没有冰箱的日子－三星冰箱遭遇记 (w English)

去年感恩节从西雅图回来就发现冰箱又不行了，上面的冷藏空气不流通，下面的冷冻食物好像有点开始变软。虽然这不是第一次出现这种情况，但一开始还是怀着侥幸心理，想着距离上次修理才八个月，加上每次打电话约人都好烦，就多等了一两天，结果发现情况不妙，只好赶紧又打电话。

这是一只三星冰箱，2013年6月买的，两年多就出现问题修了一次，过了几个月又修一次，这是第三次出现一模一样的情况。

12月初，三星的subcontractor service公司先后派了两个技术人员上门。第二次来的是个中年韩国人，英文讲的口音很重，但人挺和善。我把上两次修理的单子给他看，他查了查，说是同一个问题，还好心告诉我，不要修了，这次修好，下次这个问题还会来的，不如直接打电话，要求refund or replacement。他给了我一个电话号码，但是加了一句，打电话时不要告诉三星是他说的。我从没有想过，一个用了四年多的冰箱还可以要求refund or replacement，在他走之前感激真诚地谢了他。

但却没料到就此踏上了繁复冗长的历程。我按照他给的电话打过去，接线的人说，要求refund得提供原来的receipt。因为这冰箱是Best Buy网上订的，当时只有purchase order和冰箱delivered的emails,没有receipt。为了拿到当年的receipt，我打了好几通电话，电话里转来转去，不停地被 put on hold，折腾好久，最后还是无法拿到，因为电脑系统里据说只保留18月PO的发票。现在想来，还是不make sense，难道公司不archive data吗？

沮丧之余，只好又打电话告诉三星发票的情况，那天运气好，那人说，没有发票，可以凭PO上的价格prorated退回，并给了我reference number。当时我心想，本来就没想过退钱，多少不在乎了，退点回来就好，我只要快点处理了，早日可以买新的。我需要冰箱！！

过了一两个星期，转眼快圣诞了，什么音讯也没有。我赶在圣诞放假前又打了个电话，电话里服务人员不知按什么算出来退我的金额。我以为这下应该差不多了。

过了新年，我又打电话过去，谁料，接电话的女士要了我的ref number后居然说，如果是因质量有问题要求退款，需要有技术人员的证明。我反复跟她解释，上一个人说冰箱同一个问题坏了三次，自然归类于质量瑕疵问题，而且都已经接受了，给了ref number, 现在你又这么说。但是无论我怎么说，那个人坚持一定要技术人员的鉴定。那一刻，积压在心里一个月的不满情绪像一股的火苗蹭蹭往上串，我对着电话说，“你们今天这样讲明天那样讲，如果不赔，我要去告你们。”

放下电话，想想对着那服务人员有什么好生气，大不了不修也不赔，直接买新的，犯不着生气，不值。想过直接买一个算了，没有冰箱的日子不方便，节假日期间也看到很好的deal，可想想买了，这么大一个东西，车库也好像没地方放，以后又要挪动，很麻烦，就懒得动了。

过了一两个星期，又来了两个技术人员，其中一个是第二次来过的韩国中年男子，另一个是上年纪的亚洲面孔的技术人员，在家整整折腾了两个小时，最后走之前告诉我，这次应该可以了。中年韩国人指着老一点的技术人员说，你得谢他，没有他，你这事还解决不了。我千恩万谢送走他们，自己又赶回去上班。

一个月以后，终于退的钱到账了。现在新的冰箱现在也已经订好了，就等再过些天运货上门了。

回想这三个月没有冰箱的日子，印象深刻的是刚开始的那一晚，自己连夜将冻柜里的已经化了的肉切了炒成肉丝，把那些要扔的扔了，剩下的一些放到附近朋友家。后来冷藏也不能用了，东西也彻底清了，发现有些酱料之类基本没有用过，还有些Sales时买的想不起来吃的，过期的过期，不用的不用，趁机通通都扔了。想起人们说的“断舍离”, 想起生活要少而精，不需要的，哪怕再便宜，不要去买。

自从把放朋友家的肉类拿回来后，就再也不想麻烦别人，然后就开始了每次减少食物的购买量。开始真不习惯，今年冬天一直暖和，买的青菜第二天外面的叶子就开始泛黄，放在外面的萝卜变老长芽，葱过两天就干枯了，肉类就更别提了，只能买一两天的量, 后来有时少量的买了就放公司冰箱，但公司冰箱每周五清理一次，也不方便。好在家里只有两个人，一天也就晚上那顿需要煮肉菜。LD为了不给我压力，明确指示，“生活尽量简单，大不了吃外卖的，这么多的餐馆还怕饿死吗？家里的干货就够吃半年了。总体原则是怎么样方便怎么样来。”

既然LD的态度都表明了，我就更加不觉有负担。家里备一些土豆、芋头、洋葱、大白菜之类的，下班有时稍微拐一下带点蔬菜回来，馋海鲜或是肉呢，就开车去超市买，日子也过得好好的。有一次LD开玩笑地说，冰箱看来都可以不买了。

当然，有段时间又是电话，又是上门的，上下折腾，却也烦心，加上三星的售后服务确实差，无论我email也好打电话也好，前面的交道没有收到过他们一封邮件。有时我怕口说无凭，要求他们发邮件，不理睬，我自己用邮件主动发给他们，不回。 只有最后两封邮件，一封是同意退款需要我提供退款方式，一封是告诉我钱已经打到我账上了。因为这个冰箱的问题，我也上网查用户的网评，这一查不要紧，一查吓一跳啊，差评如潮。用户的评论让我从一开始希望能尽快处理，到定下心来准备做持久战。一旦想好最坏打算，心里就不再当回事情，日子也就一天天过下来了。

公司同事听说我那么久还没有冰箱，都很惊讶，我笑着说“We still live. Life goes on.”

在这没有冰箱的近三个月里，我们度过四个重大节日，圣诞节、新年、情人节和中国新年。想来，现在的物质生活太优越了，把人给娇惯了，好像没有冰箱没法生活。其实人远比你自己想象的有弹性，有忍耐力，能屈能伸。一小小冰箱怎么会把人困住？再想想小时候，母亲几乎每天拎着篮子上菜场买菜，大夏天的，没有冰箱，没有空调，日子不也都过来了。

不可否认，冰箱给人们生活带来便利，离开它确实不方便，但偶尔过一过离开它的日子，也是现代生活的一种新体验。人的一生不就是该这样吗，拥之，惜之，失之，坦然面对。

 

Life without a refrigerator

 

Can you imagine our daily life without a refrigerator in this modern world?  If I tell you that I live without it for almost three months, wouldn’t you be surprised?

 

Our Samsung brand refrigerator purchased in June 2013 broke twice before it haunted us again last November. The sealing system was not working, and the food in the freezer melted and majority had to be thrown away. 

 

In early December, a mid-aged Korean technician from Samsung’s subcontract service company, was sent over, who after examination diagnosed it to be the same recurring problem. Being defective as the product was, the fix would be temporary, he said, and thus advised me to request a refund or replacement from Samsung instead.

 

Never had I ever thought that a four-year-old refrigerator could even be replaced or refunded. So, gratefully I thanked him, but what awaited me was a long painful process.

 

First, numerous calls were made to Best Buy for the required receipt, which was not provided for an online purchase.  But Best Buy unavailingly told me that they only retained receipts for 18 months old PO in their systems. It did not make sense! Then countless calls to Samsung to explain, to talk to different people, to get reference numbers, to try to get resolved. One morning one guy told me that since the sealing broke the third time, the product was deemed as defective, and a reference number was given for that.  I was under the impression that everything was on its way. I was even offered the refund amount over the phone before Christmas.  However, when I called again to follow up after the holiday with the reference number, a lady told me that a product was not defective unless the technician proved in writing to be so, which meant that it would have to circle back to technicians from the start. That given reference number meant nothing, so were all the efforts.

 

A monthslong frustration mounted to such a tension that I finally lost my cool that day, raising my voice over the phone that I would sue them. Hung up, I knew that I would not, as I didn’t want my time and energy to be wasted over that. What I really wanted that day was to walk away from such a poor product and customer service by simply dumping the refrigerator and buying a new one on my own.

 

When the anger abated, my memories were flooded with my childhood, when there was no refrigerator, when we roamed in streets on sweltering nights looking for iced drinks, when Mom carried a basket to the market for groceries almost every day.  If we could survive those days, why can’t we now? Not to say that there are only two of us at home.

 

With that in mind, I handled all the ensuing hassles in peace. Inconvenient life is without refrigerator, it no longer bothered me much.

 

In the end, it was settled, thanks much to the kind Korean technician, and another old experienced technician who came again the third time to prove the defectiveness of the product. While I am still patiently waiting for the new refrigerator to arrive, I am writing down this, telling myself that any time life goes on, regardless.