Four microwaves (and a tooth)

Seeing as Mr Fixit's fixiting skills didn't quite extend to repairing the touchpad controls on our broken microwave, I headed off to buy us a new one. But (and I'm still not sure why) instead of driving straight to the nearest K-mart or Target, I somehow decided to have a look at a nearby large factory outlet for electrical goods. And having stopped there, I proceeded to purchase a microwave from them, one that said it retailed for $250, marked down to $99. Only the microwave I'd paid $99 for wasn't actually a factory second, as we found to our dismay that night when we unpacked it from the box. It was a faulty one that had been repaired and it still had the scorch marks inside it from where it had previously blown up, not to mention being pretty dinged up on the outside. Still, we'd paid the money so we cleaned it up and gave it a try; but I was rather relieved when the touchpad on it stopped working within 24 hours. I took it back the next morning, and they told me they'd replace it. No, no, I said, I want my money back, which led to a 15 minute discussion where they claimed they couldn't give my money back and I said they could because they'd sold me stuff that didn't even work. Eventually and mostly because they seemed nice-ish /not sleazy and I am soft, I walked out with a replacement microwave that I made them check in the shop and which appeared to be fine. Only the next day it had a white spark explosion inside which shorted our fuses, and this time I sent Fixit back with it, looking strong and grumpy. They handed over the $99 immediately, and he went to K-mart and bought us a brand new one for $79.

I think the lesson to be learned here is that there are some electrical goods where it is a good idea to get a reconditioned one and save your dollars, but microwave ovens do not fall into that category. Also that I will never shop at Boom Electrical again.

The End.

PS Cherub's other top tooth fell out this morning, and was not swallowed. It has gone to school with him for Show and Tell.