Service Hades – have you ever been messed around by service providers? Especially a company called Sureway Inc for Sears? Avoid them like the plague!

I like to keep my blog happy and full of fun things to do. As someone who loves to cook and makes multiple dinner and lunch parties for family and friends, I depend on my double oven to work reliably. Not so this week.

My oven – Kitchen Aid double fancy self cleaning oven – blew. And I hear from others that the self cleaning element does that – in fact one friend had her oven BLOW OUT into the kitchen during the cleaning cycle – good thing it happened in the middle of the night! And that her house didn’t catch on fire.

So I have an extended service warranty with Sureway of Louisville Kentucky – cost me some bucks I can tell you! I duly called them – they gave me two service providers – and then transferred me to one. I held on for 45 minutes. I kid you not. 45 minutes. Good thing I sold my business 6 years ago and can be fairly flexible with my time. Then the call center rep could barely speak English – he told me he didn’t have an account for me ( I had just been transferred by Kitchen Aid to him as an approved vendor). And on and on it went. Finally I tried to cancel my contract with Sureway Inc. of Louisville Kentucky but the cancellation process is so onerous that after struggling to do so – I just gave up and will not renew. One thing is for sure I will never again use them or their provider A&E Factory Service  of Ontario California, who lied and lied and lied – said they were calling back – never did, said they were coming on Saturday – I stayed home all day – they never called and never showed up; and when I finally ( after staying on hold for 45 minutes, spoke to another call center rep at their company – another one who could not speak English – so that finally in desperation after trying to be understood – I had to speak to him in Spanish) – I discovered that their tech manager Mark didn’t even put in the order for Saturday  – he just told me he did, to get me off the phone –  and  I am using my blog to let you know to never deal with any of these companies- they and their providers are shockingly inefficient and rude – and unable to provide even basic service. And did I mention that this service provider adds a 30% override to the cost of the part so that they can puff the bill to the warranty company? Oh yes – this is a con game – no wonder our insurance costs are going up. A&E Factory service wanted to charge me $504 for the cost of a part that Kitchen Aid sells direct for $273. What a rip off.

I finally found a service provider who provided the service at normal labor costs, and the part at actual cost – they are called LA Fixit,  I am hoping that my oven will be fixed in two days on Wednesday. The reason for the panic? I have 60 people coming on Friday for dinner – cooking in the oven started last week and then stopped in a hurry. And you know how difficult it is to convert recipes from oven ready to microwave ready. The result? I am compromising and making and buying stuff. Here is a recipe that was going to be all home baked- and is now made on the stove not in the oven. Not my preference but what can one do?

Chicken with Peppers and Tomatoes

• Chicken Breasts and Thighs, skinless and boneless cut into bite sized pieces
• Peppers – all colors – seeds removed, cored and sliced thin
• Tomatoes – all colors – soak in hot hot hot water then skin them and chop keeping the seeds and that lovely juice
• Olive Oil to taste
• Onions ( two sliced thin)
• Two large cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 Tbsp of corn flour to thicken sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Whatever herbs you love – I add basil, chopped oregano about 1 tsp of each always fresh – and I would add paprika too; or you could add curry, or if you want it spicy , chili’s or chili powder -this is all personal taste.

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan which is deep and could also be used as a casserole (All Clad makes a lovely one).
2. Saute and brown slightly the chicken pieces – do not overcook. Remove from pan and reserve on the side.
3. Fry the garlic in the olive oil lightly, then add the onions and fry until soft but not browned.
4. Add the peppers and sauté until soft
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté the mixture until it is well combined.
6. Add back the chicken pieces that you browned.
7. Take out some of the liquid  and mix with the corn flour until the liquid is thickened. Then add slowly mixing all the time until the sauce around the vegetables and chicken is thicker – not too thick as it will reduce while cooking.
8. Now here is the part that is different. I would have baked this in the oven for that lovely roasted combination of flavors – and left the top to brown slightly at the end. But that is not an option now- no oven. So keep all of the mixture in the deep pan, and turn onto low, and simmer until all the delicious ingredients have combined – as well as possible without baking.
9. It will still taste yummy especially when served with fluffy white basmati rice ( use a rice cooker its the easiest way) or even brown rice – more of a nutty flavor – or with couscous for a middle eastern twist.

Enjoy! Here is a picture of our peppers – we have so many wonderful ones this season!

So, as I ask others who are stressing about silly stuff – did someone die? And the answer here of course is – nope – so then none of this really matters. And today I am back to my happy self.

I am sure you have experienced something similar – it sure is annoying when service people are not service oriented isn’t it?