Sunday, June 20, 2010

Typical Country Boy Saturday--June 19, 2010

Woke up at 7:30.  Called Mom and asked if she wanted to go garage-saling.  She did!  I asked her to bring me some breakfast, too!  I don’t have food.  I then took a shower and was surprised to find both Mom AND Dad here when I got out.  Sweet!

We headed to the northwest side of Springfield and started our hunt.  There were actually decent sales!!!  I bought a handy little tool set (I borrow Dad’s all the time, including a couple of days ago!), some oil filter wrenches (my truck’s oil filter is loose from me only tightening it by hand a few weeks ago), and a microwave to replace the HUGE one in my kitchen.  All in all, not a bad day.  I think I spent $18.00 total.

From there, we headed to Sears to check for a matching wheel to the nice lawnmower.  They didn’t have any in the store, but the helper showed me how to find it on their parts computer, and he gave me a parts number to call.  We left the store, and I called the number.  I was informed that I would have to pay shipping for it ($6.99), so I told him we would just turn around and go back to the store as we were only a mile away at that point.  I went back in and said I would like to have the part shipped here to the store.  The floor helper said that that is not possible.  I pointed to a sign above the computer that read, “Find your part, ship it FREE!” and asked what that meant.  He said it was “misleading.”  Hmm.  So Mom and I headed out of the store when she said I should talk to a manager about that.

Indeed I should!  I made a 180 and went back in and asked for a manager.  I said I found my part on the computer and I wanted it shipped for free.  He said they would not do that.  I pointed to the sign directly above the computer and asked him to read it out loud.  He refused.  I asked him again.  He refused.  So I read it out loud to him.

“FIND YOUR PART, SHIP IT FREE”  “Well, I just found my part, and I would like it shipped for free.”

“Sir, we won’t do that.”

“So this sign is a lie”?

“No, it is not.”

“It says find your part, ship it free.  I found my part, and it doesn’t ship free.  That, by definition, is a lie.”

“It’s not a lie, sir.”

“How are you able to say this?!  Listen to yourself!  Find your part, ship it free!  I found my part, it won’t ship free!  THAT IS A LIE.  You are lying to your customers!!!”

“Sir, you need to settle down.”

Unbelievable.  He continued to reiterate that it wasn’t a lie.  He said that it’s not on all items, that it’s in the fine print.  I asked him to come up to the sign with me and look for the fine print.  “Nope, all I see is blue.  Do YOU see any fine print”?  I almost laughed at him.  I think I may have?!  I couldn’t believe it.  This was nothing short of ridiculous.  I asked for HIS manager.  He obliged.  I had to wait about 10 minutes for him to come down, but it was more of the same.

“Sir, yes, I just found my part on your computer.”  I had actually pulled up the PART number on their PARTS list and left it there on the screen.  “Now as your sign says, I would like it shipped here for free.”

“Sir, we won’t do that.”

I pointed to the sign.  “So this sign that says ‘FIND YOUR PART, SHIP IT FREE,’ is a lie.  ??”

“No, sir, it’s not a lie.”

“Ok, let me get this straight.  I found my part.  It won’t ship free.  The sign says find your part.  Ship it free.  And this is not a lie.”

“It is not a lie, sir.”

“I’m not sure I understand this.  The sign says, ‘FIND YOUR PART, SHIP IT FREE.”  I found my part, it doesn’t ship free.  You are telling me that this sign is not a lie.”

“It is not a lie, sir.”

“ARE YOU LISTENING TO YOURSELF?!  HERE, I CAN HELP.”  And with that, I pulled out my phone with which I had been recording our conversation.  I tell you, the guy just about went ballistic.  He was crazy defensive all of a sudden.  He accused me of being illegal, that I couldn’t record our conversation.  Hmm.  This isn’t a phone.  Or court, for that matter.  I just want to make sure I understand you fully.  He DEMANDED that I stop recording our conversation then and there.  I did.  But he was insistent.  He asked again if I had stopped.  He was seriously beside himself.

Might make you think about what you say before you speak now.

Basically, he would NEVER admit that the sign was a lie.  But he kept saying that he wanted to help me out.  I said the help would be if he could help me in pulling the sign down (it was a big one).  He refused.  Hmm.  I asked him if we could at least write “On eligible items” with a marker.  He also refused.  So that told me then and there that he didn’t REALLY agree with me.  That I was just a schmuck that he wanted to be done with.  I told him that!  He never disagreed.  But he REFUSED to agree that the sign lied to customers.

Find your part, ship it free.  I found my part, it doesn’t ship free.

Am I missing something here?

He said he would agree to take off the shipping charges if I bought the item then and there.  He would just credit back my credit card.  So we did that.  But he NEVER budged on the sign.  No willingness to have it looked at by upper management, no acknowledgement that he agreed with me, NOTHING.  I seriously could not believe him.  Or the guy before him!!!

One thing is for sure, though.  I HATE BEING LIED TO.  I have no place for it in my life.  I just won’t take it.

<sigh>  NOT the easy purchase I had planned on when I walked in to the store.  I took his name and corporate’s number.  What fun.  <sigh>

From there, they came back and dropped me off at home.  Dad and I installed a digital thermostat, then fixed my very wobbly ceiling fan in my room.  I was pleased with both of those being done!  He left, and I worked on some lawn equipment some more.  I tried tackling the free lawnmower I received with the rider.  I still couldn’t get it to fire.  But I think I made some progress.  I found a WORTHLESS O-ring inside the carburetor.  It needs replaced.  Could that do the trick?  Who knows.  I am not at all familiar with these carbs.  It’s…a box?

I also cleaned up the Ryobi weed trimmer and riding lawn mower.  They are now all ready to go.  So that’s exciting.

I went for a little run around 4:45.  It was pretty hot, but I need to get back into this.  I, um…yup…I have gained weight!  Ruh roh!  Yeah, it was hot.  90?  I headed to Mom and Dad’s around 5:30 for supper…Casey, Erica, and Micaiah joined.  And I gave Micaiah her first taste of something besides milk.  A little drop of strawberry juice!!!  She just licked her lips!!!  It was awesome.  I kind of got in trouble, but it was definitely worth it.

From there, I went home to meet Schneider Pants at my house for the fair.  I wasn’t too overly thrilled about going, but once there, I loved it.  Country folk, hooligans, fattening foods, country concerts, and THE ZIPPER.  I had a blast.  I seriously had my best ride EVER on the Zipper tonight.  So much so that I thought I had passed out.  We never stopped spinning.

Epic.  I have a special place in my heart for the simple life.  For country folks.

Came back, loafed around for a bit, then headed to bed at 12:50 A.M.

Alarm is set for 8:00.

No comments:

Post a Comment