Consumers complain government sold stoves malfunction

FROM CUBA
Consumers complain government-sold stoves malfunction

CAMAGÜEY, Cuba. March 23 (Marilyn Díaz Fernández, Lux Info Press /
www.cubanet.org) - Consumers in Sibanicú, Camagüey province, who bought
table-top electric stoves the government put on sale March 3, are now
complaining the appliances malfunction more often that not.

Jokers around town have taken to calling the small stoves "deodorant" in
reference to the number of people who can be seen carrying the appliance
under their arm on the way to the government-run repair facility.

Consumers have also complained about the reliability of the electric
cookers the government sold recently, saying they do not heat properly.

The stoves went on sale at 100 pesos each, the electric cookers at 145
pesos.

Both appliances were promoted as energy-saving measures in the
government's campaign to reduce the demand for electricity in the
oil-poor island.

At least some consumers have taken a more jaundiced, not to say outright
skeptical, view of the campaign. One man said of the appliances: "They
are cheap junk that the government charges us a lot for, but they are no
good and consume a lot of electricity."

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y06/mar06/29e8.htm