I have a GE front loader - cannot give good reviews. It takes soooo long to do a load - an hour and 10 minutes on the 'timer' and the last 10 minutes on the timer take 30 minutes. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Have the issue with the washer getting smelly too - had the service fella in to check that and who knew - there is a 'filter' that you're supposed to empty periodically. Here's how you do that with mine - unscrew the three screws holding on the lower panel on the front of the machine. Take that panel off. Open the drawer on the riser that the machine sits on, making sure there is nothing in the drawer below the filter. Stick a pail under the filter. Unscrew the filter cover, get your hands covered with gunky water as it pours out over your hands into the pail (if you're lucky, it all goes in the pail). Take the water away, put the plug back in the filter. Put the panel back on, put the screws back in (if you can still find them). I have no idea what a person is to do if you don't get the riser - I just don't see how you would get anything under the filter - it would be right at the floor. What were the designers thinking!