25-08-2012, 04:19 PM
21
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Well done Meg, more people should tell 'em what for. Not a good advertisement for Bosch or Boots.When they try to sell me a warranty at the store, I usually ask in a shocked voice 'why do I need a warranty, is it a rubbish product? will it be broken in a few weeks?'
It usually embarrasses them into silence.
25-08-2012, 04:32 PM
22
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Cookiecate
->
I received this email yesterday and it seems relevant to this thread. It makes you wonder just how much money we are wasting by 'being green'Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the older woman
That, she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags
Were not good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained,
"We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The
Assistant responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did
Not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right - our generation didn't have the green thing in our
day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer
bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed,
sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and
over. So they really were recycled. We didn't have the green thing
in our day.
We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift or escalator in
every store an office building. We walked to the grocers and didn't
climb into a 200-horsepower machine every time we had to go two
blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the
throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling
machine burning up 2,000 watts - wind and solar power really did dry
our clothes back then.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not
always brand-new clothing. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we had one TV or radio in the house - not a TV in every
room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a
screen the size of Yorkshire. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred
by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for
us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, we used
wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic
bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol
just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working, so we didn't need to go to a health club to run
on treadmills that operate on electricity. We didn't have the green thing back then.
When we were thirsty, we drank from a tap instead of drinking from a
plastic bottle of water shipped from the other side of the country. We
refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we
replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor
when the blade got dull. We didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or
walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We
had one electrical socket in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to
power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to
receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 2,000 miles out in space in
order to find the nearest fish and chip shop.
But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we
old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another old person who needs a lesson in
conservation from a smart-arse young person.
Remember: Don't make old people angry. We don't like being old in the
first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.
25-08-2012, 04:34 PM
23
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Hammer
->
All toasters that on earth do dwell, crumb to crumb, crust to crust. We return thee to the element from whence thee came in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection as a soup can.
Very clever and funny Hammer.
25-08-2012, 10:57 PM
25
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Cookiecate
->
Not a crumpet or a muffin but a pop tart you have indeed brought the wrath of the dark lord (whose name should not be mentioned) on your yourself
26-08-2012, 08:46 AM
26
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
(puts boring hat on ...)Thing is that old toaster heating elements were made of a metal alloy called Nichrome. It’s an mix of nickel, chromium, and often a bit of iron to improve its mechanical properties. It’s very good for heating things both by conduction and by radiation and it’s quite long lasting.
But these days the nickel and chromium are expensive, so alloys containing other metals with similar electrical properties reduces the cost - but at a price, especially so in the case of chromium because when reduced below 20% of the nichrome alloy the effect is to increase the rate of oxidation when the toaster element is heated and so the element burns out sooner..
That’s why modern toasters take so long to toast, the element is run at a lower temperature than of old in order to reduce the oxidation.
Because the rate of oxidation can be established from the nature of the particuar alloy and the working temperature it’s common practice to set a “life” for the toaster by specifying the alloy used.
If good old 80/20 nichrome was still used that life could be up to tens of years but then, what would that do to the manufacturers of such goods?
So do toasters commit suicide? No, they just wear out at a rate determined during the design phase.
But here’s a thing to keep in mind.
Under the Sale of Goods legislation there is a presumption of life for goods that is based on expected durability, and the Act is superior to manufacturers waranty.
This means that if you bought a fridge/freezer and it went “toes up” after three or four years you CAN demand that the retailer must repair it because the expectation as per the SOGA for such a thing is six years.
And remember, the retailer can NOT pass off responsibility to the manufacturer though he might include the manufacturer in repairing the faulty goods but such arangements are down to the retailer to set up..
Your deal is with the retailer. No matter WHAT the retailer or his employee might try to tell you - and that is the LAW.
Here’s the SOGA web site.
http://oft.gov.uk/business-advice/tr...sogaexplained/
Mind you, if you’ve only paid a fiver for a Tesco “funny wonder” then it’s not going to be the same as a fifty quid thing OR to be expected to have a six year life expectation!
Probably!
28-08-2012, 09:26 AM
27
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Meg
->
Not just small appliances Jan 
a couple of weeks ago within days of ordering a new Bosch washing machine from Boots Electrical a woman rang me ostensible to discuss delivery arrangements but within seconds she was trying to sell me an extended warranty for life if I paid x amount of £ every month 
.She said the appliance was not likely to last more than 5 years to which I replied I had better cancel my order then if that was the best I could expect as the last one lasted 16 years. The woman waffled on trying to cover her confusion until I got sick of her and put the phone down.
28-08-2012, 10:09 AM
28
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Cookiecate
->
I hope you did cancel, wow you had the opportunity of a lifetime then to put this sleazy salesperson think about what she is in fact selling.
the washing machine was already on its way (she was supposedly checking out the arrangements which I thought was odd because I had already received a text giving a day and rough time of delivery) and I would probably have had to refund the delivery charge. I did however ring Bosch and tell them what I thought about the matter.
31-08-2012, 09:49 AM
30
Re: Do toasters commit suicide?
Originally Posted by Hammer
->
Cate, I was summoned to appear before the council, the black widow ritually burned my toaster guarantee bona fides.Worse yet was the destruction of my prized brass toasting trident.|
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