The Daily Peeve / Rant

[iris lilies]

My customer service rant is this: I identified online a refrigerator I wanted to buy but it had an ice maker. I do not want an ice maker. I called the chat number for the vendor to see if the ice maker could be removed. The little customer service drone checked and no, the ice maker cannot be removed.

I spent around 2 hours identifying this appliance, so it was back to the drawing board. After anotjr hour + I# I stu,beled onto the same model, different model number, WITHOUT ice maker.

The little customer service rep needs more training because he should have told me “lady, here is the same appliance without the ice maker in model xxxxxx”

I hate buying appliances and I usually let DH do that. This has been a chore. I am buying an apartment size refrigerator for my condo and there arent a ton of them out there.

[Yppej]

Thanks Jane.

[SteveinMN]

Does anyone use Consumer Cellular? They look like they might be the right price point for me for a monthly service plan but I don't know about reception, customer service, and the actual phones.

We've had Consumer Cellular for maybe 3-4 years now. We like them fine.

CC is what's known as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) so they don't operate their own towers, etc.. CC resells service they buy from AT&T and T-Mobile. Coverage seems to be better than what most MVNOs using AT&T or T-Mobile offer. You can choose which of the two carriers you want (assuming your phone can use either); if you don't choose, you'll most likely get T-Mobile. So that's reception. The phones are pretty much the same ones you get elsewhere except that CC does carry a couple of models geared very specifically at seniors and, well, people who just want to make calls, not text or check the weather or watch video. And, like most carriers, if you buy the phone through them, it is locked to that carrier for a period of some months and won't (likely) work on other carriers/networks.

One note: they're not kidding you about your phone being "too old." This happened to us and happens to a bunch of other people. The introduction of new higher "speed" frequencies has been accomplished in part by taking old "spectrum" used by few customers and adding it the current standard, LTE. This means towers that used to serve older phones are fewer and further between, which means more calls that cannot be started or that drop. That applies to data, too. Pretty much every carrier now will refuse to add to their network a phone that cannot work over LTE, so eventually you'll need a new one, but there are some inexpensive phones out there which have LTE so you'll have to ante up but you may not have to ante up much.

Customer service has been good, particularly for an MVNO. Sometimes the wait to speak with someone is rather long (apparently CC is popular enough that demand has sometimes outrun their ability to hire CSRs) but once you connect with them, your problem generally is solved even if escalation is involved. Customer service is geared more toward people who are not phone-savvy, which I find slows things down some but suits most CC customers.

Prices are reasonable. We pay $46 a month for both of us with our own phones, unlimited talking and texting, and 3 GB of data that we never use up. Their mobile app and Web site are decently useful and CC is one of the preferred carriers at Target stores in case you need a new SIM or some help setting up some things.

Hope this helps!

[SteveinMN]

I do not want an ice maker. I called the chat number for the vendor to see if the ice maker could be removed. The little customer service drone checked and no, the ice maker cannot be removed.

Our current fridge (Whirlpool) came with an ice maker. It, too, "cannot be removed". Maybe there's another model out there without the ice maker *shrug*. But we simply removed the cube bin, did not connect a water line to the fridge, and have back most of the space in the freezer and don't have to deal with the havoc that an ice maker can cause. Sometimes the way over the mountain is "around".

[Yppej]

TY Steve.

[iris lilies]

Our current fridge (Whirlpool) came with an ice maker. It, too, "cannot be removed". Maybe there's another model out there without the ice maker *shrug*. But we simply removed the cube bin, did not connect a water line to the fridge, and have back most of the space in the freezer and don't have to deal with the havoc that an ice maker can cause. Sometimes the way over the mountain is "around".

I wondered about that, but because I can’t stand in front of the machine and see for sure how much space is impacted by a removed icemaker, I didn’t want to risk it. This is already an apartment size refrigerator, a small one.


Here’s how fancy my 100 year old condo is: it actually does have a water hook up for ice maker! I was shocked to see that. It’s on the wall opposite of the sink.

But I aint gettin’ involved with no ice maker.

[early morning]

But dogs LOVE ice makers, IL! Our friends had to disconnect theirs after their pit bull learned how to empty it onto the kitchen floor when she wanted a crunchy cold treat. It took them a while to figure out why they couldn't find and fix the leak that was leaving a pool in front of the fridge....

[iris lilies]

But dogs LOVE ice makers, IL! Our friends had to disconnect theirs after their pit bull learned how to empty it onto the kitchen floor when she wanted a crunchy cold treat. It took them a while to figure out why they couldn't find and fix the leak that was leaving a pool in front of the fridge....

oh, funny!

[sweetana3]

Ice maker nice for a family. But for a couple or single, we did not find we used enough ice to keep the ice fresh that was inside the machine. Our neighbor had a bad water leak from their ice maker. Huge cost since it happened right after they put their house on the market and affected the sale. We opted for more space and no water anything in the refrigerator.

I hate water leaks. Our brand new bathroom had a crack in the pipe behind the shut off valve in the wall. We are now waiting for all the necessary fixes. New entry floor, repair to hall, wall and paint. uggg. However, the work was warrantied for 2 years. Still uggg.

[iris lilies]

Ice maker nice for a family. But for a couple or single, we did not find we used enough ice to keep the ice fresh that was inside the machine. Our neighbor had a bad water leak from their ice maker. Huge cost since it happened right after they put their house on the market and affected the sale. We opted for more space and no water anything in the refrigerator.

I hate water leaks. Our brand new bathroom had a crack in the pipe behind the shut off valve in the wall. We are now waiting for all the necessary fixes. New entry floor, repair to hall, wall and paint. uggg. However, the work was warrantied for 2 years. Still uggg.

I read somewhere that ice makers are among the top causes of insurance claims due to water damage. I don’t want one in my condo where I’ll be gone for days and weeks at a time.

When I mentioned this to my insurance guy he thought that was a perfectly fine idea, and he mentioned the other thing I
should do put a new seal around the toilet because those go bad often, too.