Just joining us for the Hamilton Beach Toaster Chronicles? Get up to speed by first reading these posts:

Hi, “Betty,”

Thanks for your prompt reply. As you requested, I’m writing you from this same email thread so that you will have my original letter detailing the problem as well as all of the model information for my toaster.

I really appreciate your righting this little wrong for my family. Over the course of my lifetime, I have had very varied experiences dealing with customer service personnel. For example, I have dined at restaurants where …

The kitchen misplaced our order, our server was fired on the job and the food took forever to arrive.

The waitress served my daughter a grilled cheese sandwich that had been contaminated by rotten seafood.

My tightly-wrapped burrito was served to me containing a bronze earring in the shape of a Tiki statue much like the one from The Brady Bunch episode where they go to Hawaii.

(If you get that joke, it kills. If you don’t, you’re probably too young for The Brady Bunch. But did the 90210 gang ever travel to Hawaii to find a cursed Tiki idol? Or maybe those geeky dudes from the Big Bang Theory?)

In all of these cases, mistakes were made. And, in all of these cases, restitution was offered. (By the way, nothing says “We’re sorry we failed you” like a complimentary order of jalapeño poppers.) So I walked away feeling good about my overall experience.

The thing is … stuff breaks, products have glitches and the world is an imperfect place. (Don’t tell my kids. I’m trying to keep them in the dark as long as possible.) But it is the immediate and full attention of corporate representatives like yourselves that smooths over the rough edges. I appreciate that attention. And my kids are thrilled they won’t have to eat burned pastry anymore. Plus nothing makes them happier than when their mom resolves a customer service issue.

Sincerely,

Michele Robert Poche

P..S. You mentioned that the product warranty on this item had expired. That’s pretty crazy because we JUST purchased the toaster on Friday, October 25. So I can only assume that this item had been sitting on the dusty, riddled-with-errant-bits-of-garbage-and-illegally-opened-candy shelves of my local Kmart for the full 90-day, 6-month or even 1-year warranty that accompanies your product. (I scoured your website to determine its warranty information but couldn’t find it anywhere, by the way.)

In the meantime, please enjoy this holiday ad from Kmart. I’ve been slamming them a lot in my posts and I want to offer an olive branch. It’s not your fault, Kmart, and I’m sorry I’m taking it out on you. And, for the record, I love this commercial and see no reason for all the hubbub. Victoria’s Secret has been doing it for years.