A fridge for an ornament? Very nice!

Is it really three days since I wrote my last blog? Time flies when you are enjoying yourself as they say. I have to say that although I haven't written for a couple of days I have at least finally found out how to work this thing properly. I couldn't understand why no-one - not even my friends who said they would, were leaving comments. And then I found out why. I went into my settings and changed them so that now anyone can leave a message. And it's great! I get to see what people think of me, which gives me such a buzz!! So if you're a new blogger, and you are not getting comments, have a look at your settings. You may find that you can fix it!

Well, as I sit here today I am waiting for a call from a certain fridge manufacturer. I won't say who - because I don't want to be sent to court for libel. But shall we just say that it is a long story about a certain manufacturer who sells fridges. We bought the said fridge in July, but for a number of reasons weren't ready to switch on the appliance until September. We turned it on and it didn't work. Called the manufacturer on the helpdesk number. They sent out an engineer. "It's got a refrigerant problem" he said. Well I think I could probably have worked that one out myself. Can you fix it I asked. "No, not today. I haven't got the supplies on the van. We'll have to come back next week." Eventually they returned, "fixed" the problem, by refilling the gas, and went away again. The fridge limped along for a short while and then died for a second time. I called again. By this time I was getting very cross. Actually I was getting EXTREMELY cross - and quoting all sorts of legal things (that I don't know really) at them, telling them that the fridge wasn't doing the thing that it was sold for: refrigerating. And it wasn't a particularly pretty ornament either. They were very sympathetic, but infuriatingly said that they couldn't write the fridge off and replace it, until another engineer had had a look.

The THIRD engineer finally turned up yesterday to tell us that the compressor wasn't working and that the sytem was contaminated with oil............ "So what happens now" I asked. "Well" he said. I can't tell you what to do." "But I'm asking you what I should do" I said. "You have to tell me what you want done" he said. "Meanwhile, I will recommend to the manufacturer that it is fixed". "But I'm not happy with that" I said. "No", he said. "So you tell me what you would like have done instead."

Ah........it took a while, but eventually the coin dropped and I cottoned on to the rules of the game that we were playing.

"So", I said. "I tell you that I am not happy with your decision, and that I want a new fridge?" "Well, I can't tell you what to do, but if you want to write it on the comment slip, I will pass that back.......".

It was surreal. But I did it. And now we are waiting - we hope - for a new fridge. It has meanwhile cost the manufacurer three engineer visits (all of whom have come from 40 or 50 miles away), a new bottle of refrigerant gas and dozens of time on the phone. The fridge cost £195. So far it must have cost the manufacturer at least £300 to try to salvage something which would probably have cost them less than £50 to manufacture in the first place. It would have been so much cheaper to simply replace the item when it first went wrong. Where is the logic please?

When the doorbell went this morning, the hubby looked out and saw a delivery van. "Wow". He said. "It's a new fridge!" No, I thought. Don't be silly. Sadly, he was wrong. Instead they had knocked on the door to tell us that our dog, a collie puppy was trying to knock on the door to get in. Clearly she had managed to slip out earlier when he was putting the rubbish out for collection. "She wasn't tall enough to reach the door knocker" they said. Thank God we've got an intelligent dog I thought. A stupid one just wouldn't survive with us lot.

(p.s. Before any animal lovers write and tell me that we are being negligent, please do rest assured that we are very conscious of all our duties: five children, a cat and a dog, and it really was by accident that she slipped out!. Phew... thought I'd better get that one in............)