing else that helps establish that the person has a need for the appliance), but if I'm going to give it away it doesn't matter much to me whether the recipient uses it himself or earns a few dollars by making it available to someone else who can't afford a new appliance and doesn't have a truck/trailer, etc. That benefits two parties-- someone who is showing some entrepreneurship and someone else who may be too down-on-their-luck to own a vehicle.

And if a very angry buyer came back to your house a week later because the washer or dryer broke down? The possibility of the buyer demanding a refund and/or return? I'm pretty cheap/frugal, but we are talking a 22 year old applicance...frankly I've never had a washer or dryer last that long. As always, YMMV.

 

[samclem]

And if a very angry buyer came back to your house a week later because the washer or dryer broke down? The possibility of the buyer demanding a refund and/or return?

I hope it hasn't gotten to the point where ""as-is" isn't understood. This ain't Home Depot. But if the story seemed legit, I'd probably give him/her back the money if I'd sold it to them. If a "picker" had resold something I'd given away (the main topic of my post) I'd feel no responsibility to do anything about it.

 

[Nords]

I guess this is all good advice. I need to let it go. For some reason, it really struck a nerve with me, and I got really upset.
In all seriousness, I keep having this mental picture of some poor single mother taking out a payday loan to get a crappy half-repaired washer and dryer from a sleazy used appliance dealer, when I could have given her one that worked perfectly.

Is that thought more important to you than your marital harmony?

I have a hard time believing that Best Buy would pay the tipping fees to put the old appliances in the landfill. Around here, they'd resell them to a bulk appliance dealer for $20 who'd rebuild them and sell them for $60.

I hope it hasn't gotten to the point where ""as-is" isn't understood. This ain't Home Depot. But if the story seemed legit, I'd probably give him/her back the money if I'd sold it to them. If a "picker" had resold something I'd given away (the main topic of my post) I'd feel no responsibility to do anything about it.

I've always told the buyers that they know where I live and can get a refund, no questions asked.

Somehow that seems reassuring enough that I've never had one return anything.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I would have done the same as your wife, Culture.

We're having some work done on our house this fall and have people repairing our old stone basement. Out in the driveway are our old (broken) wooden screen door, the windows from an old porch that got rebuilt 30 years ago, the Victorian pillars from our porch that was rebuilt 25 years ago (with identical pillars as they are still being made), and a wringer washer that was in the basement when we bought our house. Already put on the curb and taken by someone was a dismantled upright metal locker also in the basement when we bought our house (I assume someone took it for scrap metal). The basement guy asked why we kept the above and DH sort of shrugged and said someone might have wanted the stuff. He's not a hoarder and it is sort of interesting stuff, but still....

Maybe someone might have, but no one did the work to get it to them and they have been cluttering a corner and collecting dust and cobwebs forever instead.

 

[gromit]

This is what Best Buy says they do with old appliances:

• Your old appliance is removed from your home when your new one is delivered.
• The units are collected from Best Buy by our licensed, third-party recycling partners.
• The recyclers examine and evaluate the used appliances for repair and/or reuse.
• The recyclers recover ozone-depleting chemicals and other waste streams from discarded refrigerators and freezers. PCBs, mercury, used oil, refrigerants and insulating foam are properly dealt with through the best environmental practices available.
• Using various technologies, our recyclers dismantle the appliance, separating out the commodities (metals, plastics, glass, etc.).
• The recyclers ensure the reclaimed commodities are sent to end markets to be recycled and repurposed into new products.

It looks like working appliances might get reused by someone (bullet 3).