Many years ago, my ancient GE toaster oven died. It was
time. After all, it had toasted for
about twenty years. As you well know, they
don’t make them like that any more. So,
naturally I bought a new one. It didn’t
take two days for it to stop working. I called the service number requesting a
replacement. “No, can’t do that” I was told. “Take it to the repair store.” Just
what I wanted to do. There is definitely something wrong with this approach.
I packed it back in its original box and carted it to the
store. I suggested to them that this
machine was a lemon and should be replaced but that was met with definite
negativism.
“Oh,” said the uncompromising fellow behind the counter,
“can’t do that.” “Why not?” I naively
asked. The response was more than
perplexing. “I just can’t.” So with no
other option, I gave it to him and the following week, I picked it up,
supposedly repaired, brought it home, plugged it in and toasted something. It worked – that day. The next day, no more toast.
Back to the repair shop, second request for replacement,
second rejection. They assured me it
would be fixed properly this time. I
wasn’t going to bet on that. The
following week I schlepped back to the store, retrieved it once again, brought
it home, tried to toast something or other and nothing happened!
ENOUGH! Time for The
Letter to the President. I wrote it,
packed the toaster oven and shipped it to The President of this gigantic,
international company informing him of this absurdity and telling him: “It’s yours.”
And I meant it.
Guess what arrived the following week? Right. A brand new toaster oven that actually worked. In fact, it worked for
over a decade. Satisfaction is good. GE
– you’re elected to my Good Guys Hall of Fame.
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