Tuesday 17 July 2018

Out with the old; in with the new.



When Mr Brandt sold us this oven, he guaranteed it for one year.

It broke after one year and four days, and when asked if they would ignore the four days, the bastards said 'NO'.

Since then we have had to find inventive ways of using it. We've done all sorts of oven dances, dial twiddles, and switch flickings, and until recently we'd managed to roast the fatted calf without too much difficulty.

However, the in-built 'annoyance programme' has recently totally taken over, and I haven't been able to use it for about a month, so it had to go.

The 'DARTY' men arrived, and instantly threatened to dump the new oven at the end of the drive, because our access is a bit narrow. Then after having refused to install it, because of some minor technicality, they unceremoniously dumped it in the 'Tower'. 


When they'd gone I phoned Bertrand (our electrician), and he promised to come a.s.a.p.


We knew it was dodgy asking to have it installed on Friday 13th; the 16th proved a much better bet, and all is now well. Bertrand did the job in a matter of minutes.

I should add that the 'DARTY' company delivery men have always been exemplary in the past; which is why we use them. These two last Friday were a bloody disgrace. I shall be writing!

p.s. Whilst looking for our replacement, we were amazed to see how many ovens don't have an interior light. I would have thought they were as essential as the ones inside a fridge.




37 comments:

  1. The new oven looks very nice. I've never heard of an electric oven without a light back to my grandmother's in the 1950s. An old gas oven perhaps.

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    1. We were amazed, every time we found the perfect oven, we also found it had no light. It took ages to find one at the right price, with the right facilities, AND with a light.

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  2. Dare I tell you that in the nine months that I have been in my new abode I have only used my oven twice (I have a Remoska and a Slow cooker and I eat out a lot) - but both the small and the large oven have lights (Belling)

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    1. I always thought it was standard to have an interior light; maybe it's a French thing!

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  3. I forsee a lot of baking ahead...
    Greetings Maria x

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    Replies
    1. And roasting; I can hardly wait to get a big Sunday joint in there!

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  4. It's an EU oven, bright and clean on the outside but dark and tenebrous on the inside.

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    Replies
    1. And the person who tried to install it was too pissed.

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    2. I had a good experience.
      My Kindle went belly up at the grand old age of seventeen months. I emailed Amazon and was shoved from pillar to post for three days. On the third day a new one arrived. Great but I still received emails explaining it was out of warrantee for a further four days.

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  5. I should have sent over my handyman. He would have fixed the old one in an instant and for just a few snails and a some of that local red! Mind you, those snails aren't 'traditional' so he might have had to give you a cooking lesson as well

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    Replies
    1. It's crazy. I imagine it was a tiny 'chip' that has gone crazy, but you can't replace them. I have heard of people taking them out and re-wiring them somehow; maybe your man would have done that!

      Don't worry about the snails, I'd soon have him changing his ways.

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  6. My oven has an interior light, it is a very simple oven.

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    Replies
    1. This one is quite simple. It has just two dials, and the oven can be split in two. Otherwise pretty basic (other than the price).

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  7. Same thing happened to me, only with my nice 14 month old induction hob on my freestanding cooker. Only guaranteed for a year. The 'user control board' I was told, had to fork out £150 for a new one. How can these circuit boards wear out when they have no moving parts in them?

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    Replies
    1. It's a mystery. I'm certain that 'built-in obsolescence' is real.

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  8. I don't use an oven now but remember that mine had an interior light that was located in the hottest part of the oven and most difficult to replace when it 'blew'. Maybe in the interest of us having to use less electricity and funny the new EU regulated light bulbs they think that we should us a torch!

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    Replies
    1. When I got up this morning, I thought that someone must have left a light on. The blue clock light almost lit up the whole kitchen.

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  9. I, also, thought they all had interior lights. How does it split in two? Sounds fascinating.

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    Replies
    1. It has a special dividing shelf, that means you can roast meat on top, and an apple pie underneath, without the two cross-contaminating (if you see what I mean).

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  10. Nothing seems built to last anymore, an oven should last for years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And they always did. It's the invention of the computer chip that put an end to durability.

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  11. When the two elderly delivery men brought round our oven, they carried it up three flights of stairs to the top. When I offered to help they refused, saying that they were not allowed to accept for insurance reasons. Fine by me.

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    1. After they'd threatened to dump it at the end of our track, I didn't offer them a bloody thing; not even a glass of water.

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  12. A positive about the USA, customer service on the whole is pretty good here and I can't imagine after one year and four days that they would not give you a new oven or at least a substantial credit towards a new one. One year that's a disgrace, my stove is at least twenty years old and going strong.

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    Replies
    1. The new one has a two year guarantee; We shall be crossing our fingers at two years and four days!

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  13. Circuit boards are the reason behind most appliances breaking and only lasting a limited time. The cost for replacing the board here is usually only a little less than buying a new appliance. I have had washers, dryers, ovens and dishwasher last 20+ years, now I am replacing them after 10 or less.

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    Replies
    1. And as Sue G pointed out above 'they have no moving parts', so how can they go wrong?

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  14. I approach newfangled appliances with trepidation - all that electronic circuitry adds to the far shorter lifespans and makes it hard to fix yourself, if you're so inclined. Finding something without too much whizzbangery is nigh on impossible. That said, I love having an oven with pyrolytic cleaning! Happy Roasting, Cro!

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    Replies
    1. I feel a bit like that about cars. All that wizardry is bound to go wrong. I like wind-down windows, spark plugs, and cleanable distributors.

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    2. Too true. Why can't windows be wind-down as a standard? We had a nest of ants living on the circuit board of the air conditioner in our (modern) Fiat 500. Their little acid coated feet sent the car's electronics haywire! Makes my eyes water thinking how much it cost to replace.

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  15. I shall soon be replacing my oven. Thanks for the tip about the light.

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    Replies
    1. We insisted on three things. Good quality, simple controls, and the interior light (under about €500). This one seems to do the job.

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  16. Wow! only a 1 year guarantee? That is what I call planned obsolescence! More like a 1 year plan to break contract.

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    Replies
    1. What a coincidence that it broke just four days after the expiry date!!!

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  17. My granddaughter's first foray into oven cooking was a peach cobbler. She kept opening the oven door to peek. I located the oven light switch, and pressed. She was happier with that than with a lovely little peach cobbler.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't used ours yet. I shall baptise it by roasting something on Sunday

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  18. Although here things come with warranties of course, the law makes a stand on fit for purpose and durability and an oven used normally as a family would, would be covered by a non avoidable statutory warranty for more than one year. The judge, if it went to court, would probably say 'how long would a reasonable person expect an oven to last before a repair was required'. These cases don't actually go to the expensive court system though. It would be dealt with by a small claims tribunal.

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