The Tin Lizard

Extended Warranties

A little humor is always a good thing.  Gene Weingarten offers a little in his weekly "Below the Beltway" column today.  Though it's focused on having to use a laundromat while his washing machine broke down, he makes a useful serious point too:

Extended Warranties.

Nearly every consumer advice column and magazine will tell you, "DON'T take the extended warranty."  (There are one or two exceptions, like for laptop computers, where they'll sometimes suggest you take one.)   By and large, though, they are traps for the unwary, and pure profit for the companies that sell them.  Odds are you'll never need repairs on most products; if you do, they'll be in the early life of the product; and if they come later, the cost of your repairs will often be less than the accrued cost of the warranty.  These are the facts.

Gene points out another useful lesson in his column, though:

We had been rendered temporarily insane, having been without a home washing machine for two months and three days, trapped in the Catch-22 of having an "extended warranty." This meant that after the old washing machine broke, we couldn't buy a new one until we'd given the company essentially unlimited opportunities to repair the original. They kept sending over the same mechanic, who would arrive each time with a different part and a can-do attitude, only to emerge from the basement 40 minutes later, stammering and weasel-eyed. He'd never come right out and say he'd failed, but I'd know it, because he always began, "Okay, here's where we're at. ..." 

Yes, a second drawback of the extended warranty is that the company will do almost anything to avoid honoring it.  (Sort of like some insurance companies with their health policies.)  And as Weingarten's experience shows, that can lead to serious frustration and cost you time and money.

When I encounter a salesman pushing an extended warranty too avidly, I ask if the product is so poorly made that I'll need that extra guarantee.  They seldom want to say "yes" to that.  Let's hope there won't come a time when they start to make the products that poorly, just in order to peddle the profitable warranties!

Handy Tools, American Success Stories

Sometimes new bright ideas edge their way into our consciousness without making a big splash right away, yet become so popular and widespread that their very brand name becomes a generic.  

Consider Kleenex* or Jell-o,* for example, as examples of the phenomenon.  Both are registered brand names that - despite the efforts of armies of property lawyers - are still used by millions of people to refer to the product, regardless of brand.  Kleenex, for example, likes to force its competitors to talk about "tissue" but I seldom hear any real person doing so. 

* (I would insert one of those little "R" things in a circle if I could figure out  how to do it on this blog interface!)

But two less familiar companies are standouts in their field, too, and both represent success stories for a single person or small company with a good idea.

First is Vise-Grip, which has become synonymous with what might more generally be called "locking pliers."  (The photo happens to be of locking pliers, but not Vise-Grips.) 

I see no need to repeat what others have already done, so please read for yourself the interesting history of the Vise-Grip brand.  (In fact I think this site more generally, http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/index.html, might be interesting to explore.)   The pliers, though, have been developed, improved, and now come in a variety of sizes, configurations, and (yes), even brands.  I doubt there's a household in the country that doesn't have a pair.  If yours doesn't, go get some!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another unique product is the Ross Root Feeder.  This is a tool that's usually stowed away somewhere at this time of year, since it's intended for watering and fertilizing trees and shrubs.  You insert the long stem into the ground (up to two feet deep) so water gets more directly to the roots, encouraging deep growth and minimizing wasted water.  A few years ago, the manufacturers happily replaced a root feeder for me when the tube of my first one clogged.  However, the company now appears to be a part of a larger firm called Easy Gardener. You "probably" don't need this product if you live in a apartment, but if you've got trees, there is no substitute.  There may be other root feeders in the world, but I've never come across one.  Ross makes fertilizer cartridges also, which can be put in the chamber on top of the tube, where they'll dissolve and reach the tree roots along with the water.

 

I'm not in the business of selling -- my comments are testimonials without a catch -- but if you do want to obtain either product, try the links at the right.  

Tea Lights - How Hard Is It To Make One?

We use a lot of tea lights (those little aluminum pots of wax with a wick) around our house, especially around the Christmas/New Year holidays.  They're not intended to produce heat for keeping things warm, but are used in a variety of small, shiny glass or crystal candle holders, ceramic houses, and other gewgaws that are intended to cast a small but visible warming glow.

Unfortunately for at least three years or so, we have been unable to buy any that work.  We've tried several brands made in several countries (always in Asia).  The current batch (photo) is from Crate and Barrel, a company that sells a lot of items requiring tea lights.  You might suppose they'd put out a decent candle. 

 

 
 
No such luck.  These (made in Vietnam, by the way) have the same faults as others we've tried from a variety of sources:  Only about 50% of them light; the others flicker so weakly they don't emit any visible light; and even the ones that do light the first time cannot be successfully relit.  Crate and Barrel's current price for these is 50 for $5.95, or about 10 cents each.  But even at that price, they're a rip-off because they don't fulfill the basic purpose for which they are sold.

It's not encouraging that we are evidently unable to produce something as simple as a tea light that will function correctly.  It's not high tech!  What's next, paper clips that won't clip papers?  We already have pens that won't write (available at Staples), and light bulbs, one in three of which don't light (they're called CFLs, though they are improving).

Meanwhile, if you occasionally have a need for tea lights, my only suggestion is to keep an eye out for some that might be made in Europe somewhere. It's possible they still know how to make them there.   

Awwww, Isn't He (She) Cute?

One item that entertained the press in my locality for a few days was a few complaints about a hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland, that has recently instituted a policy prohibiting proud parents (usually dads!) from snapping photographs right at the moment their newborn is emerging from the womb.

The hospital (not the only one, I understand, to have such a policy) says the rule is intended to help prevent infections.  Now, everyone knows that infection is one of the greatest dangers you face when you check into a hospital - it's rampant, and it means a patient admitted for a relatively minor procedure could end up with a problem more serious than the one he went in to correct, up to and including fatality.  So the policy seems reasonable to me.

Another reasonable ground for a no-immediate-photo policy (though not one the hospital will likely want to try to defend) is that when you're doing work that may become complicated and is certainly sensitive, it's simply unhelpful to have some idiot bumbling around with a camera, getting in the way.  Even people doing a lot more basic tasks (like reading the morning newspaper) find it enervating to have somebody looking over their shoulder!

But some do object to the no-photos policy.  First in line are malpractice lawyers (well, to be honest, they're probably not polite enough to get in line), who are complaining that hospitals are just trying to avoid the creation of photographic evidence of malpractice.  Most of us who aren't lawyers can dismiss this objection pretty quickly as self-serving bullshit.  If there were malpractice, there would be plenty of evidence even without on-the-spot amateur videos. 

Doting parents, of course, whine that they just have to have these pictures.   Why that is so is beyond me.  I was born in a day when nobody would think to let a father into a delivery room, let alone take pictures, yet I've managed to live to a ripe old age without regretting there were no pictures of slimy little me emerging into the world.  Rather the contrary, actually.  Also, parents, c'mon, get a grip - don't you realize that all newborns look exactly alike, and that you're really NOT the only ones who have ever figured out how to have a baby?

Here's my Solomonic recommendation, which ought to reveal who's serious and who's bluffing:  A parent may insist on being in the delivery room and taking photos, but both he and the mother should be required to sign a waiver absolving the hospital of any liability for complications due to infections.  For those who forgo the photo session, hospitals wanting to be customer-friendly could offer free photos of a baby being born -- not the baby, mind you, just a baby.  After all, they all look alike, though maybe the hospital could offer a choice of white, black, asian, and one or two other decorator choices. 

Is everyone satisfied now?  (Except you lawyers -- none of us care about you.)    

The New Year's Eve Terrorist Attack In New York City

Breaking news:  It didn't happen.  There WAS NO terrorist attack in New York City last night.  The dog that didn't bark.

City officials in major cities of the northeast have been criticized lately for failures in snow removal, but I believe we should keep in mind how well New York, a place that is probably higher on terrorists' hit lists than even Washington, seems to be doing in its security measures, as described in various morning news shows and elsewhere yesterday.

Was some attack planned, but foiled by the city's careful preparation?  We will probably never know.  Might there be a devastatingly successful attack tomorrow?  Absolutely.  But meanwhile, let's praise New York's mayor and city officials for taking their job seriously and - seemingly - doing it well.