I have never condoned such behavior, just mentioned it in passing.

My new dishwasher had a problem. Something had burned and as it turned out several things had burned on the bottom in error. One was a pair of chopsticks that I placed flat on a top shelf. These were wood chopsticks, a pair that came with my carry out lunch and I was going to save. The truth is we have hundreds of pairs so it was stupid to try and save them anyway and I could use them in the garden or somewhere eventually as short sticks. The other and much more important one was the round plastic disk that covers the rinse agent holder, an article that may have no real reason for being, and could be saved if the manufacturers would hang it as most car manufacturers do with the gas tank lids.

This little press in place lid had about a 2” diameter and looks a little like a diaphragm with a large rubber ring around one side. In this day and age of the pill, a diaphragm may only be a descriptor if you are over 50. However, it fell out of its hiding place next to the soap dispenser and went down into the bottom where the heat element lives. It burned and warped and is no good no more to no one.
I called Sears repair and asked if they would send out a new one and they told me that I had to have a technician come out to inspect in order to assess the damage. This would mean missing half a day of work for my wife or me and that seemed stupid. I decided to just order one. I mean, said I, “How much could the little thing cost?” These are always the famous last words before the fall of everything holy.

I called parts and a very nice woman commiserated with me, and told me everyone loses these and it’s very common. She herself had lost one. I gave her the model number and off she went.

She came back and explained she was having a problem but I should hold.

The problem was my model did not have such a part listed, as its part of a multi hundred dollar dispensing system. However, she figured they were mainly the same for all models and she did her best to measure and figures she will send me a different model one and it should fit.

She has done a good job and hopefully it will work. The $2 part costs $24 and shipping is $8.95. I will wait and see if it works. If it does not, I will call the technician back and demand service. They may argue in the end that we loosened it and didn‘t tighten it back up and therefore, technically, it is not a system fault, and they will be correct but I won’t admit that as I have never used the thing. It will cost at least one visit if not two, where the part gets ordered, delivered to the technician, and he come back to install it.

The other option is to go to the store and steal the thing from a floor model. No one ever watches the big appliances for theft of a little part; they may stop you if you steal the whole machine.

I have written before about the removal of a button from a coat or a shoelace from shoes and how you can find these items on clearance sale late in the season waiting for you who has secreted the missing part at home. I have never condoned such behavior, just mentioned it in passing.