Popsicles, pickles and Polish Sausage

About a month ago (over 4th of July weekend) I went out to buy a new refrigerator. Being the good consumer that I am, I of course wanted the biggest, fanciest one I could find. (Notice, however, that I didn't say 'shiny.' I hate stainless steel appliances.) I had set out to Sears, since they had a 0% interest for a year sale going on, and I wanted one of those three-door jobbers - the kind with two doors on the top for the fridge, and a drawer freezer on the bottom. For some unknown reason, they call that style 'french doors.' After chasing around the city, I ended up at a mall that I thought had a Sears in it, but in fact did not. However, across the street was the Sears Outlet store. lo and behold, they were having a 50% off sale on refrigerators! So, the $1800 fridge I wanted was available for under $900, because it was a scratch & dent model. Fast forward one week, to the delivery day. The delivery guys came in, and although I told them to bring it in the back door off of the patio, they insisted they could fit it thru the door from the living room. Problem - coming thru the door from the living room, there is a counter directly in front of the door, about 36" in. The fridge is 35 5/8", and you have to turn it to get it where it belongs. Counters don't move, and fridges don't "squish" so I didn't see how they would be able to get it thru that door, but I let them try. Twenty minutes and several new scratches later, they agreed to take it around to the patio door, where it fit easily. That was the good part. I plugged in my new fridge, and started transferring the stuff from my old fridge. An hour or so later, I heard the first load of ice drop out of the icemaker. Before I went to bed, I turned the fridge down from the highest setting to medium. In the morning when I got up, the fridge was warm and everything in the freezer was melted. (yuck.) I called Sears, and they told me (after a bit of a runaround) that they would replace the fridge. It is now almost a month later. I was starting to worry, and called the manager of the Outlet Center. It turns out that particular model is discontinued, so after a bit more of a runaround, he told me he would order me a comparable model, new, and swap them out.

Fast forward again to today - the delivery day for the new fridge. I must say, Sears is good about delivery, they said they would be here between 8:30 and 10:30 AM, and they were - that is especially appreciated compared to the "service window" most others (phone company, gas company, plumber - whatever) give you - usually along the lines of "we'll be there between 8AM and 2007. Maybe." the guys were very efficient, and knew what they were doing. They took the old fridge out and brought the new one in, no problems. After they left, I started transferring stuff to the new fridge, and guess what? there is no water filter or water dispenser. This is what held up my getting a replacement - they wanted to be sure I got the same features on the new one as I had on the "old" one. Bonus: the new one has digital controls, Drawback: it doesn't have the water filter, or water dispenser. Bonus: the new fridge is, well, new. It is not a scratch & dent or a returned model. Drawback: I really liked the water dispenser.

So, do I jut take the brand new fridge an shut up, or do I: a.) go thru the whole process again, and hope they get it right this time, or; b.) bitch about it, and try to get $$ knocked off of my bill? I'm not sure...