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March 19, 2002
Broken
This has been a bad week for me with respect to gifts. A few days ago the antenna broke off my cell phone. Luckily for me, Ang (who bought it for me for Christmas) bought a 4-year extended warrantee with it, so we took it back to the shop from which Ang purchased it.
Shopkeep: "Can I help you?"
Me: "Yes. My phone broke under warrantee and I'd like you to fix it."
Shopkeep: "What's the problem?"
Me: "The antenna broke off. See?"
Shopkeep: "Oh. Well, the warrantee doesn't cover physical damage."
Me: "What? What does it cover then?"
Shopkeep: "It covers manufacturers defects."
Me: "Well how do you know the antenna wasn't defective and that's why it broke?"
Shopkeep: (walking down imaginary stairs) "I'm needed in the basement."
I got a similar response from Bell World. It will cost me $20 to replace the antenna. I think I'll pass.
That's not all. This morning I played squash with John. Right away I noticed a strange feeling when I hit the ball. My birthday racquet is broken. The frame is cracked along one side. It's a brand new racquet! Upon closer examination I found a sticker on the handle that read "Because of the violent nature of the sport, this racquet is not guaranteed against breakage."
What?! Surprise surprise, companies are not looking out for the interests of their consumers. Ship a shoddy product, slap a disclaimer on it and charge for a warrantee. Oh, the product broke? Read the fine print. We're off the hook. Have a nice day.