The COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a waiting game for many consumers due to major problems with the global supply chain. This has left many waiting months to get common household items like furniture and appliances.
According to experts, the imbalance between supply and demand could last well into next year.
Lisa Robitaille, a Kingston baker who runs a sourdough business with her daughter called Bread by Elise, said that in March, she decided to upgrade her oven in hopes of scaling up her business, but quickly found out she was going to need some patience.
“I ordered my Kitchenaid Cafe and it was supposed to be in around June 18, and I said, ‘OK, I’ll wait the three months,'” Robitaille said.
In June, she received notice that the oven was delayed until August, and then in August, delayed again until December.
By then, her old oven was broken and she couldn’t wait any longer, so Robitaille decided to go with a different model that was already in stock.
“I need an oven so I guess I’ll take that one,” she said. “It was really just a moment of pure defeat.”
According to Lee Anderson, senior sales consultant at FW Black, an appliance store in Kingston, Robitaille’s story is far from unique this year.
Anderson said the pandemic has caused a shortage in the production of semiconductors and microprocessors, both commonly found in household appliances.
That, coupled with overcrowded cargo shipyards, has caused long wait times for many appliance stores.
“Sourcing the microprocessors, the semi-conductors and the shipping containers to bring the product over has been a big problem and it’s all happening at the same time,” Anderson said.
Robitaille ended up purchasing her oven from Bad Boy in Kingston.
The company said during these unprecedented times, it has had to get creative with customers, offering alternate stock and sometimes even loaners while customers wait.
“We actually do have quite a stockpile of inventory here,” said Samantha Lastman, director of business development at Lastman’s Bad Boy.
“We have tons of appliances to deliver and if customers want appliances and they come to Bad Boy, we can find an option. All we need to know from the customer is when they want it.”
As for Robitaille, she said she’s having buyers remorse with her second-choice oven, and hopes to work with Bad Boy on a solution.
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