Product review (1 stars): Why this washer is a lemon and cannot be fixed!
This washer has several reported flaws. One reported by many folks and the only one we came up against since owning the washer (SN FR204563T) is the fact that towels do not  complete their Rinse and Spin cycle properly. GE Service folks will not acknowledge this as a problem (nor are they able to fix it) despite four service calls and many, many others with the same reported problem. Here is what we consider the problem to be and why it is a lemon or a poor design or BOTH!

We bought this unit in May, 2009 and have been struggling with GE to get it fixed since then. This matter is NOT RESOLVED.

Bulky items like towels absorb more water in the wash and weigh more when wet. Because the tub is vertical the clothes always start on the bottom of the tub. The machine fights gravity when these items occupy the tub and the tub starts its cycle unbalanced. As it fills with a minimal amount of fresh water and proceeds to rinse and spin, the speed of the drum is supposed to increase step by step and the items inside are supposed to be forced to the circumference of the drum. The they are pressed to it by the ever increasing speed, centrifugal force of the spinning motor. That is the design of the product and is similar to other front loaders from what we found out.

However, if the items do not float around in the rinse water agitation properly and do not move to the circumference of the drum to distribute themselves accordingly (perhaps because of their weight, bulk or other reasons), then the proper speed cannot be achieved because of an unbalanced load condition.

The machine has a balance sensor that quickly detects a bad distribution of items in the drum. The machine then attempts to rebalance itself at low speed by reversing the spin of the motor/drum to shuffle the clothes to a good position. This rebalance cycle (stop, slowly reverse spin direction) is attempted up to five times. When that fails, the machine goes ahead to try to spin and rinse out the wash water anyway. The why of that failed distribution with a bulky load is apparently a contested issue between us, simple users of the machine, and GE the maker who claims to be cognizant of the issue. Thus far, GE seems incapable and increasingly unwilling to fix the problem. They have documented the crap out of the problem, reporting each time that they find no trouble. The technicians have been able to see the problem here in their visits and acknowledge that the problem "can occur".

GE seems to feel that if the load matches (is either sufficiently full or sufficiently light for) their machine due to the bulk of the items and the water-infused weight of them, then they should cycle properly. And in the case of our load of two hand towels, a bath sheet and two standard bath towels, we can add another large bath sheet to the load to make it complete without errors. So, since there is "nothing wrong with the machine",  their solution is that in the event of a balance issue, we should add or subtract "an appropriate amount of towels/clothes to prevent the error".

We feel, not too surprisingly that the size of the load, as long as it meets the maximum rating of the machine, is immaterial and the washer should complete its job in its normal cycle regardless- without banging or rebalancing (which wastes water and energy and may damage our floor or walls by it's (the washer's) bouncing around. The washer physically moves at least 6" in any direction on the tile floor during this condition. We feel that this is unsafe, exceeds the  claimed advantages of water, energy, and savings. It also affects the long term reliability of their product.

Consumer Reports rated this product in January, 2009 as 'best buy'. Since that rating there have been 27 pages of complaints to the Consumer Union web site.

GE has, thus far, refused the alternative we proposed:
* Redesign the product and exchange this model for such new product, in effect a recall.
* Fix the product.
* Return our purchase  price.

We are continuing to negotiate with them in the hope of a favorable resolution.