Dear Reader Column 05-29-14

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Dear Reader,

I write every day because I have a deadline. But even if I didn't write a daily column, I'd still feel the need to write something every day. Because writing helps me figure out what's going on inside of me, and it helps me recognize what I'm feeling. And today--I'm feeling like I want to let the air out of the oven repairman's tires.

My new oven wasn't working right so I called the repairman. First impression when I answered the door--the repairman looked like a nice enough guy, but I thought it was strange that a guy who fixes appliances, wasn't carrying his "fix-it" bag along with him. You know, one of those bags filled with screwdrivers, widgets and a secret decoder--the one you plug it into an oven and it spits out secret digital codes to tell the repairman what the problem is--so he can fix it. But this repairman showed up at my door empty handed.

When I invited the repairman into my kitchen to introduce him to the patient, our conversation went pretty much like this:

"What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"The temperature isn't working properly. When my oven reads 375 degrees, it's really not that hot."

The repairman took a step back from the oven, folded his arms one over top of the other, stared at the oven, then looked at me with a straight face and said, "The oven looks okay to me."

I thought this was oven repairman humor. It wasn't. He was serious.

Bewildered and a little irritated I asked, "Well, aren't you going to test it with a thermometer?" And I proceeded to tell him about my experiment. I set the oven to 375 degrees, and then put an oven thermometer inside, but the temperature never went any higher than 350 degrees.

My experiment didn't impress the oven man. Instead he told me the oven was working within the guidelines for new ovens, because new ovens he assured me, only have to be 80 percent accurate.

So let me get this straight, "I just bought a new oven because my ten-year-old oven wouldn't keep the right temperature any longer, and now you're telling me this brand new oven--that cost me a whole lot of money--doesn't keep the right temperature either, but that's okay, because it's within new oven guidelines?"

He nodded, "Yep, that pretty much sums it up."

I begged the oven man to go get his fix-it bag from his truck and test the oven himself. His reply, "I have a full schedule, and I've got a lot of other stops to make today, so I really have to get going."

I wanted to yell and scream, but I also wanted to get my oven fixed. So I stayed calm and finally talked him into testing my oven's thermostat. The thermostat wasn't working right and he finally agreed to fix it. So I guess I should be happy and content.

But I must admit, I'm still feeling like it would be a thrill to let the air out of the oven repairman's tires.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

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Comments

[Linda Deline]

You have got to be kidding! What is it about company reps (which a repairman certainly is) that makes them think they can act like that? Plus 80% accuracy is ridiculous!! Where I worked before I retired, the aim was 100% but as long as it didn't fall below 98% they accepted it...80% my eye...makes me angry just thinking about it....finally agreed to fix it...good grief, he's lucky he has a job. I'd call his company and tell his boss your experience...this is not "just a complaint"...this is correcting an attitude that can hurt a company! Hope your oven works beautifully from now on. God bless.

[Sherie]

I agree with Linda. Not acceptable. I've had my 5 yr old oven repaired 3 times, once within the first month. Is it too much to ask for an appliance to last a 5 or 10 yrs before it needs service?