For context, I have a bread maker that’s been serving us well over the last two years.
It’s a basic Hamilton Beach unit.
A few weeks back, I had leaks through the bottom of the bread pan. At it turns out, the seals wear out and eventually need to be replaced. In my case, the pin that holds the paddle (which kneeds the dough) came right out, so one of the clips must be busted.
Anyway, seeing that this machine is still under warranty, and these “seal kits” seem to be available for quite a few brands and models, I figure it would be an easy resolution.
Well, not really.
The company said they don’t have replacement parts, but they’d be happy to send an entirely new bread machine (different model) if I paid the shipping.
Yeah, no. Shipping costs way more than the part I need (almost half what I paid for the machine!). And it’s environmentally wasteful to replace a machine for such a stupid issue (they wanted me to cut the cord on the old unit before disposing of it).
To make a long story short, I insisted that they only replace the bread basket, which was a much lower cost to ship anyway, and I can keep using my perfectly working machine.
Side quest: I could look for replacement seals for this machine, but apparently, they are pretty model-specific and may not fit if it’s off by even a single mm.
Had the same issue with two vacuums in a row. Both broke within a couple months and couldn’t be reasonably serviced. Ended up with a 10-year-old used Kirby that feels like it should have a pull cord starter. Absolute beast of a unit and almost every (if not every) piece can be replaced.
Don’t even get me started with vacuums! We have a Shark vacuum that was gifted to us. It works great, and I have no complaints… except for this one thing:
The hose had split one day, and having looked at a few videos on how to fix this common problem, I got to work.
Shark, with their engineers, made it so that the hose has a wire running through it, making it impossible to fix this very simple problem.
I call up their service, because the machine was still under warranty. They wanted me to VIDEO CALL showing the issue with the hose, then claimed that the hose was a consumable item and not covered under warranty! Like, WTF?? I argued with them, and they finally agreed to replace the hose with shipping at my expense.
Infuriating.
I do remember older vacuums being way more serviceable. My only real complaint about older vacs is that they tend to use disposable bags, which I hate (another consumable!). But when it comes time to replace this, I will be shopping around for the most repairable models.
Yes. I have emptied many disposable bags and kept on using them. Takes five or ten minutes and is a filthy job (don’t rip it!), but quicker than chasing down more bags.
LOL. We have a robot vacuum that self-empties into a larger bag, and we do empty that one many times over 😂