It is all Jesse White's fault

I know, I know...it isn't nice to blame those who aren't alive to defend themselves, but I call things as I see them.

Ever since Jesse White ceased being the Maytag repairman, customer service has gone downhill.

If you are too young to recognize this man from Maytag commercials, you might not know that people used to buy a brand name because of the manufacturer's reputation, not because of celebrity endorsement.

Maytag won't be getting any endorsements from me, and yes, I know they are now owned by Whirlpool but given that the Whirlpool part also keeps breaking, I'm not too sure of them either. I have just ordered our third replacement latch for an almost 9 year old dishwasher.  Every 2-3 years that &%$# thing breaks. Here is proof, a post from three years ago. Four latches (counting the original) in this amount of time is ridiculous, don't you think? There aren't kids here playing with the door and we don't slam things in the kitchen.

Thanks to Jesse White no longer making sure that Maytag appliances never need service, I am washing dishes by hand (oh, the horror of it!) while we wait for the part to be delivered. Yesterday I baked a cake and cupcakes for my grand-nephew's birthday. Between batter bowls, cake pans, frosting bowls and decorator tips, there was a lot to wash.

His cake is a chocolate football. I didn't want to write Happy Birthday Josh on the cake so I made molded chocolate to spell this out and place on top of the Funfetti cupcakes. All the cupcakes aren't in the photo, but you get the idea.

I could see that I wasn't going to have enough chocolate to melt for the letters so I went to Michaels, thinking I could get in and out of there more quickly than Joann's which is a bigger store. Both are close to my home. I had the chocolate wafers, two sheets of scrapbook paper and some stickers in my hand and waited in line. Only one cashier was working.

I am not usually impatient but it does irritate me that this is often the case at Michaels. I was fine yesterday until the woman ahead of me tried to purchase a $3 item with a $100 bill and there wasn't enough change in the register. A manager had to be called and the cashier finally saw how long the line was and called for another cashier to open.

A second cashier arrived and called for next in line (me) but a woman from somewhere made a beeline to her check out. The cashier didn't correct her. I was annoyed but figured this would still be faster than the first line which was still waiting for cash. Boy, was I wrong! The woman who cut in had an exchange. The manager had to be called to approve that. I was so irritated I didn't dare open my mouth. I wanted to say something nasty to the shopper, to the cashier and to the manager if she ever showed up again.

But I didn't. I am not confrontational and I agree with the philosophy that you can't fix stupid. What I did was uncharacteristic of me. I put what I was going to buy on the counter and walked out. Will anyone but the next shopper in line (she was rolling her eyes and beginning to fume too) know why I did this? Probably not.

Good thing I plan to avoid Michaels for a while because of this recurring cluster-you-know-what at the check out. I figure my picture is probably in the employee break room by now. Not the one you see above and to the right, this one, the customer who made more work for someone.

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us and dishwasher replacement shopping won't begin in earnest until mid March at least. Thankfully, hubby is adept at repairs and even with expedited shipping, the part is only costing us $21. If the latch were my only issue with this dishwasher I would order a few of them.

The only thing stopping me from saying "they don't make appliances like they used to" is that is what old people say. I ain't old yet. I'd say more but I have to get going. If we're going to take advantage of the early bird senior specials at the local restaurant, I need to get going. Do you think I just contradicted myself? I didn't. I'm not old unless there is a discount involved.  Obviously I need to take advantage of them so I can keep buying replacement latches!

See you in Joann's or Hobby Lobby.  If you see my picture in Michaels, please tell I have a nice smile for a mature (sounds better than old) curmudgeon.