Microwave Resolution

Alright....and update to my previous post. After the dust settled to the whole microwave fiasco...microwave in a repair shop , us having been told 5-10 working days to repair. In the meantime we borrowed a buddy's microwave to get us through...secure in the knowledge that we'd have our back by Christmas. HHHAAAAA!!!!

10 working days up and Marg calls the repair shop (ironically called Prestige) and the guy tells her "we're waiting for a part and since we're so close to Christmas the likely-hood of it being repaired before Jan 11th 2010 is very slim"...well you can just imagine what kind of response we had for said repairman. January 11th????? What kind of insanity is that??? We had a brand new working microwave for 3 weeks and its then going to spend 6 weeks in a repair shop???? You've got to be kidding me...

I got on the phone to the dealer where we bought the bloody thing (The Good Guys) and I demanded to speak to a manager. I explained to him in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable. Fortunately he is a good guy and agreed with me. So the deal now was for me to pick up the unit from the repair guys and get it back in to the dealership and they would replace it no questions asked. Finally some sanity.

Apparently the unit's turntable motor melted. Go Figure, 3 weeks old!!!

As I was doing the swap with this manager...we were talking about the good old days when the dealer would take care of you right off the bat. He had told me that since these appliances have been made in backwater places....the quality is sub-par and the dealers get left with lots of bogus equipment so they have prorated responses depending on what brand and model one purchases. In our case it is a Sharp...so any fault after 7 days the manufacturer takes responsibility...if it was under 7 days the dealer would've just replaced it right then and there. He told us he felt that no matter what the prorated procedure was the dealer should still be the one to replace the unit if it goes down within a reasonable time but his hands are tied by policy.

Oh well we have our "new" microwave back in time for Christmas and all is good in the Duke household.

Quality....what quality???

Yes here I am complaining...but really I just can't contain myself. We purchased a new microwave at the end of October...the one we had lasted 5 years and was showing signs it was going to kibosh at anytime. We went down to the Good Guys (local appliance shysters)...and picked out the same model we had just a 2009 version. It looked a little smaller and wasn't as powerful; "they've discovered that one just doesn't need all that power" our chirpy little salesman chimed. We were slightly skeptical but we shrugged our shoulders and headed for the check-out. "Oh by the way...now that these are no longer made in Japan with a 3 year warranty and the workmanship of the Japanese, we suggest that you take out the extended 5 year warranty for $50.00 extra as they are now made in Taiwan." We looked at each other...the early skepticism had now turned into heartburn. Marg gave me the nod and we went ahead with the extended warranty. "You'll be happy with this choice as we don't see as many of these coming back at the other brand names" This of course made me feel all the more comfortable.

Well we got it home hooked it all up and gave the old one away to our eldest son...23 days later we are without said microwave as the bloody thing has ceased to wave any micros!!! Just plain stopped working...one minute Marg is defrosting meat the next...nada...zip....nothing!!! Well doesn't this just get the heartburn flowing....we're on the phone right away to Sharp Electronics...they tell us of a service place we can drop it off but it will mean we will be without the microwave for at at least a week to ten days. We look at each other as steam is starting to emanate throughout the house...onto the phone again, this time to the Good Guys. "Oh I'm so sorry to hear that....let me speak to our manager." After a few moments on hold..."just take it down to our dealer approved service centre and tell them it is not yet a month old and they can put a rush on it for you...should take about two weeks" Can you believe this crap??? I said, "listen can we just bring it in then you can replace it with a new one and you guys can send it back the manufacturers?" "Ah no...we don't do that sort of thing anymore, sorry sir."

So here we are...after having paid a shit load of money for a new appliance...our son has the old one that still works and we have nothing...and apparently this happens all the time.

Quality...what quality????