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ConsumerWatch: Bay Area Woman's Washer Snags Her Clothes

(CBS 5) - When Ann Wiggins bought a brand new stainless steel Kenmore washer at Sears, she was thrilled. But after a few washes Wiggins said she noticed threads dangling on a few clothing pieces.

"I noticed some of my fine cotton clothing was developing some small holes or snags," she said.

It turned out the drum inside the washer machine had rough edges. "Apparently when they drill these holes in the drum, sometimes those sharp edges are left over," she said.

But Wiggins discovered she's not the only one with this problem. After finding numerous online complaints she called Sears to request a technician. Once a technician diagnosed the problem, Wiggins was informed there would be $1200 repair charge.

But according to Wiggins a Sears representative said there would be no cost to replace the defective drum. Frustrated after being sent to a third-party company, Wiggins decided to contact ConsumerWatch where our volunteers called Sears.

Within one week, Sears agreed to replace the drum for free and apologized for the delay.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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