The dishwasher saga (a hand-washer's life for me)

We knew we needed to replace the dishwasher, but when exactly does buying a new appliance become a *critical* need?

Feb 14: The dishwasher starts making a funny noise. Monkeyrotica and I discuss replacing it, because we'd decided last year that we wouldn't put any more money into repairs. In 2010, we replaced its heating element, and in 2008, it flooded the house — twice.

Feb 18: We shop at Lowe's and kick around a few dishwashers. We agree on a brand and some components that we both like, but decide that we should budget and save up for it first. Instead, we buy a new ceiling fan with overhead light (the bedroom's been mighty dark) and a kid-friendly shower head for the upstairs bath.

Feb 22: Plumber arrives to fix some leaks, install new shower head. He advises that our water pressure is much too high and installs a "pressure decreasing valve."

Feb 23: Dishwasher mysteriously stops cleaning top-rack dishes and the hand-washing starts. Not a big deal yet. I assume it's a water-pressure issue and think about calling the plumber back to increase the pressure, just a bit.

Mar 7: Dash accidentally drops his toothbrush into the upstairs toilet while flushing, completely blocking it. I *actually* call the plumber and schedule him to come back for both tasks, still hoping that increasing the water pressure will fix the dishwasher (I'm going to call it DW from here on out).

Mar 9: Plumber arrives, removes toothbrush and as a courtesy, checks out the DW. Explains that the DW has its own pump that maintains water pressure separate from the house. In his opinion, the pump has ceased to work (he doesn't adjust the household pressure). Our eight-year-old Kenmore DW needs to be replaced.

Later that day, we buy a new DW through Amazon.com marketplace and take advantage of Monkeyrotica's free shipping plan. Perfect. I get a delivery window of March 15-20.

Mar 12: Old DW stops working altogether, top *and* bottom racks now.

Mar 14: I got a message that the new DW was damaged during shipping and that would add a week to the delivery estimate. I phone back to insist that since the damage was their fault, they needed to get the delivery expedited and deliver during the same window. They could not promise, but ship another one out the same day. They didn't have a tracking number yet, but tell me to call back in a couple of days to check the shipping status. I've been handwashing dishes for three weeks now.

Mar 16: I phone the shipper in the morning and give them my order number and some of the backstory, asking for the new tracking number. The guy sputters a bit and tells me there is a note on my order that the second shipment is damaged. He tells me that he will check on my order and call me back. About an hour later, he calls back and confirms that the 2nd new DW is indeed damaged and suggests that I phone the appliance dealer. Fed up with these clowns, I phone customer service and cancel the order, confirming with a nice lady named Christina that they are NOT shipping another DW and I will get my money refunded.

Not willing to wait any longer, I find a different DW dealer online and order a new DW from the new dealer. Later that afternoon, the first dealer's sales guy calls Monkeyrotica's phone number and tries to convince him that there was no DW shipped on  Mar 14 and no 2nd washer was damaged. In fact, the 2nd DW was just leaving their warehouse today. We didn't really want to cancel the order, did we?

GAH!! At least we have enough paper plates and cups to last us a while. We should have our new DW in our home, installed by a professional, in about another week.