The Toaster Saga: Part 3

Oster is sending me a new toaster oven.  I should be grateful.  I'm not.  I'm thankful and appreciative, but I'm still slightly annoyed.  Why?  I mean they are sending me a FREE toaster oven.  Shouldn't I be happy?

Well, all in all, I am happy.  I think I'm generally a happy person.  A toaster oven has nothing to do with it.

If anyone is just tuning in, let me TRY and give you a brief recap:

• My toaster oven door is broken.  It won't shut all the way and this has happened with numerous toasters that I have owned.  But under 4 years it's happened twice.  While I have owned different brands of toaster ovens (and let's' face it they are all pretty much the same), the last two I have had were Osters.  So I emailed Oster to tell them that I wasn't happy with their product as the last two toaster ovens I have purchased have failed in the same way 18-24 months after purchase.  (I am well aware that this is after the warranty period.)  My point?  That they should look into the issue.

• Oster customer service responds (and within 24 hours of my email; bonus points to them).  They ask for info on my toaster oven.  I assume that they want to look into the make and model and hopefully fix the issue going forward.

• I give them all the information they request and get an email back (again less than 24 hours later) telling me that the product is past warranty, that they will pass my comments on and a phone number I can call to help me decide my options in purchasing my next Oster toaster oven.

• I email back that I KNEW I was past warranty, I just wanted someone to look into the problem!

• Then I took their customer survey (link was at the bottom of their email) and told them the exact same thing and rated them poorly.  My point, once again, was not about the warranty, but about the product and a flaw in their product that has not been addressed.  Was anyone really reading my emails?

This brings me to yesterday’s email from a new person at Oster’s customer service which said:

Thank you for your response and information.  Please note, a product warranty begins with the financial purchase of the product. When a product is exchanged or replaced, there is no financial transaction; therefore a warranty would not start over. 

However, because of your continued loyalty, I have placed an order for a comparable toaster oven, model TSSTTVRB04, which you will receive within 6-8 business days. You will receive an order confirmation shortly as well as a shipping confirmation when our item leaves our warehouse. 

The warranty period on this replacement unit is 30 days from date received.

I do appreciate the toaster oven (which I'm guessing is a refurb) that it currently winging its way to my home.  But my guess is that within the next year or so I'm going to be in the same boat I am now; with a toaster oven door that will no longer shut properly.  

So what do I do next?  Thank the new customer service person and point out again that my issue is NOT with the warranty but with what I see as a flaw in the design or part?  Or if after three emails and a survey do I just give up and hope that this next toaster miraculously lasts for more than 2 years?

Since no one seems to be listening to this customer's concerns (or reading them as the case may be), I'm thinking this is not worth much more of my energy.  I'm taking the easy way out...Thank you Oster for the toaster.