Product review (1 stars): Manufacturer's Flaw leads to continuous repair.
To future buyers, this post details my experience as well as a legitimate manufacturing issue with this Whirlpool product:

I purchased a Whirlpool Cabrio Washing Machine in June 2011. In November 2011, I had to have it serviced. Fortunately, Whirlpool covered the repair because it was under warranty. In, February 2013, the exact same problem broke our washer yet again and I paid $138 to have it serviced yet again. This was only 6 months after our 1-yr warranty expired. Same problem, same repair, 2 times in 20 months.

Two different Whirlpool certified repairmen looked at our washer. Both concluded a "pulley nut" becomes loose with the vibration of the washer. When this nut becomes loose, the "gear case" can break (very expensive replacement part).
Why is this a manufacturing issue? The gear case and associated parts (belts, etc) are usually placed together downward (using gravity+nut to hold them together). The Cabrio places these parts together upward, so when the natural vibration of the washer works the nut at the bottom loose, the parts are no longer connecting. This first causes a slight grinding noise, but can eventually damage the gear case entirely.

The repairman showed me his diagrams, and I've found a similar manufacturer's diagram to illustrate my point with a simple Google search: "Whirlpool Cabrio gear case diagram". Notice the single nut (item 19) holding parts 8-15 and 20 together. That is the single issue that causes this major flaw in design. The nut is BELOW all components and simply gets loose and falls off, causing the components to be misplaced. The repairman said often when the washer is lifted up, the nut is just sitting there on the floor beneath it.

I contacted Whirlpool customer service both live chat online and on the phone. They essentially said "Please accept our apologies and I have recorded your complaint."

I urge you to consider other washing machines because of this design flaw. My repairman mentioned LG and Samsung washers are far superior in design quality now. He said their customer service may be lacking, but said, "...if the washer works correctly, you won't have to call customer service."

Duly noted repairman, duly noted.