The great dishwasher fiasco of 2013
I suppose I shouldn't really call it a fiasco because it has ended well, but it took a while to reach the positive conclusion. Here's the story...
When my parents were in town a couple of weeks ago, they decided that what we really needed was new dishwashers which actually washed, rather than the glorified dish drainers we were using. So, of we went to the store to buy some. There was a sale and the sales woman was very nice and we bought two dishwashers. Remembering a previous fiasco with our washing machine where it was installed, incorrectly, and J. had to re-install it, I decided to save the installation money and just have J. do it. (Let me tell you, words cannot convey his excitement over such a project.) The dishwashers would be delivered the next week and we were all very excited.
The dishwashers arrived as scheduled and J. came home from work ready to put them in. The sales woman had made sure to include two installation kits, so I thought we were set. Considering our appliance track record, I did wonder if I was being overly optimistic. I was. When J. opened the box and instructions, he realized that some key pieces weren't there. It turns out, that when an appliance is installed, it seems as though there is an assumption that the installer will have certain parts on his truck. But we don't have a truck, so we didn't have the parts. The dishwasher would have to wait another day to be installed.
The next morning, J. went to the store on his way home from work and picked-up the parts he needed. Once again, that evening, he settled in to install them. He got the first one in, all hooked up, and so we turn in on. the little blue lights on the control panel light up and... nothing else. We read the instruction manual again to be sure we aren't forgetting something. It should work. And then we smell something burning. That's not good. J. discovers that the heating element inside the dishwasher is heating, but without water inside it is starting to put off an unpleasant burning odor. J. does some quick internet research and discovers that it looks as though there is a faulty part having to do with the water. Having had about as much fun as we can stand with the dishwasher that evening, we go to bed.
The next evening, J. decides to uninstall the first dishwasher and try to install the second one to see if it works. And it does! Hallelujah! What is more, the dishwasher actually washes the dishes. The dishes go in the machine dirty and come out sparkling clean. Amazing. It made me realize that neither old dishwasher had really been functioning optimally for a very long time. It also confirmed that there was something wrong with the first dishwasher.
J. calls the store and we get set-up for a replacement to be delivered. They will come and take the old one away and bring a new one of the same model. No problem. They ask if Sunday is alright and I say that is fine if it is in the afternoon and the very nice customer service rep. says that's fine. I'll be called the night before to tell me the exact two hour window for the delivery.
Saturday night, I receive the call at dinner time telling me that they will replace the machine during the exact time that no one will be home. I take a deep breath and push the number I'm told to to reschedule. Now, this next bit is not my finest hour. I'm dumped into one of those dreaded voice activated voice mail systems where you cannot get a live person no matter what you do. (I tried all my tricks, really I did.) Before I tell you the next part, remember that I am finishing day two of J. being out of town and the disregulation factor in my home has been pretty high for the past 48 hours. So, I try to get a live person on the phone, or at the very least try not to get scheduled for something I don't want, and I can do neither. The silly voice mail insists on not listening to me and blithely going along with what it wants regardless of what I say. Which leads me to losing all composure and yelling into the phone, something along the lines of, "I CANNOT STAND THESE VOICE MAIL SYSTEMS! I SINCERELY HOPE SOMEONE IS RECORDING AND LISTENING TO THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE YOUR SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING AND I AM VERY ANGRY!" Or something like that. It could have been more or less coherent than I have written out. It must have been startling because when I looked up all of my children were staring at me, open mouthed, in absolute silence. (Absolute silence doesn't happen very often in our home.)
Well, to finish the story, the voice mail system finally told me it would transfer me to someone who could help. And then dropped the call. I did finally talk to a live person and we settled on a new delivery date. OK, settled on makes it sound as though I had some input into the decision. Really the live person I talked with was only marginally better than the recording because of her inability to leave her script. But the end result was that we did get a new dishwasher and the faulty one was taken away. (And no, I didn't want the store to send out a repairman to try to fix the one that was broken out of the box.)
Of course, J. was out of town, so we had to wait a bit before it could be put in. That happened night before last. He got it installed, held his breath, and pushed the button. It worked! We now have two functioning dishwashers. And they match, too.
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Thanks to everyone who voted for my blog this past month. I ended up tied for 6th place. Pretty respectable.
When my parents were in town a couple of weeks ago, they decided that what we really needed was new dishwashers which actually washed, rather than the glorified dish drainers we were using. So, of we went to the store to buy some. There was a sale and the sales woman was very nice and we bought two dishwashers. Remembering a previous fiasco with our washing machine where it was installed, incorrectly, and J. had to re-install it, I decided to save the installation money and just have J. do it. (Let me tell you, words cannot convey his excitement over such a project.) The dishwashers would be delivered the next week and we were all very excited.
The dishwashers arrived as scheduled and J. came home from work ready to put them in. The sales woman had made sure to include two installation kits, so I thought we were set. Considering our appliance track record, I did wonder if I was being overly optimistic. I was. When J. opened the box and instructions, he realized that some key pieces weren't there. It turns out, that when an appliance is installed, it seems as though there is an assumption that the installer will have certain parts on his truck. But we don't have a truck, so we didn't have the parts. The dishwasher would have to wait another day to be installed.
The next morning, J. went to the store on his way home from work and picked-up the parts he needed. Once again, that evening, he settled in to install them. He got the first one in, all hooked up, and so we turn in on. the little blue lights on the control panel light up and... nothing else. We read the instruction manual again to be sure we aren't forgetting something. It should work. And then we smell something burning. That's not good. J. discovers that the heating element inside the dishwasher is heating, but without water inside it is starting to put off an unpleasant burning odor. J. does some quick internet research and discovers that it looks as though there is a faulty part having to do with the water. Having had about as much fun as we can stand with the dishwasher that evening, we go to bed.
The next evening, J. decides to uninstall the first dishwasher and try to install the second one to see if it works. And it does! Hallelujah! What is more, the dishwasher actually washes the dishes. The dishes go in the machine dirty and come out sparkling clean. Amazing. It made me realize that neither old dishwasher had really been functioning optimally for a very long time. It also confirmed that there was something wrong with the first dishwasher.
J. calls the store and we get set-up for a replacement to be delivered. They will come and take the old one away and bring a new one of the same model. No problem. They ask if Sunday is alright and I say that is fine if it is in the afternoon and the very nice customer service rep. says that's fine. I'll be called the night before to tell me the exact two hour window for the delivery.
Saturday night, I receive the call at dinner time telling me that they will replace the machine during the exact time that no one will be home. I take a deep breath and push the number I'm told to to reschedule. Now, this next bit is not my finest hour. I'm dumped into one of those dreaded voice activated voice mail systems where you cannot get a live person no matter what you do. (I tried all my tricks, really I did.) Before I tell you the next part, remember that I am finishing day two of J. being out of town and the disregulation factor in my home has been pretty high for the past 48 hours. So, I try to get a live person on the phone, or at the very least try not to get scheduled for something I don't want, and I can do neither. The silly voice mail insists on not listening to me and blithely going along with what it wants regardless of what I say. Which leads me to losing all composure and yelling into the phone, something along the lines of, "I CANNOT STAND THESE VOICE MAIL SYSTEMS! I SINCERELY HOPE SOMEONE IS RECORDING AND LISTENING TO THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE YOUR SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING AND I AM VERY ANGRY!" Or something like that. It could have been more or less coherent than I have written out. It must have been startling because when I looked up all of my children were staring at me, open mouthed, in absolute silence. (Absolute silence doesn't happen very often in our home.)
Well, to finish the story, the voice mail system finally told me it would transfer me to someone who could help. And then dropped the call. I did finally talk to a live person and we settled on a new delivery date. OK, settled on makes it sound as though I had some input into the decision. Really the live person I talked with was only marginally better than the recording because of her inability to leave her script. But the end result was that we did get a new dishwasher and the faulty one was taken away. (And no, I didn't want the store to send out a repairman to try to fix the one that was broken out of the box.)
Of course, J. was out of town, so we had to wait a bit before it could be put in. That happened night before last. He got it installed, held his breath, and pushed the button. It worked! We now have two functioning dishwashers. And they match, too.
Thanks to everyone who voted for my blog this past month. I ended up tied for 6th place. Pretty respectable.
Comments
Kudos for J. to be able to install, troubleshoot and remain calm!
Hugs for you all around.
Blessings,
Sandwich