<p>I think I will take my sad saga back to the store I bought it from. It was not a big box - but it is a large, local appliance store where I buy all my appliances. </p>
<p>I can not tell you how much I dread calling anyone at GE. It is just so annoying…</p>
<p>Thanks everybody.</p>
<p>(P.S. If I had any clue how to get something from my camera to You Tube I’d do it in a minute. I think I lack a “firewire” thingee though.)</p>
<p>I’ve got a built in Whirpool 24" wall oven circa 1960’s, stainless steel. The problem is, it’s built into a brick exterior wall in our kitchen. Real full brick, not facade, plus I have an operable firepit for hibachi in the same wall.</p>
<p>The issue is it is an odd size rough opening, and I’ve looked and searched and cannot find any unit to fit the r.o. without major brickwork modifications.The oven was there when we bought the house.</p>
<p>I’ve managed to keep it fully operational. A couple or more elements, a thermostat, and I’ve completely rewired the internal wiring. Some parts are no longer available (like the clock/timer) but it has no effect on operation. </p>
<p>My costs have been minimal, as I’ve done it all myself. I dread the day when it gives up the ghost. They don’t build them the way they used to.</p>
<p>thisoldman,
Somebody gets me. I feel like Sally Field!</p>
<p>Weenie: thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like my Maytag. Guess I better take GE off my list for a new stove. Good luck.</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom, I like your idea! Zooser, that woman and your stove deserve one another.</p>
<p>I had a problem with a brand new, high-performance IBM laptop. I made the mistake of buying one of the first they made of a new model with faster processing speed. The thing would turn itself off an hour or so into a multi-hour run of one of my programs, losing all data. Calls to service did not help. I think I even sent it in for repair, and it came back, supposedly working fine, but it kept turning off on me. I finallly got the name of someone in a very senior position at IBM, and wrote a polite but pointed letter, explaining the situation and pointing out that the laptop was not capable of doing what it was designed to do, namely, do high-speed computations, for more than an hour at a time. I got a call right away from the senior person’s secretary, who had arranged for an uber-repair person to show up at my door. It turns out that the problem was that when my laptop, one of the first of a new model off the factory line, was put together, someone forgot to remove the film from the outlet of the cooling fan. So it could not cool down effectively, and after an hour of running continuously at top speed it would overheat and shut off. I kick myself for not having demanded some compensation for the 3 months or so that I had an improperly functioning laptop.</p>
<p>weenie: You make me glad that I no longer cook! LOL.</p>
<p>My oven is fifteen years old and has never needed a repair. Pretty simple, though, no convection or special features.</p>
<p>Doris Lessing wrote in her apocalyptic novel, THE FOUR GATED CITY, that when appliances stop working it’s the beginning of the end for our civilization. After reading this thread, boy do I hope she’s wrong.</p>
<p>Good luck, Weenie. I hope this gets totally resolved soon.</p>
<p>I think there is probably a huge market for “Plain Appliances That Work Forever.” In other words, they just sit there and WORK. No electronics, no fancy-pants anything. Cripe. I lived in an apartment in college that had one of the first gas ranges ever made and the thing worked great. (It was probably 40 years old at the time!) It was hotter than hell and it was a beast. (Left a nice little hint of natural gas in the air too - LOL - everytime I smell gas it hearkens me back to that apartment.)</p>
<p>PA Mom - The same day I bought this oven I bought a new GE Spacemaker Microwave to replace my 20 year old one that didn’t match anything anymore (mistake #1). It wasn’t 2 weeks when it started to run on its own and would not stop. I had to turn off the switch at the breaker. A GE guy came and fixed it and so far it works. But his parting words were, “Don’t expect THIS one to last 20 years.” :eek: How 'bout that.</p>
<p>weenie: Insist the store replace this before T-Day. I seem to remember that this holiday means a lot to you. Cooking your own turkey? Priceless.</p>
<p>My suggestion - find an oven exorcist. Your oven has been possessed.</p>
<p>^ I could head over to my kids’ Jesuit high school - I believe the Jesuits still do exorcisms! Great idea!</p>
<p>OMG weenie - that is scary that your microwave did that! When mine randomly comes on I can’t stop it by pushing buttons either. It is just too weird.
I tried to google what was happening with mine and found reports of people having theirs randomly starting, too. Someone had left something ( food) in theirs and went to work. It started up on it’s own and caught fire! Can you imagine!
I really need to replace this soon before something bad happens!</p>
<p>UPDATE (I just know you’re all on the edge of your seat 
) - </p>
<p>GE is here installing my new replacement oven. I hope this one works!!!</p>
<p>Darn, I really wanted to see you take the issue to you tube!!! How did you get the new one? Did your store help in getting a replacement?</p>
<p>GE finally admitted they had no idea how to fix the first one.</p>
<p>You go girl! Weenie, you just have to move to our neck of the woods:</p>
<p>We are pretty fortunate around here. Our NBC affiliate has a segment called “12 on your side” and if you have tried and failed to get something fixed or have a no-good cantractor that leaves in the middle of a job, they will make calls on your behalf and air a segment about it either showing the resolution or else blackballing the non-responding party. If they haven’t been able to get the situation rectified, they still air the story and a local business always steps in and fixes the problem and then gets credit for the good deed in a follow-up segment. Gives them priceless advertising, the customer is happy, and the community learns who is not trustworthy. (Usually if it involves a large company or big chain, the issue is resolved very quickly!)</p>
<p>In any case, I hope this oven doesn’t need an exorcism for a very long time!</p>