APPLIANCE: A piece of equipment designed to perform a specific task.

“Appliances these days are meant to be shiny and pretty, 

    and it’s the finish that costs the thousands of dollars. 

    The actual quality of the appliance is lacking, 

    Nothing is built to last anymore.”  

Words I read recently in a kitchen blog.

    Five years ago Mr. Wonderful and I remodeled our kitchen. I’m talking everything from cabinets to countertops to windows, along with a spiffy fleet of Samsung appliances. The works. And for the past five year every appliance worked. Until this past May. 

The Samsung dishwasher suddenly wouldn’t dry dishes. I called my appliance repair man who told me, “I don’t touch Samsungs — can’t get the parts.” Several other phone calls to a Mr. Fixit in York and a Mr. I-Can-Repair-Anything in Gorham revealed they don’t touch Samsung either. 

So I called a phone number listed in the dishwasher manual and explained my situation. After several discussions and three more phone calls, they eventually arranged for a service person to come to my home.

In the process of repairing the dishwasher, the repairman asked if our Samsung refrigerator water filter was up-to-date. We looked, it wasn’t, he ordered the part and said, “Don’t worry, It’s a snap to put it in.” And off he went, dishwasher fixed, water filter headed our way. 

When the water filter arrived, it didn’t “snap” in. It didn’t even fit. Mr. W. and I tried everything to no avail. So I called Samsung Headquarters. (By now I was considering putting them on speed-dial.) 

After listening to elevator music for 20 minutes, being transferred to four different departments, including, unbelievably, someone in the Sears Automotive Department (“How did I get you?”), I finally was told “That’s the wrong part. The one you want is no longer in stock, it’s not available. It’s been discontinued.” 

DISAPPOINTING! So I did what my friend Meg taught me: I went on line and Googled Samsung’s Board of Directors. I sent 15 letters to everyone from a Mr. Oh-Hyun Kwon to Samsung Electronics USA Office of the President. And a few other guys, just to be safe. My question was: Can you honestly tell me that a five-year-old refrigerator no longer has available parts????

Shortly thereafter I received a letter from Jasmine in the USA Office of the President, Samsung Electronics. She wrote, “We are truly sorry to hear how frustrating your experience has been with replacing the water filter on your RS277ACRS/XAA refrigerator unit. Samsung would like to evaluate the issue further by authorizing one of our certified technician access the issue.”

Progress.

The technician came, he saw, he conquered. The water filter replacement I’d been sent required more than a “snap”— it took significant arm work to muscle it in, but he managed to do it. And since he had “repaired” that in less than a minute, I knew we had time to discuss my Samsung microwave door which suddenly wouldn’t stay closed. 

“Oh, that just needs a new door latch spring,” the young man said. He ordered one right there on his Samsung Galaxy phone, and then said, “The thing is, because the microwave is above the stove, I will need to bring an extra person with me for the repair. It’s procedure. And that means the visit to fix an $8 part will probably cost you around $250. Are we sure this is what you want to do?”

The new door latch spring is en route to us from Amazon. Mr. Wonderful assures me he will be able to put it in, perhaps with the assistance of our son-in-law. 

I’m now eyeballing my Samsung stove with apprehension.