J. Alex Lang's Journal

Let it shine on me
We had an interesting little appliance drama lately. I hope you like the funny ending.

September 3 we bought a nice washer and dryer from Lowe's on the 12-months no interest promotion, and got rebate forms for free delivery and some gift cards and stuff. We got a nice high-capacity fast drying setup, since we do a ton of laundry and don't have a lot of time.

September 6, Lowe's arrived nice and early to deliver them, only to find that each unit was 2" wider than the basement stairwell. Our landlord was there to help us remove handrails etc, and even that wasn't going to work. Oh well. The delivery guys said they'd refund it back at the store, that this happens all the time. Okay, cool.

The next day I went back, tape measure in hand. The only matched pair that was 25 1/2" or smaller was a crappy GE set that looked like something you'd see in a college dorm coin-op laundry. Oh well, they were cheap, anyway. I got the warranty for good measure, just as I'd done before. I go to pay for them, and oh wait - it's not Labor Day weekend any more. No more 12-months promo. Well, I got 6 months and assurance that the manager would adjust it the next day (she did not).

Alright, no big deal. Delivery happened on the next day, and fit like a glove. I had to run an extension cord from the other side of the basement just to test the washer, and damn! the washer's timer was weird. Sometimes it would work fine, other times the timer would stay where I left it. It seemed to have run overnight the one night. Didnt' make any sense.
The dryer needed a gas line. Back to Lowe's, bought one last Saturday. Damn! Not long enough. Sunday, bought another at Home Depot. Same length, I should have checked first, dumbass. Okay fine. Sunday afternoon I went back to Lowe's to return the first gas pipe kit, only to find that that is the longest legal length in PA (48"). The helpful (this time) Lowe's guy directs me to gas pipe extensions. Okay, I can handle this.

Went back home, and busted out the pipe wrench, and like a pro I extended the gas line, put the hose on, did the leak check, and got everything working. Oh wait, I forgot, I need to vent this dryer. (I set off the smoke detectors testing it...) Today the landlord installed an outside vent for us. (He rocks, by the way). Okay, time to get some laundry done despite the weird washer. It seemed like it would work right anytime I was watching it but it would run forever stuck in the same cycle any other time.

Earlier today I called Lowe's at the store, then the credit card, then the rebate center, all only to find that the manager still is the only one that can get me the 12-month credit promo, but that the rebates should be okay. Whew. I discovered in playing with the recepits (they'd mailed the refund receipt to me by then) that they refunded the big washer/dryer and delivery but not the warranty. So I need to get them to refund me one warranty.

So finally, tonight, I threw in some wash, and got a load into the dryer. Damn! The dryer was doing the same thing! I wondered if maybe we had a ground fault somewhere or something. (Who knows, I'm no electrician). I walked up the steps and flicked off the light.

And flicked the light back on.

Sure enough, the landlord had re-routed the extension cord to run on the same circuit that the basement lights were on. I checked where I'd plugged them in earlier - same circuit.

Dumbass.

Apparently I lack common sense occasionally. At least I didn't call Lowes demanding a service call. ;)

On Saturday a friend and I replaced the alternator in the big blue van, so far that is going well. I hope it goes better than the washer and dryer did...

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