We keep a 2nd fridge and freezer out in the garage, as 'overflow' capacity for the kitchen. Both are plugged in to the same double socket.
A few weeks ago, the fridge suddenly failed totally. I checked everything I could - fuse in the plug was OK; power was obviously OK as the freezer was still working. Bummer. It was reasonably old so decided it had just given up the ghost.
As it happened, I had planned on taking it down to the council tip tomorrow. However... this afternoon I was giving the car a cleanout - something I haven't done in about 2 years - and plugged the hoover into the now-empty socket in the garage. And guess what - the hoover didn't work! One of the twin sockets had simply failed, and of course the fridge was perfectly OK. Knowing my usual luck, it wouldn't normally have been until I'd dumped the old fridge and bought a new one, and finding out that didn't work either, that I'd have sussed. So eat your heart out, Victor.
(Weird failure actually. Presumably it must have been a knackered switchcontact? - but the switch was never used at all, and certainly hadn't been recently. Didn't 'feel' at all dodgy either. After swapping the socket I did (natch) try dismantling the old one for a shufti, but all the bits just dropped out as the cover came off, so no idea!)
David