So my dishwasher lost its mind last night.

There had been signs that something was amiss, but it wasn’t until this morning when I tried to tell it what to do that I realized it had flipped its lid. Well, I know what it feels like to have too many people talking to me at once, but I can’t really see that this is Dishwasher’s problem. Only one person talks to it at a time and usually says the same thing. What’s the problem here?

Probably most people who have dishwashers don’t care to be without them for long. I do go through spurts where I have some sort of religious experience and I want to wash dishes by hand for a few days. However, I do not want to wash dishes by hand when I am forced to.

Somewhere in this house I have the warranty information about the d/w but I figured the magic elves on the internet could solve that problem for me. I turned to the Sears repair site for help. HELP is Customer Service via Online Chat. I LOVE online chat. There are no phone menus to wade through, very little wait time, and for visual learner me, reading the conversation is just the best.

If you haven’t ever tried using the online chat function of a company, let me tell you — this is the way to communicate. The online CSR is just as keen as the phone CSR to get a high rating, so they work hard to resolve the issue. I find online chat extremely efficient, enjoyable, and allows me to multi-task while it’s happening. I can’t do that while I’m on the phone. But on online chat, the chat box tells me “customer service representative ‘Joey Boutino’ is typing.” This alerts me to an upcoming communication.

On the phone, when they put me on hold, I either hate the muzak they play while I wait, or I worry I have been cut off because there is no muzak playing. No muzak at all with online chat. I don’t know how many people take advantage of this wonderful service, but I HIGHLY recommend trying it out.