I got my first Staber washer back in 2000 for $1,200 with plans to run it from an off the grid home. It arrived with a banged up front cover, but Staber quickly sent me a replacement.

Everything was fine for a couple of years, we traveled a lot and used in infrequently. One day it would not turn the basket, we took off the front cover and found that the belt was worn out. We ordered a replacement from Staber. When it eventually arrived I tried to install it correctly, but the belt wouldn't stay centered on the pulleys correctly. Turns out the large pulley was warped. Of course this was now out of warranty.

When we moved into our new house I ordered a new Staber washer. It arrived in fine shape. At the same time I sold my old one to my brother. It worked for a short time then stopped spinning. He contacted Staber support and they told him that he needed a new board. Three boards did not fix the problem. We're both electrical engineers and can certainly troubleshoot, but the only person that we could talk to a Staber was this lady that didn't know how to troubleshoot and would just read off a troubleshooting flow chart. We could not get her to let us talk to a real technician.

After many dozens of lost manhours trying to fix this thing and replacing parts and testing my brother finally gave up and bought a washer that is about $900 cheaper and works a lot better. It's also very energy efficient and get clothes very clean and fairly dry. The myth that Staber is so much better is busted! The new washer can be fixed anywhere, but nobody knows how to fix a Staber. So this one is just sitting there waiting to go to the dump. :)

While this was going on after a couple of washes our new Staber washer intermittently just doesn't spin. A couple of tries running it through the rinse and spin cycle will get it to spin, but this eats up the energy and water savings and is very inconvenient.

A call to Staber 'Support' gives us the same lady, she blames our load being unbalanced, etc. Anything so that it isn't the washer's fault - must be the customer's fault!

Then she wanted me to start working on the washer! After all of the manhours lost working on my brother's washer she wanted me to start working on this new, under warranty washer! I told her that I was not going to work on it because it was under warranty. She asked me to find someone local to work on the machine. I asked her to find someone to work on the machine. A couple of weeks later I asked her when they would have someone out and she tells me that they are going to send out a new machine and I need to box up the old one. This means that I have to install the new one (again).

Needless to say, I am no longer very happy with Staber. They really want problems to be the customer's fault. Since this problem isn't getting resolved it must be my fault and now she's complaining that I won't work with her...

A lot of these were sold to people off the grid that needed a low energy usage washer, but she actually asked me if I was off the grid - I suppose that if I said that I was that would have been the problem and not the washer...

For the money and trouble it's probably better just to do a little research and go down to a local store and get a washer. If it isn't as energy efficient and you're off the grid use the money that you saved to buy a couple more solar panels.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 1200