Arthritic Hands v White Goods

stickywicket

How do you buy them? (White goods not hands though, come to think of it..... )

Our oven is moribund. The door will no longer shut properly and, yesterday, the engineer officially pronounced it unfixable. This brings us back to the nightmare of buying white goods.

Last time it was a fridge. These days even the C*m*t showrooms seem to have few different models. Everything is online which is useless for those of us who need to try (knobs, doors, shelves etc) before we buy. With the fridge I got so fed up, tired and achey standing on one leg virtually, that I allowed myself to be talked into buying one similar-but-slightly-different to one in the store. As a result I now have to decant my milk into smaller bottles before putting it in the fridge as I can't haul big ones off the lowest door shelf (which is relatively high) and I'm too tight fisted to pay twice as much for the smaller bottles. Also, I can only open the lovely large veg drawer if there's not too much heavy stuff in it.

I really don't want to do it all again with an oven. Any suggestions?

stellabean

I have found that the department store that considers it's staff as partners has a good selection of goods to try and you get a longer guarantee too.
I like our new one as the door slides out of the way so I have less risk of burning myself if I loose my balance. Good luck in your search as it is so important to get the right one.

GraceB

SW,

I'd also visit the store that Stellabean has alluded to. They tend to give longer guarantees on their electrical goods, as well as offering a delivery service (not sure if they'd install or not).

I use a microwave/combination counter-top oven 99% of the time. Putting my big oven on just for me is a waste of electric. Plus the seal has gone, but I'm too mean to pay to fix something I barely use and that's if I can find someone to do it for me. :roll:

Hope you find something suitable.

GraceB

dreamdaisy

If I could redesign our kitchen the one thing I would ensure is that the oven is at waist height, I hope yours is because that does make one thing easier. I opted for a slide and hide model, with little cylinder knobs that are pushed back into the fascia for a neat finish. A gentle nudge pops them out and they are easy to turn albeit a little small. It also has telescopic shelves which might be a feature for some but I remain wary!

I think one has to go out and try which nowadays means trudging from one out-of-town conglomerate to another which is easy round here but in the Borders? I suspect a trek to Edinburgh might be on the cards . . . . . DD

stickywicket

Thank you everyone for some very useful pointers / reminders. I did go to our local C*rry's (Not C*m*t. I can never remember which went out of business. They were side by side where we used to live) yesterday afternoon. They had about 10 potential but stacked so that I could only try 5. One was OK. We are now considering our options.

Stella and Grace, I would have agreed with you about JL until I bought my last tablet from them and, frankly, I felt I knew as much about such things as the salesman. And my knowledge is postage stamp size. So I'm slightly reluctant. But, Grace, you have reminded me that my microwave is also a combi one, bought with the intention of my cooking shepherd's pies, fish pies etc in it before I realised I couldn't, safely, get them out when hot. BUT, I've since bought some dinky little child's oven gloves which actually fit my hands well so I might have another go.

I can't do sliding doors as I'd never reach down to close them and my finger ends are no longer push button friendly though I do have a cracking rheumatic nodule on one knuckle which is frequently pushed into service

We would dearly like to buy from the firm who pronounced our current one inoperable as they will install it free and, most endearingly, offered to bring down to ground floor level for me to try, both the models they had in stock. That's from 2 storeys up They will also get hold of any other model I want. That's service.

Tomorrow, I'm doing a cheese and onion pie for the family. I might give the microwave a try and then have another think. Thanks again.

dreamdaisy

Go with the local people, they sound conscientious, helpful and reliable. Ignore the chains as they are anything but once you've parted with your hard-earned shekels. DD

GraceB

No worries. Glad to be of help.

For what it's worth I agree wholeheartedly with DD. I always use local suppliers whenever I can as I believe they offer a personal service and, if there are any issues afterwards, they are more easily resolved. It also keeps my money local by supporting the local businesses.

I hope your session using your combi oven for our pie was a success. And good luck getting a replacement oven.

GraceB