Here is a story I ran across in my meanderings across the internet. It is hilarious. Maybe some of you readers can relate.
taken from AC ASSOCIATED CONTENT
By Judy Maxwell, published Dec 20, 2006
Judy was born and raised in the Metro-Detroit area. Judy has been married for 35+ years and has 5 children and 9 gandchildren. Judy is currently working from home but her background is in banking. With over 22,000 page views, writing for AC is an exciting avenue for her.
Education/Experience: 54 years of life
Interests: Bible, nutrition, recovery, fitness, writing, reading, gardening, grandbabies!
Motto: A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.
Affiliations: Today’s Best- My Yahoo 360 page, The Detroit Church, Spark People- Make Life An Adventure!
URL http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/34306/judy_maxwell.html
RSS http://www.associatedcontent.com/rss/user_34306.xml
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A few years back, I decided to make an “investment” in some of the best cookware known, at least by me. At the time I was involved in an Internet Business called Quixtar that sold thousands of products. Most of the products claimed to be the best of any available.
I made my “investment” in Amway’s Queen Cookware by purchasing several pieces. Although the name has been changed to iCook Products, in this article I will refer to it as Amway Queen Cookware as it was named when I made my purchase. The Amway Queen Cookware is described with words like premium-quality, precision-engineered construction, surgical grade stainless steel, contains chromium (prevents rust) and seals in vitamins and minerals. I believe it boasts that because it is (close to being??) waterless cookware. This Amway Queen Cookware is perfect for the health conscientious person. Amway’s Queen Cookware is made in the USA. The name Queen Cookware might suggest that it is designed to accommodate a Queen. But I am not exactly feeling like a “queen for a day” contestant today.
True, I have owned this Queen Cookware for about 7 years, and I can attest to the fact that my “investment” is serving me well. This Queens Cookware looks almost as new as the day I bought it.
So what possible problem could I have with such wonderful Queen Cookware?
Today, as I do every day, I took out my 2 qt. Amway Queens sauce pan. I measured my 1 cup of filtered water. I added my ½ tsp of cinnamon, a pinch of Celtic salt, and ½ cup of oatmeal and let it cook. Since I do not use instant oatmeal, the directions say, cook for 5 minutes, than shut it off and let it set. While my oatmeal was setting, I sliced my banana and gently stirred in my organic egg for protein. Everything was ready to stir into my oatmeal.
Walking over to my stove with my sliced banana and egg mixture, I tried to lift the lid off my ‘porridge’. The lid was stuck. What?? Setting my egg and banana mixture down, I proceed to take both hands to remove the lid from Amway’s Queen Cookware. It would not budge.
As I said, this happened once before. The first time it happened, I had chicken livers in it. Now today,I began having flashbacks of the day the scummy chicken water from my chicken livers was oozing out of the pan and down the sides, making a ‘glue’ under the lid.
I panicked. I tried everything I knew to get that lid off. I ran the whole pot under hot water. I tried to pry the lid off with a knife. I poured bleach around the seal of the lid hoping it would penetrate the scummy chicken water. Nothing worked. I considered throwing the sauce pan in the garbage. There was no way I could do that. Have you ever seen the price of one of those Amway Queen sauce pan?
Now I was in a dilemma. I couldn’t use the sauce pan the way it was, and I couldn’t throw my “investment” away. So finding myself between a rock and a hard place, I let it sit there, uh……. for about 3 days. Finally a light-bulb went on in my head. I figured that cookware as expensive as Amway’s Queen Cookware would have some sort of warranty. I quickly retrieved the phone number to Amway’s Customer Service. I have always found Amway’s Customer Service people very friendly and helpful and this day was no different.
As I described my problem, this lady from Amway’s Customer Service tried her best to talk me through ways to get the lid off. She instructed me to put ice wedges around the lid of the pot. Ice makes things expand. Next she tells me to put the sauce pan back on the burner and reheat it. REHEAT IT?? Is she nuts? Didn’t she hear me when I told her I had 3 day old chicken livers in there and had used the bleach to try to dissolve the chicken scum water?
Reluctantly I followed her instructions. Now she tells me that I need to bring the Amway Queen Cookware back to the temperature it was when the lid sealed. She warned me to have a towel ready to dry up all the melted ice that was going to be on my stove top. Now, wait a minute. Hello?? Again, I repeat, didn’t you hear me say I made these livers three days ago. How would I even know what temperature they were cooking at? And may I also say, I have never seen anything in the instructions of how to use my Amway Queen Cookware that said I should take note on what temperature I am using should the sauce pan seal itself. Now I’m really ready to throw the sauce pan in the garbage.
Picture me now, I have a cordless phone that doesn’t want to remain between my ear and shoulder, my chicken livers boiling again, the aroma of bleach in the air and water from the melted ice running all over the top of my nice glass top range.
Well, it isn’t working and I am tired of trying to hang onto the phone with shoulder. I am expecting my son to arrive later that day from a long and gruesome trip through ice and snow from northern Canada, a 600 mile trip and I just plain had other things that I needed to get done. I’m disappointed, and discouraged. I tell her I am not willing to try any longer. I ask her if the warranty covers a sauce pan that is glued shut with chicken livers inside. She agrees that they will replace my sauce pan. Next she gives me an address for the service department and tells me to promise to put the whole sauce pan in a large zip-lock bag and prepare to ship it back to Amway. She didn’t know what would happen during shipping and the unexpected victim receiving it might not be happy if it came unglued.
At this point, I am a little less frustrated and relieved that Amway would stand behind their product and not give me a hard time. I hang up the phone and in walks my son through the back door (about 2-3 hours earlier than expected). I was glad to see him arrive safely and glad I could have my sauce pan replaced. Then for some reason, the lid to my Amway Queen Cookware turns and slips open. No prying or cursing involved.
So, needless to say, here this morning when my oatmeal got locked in my Queen Cookware sauce pan, I was having flashbacks. I was ready to SCREAM!!. Once I got myself composed, I decide if it worked once, it could work again. Ice, heat, mop up water, ice heat, mop up water. Just about when I ran out of patience, the lid to my Amway Queen Cookware turns and slips open. I learned that this is a feature of the Amway’s Queen Cookware. The pan will seal itself if you allow it to cool way down while the lid is on.
It is now past 2 o’clock and I have not had breakfast. I am not brave enough to “try again”. Gun shy? You bet! I just finished a cheese sandwich and some black olives. I figure this will make for a saner afternoon.
When the Amway site says, “VITALOK cooking method- compared to traditional cooking methods, the iCook VITALOK cooking method “locks” in over a third more essential vitamins and minerals”, I sure can attest to that!!!
I baught my cookware in 1989, it was called Queen’s something or other, I have had a stuck lid a couple of times, I just turn the heat back on under the pot and within a minute or two the top comes off (no ice, or mopping up). My sister has the same cookware, which she has owned longer than I have had mine. My mother has owned hers for over forty years. Her original cookware was black and called Queen’s Way cookware. I remember the sales person doing a demonstration by cooking us dinner, the only thing I remember he cooked was lima beans. A few years ago my mother wrote the company because the black was coming off the inside of the pans, they replaced the whole set. I love my pans and wish I could afford another set for my camper.
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I have seen them on ebay.
Nancy