Well this thread is nothing about what I thought it would be. LOL I was expecting the complaints on how loud something was or how all of the reviews are for bad experiences...because those are the people who are mad enough to complain. I will say...I had an old cheap no frills Frigidaire frontloader w/electrolux drum for slightly over 10 years until the bearings finally went. We made a huge mistake replacing it with a Duet. Not only was it a piece of garbage, but I had never heard a machine so loud!!!! AND it would go off balance which our old one never did. Then it would go bang, bang, bang. And we balanced it many times. The noise was a real issue because the laundry is right next to my husband's office and he works at home and is often is on the phone!! It also ripped through two boots in only a year. Oh...and it was constantly clogged. My dh unclogged it so many times that we could do it in about 15 min and with minimal mess...depending how much the tub had drained. I should have known when the repairman replaced the boot the first time and showed me how to unclog it. I NEVER had a clog in my old machine in the entire 10 years!!! Walking through Lowes on evening, we spied a Samsung...originally $1,000 marked down to $500 because when it was delivered, it had a tiny crack in the front panel. We carefully inspected the crack, paid for it and had it delivered. I loooooooove this machine!! It is HUGE and relatively silent. I could have written those reviews. I barely know it is on. The most noise it makes is when it drains and the end of cycle song. We bought a Samsung on recommendation of a man who noticed us eying them one day and told us how extremely happy he was with the machines. I think all of your reviewers previously owned either old top loaders or Duets!!

I remember reading our feedback. One sounded like it came from a "professional homebuyer" - you know, someone who just spends time looking at houses to critique them but not to buy. It was a bit weird After about 25 comments, trends do appear. That's when DH and I sat down with our realtors and figured out what we could do to make our house more appealing. The things we couldn't change (e.g., location) and the things we wouldn't change (e.g., kitchen cabinets), we ignored. But we did look at what we could and would change (e.g., price, paint/bedroom decor, floor shine, counters) and proceeded to work on them. We didn't take things personally. We knew that realtors often show potential buyers houses that did not meet their exact wants/needs ("Now I know you said -- , but I want to show you --"). And often there is absolutely nothing wrong with your (or my) house, so the buyer is stumped (especially if the agent took them to a house they didn't want to see) on what to write. That's when the realtor may say something like "Just write something down. What did you like/didn't like?" So, you get cryptic feedback.

Ugh. A google search found that my experience is quite the norm. This is an excerpt from another post about their attempt to reach this company. It's so frighteningly similar to my experience I could have written it myself: ABCMortgage should be avoided at all costs. I would rather live in a box than live in a mansion that has anything to do with ABC. I donÂt anger easily and I'm a reasonable and patient person--- IÂm in customer service myself---but the customer service, or should I say "lack of customer service" at ABC is appalling. My experience on trying to call to CORRECT THEIR MISTAKE and get information on the status of my loan... ABC--hello Me---yes, i have been transferred a few times with no resolution and I would like to speak with somebody about--- ABC interrupts---your property address? Me---well, hang on... the person I just spoke with blindly transferred me to the wrong dept. as soon as I gave her my address and-- ABC interrupting again----sir, I need your address to bring up your account Me---ok, but I want to explain my situation before you transfer me...its 1234 main street any town USA and--- ABC interrupts---please hold and then IÂm transferred again. Hello (unintelligible) dept. Me---yes, I am trying to resolve a problem with my mortgage and I was transferred to---- ABC interrupts---your property address please? (repeat above) Transferred again----only this time goes into someoneÂs voice mail with the recorded message saying it might be up to 4 DAYS before I get a return call...so, I call back again....same process as above---only this time, I demand to speak with a manager...she asks me for what? I tell her that I have a problem that I cant GET RESOLVED BECAUSE I KEEP GETTING TRANSFERRED TO PEOPLE WHO DONT CARE TO LISTEN! I then sternly, not rudely, tell her I want to speak with a manager now and I dont want to kept on hold all day...this is a serious issue which needs to be resolved immediately. then---you guessed it- ABC--- hold please, click transfer, phone rings, voice mail, tone to leave message, disconnect. Believe it or not, after this hour of getting nowhere, I called back again---same process; only this time, I got transferred to someoneÂs voicemail who was on vacation!!!!! Unbelievable. What eventually happened? Nothing....oh except there lack of assistance on resolving THEIR mistake created a domino effect of financial problems that have perpetuated to the point OF RUINING MY LIFE. ABC mortgage is terrible and should not be in business...do the world a favor and go into organized crime or something, but donÂt call yourself a company...your nothing but a bunch of people who donÂt care about anything. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.....

I am looking strongly at Kobe, Electrolux, and also some others such as Zephyr, Faber, and Windster. The Windster is quite affordable. The Faber and Zephyr brands have some ones that have some 'rounded' design elements on the pipe area and front of the vent that look sort of nice. Gives a bit of personality to the hood, but not too much. Lots of my hem hawing has to to with what 'style' but the spec thing adds to the confusion. I look at them and try to imagine them over my stove and in conjunction with the other elements in the kitchen and after a while I am so addled that I shrink away from them all! I think that when you are in a remodel, all the decisions that you have to make begin to wiegh on you after a while and even little things can make you 'tilt'. I love my E-lux gas range - it was a find - a small scratch made it very affordable. Love my micro - an LG that looks like it was made to go with the range. Fridge is 'panel ready" - a challenge in my design where stainless would have made it easy. We will probably do something over the top like making leather or cowhide panels for it. We train horses for a living and as the saying goes, if you dont know what to do with it, cover it with cowhide. :) That is a challenge for another post and another day. Using rough slate on the floors - a natural and easy choice for us since we have a slate porch and lots of leftover tiles. Very interesting stuff and very tough. For now, however, the decision is about the range hood. It is gonna be focal, so has to be pretty. Cirone - you mentioned here that a 36 inch hood was put over a 30 inch range. How does that look? I have heard that it is recommended that the hood extend three inches out to give better capture area, but am not sure I would need to worry about that since I am not a major cook. I have ordered from Overstock and they were easy to deal with - made it right when my sink came dented. Ironically, Dianalo, I just talked to a sales rep at a Sears outlet yesterday and they have one chimney style Kenmore there with a scratch that makes it affordable. Long drive for me to check it out since I am in the middle of the woods but may have to go look. Would like to order online to make it quick and easy. Sparklekitty - Havent heard of Eurostoves so will have to look at them. Sounds as if they were good to work with. Artemis - which Kobe did you get? When it comes in, you will have to post about how you like it! Happy that you got your decision on that behind you as I know how hard the choosing can be! I am glad to see that I am not the only one that has gone round and round over this - thanks for all the feedback. Makes it 'feel all better'! :)