Sabotage at MCR Homes
A week into living in my new flat, I accumulated enough laundry to warrant using the washing machine. It powered up without issue and began its cycle as expected.
Discovering the washing machine problem
About an hour in, the machine started beeping, with its lights flashing. Approaching it, I detected a smell akin to burnt plastic.
As a software engineer, my initial reaction was to reboot the system, so I stopped the machine and restarted the cycle. However, an hour later, the issue recurred, this time with more water remaining in the machine.
The machine beeping:
I resorted to washing the clothes by hand in the bathtub.
Finding the water drain sabotage
A repair technician investigated the machine and identified the root cause. There was something obstructing the water drain, too deep to remove easily.
We heated water using a kettle to loosen the drain pipe for extraction, and be able able to see what was blocking the drain.
Here is the blue plug that was obstructing the drain:
While the technician was present, I tested the dishwasher to check for similar issues. Guess what? The dishwasher also malfunctioned!
Conclusion
The phrase "don't attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence" doesn't hold in this case. Intentionally placing a plug deep in the water drain indicates deliberate tampering.
This incident raises serious questions about MCR Homes' motives. When questioned, they responded - paraphrased - "You can't claim it's sabotage. We have no interest in returning to fix issues; it's costly and time-consuming. We haven't done anything wrong, and since we've resolved the issue, it's as if it never happened."
Other issues: