Whirlpool Compactor Part 9871140 Sucks!

I have an older Whirlpool trash compactor model GX900QPHB. I don't know how old it is but it was here when we bought the house in 2007 and it was fully operational without any issues. There are three switches on the front of the panel- "Off", "On" and "Start". You press the "On" button and it stays "On." Then to get it to compact the trash you press "Start" and it will cycle pressing the ram downward to compact the trash and then reversing at a certain point to bring the ram back up. When the ram is fully raised normally the cycle will automatically stop- the motor would stop running. We would not then press the "Off" button, we would just leave the "On" button pressed so you don't have to press two different buttons the next time you want to compact.

In April of 2009, it started malfunctioning. The ram would go through the downstroke and the upstroke but it wouldn't automatically stop. When it got to the top of the upstroke the motor kept running and the ram would be at the top of the cycle at the top of the worm gear that operates the ram. The motor would continue to run and turn the worm gear and since the ram was at the top of the stroke it would just keep dropping back down on the channel of the worm gear and make a continuous thud, thud, thud, thud until someone pressed the "Stop" button. I took the compactor to a local Whirlpool repair shop and they repaired it by replacing the start switch which is the module that contains the aforementioned buttons. This is Whirlpool part number 9871140. The part cost $104.88 and then $65.00 in labor and $7.34 in taxes brought my total to $177.22.

The Whirlpool GX900QPHB worked fine until about a month ago. It started doing the same thing. This time I knew what to do so I ordered the part from Searspartsdirect.com costing me $94.45.  I received the part quickly and inspected it.  It was the exact same part I was replacing.

Front of the part with buttons:

Rear of the part with connections

It was very easy to replace.  I just removed two screews on the top portion of the front of the compactor and removed the top face plate.  The switch was attached to the top of this face plate.  I removed connections to the switch and then the screws holding the switch to the panel.  I replaced the switch with the new one using the same method in reverse.

So why does this very expensive part only last three years?  because this is the second switch I have purchased I am beginning to think that this part is defective.  I can't find anything on the web about his crappy part.