Screwed

It should have been easy.

A digital weather station for home use made by Taylor Precision Products. Two units. The base station featuring a LCD display with indoor/outdoor temps and other elemental read-outs. The base can conveniently stand on your desk or hang on your wall. And the second unit, the wireless sensor to be placed outdoors -- right into the action -- that transmits info to the base.

Each unit needs a pair of batteries to function. So I open up the base station battery compartment and install the needed AAA cells. It's literally a snap: just press and open with your finger.

Now to install two AAA batteries to the remote sensor. Hey, what's this? Tiny screws, four of them, that have to be removed to open up the battery compartment.

They're crosshead screws requiring a small Phillips-head screwdriver. 99% of the homes across America don't have such a non-standard screwdriver. But I do have a jeweler's screwdriver to fix eyeglasses. It's made only for slotted screws but its tiny head seems to fit the sensor screws. So here I go...

And after fifteen minutes of frustration I give up. A stripped screwhead tells me my efforts are in vain. The metal screws are too soft to unloosen.

On back of the sensor a warning: MADE IN CHINA. I'm guessing the prison slave laborer decided to really tightened down the screws to get even with the commie dictatorship. I can't blame him.

The unit is a triple lemon: non-standard screws produced with junk metal, all permanently screwed in. Taylor Precision Products created a precise pain in the ass.

I check online reviews for the same weather station. One commenter said they kept the product and made it work by prying off the screws. Forget it. Prying off screws -- that defeats the purpose of having a weather-proof sensor. And I'm not to spend any more time and energy with a product that wasn't designed properly. Back it went to the store for a full refund.

So don't buy this Taylor-made piece of shit.