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Appliances Suck

You may be wondering how my kitchen appliance dilemma was resolved, or maybe not. Maybe you have more pressing things to think about other than whether or not I have a functioning stove. Well, I'll tell you about the repair process.

We bought all of our appliances at Sears years ago, so when they all began to malfunction, I called Sears repair service for one huge repair visit. Of course, because we have different types of appliances needing help, Sears sent two different repairmen, which meant two different fees for the visit. You know, they charge you for coming to your house even if they don't fix anything.

The first guy was here to fix the ice maker in the freezer. It works, actually, but the bin that collects the ice has been broken for a while. So, he ordered a replacement bin, which will be here later this week.

About an hour later, the other repairman came. He listened to my imitation of the sound my washing machine makes and immediately declared it to be the bearings, unfixable in this model, of course. He put the machine on the spin cycle to confirm it, so now we have to buy a new washing machine.

He easily repaired the hinge on the dishwasher, which breaks on a regular basis because it's crap. Sears repairmen know this, so they leave extra parts when they repair it so later on the next guy won't charge me for the piece of string attached to a piece of plastic. Then he took a look at the oven. The broiler heating element was completely fried, so he rigged the wiring to disconnect it but to let power flow to the lower oven and the burners, so we're cooking again. By Friday, the top oven should be fixed, and life will be back to normal. And the cost of that normal was about $550 plus the cost of a new washing machine.

As irritated as I am with planned obsolescence and how everything seems to break all at once, at least I've got machines to help with the work. And these people who repair appliances for Sears are the nicest people. The guy who worked on the oven even helped sweep the floor, and when I was washing off the side of the oven while it was pulled out into the middle of the room, he tried to warn me not to slice my finger on the exposed stain steel trim. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough with his warning, and I cut myself anyway.

Oh well, at least I've got appliances to repair, and at least I'm not stuck out in the cold washing and cooking my fingers to the bone.

Comments

Shan said…
I agreed with your statement before even reading your post! They definitely don't make 'em like they used to and why do they have to die in threes like celebrities? If anyone needs a working kitchen it is YOU the chef extraordinaire!

I killed my mixer this weekend in a peanut butter bon bon frenzy but it was a cheap one that I replaced with another cheap one so that was no biggie. My dryer, however, has been making the most horrible noise for months now and hubby doesn't hear it as much as me so it's been slower to be tended to by him.

We had to replace our old old stove when redoing our kitchen and that has been grand but the new dishwasher needs to start with clean dishes to end with them. ;) Don't get me started on microwaves...

My poor van is the next on the list now. It has something expensive wrong with it so I am driving it warily until we can decide to replace it or fix it.

Bother. It is expensive to keep up all this modern day business but I am glad we have them all the same.
2:59 PM
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