Some assembly required

Our garage had become more than a little cramped, what with the tools a person living in New England requires.

We didn't want to follow the lead of many true New Englanders (use the garage for storage and park the cars in the driveway - those frugal New Englanders have figured out that during a storm the cars keep the snow off the asphalt and you need only clear them off and drive away), so we  hied ourselves to Lowes to look at storage.

We found the Holy Grail:  33 cubic feet of storage, made of plastic in America.  It had sides, a roof that could be lifted doors, even a place to put a padlock.  We were so there!

The box was 2'11" x 5' x11" - it would fit in the bed of the P. T. cruiser!

My sister went to prep the car while I struggled mightily to get the box off the shelf.  That was a huge problem.  The box weighed less than my briefcase at times, but it was in that space with no room to spare.  I couldn't tip it, couldn't shift it, couldn't find a service rep (in their defense they were busy with other customers).  I was pulling and tugging and softly swearing in Japanese when a nice young man in a NASCAR baseball cap came over, asked what I wanted to do and calmly lifted the shelf above, goods and all, so we could lift the box out.  He said something about how his mama taught him to help others and went on his way.

I trundled the thing to the register (the cart steered like a bad grocery cart).  We paid, trundled it out to the car, loaded it and drove triumphantly home.  And the fun began.  It only had 8 large pieces, 4 hinges, 2 lift plates, one door latch and 42 screws but the easy assembly instructions, if you took out the text looked something like this:  















But we soldiered on and about 4 hours, 3 broken nails, 2 bruised shins and a partridge in a pear tree later we had our shed and wondered if we might have been better off assembling the box.  But it's loaded now, and all I can think of, when I look at it is "what a waste,  I could have stored most of my yarn stash in that.

Customer Service, Anyone?

So, I'm at the local grocery store waiting my turn at the Customer Service desk; the checker had overcharged me.  I reached the head of the line and laid my problem before the woman.

The phone rang.  With the speed of Pavlov's dog responding to the bell she turned and picked it up, turning her back on me.

The call went on: someone checking the price of season tickets to the local 6 Flags and, it seems, the cost of cakes.  A line was forming as they nattered on.

I cleared my throat.

No response.

I finally, with some difficulty, made eye contact.

"Repeat after me," I said loudly.  "I'm sorry,  I'm with a customer, please hold."

She jumped, put the woman on hold and turned to me.

"I have to answer the phone," she started to argue, but I cut her off.

"I've been in retail," I countered, "and you never abandon a customer in the middle of a transaction.  Now, about my refund?"

Sadly, this is not an isolated instance.  It has happened a lot lately.  It happened the same day at an
LYS that is famous for its customer service.  I received an apology, not an argument, at that store.