Ever feel like you spend your entire life waiting on repairmen? If it's not one thing, it's another! When does it stop?
I sometimes think it'd be easier if we didn't have all of these things that keep us going everyday.
If I didn't have cable, we wouldn't need the cable guy. On the other hand, if that was the case, I'd also have no internet and I wouldn't be able to write this blog!
If I didn't have a refrigerator, I wouldn't need the refrigerator repair man. On the other hand, I wouldn't have cold food, either. Hmmm.
If I didn't have a washing machine, I wouldn't need the washer repair man, but then again, I wouldn't have clean clothes either…UNLESS…nah, too much trouble to load up laundry for eight people and take it the the laundry mat.
And so…we have to have those repairmen in our lives…which is probably the reason I have spent better than TWENTY HOURS of my time lately, waiting on them…and really..who has time to wait that long?
Take my washing machine. It was washing clothes just fine, but it kept refilling with water. I'm pretty sure that isn't supposed to happen. So I call the friendly Sear's 800 number…and I fight my way through their automatic answering machine thing because heaven forbid you'd actually get a real person on the line to help you…but that's another blog for another day.
So I work my way through, get a four hour window wait…and wait. The repair guy finally shows up, an hour after he was supposed to even be there, and *fixes* the machine. How, you ask? Well, because apparently a sock, caught in the flap of the front loader, makes the machine take water back in. Now, I think I'm a pretty smart woman, but that sure seemed kind of off to me.However, the repair man is convinced that this is the problem, so he heads off to his repairman land and I have a temporary fix.
Nope…because the next time I go to wash the clothes, the machine is full of water again. I drain, I pretend to ignore it and I continue on. But then, I realize it isnt' going to go away, and I am…and the thought of coming home to a washing machine full of stinky water doesn't settle with me. So…I do the whole hour on the phone trying to get a repair man out to my house again thing.
This time the nice repair man says it's the water pump..and he plays with it and leaves. Ok.
So can someone please tell me why the washing machine is able to pump the water out of the machine, but not keep it out? I mean, it SEEMS like a pretty simple thing, but I guess I'm too simple. So when the machine fills up with water again, I get to make yet another phone call.
This time, I wait my four hours..and then some…and then some…and no one shows up. OK then. So, I get to make another phone call. Hmmm…they'll send out someone more responsible. So I wait another four hours…and this repairman is probably really not wanting to deal with me at this point…so he just replaces the water pump and calls it fixed. I do point out that the pump seems to be working, it's only later that the water comes back in, but he's the repair man who knows what he is doing, right?
Until the water comes back into the washing machine again…this time with an error added to it. Now it won't even spin out the water anymore AND the water continues to come back in. So, we call the repair man again. He comes out and I'm not home, so my dear hubby gets to deal with him. Turns out there are three little socks in the flap again…so he states that is the problem, declares it fixed, and heads home. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, please tell me that didn't just happen!
Sure enough, the next day, the washer is full of water yet again. So, I call the friendly Sears man once again and try once again, to explain the problem and beg him to send someone out who can fix this once and for all. He promises to send someone out on Wednesday, between 8 and noon. Ok then…on Wednesday I wait…all day…and no one shows up. So I finally call them in the late afternoon, and they inform me that no, I had the wrong day. I don't THINK so! They say I'm supposed to have him on Saturday. I really don't think I'm crazy enough to mix up a Saturday and a Wednesday, especially when I'm just trying to wash my clothes!
So, Saturday the supposed good repairman shows up. I explain to him that I really don't think it's the socks, I don't think it's the pump and yet I get faulty errors and the water comes back in. He says he knows exactly what's wrong and will have it fixed in a jiffy. It's the valve system. It needs to be replaced. He says there was never anything wrong with the pump. (In the meantime, the icemaker in the freezer decides not to work anymore…I mean it makes ice, but you can't get it out. So I ask him if he can look at that, too, and he says that I have to call the Sears repair line and get a freezer guy out. Yeah, you've seen where that's gotten me!) So, he replaces the valve and goes back to repairman land.
On Tuesday, I come home to find a note on my door from Sears. It states that they are sorry to have missed me. Ok then…now they're coming out after the fact. On Wednesday, I get a call from the Sears repair phone and am informed that I missed my appointment. No, I don't think so. They tell me that my dear hubby has called them for an icemaker repair. Nope…that didn't happen either. We've both sworn off ever calling them again. We finally figure out that the nice repairman on Saturday must have put in an order for us after he left..only no one told us. 🙂 So, we reschedule the repair service for the icemaker today. (That's be Tuesday, almost a week later…cause they are busy afterall.)
And then….on Saturday, I'm informed that the washing machine is full of water again…and it isn't draining again…and it has an error again. No way, no how..I"m not making that phone call again! I really loathe calling that automatic Sears repair line trying to get a real person who can help you in person.
But this morning….I can't even get it to wash a load. The error starts right away. So now it's dead. And you can't turn it off, either..it's alive…and dead. You have to completely unplug it. So I make that dreaded phone call again…because at this point, I have to do laundry, I really don't have a choice anymore. And I go through the automatic phone repair thingy not understanding anything I say until it finally gives up and transfers me to a real human being. And she was actually a real human being. So I apologize up front and ask her to forgive me for sounding desparate and frustrated, but in fact, I am deparate and frustrated and all I really want to be able to do is some laundry.
She then states that the soonest appointment is Friday afternoon. But Ma'm, I can't be here on Friday, you see, because I have to be at the hospital all day for my little one's surgery. Ok, then, how about Saturday. Well you see, ma'm, I also can't be there on Saturday, because I have this training that I have to do; it's required by law, and so I just can't skip it. Well then, how about we make it for Monday afternoon. Well ma'm, that really isn't going to work for me either, you see, because I really need to do laundry before then.
She finally asks what will work for me. Really? You're asking me what works for me? Well, see, today would work out great since I already have to be here to get the refrigerator fixed. As a matter of fact, I think it'd be great if the repair man that is already going to be here could fix the washing machine, too. She replies that would be nice, unfortunately, he's not allowed to fix the washing machine. Ok then….well, how about tomorrow if they can't do today? That would work out great for me, you see, because I'll have someone here who can probably help during that four hours that I have to wait for the next repair man.
She says it's not possible. I proceed to beg…I mean really beg. I beg so much, I ask her if she could just get a supervisor and beg him like I'm begging her. She put me on hold…for quite a while…but when she came back, she said that they agreed to send someone out if I could be home between the hours of such and such tomorrow. Yes ma'm, I will be there, if you promise to send someone who will actually fix the washer!
Shortly after, the Mr. Repairman for the freezer shows up. He takes a look, and then states he's confused, because his notes state that the freezer is completely broken and won't freeze. Nope..but if that's what it takes to get a repair man out here, then I'll go with it…but in the meantime, can you make my ice maker work…and by the way…do you fix washing machines, too?
Alas, he tells me he's actually the air conditioner repair man who just happens to be fixing the freezer today. He knows how to fix the washer, but he'll get fired if he touches it. I try to bribe him and tell him I won't tell anyone if he won't, but he can't do it. He does fix the ice maker though. That's great, except I can't wash my clothes with an ice maker.
For other Sear's Fiasco stories, read these:
Get me off this merry-go-round! That must be your constant cry!