Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Last week, I did something that I've been remorseful about ever since.  I bought a new range.  No, this isn't a case of Buyers Remorse, this is regret over where I bought it from.

The story begins a few months ago, when our old oven started acting up.  I would be in the middle of baking cookies, and all of a sudden, the oven door would lock and go on self-clean for 3 hours!  Then, the bottom element failed to heat correctly, so anything I baked was actually broiled, whether I meant to cook it that way or not.  I could honestly say it was the appliance, NOT the cook!

They say the average life of modern appliances is 10-15 years, and since this range had seen its twelfth birthday, we decided to buy new instead of hire a repairman.

So I shopped around at a few chain retailers and some local places.  One local shop owner found us a range and gave me a quote which included haul away of our old lemon and delivery of the new one.  That same day, I went to "The Big City" and found a range at a "Big Box Store" with more features for $100 less, which also included delivery and haul away. 

"Appliance haul-away" was very important to us, because here on the farm, we have to burn our garbage, recycle it in town, bury it, or put it in the woods with the rest of the old farm equipment, refrigerators, coffee cans, and iron headboards that have accumulating for over half a century.  When I first moved here, it took me forever to figure out why we needed so many wastebaskets: one for burnable garbage, one for recycling cans, one for recycling glass, and a slop bucket for the unburnable food.  It soon became my job to haul the garbage to the burn barrels in "The Swamp" and start it on fire.  Lucky for me, J has taken over this task during the cold winter while I'm not supposed to be doing any heavy lifting anyways.  ...Or maybe he thinks I still don't do it right! 

There was that one time when I went on a cleaning frenzy and hauled 9 computers, 4 VCR's, 2 light fixtures, a bedroom set, an electrocuting fan, a fire-starting microwave, and an old humidifier to "The Pit" (where we take things that cannot be burned in the burn barrels) to be buried.  A couple months later, he asked where that old humidifier went....oops.  I told him it was ugly, anyways.

So back to my original story.  I bought the range with more features that was $100 cheaper...from the Big Box Store.  Regret set in.  I broke one of the rules of sales.  Something that I hope my own customers don't do. 

I work for a locally-owned business that has been a part of the community for years.  We have a beautiful showroom that is ever-changing with innovative products and trends.  We employ knowledgable and experienced salespeople and installers.  I, myself, have a degree in Interior Design, and I personally go out to my clients' homes in order to make the best recommendations for the products that they select.  I give them service that I know cannot be matched by any Big Box.  I do my best to insure that my clients believe that my time and experience are worth something and that they get the best value for their money.  Then, I hope that my clients feel the same way, and don't make their purchases elsewhere just because they can save a buck.

And then I went against my beliefs and purchased from the chain store anyway "just to save a buck."  A buck that sits in my pocket now, but if I had bought from the local place, I would have piece of mind that I was doing business locally with a  shop owner with an excellent reputation.  His customers trust his judgement, and if something goes wrong, he personally comes out to fix it or replace it.  I should have given him the business, but I ended up doing something that I hope my clients don't do to me.  At first, I was going to keep this on the down-low, but I've decided to learn from my "mistake" and let this serve as my "punishment."

For the record, when the Big Box Store delivered the new range, they tracked a trail of mud from the door, to the kitchen, and into my bathroom.   

On the other hand, I am happy with the range.  I decided to stray away from the bisque color, which the salesmen told me was getting "phased out," and went with the enamel that looks like stainless steel.  I was concerned about what it would look like in close proximity to the true stainless steel dishwasher that you can see in this pic, but I was juiced that it wouldn't show waterspots and fingerprints.

The oven is working great.  The other day I was baking a roast, when J came home and said he had to run to a hockey game.  We took the roast out and cooked a quick frozen pizza for dinner instead.  I decided to finish baking the roast to have for supper the next night.  The next morning, I realized that I left the fully-cooked roast in the oven....overnight.  I told J what I did, and he said, "[sigh] It was a beautiful roast."  Yes, a beautiful roast indeed....and the dogs enjoyed it very much.