February 21, 2009
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While you all have been over at Facebook, I have been online reading consumer reports. I’m learning about appliances. You can click on the picture and up comes a review, the specs; anything you’d ever want to know.
After I found four dishwashers and four refrigerators with good reviews, the right measurements, and in my price range — That took three days — I tried to match up the different styles.
I was going with black and stainless or just stainless. I drew pictures next to the model numbers and called Sears to see if I could look at them on the floor. I was worried that the sheens on the stainless would not match up. All but one refrigerator was in stock.
A Russian woman named Marina was in charge of the refrigerators. She spoke with a thick accent, saying “Stanley steel” for stainless steel. It was funny the first couple times. When I seemed to waver she launched into the most annoying prattle which I might have been able to ignore were it not for the accent. I wasn’t wavering, I was trying to remember what the reviews said.
About that time Roger appears. He sells dishwashers. Marina doesn’t seem to want to relinquish me but I explain to them that I am trying to find a match for the refrigerator we are standing in front of. In my picture this particular style of dishwasher looks like it will match but they are both “Stanley steel” and will be side-by-side in my kitchen.
Roger takes me over to his section and shows me “this year’s best buy.” The latch is broken. Not one review mentioned the latch. I hadn’t even considered comparing latches. I show him my pictures and, pointing to the one with the rounded handle, I ask if he has it. He only has it in black but he swears the stainless will match the refrigerator. He, too, starts in with the sales pitch, and I assure him I know all about the pros and cons of the machines I’ve drawn.
The rest was painful and nervewracking but I bought what I needed and it was on sale and I have a year, interest-free, to pay for it. Am I a grownup or what.
Comments (3)
I bow to you! If I go and buy appliances the salepeople will have a good time to eat me alive:)
yuck! i hate appliance shopping! they always have some flaw that no one thought to tell you and you’re stuck with it forever- or until you move… we need new appliances for this house and i can’t even begin to think about the whole buying process…. sigh!
Grown up and smart as a whip too. Doing the research is something more and more clerks around here are more than happy to back away from. They seem to know the days are gone when they can do a pressure sale.
Glad you got what you needed. Sometimes that simple thing is very hard to accomplish for me.