geoff in Calgary

We recently built with Homes by Avi. While we were very happy with the home, it was quite the process getting there. I had to take a month off work to ensure that what needed to be fixed was fixed. In the walk through, the site super kept trying to downplay all our concerns. However, there were a few key trades people that went above and beyond with the required repairs - the problem stemmed from the higher levels.

I will never buy a kitchenaid appliance again. I moved into a relatively new house (2005) and within the month, both the KitchenAid dishwasher and oven broke down. And the repair bills were hardly worth the cost of the appliances, so I had to buy new ones (not KitchenAid, that's for sure). I called KitchenAid to see if there were any recalls since the very poor design of the appliances were main factors in the break downs. They said they've never heard of the problem before (although it was all over the web). Goodbye KitchenAid, hello Bosch and Electrolux.

I moved into a new house and the dishwasher broke down. I searched everywhere for a good deal on a new one, and found the best deal at Sears (a Bosch, last year's model). However, I first had to go into a Sears to apply for a Sears card so I could get 5% discount (hardly worth my time, as my toddler was running everywhere, and the application process was quite lengthy - the questions asked were very personal (income related), and I now worry I'm on everyone's mailing list). I then ordered online, but couldn't use my temporary Sears card, so had to call in. The person on the other end could barely complete the transaction due to the temporary card. In the end, we got the dishwasher and are very happy with it, but it was quite the process to save 5%.