Who the heck is Haier?
Most people probably have never heard of Haier (which is pronounced higher and means Children of the Sea in Chinese), and are skeptical of the reliability and effectiveness of a washer by what seems to be a new manufacture. However, Haier is anything but new. They have been manufacturing washing machines for decades. Haier started out as a worker’s collective that made washing machine in Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao-–yes, the same place that Tsingtao beer came from). They eventually came to dominate the washing machine market in China, and moved into, among other things, refrigerators and air conditioners (I acquired a Haier 5000 btu A/C from Best Buy last week for $85). Haier washing machines have an incredible reputation in China; Haier are known to design their washers to be virtually indestructible. The story of Haier washers are legendary, paralleling that of Mikhail Kalashnikov and his designs of his namesake rifles. Whereas Kalashnikov wasn’t satisfied until the AK-47