Do you own an electric kettle?

I am on about my seventh one since living over here. The latest is one made by GE and is cordless... got it in Walmart. It's the second of the same kind as the first one lasted about six months and I wrote to GE and complained and they said they had a waranty with Walmart and for me just to take it back for a replacement... I did this, with no hassle at all

Anyhow, yesterday I had an American friend come over and she arived at my house before me. I told her to go ahead and go in while she waited and to put the kettle on for me, so the water would be boiled when I arrived home and we could have a cuppa.

A few minutes later, (I was about 1/4 mile away from my house) she rang and said I needed to hurry up and get home as my kitchen was on fire from the kettle.

I walked into my smoke filled house, wondering how the hell my cordless kettle had started on fire, to find that the twit had only placed it on the hob and turned a ring on high, needless to say, it had heated up the rubber bottom which ignighted into flames... She had then thrown two of my nicest tea towels (British one's) over it to put the flames out, so they have huge black holes in them now!

There was burnt rubber, the heating elements and all sorts all over the cooker, microwave and counters...the smell was horrific...it took some serious cleaning.

When I asked her why she would put something that came off of an electric item on the counter on the ring... she said she had never seen an electric kettle before, and thought I just had it on the counter for show....

I was telling people at work about it, and half of them said that they'd never seen an electric kettle either, and would have done the same thing, placing it on the ring to heat....

So beware fellow expats, the same thing could happen to you

PS> Wonder if GE will replace this kettle if I take it up to Walmart and say it doesn't work anymore... what do you think my chances are?

pmsl!! what an idiot!!! no I do not think this is normal behaviour , even for an American ...i actually saw an American friend with an electric kettle and had to ask her where she got it so i could go and get one for myself!

Ouch. While most Americans haven't seen an electric kettle, most are also smart enough not to put rubber on the cooker.

So, errrr... how was the tea?

I'm sorry, I feel for your loss and the mess the kettle must have made but you story made me laugh so much I have tears rolling down my face.

Sue (now on her 5th kettle)

That's fantastic...well it ain't, but it made me spew my coffee

Got a nice hob kettle myself because I couldn't be arsed with the eletric ones, all to slow and no counter space, decent ones are too pricey anyway...

that's what I had thought ..you can buy them in Target for about $25 and they are big too...I'd always used the pretty hob ones...had a few of those burn dry an all

Actually the tea was fine, and after cleaning up the mess... had to use a razor blade to scrape all the burnt very smelly rubber off the ceramic hob... I got out my spare kettle to make a lovely cup of PG. (Now I have to go out and buy another kettle to have as a spare, as in incidents such as this, it's always handy to have one)

Glad this has given you all a giggle... I did laugh myself, as I really couldn't believe she was thick enough to do that...maybe I should have given her strict instructions on how to use it?

She was a bit of a disaster in my house yesterday, I have hangy deccies, like chimes and southwestern bells hanging from the patio cover outside. And once I'd made a cuppa, we went outside to drink it, she threw a ball for one of my dogs, it hit the bell, and broke it in half!!!

oh no......is she related to MR BEAN?? next time meet her in a coffee shop for a cuppa

I know we are a mean lot having a laugh, but there's only one person over here I would let in my house with out me and she's a Brit. I would find it hard to stay friends with that sort of idiot, and bloody well pissed off over the loss of the Brit tea towels.

Got a lovely Le Creuset one now, so ain't going to bother replace that for a while yet, nice and quick too when only making a couple cups.

what are friends for
and now you'll have somin' to mock her with for years to come

I wasn't going to read that post cos it was too long, but glad i did now....
well funny, but don't worry, i'm laughing with you not at you (honest i am).

For what its worth my oh now uses an electric kettle, but she rinses it out after every use

a tea kettle yep had mine 4 yrs now and it goes all day every day..it's a de-longhi...great little goer

Well my friend you'll be glad to know I still have my old faithful one that we got in Target 7 years ago.

Had a giggle at your story.

we have a kettle and we have had it 3 years, it has been fine. Our Babysitter did once make a pot of coffee and pour it into the kettle thinking it was a carafe