I opened the door to our laundry room to find the haze of smoke and the smell of burning rubber.
Sam called and texted within minutes of my submission on Homestars. He said he was on another job close-by, so we agreed he would come take a look (for his usual fee)...but I was impressed by his offer to first discuss the problem on the phone to help save us some money.
Within 2 hours of connecting with Sam, he had determined the washer was not worth fixing...so now we are hunting for a new unit.
Not the outcome we wanted, but will not hesitate to call North Appliance Service next time something goes wrong.