I'll admit, they are nice... and this is coming from a dude (Sorry guys, a recent trip to South Korea made me realize this but it's true!). And while I suppose it might also help reduce use of toilet paper, it seems more like a luxury [that my wife and I definitely don't need] than anything. Before our monthly visit to my in-laws, my wife was randomly checking their Mint account (yes, she kind of watches their budget and spending when she can because of all the times they've asked her to help with late fees, overdrafts, etc) and noticed a $700 check written to some random dude. When she asked my MIL about it, all she said was "Oh we got you guys a gift and I think your husband will *really* like it! It's a surprise!"
Uh ohs...
Fast-forward to this weekend. We get to their house and my wife tells me to go look in my in-laws' bathroom. There I find a glorious bidet toilet seat. It's even heated! Then it all came to me: they bought one for themselves and bought one for us... Apparently the deal was this: buy and refer or buy 2 more, and get a free fancy rice cooker. They got one for themselves, one for us, and referred one of their restaurant employees to get the rice cooker. So her mom tells her "you just tell us when you want to have it installed at your house and we'll schedule it. Oh and you should take this free rice cooker that came with it too. It's much better than the one you have at your house" (except, when I checked on Amazon someone posted a poor review of it with pictures showing the bottom of the pot all burnt...)
My wife was pretty irate, and so was her brother, who was visiting for the weekend. I almost couldn't believe it myself. Then I was reminded that her parents are probably some of the most impulsive people I know. In any case, I realized this bidet requires an electrical outlet, and unless you want to run an extension cord over to the nearest one, you'll need to have some electric work done in the bathroom. Ok, not a *huge* deal but still more work than I would want to do for a bidet toilet seat....especially if the guy selling/installing it potentially isn't going to do that work or charge extra for it. Sorry in-laws, ain't gonna happen. We felt bad because I think her mom really wanted to help and was even coming up with reasons like "Oh I thought it would be good for you [my wife] after you give birth, etc. I just want you to be comfortable" If all they wanted to do was help though they should have either asked us what we need or may as well have just given us that $700... they kept talking/arguing about it for a while and that's when my wife and BIL realized that it sounded more like an impulsive buy for themselves with the intention of helping my wife on the side. Apparently, all their friends have this thing and the guy selling it to all these people is also a "friend" - they basically got suckered into an Asian-based selling/referral ring with all their friends... kind of like QVC but referral-based.
We asked if they can return it but it looks like they signed a contract or something in blood; or maybe it was when the scamme...err...friend cashed the check: *NO REFUNDS!* So I guess they're going to try to convince one of their other friends that they absolutely need something like this to recoup the $700 they just put down. My wife just feels so bad and conflicted about it - I mean, you can tell her all you want that it was their decision and they should live with the consequences etc etc etc but it's hard to write it off when they're your family and had nothing but good intentions. Although, as mentioned already, we sort of question their primary intentions of getting this.
My wife always gets stressed out with her parents because of stuff like this. In this case, they acted on their impulses and were also taken advantage of IMHO. Consumerism at its finest. On a lighter and perhaps more 'mustachian' note, her dad is DIY-building a chicken coop/rabbit pen combo in their backyard.... and although that seemed kind of impulsive as well, it's probably much cheaper (not to mention more exciting) than the bidet toilet seat. My wife wasn't too thrilled about either one though.