Not that long ago, you might have bristled at the notion of paying a stranger to chauffeur you around town in the back of their car, or that you could easily rent out the extra room in your house like a hotel. Is turning your laundry room into a laundromat the next step?
Electrolux is testing an Uber-like laundry service that matches people who have dirty clothes with those who have machines in which to wash those clothes.
Engadget, citing a Financial Times interview (behind a paywall) with Electrolux CEO Jonas Samuelson, reports that the company is testing a system in which customers would play to clean their clothes at someone else’s house.
Samuelson didn’t elaborate on how long the tests had been going on, or if they had been successful so far.
The system has a dual purpose: provide a place for machine-less consumers to do their laundry that isn’t a cramped coin-operated room and assist those who own the machines to pay for them.
The latter purpose would come in handy, Engadget notes, as using such an Uber-like system would require owners to either have connected devices or be on their smartphones regularly to fill out schedules and availability of machines.
Although actual details on how the system will work were unclear, Engadget points out several concerns that would have to be addressed before it could go be rolled out more widely: who pays if clothing is damaged in the washing machine or dryer? What if a non-owner damages a machine?
And what the heck are you supposed to do for the couple of hours it takes while some stranger is doing their laundry? Do you put out magazines for them to read? Install a snack machine; maybe a video game?
Electrolux is testing Uber-like laundry machine sharing [Engadget]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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