George Graham

Let the Washing Begin

Surprise! We have a washing machine! It arrived through torrential rain at 7 a.m. today. And what a washer it is! Huuuuuge!

Sears finally managed to replace the Kenmore in accordance with our home appliance warranty. But it took nearly five weeks.

Weeks of daily badgering from me, two service calls from DLS Appliance Experts to try and repair our unresponsive Kenmore, and a Kafkaesque series of miscues.

At times I suspected Sears of deliberately stalling. It looked as if they hoped I would abandon my efforts to make them live up to our contract. I  even figured the home appliance deal might be a scam.

But it seems Sears’ heart is pure after all. It’s the corporate giant’s brain that’s addled.

Here’s a conundrum for you.

Not five miles from our home is a mall. In that mall is a Sears retail store. In that store are – as they might say in Jamaica – enough Kenmore washing machines “to stone dawg (dogs).”

But when the Sears folks finally give up on their clumsy attempts to revive our Kenmore washer, they don’t just ship me another Kenmore out of their store at the mall.

They buy a massive GE machine that has to be much more expensive than our Kenmore. And they hire a firm in Tampa to deliver it.

As you might know, Tampa is more than 30 miles away from our Lakeland home (and the Sears at the mall).

But I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess.

We have a working washer at last. And it didn’t cost a cent more than a $75 service call fee stipulated in the home appliance warranty.

So, with dirty laundry overflowing the laundry room, it’s time to stop complaining and  get washing.

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com