I have got to be the wordls unluckiest person!

[justine1]

Hi everyone

I am feeling really down today!!!I have never,ever been a lucky person but as I get older my luck keeps getting worse.I hate complaining cause I know how lucky I am in the "greater scheme of things" but when things go down hill for me they REALLY GO DOWN

Of course this time of year is pretty much the same for everyone,paying bills catching up with payments after christmas,plus the weather

Well,my problem is I have no luck with electrical appliances (mainly vaccuum cleaners) I go through approx.4 each year.I tried expensive ones with guarentees in the past and just a month after it expires it breaksdown.Now my washing machine(which is only 16 months old) has given up I managed to drain the water out carefully to get the clothes out,so they dont smell,but I really dont know what to do.I have no money at the mo,so I got to options: 1.I could wait,using laundrette in the meantime,and buy a new one in two months time.(£250)

OR 2.As above but get the repair man out(£120 all inclusive "no hidden costs")

I do worry with my track record if I go for option 2 it will breakdown again after a month then need to spend same as 1,so confused and so annoyed!

[JsMum]

Hi Justine, have you heard of Family Fund, they help with the costs of these things if you have to use them due to a child with special needs, if you havent heard of them, then apply.

 

http://www.familyfund.org.uk/

 

 

Contact A Family also have a list of grants and funding for appliances exct so contact these for a list also.

 

http://www.cafamily.org.uk/families/index.html {later corrected as i put familyfund again here, sorry!}

 

If your on means tested benefits there is also goverment grants available too, so contact your social worker who will help you apply.

 

JsMumxxxx

 

Edited January 6, 2010 by JsMum

[baddad]

No - you can't be the world's unluckiest person 'cos that's my job! Seriously, if i fell in a barrel of nipples I'd come up sucking my thumb... etc etc...

 

Anyhoo: a more practical suggestion. I know it's more expense initially, but if you are cursed as far as all things electrical go why not take out the extended insurance options at the time of purchase? Or better yet - i think you can buy a 'one payment covers them all' policy from electricity/gas suppliers these days.

If it's any consolation I've had a repairmen today (fnar fnar) to fix my 18 month old frost-free fridge/freezer which had started sounding more like a jumbo jet taking off than a domestic appliance. He told me it needs defrosting. I said 'but it's a frost free model'. He said 'yes, but sometimes they get blocked and then they freeze up - it's just you can't see it because of the back panel'...

Long and short - he's coming back in two weeks to replace the THERMOSTAT (sorry, for those who don't know, 'THERMOSTAT' is the official word you use in shouting competitions, so you have to shout THERMOSTAT rather than just saying THERMOSTAT. Yes, he looked a bit shocked too :lol) and I've spent the arvo doing his job for him by defrosting it with a hairdrier and clearing the area behind the back panel.

Anyhoo, more by luck than judgement I do have an extended warranty - and if the new THERMOSTAT doesn't cure the freeze-up problem for the duration of the remaining three and a half years I will be demanding an equiv model in replacement.

I know it's completely bonkers to have to pay extra for reliability (why not just build 'em right in the first place?) but it's probably the best bet for peeps like us who always cop for the 'built at the end of the week' model.

Oh - we bought a new telly just before xmas too... The third one has been okay so far, but the first two each went wrong within days...

 

L&P

 

BD

 

Oh: PS - on the washing machine dilemma I'd probably go for the '£120 no hidden costs'.. .chances are it's just the belt, and will be good for another five or six months at least. Once you've done that, save up the 250.00 for a new one but put it in a bank account and let it sit until needed. That way, if the w/m keeps working you can use the 250 to buy a 'one payment covers them all' appliance plan and you're sorted.

Edited January 6, 2010 by baddad

[justine1]

Thank you both.I forgot to also mention that I had cut my finger on Monday got two stitches So I do feel little sorry for myself.Good to have a moan on here.Tanks again for listening!

[tjw]

Thank you both.I forgot to also mention that I had cut my finger on Monday got two stitches So I do feel little sorry for myself.Good to have a moan on here.Tanks again for listening!

hi justine

you are having it bad at the mo hows the finger hope it is healing, the washing machine is another problem but proberly better getting it repair have you seen how much laurnderets cost wow got to say bd made me laugh with the barrel joke never heard that one b4 cheered me up hope it did the same for you

takecare

theresa

[Stella63]

Hi Justine,

 

I really feel your pain and know what its like, particularly with washing machines - i get through them annually!!! Infact I was saying to DH only the other day (and I knew it was bad luck!) 'I'm amazed that I have had this washing machine 3.5 years' - since the great flood where we lost everything downstairs! and what has happened now? It is making some really nasty, serious noises!!!

 

Still, there should be some bargains around this time of year???!!!

 

Stella xx

[Kathryn]

Baddad, our Fridge/freezer has lasted nearly 21 years and survived two moves - we bought it when L was 3 weeks old. Ironically, I'm desperate to get rid of it as it doesn't fit the kitchen but it refuses to die.

 

I sympathise Justine- our washing machine conked out (big bang, smoke coming out the back) a few months ago when we were really short of money and we had to scrape the money together to replace it. We were at the launderette every weekend for a month as we couldn't afford to replace it straight away and then we had to wait for a delivery...

 

We take these appliances for granted, don't we, but when they go wrong it causes chaos!

 

K x

 

 

[Tally]

What a really rubbish time you are having. Things always break down just after the garuntee has expired, don't they!

 

The door fell off the front of my washing machine and water went everywhere. Fortunately I was home to mop it up, else it could have made a real mess of the flat downstairs! I had to use the launderette for ages, but we were so skint I couldn't afford to dry things and had to carry it all home soaking wet. The launderette was over a mile away and I had to carry those heavy bags all that way, it was exhausting. It was about a year before I found the other launderette that was about two minutes' walk from my house

 

Surprised you have a hairdryer baddad. What do you two boys do with a hairdryer?

[baddad]

Surprised you have a hairdryer baddad. What do you two boys do with a hairdryer?

 

Erm... defrost the freezer, of course!

Ben uses it occassionally (for hair) when we're in a hurry, but most of the time it just sits in a cupboard taking up space. It is excellent for defrosting, though, but anyone trying this at home remember not to hold it inside the freezer, as drips and hairdriers don't mix

Oh - hairdresser tip two: Hair straighteners make brilliant toasted sandwiches

 

[Tally]

I've heard that they are also quite good for warming the loo seat on cold mornings.

[justine1]

I've heard that they are also quite good for warming the loo seat on cold mornings.

Oh Tally,he he

[Kathryn]

It is excellent for defrosting, though, but anyone trying this at home remember not to hold it inside the freezer, as drips and hairdriers don't mix

 

I can't believe you did this!

 

K x

[baddad]

I can't believe you did this!

 

K x

 

??

Cuts a 24 hr job to about 2 or 3 - what's the problem?

Tally - loo seat warmer?

A - get a wooden one

b - use the cat as a buffer

 

[Kathryn]

Cuts a 24 hr job to about 2 or 3 - what's the problem?

I find a bowl of hot water works just as well. And doesn't run the risk of electrocuting you.

 

K x

[justine1]

Thank you everyone for cheering me up

[got the tshirt]

On the freezer note we have used a hairdryer many times. OH used to use a fan heater when he lived alone but after we moved in together and he melted the inside of the freezer I suggested that this wasn't the best idea he had ever had.

Keep your chin up justine at least without a wash mach you won't have to spend hours ironin!!! Hope your finger gets better soooon.

[dee23]

When i was pregnant with DD i had an enormous craving for eating ice.

 

Once or twice i was found munching away in front of the defrosting freezer when i had used up all the ice cubes.......

[baddad]

When i was pregnant with DD i had an enormous craving for eating ice.

 

Once or twice i was found munching away in front of the defrosting freezer when i had used up all the ice cubes.......

 

They say that pregnancy cravings are either to do with something the baby needs or something the mother needs...

 

perhaps your daughter was:

 

 

[pearl]

Another use for a hairdryer: drying your feet after taekwondo. JP always does this

[baddad]

Another use for a hairdryer: drying your feet after taekwondo. JP always does this

 

You can also use them for clearing light dust from artifacts dug up by the 'Time Team'... i'm amazed you missed that one!

 

[pearl]

You can also use them for clearing light dust from artifacts dug up by the 'Time Team'... i'm amazed you missed that one!

 

 

ah but its not the hairdryer I'm concentrating on then ...