The inspector guy came by, and agreed with me that the dishwasher is kaput. Within an hour we got a phone call from GE offering us a brand new dishwasher of comparable value, delivered and installed. If we want to upgrade (say, to a stainless steel interior instead of the flammable plastic) we will get credit towards the higher cost - not sure exactly how that will work. We need to call them and let them know what our choice will be.
So, I think the drama is almost over.
I didn't realize it when looking over the warranty, but the door is apparantly considered part of the tub - and the tub had a full lifetime warranty. So sending out the inspector guy was apparantly needed to verify just where the damage was and how it happened.
We also will be getting interviewed by an inspector from the Consumer Product Safety Commission sometime after the holiday weekend. But soon, I hope that this whole episode will be behind us.
Lifetime warranty! Woohoo!
Too bad you had all the Thanksgiving washing up to do by hand but the free replacement is not a bad deal at all. Glad to hear it turned out so well! :-)