When Did Our World Become SO Complicated?

Over the years, we have bought cheap new cookers always gas. Usually when we have bought them, they have a dent in them or a scratch on it somewhere, this greatly reduces the price.

A lot of things, they don’t make them to last anymore, like they did long ago. So, soon, something goes wrong with it, and we must buy another. Money has always been tight. A cooker is an expensive item, especially when you are counting the pennies.

This last cooker would be our third since we have been married. It was in a bad way, the grill door was hanging off, to light the oven we had to get down on our knees and use a long fire lighter, a bit like a cigarette lighter, but it is long and thin. You must get the lighter in a certain spot, or it just wont light! Sometimes, even when we are trying to light it, it still wont light, and all the time the gas is escaping! Cats sometimes come near; thinking I am going to feed them. I sometimes think, will the house suddenly go up with a huge BANG, and it’s all over for us?

It has been quite stressful. A few times when I have been in the house on my own, wanting to put the oven on, and I just can’t get it to light, so I haven’t been able, to cook what I had planned, having, tried and tried.

I had said to Paul from November last year, “We will go together to buy a new one, six months interest free credit, one with no dents, scratches or faults.” I had also said, “We will go in January.” Well January came and went, and the days flew by. We were still struggling with the hanging grill door and the lighting of the oven.

A few days ago, we went to a huge famous shop, Paul had done his homework, he showed the sales assistant the cooker he had chosen, it was a price we could not afford if it was to be bought outright, also for £150 this package would be for delivery, for the oven to be removed and the new one reconnected. Finally, £57 was for three years insurance. This would be a luxury for us, not to worry about, if something broke or went wrong.

Everything about the order went almost well, until the sales assistant said, “The company no longer has the six months or nine months, interest free, they only do, three months or twelve months.” I replied, “That’s terrible!” She agreed, and added, “A customer yesterday, bought an iPhone and used the three months interest free, it will put other customers into debt, for they will think, that they have a year to pay, and spend more than they would normally, thinking they have plenty of time, but the year goes by that fast, and they realize then, that they have ran out of time.”

It is my card and I said to the cashier, “Can I still pay for it in six months, like I used to before?” She replied, “Yes of course,” Karen added, “Can I have your email address, this way you can have a receipt and a printed one?” I told her, “I don’t think I have looked at my emails this year,” I gave her my email address.  Karen said, “It will take up to thirty days for delivery,” We replied, “That is fine.” She was lovely and I said, “Can I leave good feedback for you?” She said, “Yes, thank you,” And gave me a paper with the info for me to give her my feedback.

The next day, I had a text from the company that would install our new cooker. I was busy that day at work so I didn’t reply to the text, which had come with information, that I am to log into an email or a phone number to ring. I decided in a few days I would ring.

The Company beat me to it and I has a phone call from a woman, who said, “I need your email address, before the oven can be delivered,” I said, “I don’t read my emails, we are on the phone now, can’t we now arrange a date for delivery?” She replied, “No, nothing will happen until I have your email address.” Reluctantly I gave my email address to her. I wasn’t very happy. She said, “Read your email.” I didn’t think she was very nice. This phone call happened while I was up Town.

Thirty minutes later I had another phone call from the Company, it was a man. He explained to me, after I had told him about the rude woman, he said, “The reason why we need your email address is, there is a form you need to fill in, we need measurements of the space where the oven is going to go.” I said, “I am glad you told me that, now it makes more sense, why they need the email address.”

I passed on the email info to Paul. Then my charger for my laptop broke, so I was unable to fill in the form. I then rang the Company and asked, “Please can I give you my Husband’s email address, as my laptop has no power?” He accepted Paul’s email address, then the next day, I went and bought, a new charger.

Paul then went on my laptop and read, the email.

We were not prepared! Amongst other things, this is what the Company wants us to do, before they will deliver and fit our brand-new oven. They want us to, “Measure 6 inches, either side of the cooker,” They want that much space to be either side or they won’t put our cooker in! To do that, we would have to move our kitchen sink and draining board! “If there is a plug on the wall above the cooker, you will need to remove it,” There is plugs above our cooker, but the cooker that we bought is not that high, it is waist high. They want us to, “Take pictures of the space where the cooker is now and copy and paste it and send it to us in the email.” We don’t know how to do that! There was a lot more information, that they wanted us to do, but we didn’t get that far.

We decided to cancel the order and go to a local shop and ask a man to come and simply take out the old cooker and put in the new. We will buy, from the shop where the items are all new, with either a dent in or a scratch on. Meghan said, “Both Companies won’t care, that you have pulled out, as your £500+ won’t be missed by such big Companies.” She is right, it won’t make a difference to them.

Yesterday I emailed the shop and have sent it to them. I will also go back in store to cancel it properly.

When did our world get SO complicated, that what was so simple before, to deliver, remove the old cooker, connect the new cooker? It will be nice to go into the shop and speak to a human being, from start to finish! No emails involved.