Last week our old, real washer started making horrible sounds. My wife called BandB and they came out and assessed the machine. They said given the age and build quality of the machine it would be best to replace it. We have had bad luck with new machines so we decided to fix the old one.
After a little haggling and some missed phone calls B and B gave us a very good quote on the fix and we moved forward. The parts were ordered, the tech came out and after he assembled things to get it working he figured out the transmission was bad.
My wife told them exactly what she wanted out of a new machine and they recommended a Speed Queen. My wife bought it sight unseen. It was delivered today; Water, soap, agitation, just like a washing machine should be. Read the reviews on Amazon and Consumer Reports from owners, it is a great machine if you are frustrated with Energy Star, HE washers.
There was a cosmetic problem with our, but BandB was calling us to tell us that the parts were on order for it by the time my wife noticed.
If we are still this happy in a week I will be changing this to 5 stars.
*Update*
Still extremely happy with our new washer. We bought our machine without even going into the store (I know that sounds crazy but it worked out).