Yes, when the budget is tight and the washing machine you got just two years ago has a major breakage (just outside the warranty period), the cost of fixing it or getting a new one become pretty close. Couple that with the fact that the washer you replaced it with worked fine for 30 years before it broke and I think the anger is very rightly justified.
The sad part is that Speed Queen, while absolutely worth it, costs 2-3x the price of the average pile of junk sold in [Home Depot, Lowes, etc]. Buy once, cry once and a legit example of the boots theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory