I need some advice. Last month I asked on Facebook if anyone would be willing to let me use a food processor with a shredder attachment in exchange for some shredded zucchini. An acquaintance of mine said, "Sure, no problem, I'll bring it by tomorrow."
It's an old machine -- clearly older than the one I acquired in 1992. It worked just fine and I sent her off with a quart of shredded zucchini. She didn't have time to stick around while I cleaned up, but she said, "Keep it as long as you'd like. I only use it for shredding zucchini myself, and I don't have a garden this year."
I've had five monster zucchini awaiting their date with the machine, and today I pulled it out again so I could finish the job and give it back to its owner. About halfway through the first zucchini, the shaft snapped. It's completely unfixable.
Recently I tried to find a replacement shredder blade for my 2001 food processor, with no success at all. What are the odds that I'm going to find a replacement part for a 1985-ish machine? Approximately zero, I have to think. So what's the best way to handle it?
Ugh.
Check Ebay or check the thrift stores; there are often old food processors there. Then call and tell her what happened and ask her if she'd like you to replace it with what you found at the thrift store/Ebay or give her some money towards a new one; chances are she'll say it's no big deal (and she might even be relieved that it's out of her way/she now has a good excuse to get a new one!). Good luck =)!
Posted by: Doing My Best | September 29, 2012 at 12:14 PM
My first thought is that this is probably the result of many years of use, and it's just a coincidence that it broke while you were using it. I can understand the feeling of awkwardness and need to replace it since you "broke" it, but it seems totally unfair to me that you would be held responsible to spend the time and/or money on fixing it. Oh, you asked for the best way to handle it? Um... Doing My Best's advice above sounds fine to me, except I'm not sure I'd put any effort into replacing it before telling her what happened, gesturing at replacing it or helping pay for it, and hoping she said, "Oh, no! Of course you don't need to replace it. I used it for 20+ years, you used it for a few zucchini."
I may be missing something here, such as a mistake you made or unusual burden your zucchini placed on her machine. But it's not like if you borrowed it and used it for as many zucchini as you have, then returned it, and it snapped the first time she used it next year, she'd call you up and ask you to pay for it, or chip in... Right?
Posted by: infrequent commenter | September 29, 2012 at 02:13 PM
I had this exact thing happen to me. I was visiting an out of town friend and wanted to make salsa, so we borrowed her friend's old food processor. And the bowl cracked when I was using it. I had broken the food processor of a friend of a friend who I didn't know at all. Completely awkward. But she was perfectly great about it. I offered to pay for a new one and she completely laughed me off. Told me this was a good excuse to decide if she wanted a new one or not, but in the meantime she was going to enjoy the extra space in her cupboard.
Posted by: Roseanne | September 29, 2012 at 02:19 PM
I will help you look. Model and serial number?
Posted by: Svetlana | September 29, 2012 at 03:54 PM
Have you checked the cuisinart site? My machine is 10+ years and I have replaced parts of the top twice.
Posted by: Susan | September 30, 2012 at 10:23 AM
wow... I'm glad so many people have given good advice up there. I'm sorry it happened, I would have been mortified. i think the best thing to do is to talk to your friend as was suggested above. I wouldn't have mind if it had happened to me at all (I mean, if I had loaned you the machine).
Posted by: Lilian | September 30, 2012 at 01:49 PM
I agree with what others have said in general. I'll add that, when she says "no problem" then you should gift her with a home-baked banana bread or some other treat that doesn't require a food processor.
Posted by: Angela | October 01, 2012 at 01:27 PM
It's not your fault that it died on your watch. These things have a useful life and when it's over, that's it. I would not waste a bit of time trying to find a part. I would just make a friendly call and tell her it gave up the ghost. Chances are she will laugh it off and thank you for letting her know. If her response is anything different, do ask her if she thinks you need to replace it with a new one since this one is too old to repair. I personally would never ask such a thing from a friend, but if she wants compensation then you can negotiate what that should be.
Posted by: Celeste | October 01, 2012 at 02:01 PM
I'd like to say that I disagree with the notion that you shouldn't offer to replace it. She may or may not accept the offer, but you took stewardship over something that was not your own and it broke during that stewardship. If you cannot find the broken part or cannot afford to replace the machine, that's one thing, but it should be explained.
I've had some of my things broken by well-meaning friends and I personally can't afford to fix/replace many of them. They were purchased when we were in a financially better position, and it really hurts to have the friends who broke them not be willing to compensate me for my now useless items. I also think it's just respectful to offer to replace things that have been broken.
Posted by: Eliza | October 03, 2012 at 03:45 PM