So I bought a BBQ. Then I assembled said BBQ. And then, after hauling it out to the balcony, I went to hook it up to the gas outlet and ker-chung. That’s the sound the hose made when it hit the outlet that was the wrong size. Ker-chung, it sounded again as I stubbornly tried it again. Damn it.
The manual had said that I might need to get an adapter to get the hose to fit my gas outlet. It said to contact my natural gas supplier for such a thing. My who?
Long story short, after calling around to several suppliers, I was convinced that all BBQ-related vendors and service suppliers in the Greater Toronto Area are colluding to ensure that outdoor grill owners in this city remain ignorant about anything having to do with grilling. No one would help me.
One guy, a so-called BBQ specialist told me that he would have to come around to my place to take a look at my situation. He said that I didn’t want to be screwing around with gas and that he could have me grilling safely later that day. For this virtuosity, he would charge me only $160. I could have sworn that he was one breath away from addressing me as “Little Lady”.
Finally, a mere 3 weeks after first assembling my BBQ, I called Toronto Home Comfort and the guy on the phone told me exactly what I needed: a coupler and a nipple (teehee). He said that I could probably get them at Home Depot. Why hadn’t I gone there in the first place? Because I had gone to RONA first and they hadn’t had them, so I assumed…
At Home Depot, the associate knew exactly what I needed, set me up, and $7.15 later, I was on my way. Let me repeat that: seven dollars and fifteen cents. Taxes in. Went home, zipped everything together, bubbly water gas leak test, enjoyed char-broiled goodness for dinner that night. And look ma – no explosions!
A coupler, a nipple, and some bonding compound – that’s it.
The moral of this story is that being a cheap stubborn mule pays off sometimes. Also, you can do it. And they can help.
Originally posted June 24, 2012
Blog? What blog? 