I wanted to give y’all a quick update on my appliance situation, because I’ve been meaning to tell you about something other than just my awesome new washer and dryer.

I’ve also received a new refrigerator and microwave—both of which I’ll tell you about soon—and, most recently, a new stove. Now, it was the stove I was super-excited about, because it has a “Fits More Oven” and comes with four racks, as well as a special rack that allows you to convert it to a half-rack in case you’re cooking something tall down below, but still want to slide a smaller dish in above it. Also, it can be used as a regular oven or a convection oven, and it has all kinds of special stuff with the burners (adjustable size, a rapid-boil burner), too.

But I can’t tell you about all of that yet, because there’s been a small snafu, and I feel like I’d be remiss in not sharing what’s been happening.

The crew came to deliver the stove, last week, and they pulled out my old one and slid the new one in, and we stood back to admire it. It’s very shiny. But then I noticed something… kind of off.

“Is that bottom drawer crooked?” I asked. “Wait,” I corrected myself. “Let me try that again. That bottom drawer is crooked. What I want to know is if it’s adjustable.”

We poked and prodded and peered, and while the installer was able to make it slightly less crooked, it was still somewhat askew. We had a brief discussion about whether or not I wanted to refuse delivery, to which I said of course not, it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it. I did let him know I’d probably let the test drive coordinators aware of it, though, just so they’d know. All was well and the installation team left.

A few hours later, my husband came home and went to look at the new stove. “It’s dented,” he said, pointing at a very obvious dent in the metal by the oven door handle that I’d completely missed because I’d been busy looking at the drawer. “Also,” he continued, “the warmer drawer is all crooked.”

Hmph.

I contacted the test drive team to let them know. And while I waited for a response, I did all of my usual cooking. Flipping the oven to “Convection” appears to cook things more quickly, and despite my husband’s prodding to “try to make 200 chicken nuggets at once like the manual says!” (we don’t even have chicken nuggets in the house), I stuck to my usual sorts of cooking, and greatly enjoyed having an oven that heats to the temperature it says rather than some other random temperature. (It’s possible my old oven was sort of… well, old. Ahem.)

The “Rapid Boil” burner isn’t kidding, not even a little bit. Note to self: Do not put kettle on for tea and then walk outside to check the garden. And the biggest burner offers 3 different size settings, which rocks my world, because now I have a burner than fits my gigantic stock pot, but that can also be used with even my smallest pans. Love it.

So functionally, I have nothing but glowing reviews to pass along so far. But what about the fact that my unit appeared to be damaged?

Well, I took delivery on a Friday and the team got back to me on Monday (fair enough). On Tuesday, the installation team was back with not one but two other stoves, so determined were they to get me one that was positively perfect. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that both of the stoves they brought had similar problems. It appears that the main handle’s screws are causing warping of the adjacent meal, and also that the warmer drawer’s runners are being drilled off-center of where they need to be.

These stoves are brand new. Like, some of the first off the production line kind of brand new. And what we’re seeing here are build issues that they need to resolve. This is part of what the test drive program is designed to identify, so in that sense it’s good. This good-natured group of guys (who’ve now been out to my house three times) stood in my driveway and called corporate and got a conference call scheduled to discuss the issues, and they assured me that they will get me a perfect stove even if they have to custom-build it for me, but that ultimately this is going to change the production process, anyway, so this is good, finding out where the problems are.

I felt terrible, though. I mean, I got a free stove. I don’t really care if it has a little dent or if the warmer drawer is a tiny bit askance. I don’t. On the other hand, if I was paying for this stove, yeah, I’d want it to be perfect. And I want to be able to tell you that it’s perfect if I’m going to recommend it. What I can tell you, so far, is that everyone involved in this process has been an absolute dream—from the installers to the test drive coordinators to the folks at Frigidaire, every single person has been pleasant, professional, and determined to make everything right. I was apologizing left and right and they were all assuring me that this is what they’re here for and I shouldn’t feel bad. I just cannot say enough nice things about how wonderful everyone has been.

So they’re off fixing the problems, and when I get my replacement stove, I’ll let you know. Because it really is pretty and shiny and is going to look fantastic once it’s problem-free.

And in the meantime, maybe I’ll think about making 200 chicken nuggets in 10 minutes, just because I can.