I swear I’m not making this up.
Once upon a time there was a five-year-old (give or take) crock pot. One charming evening I went to open said crock pot from which I planned to serve my family a delicious and healthy meal only to discover (gasp!) that the handle on the lid had broken.
Major bummer! This is my handy-dandy-six-quart-progamable-and-still-fully-functioning-except-for-this-dang-handle crock pot! It seemed such a shame to toss this handy and still fully functioning gadget just because of a little flaw like this.
“Call the manufacturer!” suggested Mike.
So I did. It was easy to do as the phone number is actually printed on the side of the slow cooker. I know. Weird.
To my disbelief, after only a very short phone tree, a real live, uh, what are they called? Oh yes: customer service representative answered the phone. The friendly rep stated, repeatedly “I am so sorry that this happened to you!” Seriously. The rep said this so many times that I actually told her that she needn’t be so concerned. Last time I checked, a broken crock pot handle is not grounds for such heart-felt sorrow.
“I’m gonna make it.” I told her. “Really. It’s true. All I want to know is if I can get a new handle to screw back onto the lid.”
“Oh my,” she replied, “I couldn’t ask you to do that!” (Cannot stress enough how distraught this poor woman sounded.) “I think we can send you a brand new lid. May I place you on hold while I check?”
Eleven seconds pass. She’s back. “I’m so sorry,” replied the rep, “But we’ve discontinued that model of crock pot.” Gasp again (her, not me.) “And so,” continued the rep “if you’ll please read me the model number on the bottom I’ll be happy to send you a brand new crock pot at no cost to you.”
“What the what?” Am I on candid camera? Is it 1952? Have I been drinking but I don’t recall? (not that something like that has ever happened before.)
Ladies and gentlemen, I kid you not. I swear the facts described in this vignette are true. Rival sent me a new crock pot for free and it arrived three days post phone conversation.
I unpacked my new cooker so we could check out the newest addition to my gadget family.
Tah-dah!
You may recall that the title of my post is “Four Photos…” What else could I possibly photograph? Would you believe…
The new lid does fit the old pot. Just has a fancy new model number.
Kickin' it in the Kitchen 
Michelle….You made me crack up with your story (especially the part with the customer service rep)! I needed a good laugh today. I am really enjoying your blog, getting some great ideas that are being well received by the familia. In fact, yesterday, I made a variation of the winter salad (spring mix instead of spinach, add some gorgonzola and the vinaigrette I make)…served it to Sofia who said…”this salad with the oranges and stuff is good”. When I told her the source she said, “What the what?! How? You don’t even see her?” So happy and lucky to have a natural cook as a friend and so lucky that the blog got through “security” at work!
So glad I brought a smile to your face–and helped inspire a delicious and healthy meal for your family. THAT makes me happy too!
Warms the heart!
I know, right? Unfortunately I’m afraid the rest of my entire life may be a disappointment after that experience. Ha! But I shall cling to the purity of the memory forever…
RIVAL. I’m going to remember that.
What a great story! I should have thought of that when my handle broke off (course dropping it on the floor didn’t help) but after I forgot that you can’t use it on the stove top and leaked my beef with barely soup all over I had to get a new one. Should have called them but BBB with a coupon ain’t bad either! Our two new crock pots should get together sometime!