Shopping Blues

Saturday, I finally got around to shopping for my new vacuum. I knew the brand and model I wanted, and thanks to Sears.com and the magic of database driven website design, I thought I knew which store in the metro Phoenix area had one in stock. Because it was quite a drive from my house, I had a two pronged approach.

First, I decided to stop at various other retailers along the way to see if they had the same one at a better price. And if that failed, second, I would use that store location as an excuse to drive to the far side of town to shop at some stores I almost never visit since moving into my house. So with a plan, good music on the radio, and my seatbelt in place, I headed out to fulfill my mission.

I stopped at several stores, and was surprised to see the differences between the in-store selection and the website selection. If anyone who works on retail websites is reading this, it's REALLY a good idea to let customers know what items are web only stock.

When I arrived at the destination Sears, I had to drive completely around the mall to locate the Sears outside entrance thanks to a huge, gas-guzzling SUV that blocked my view of the navigation signs and my dumb luck to choose the opposite direction of the store. Then, I realized that the store entrance shared the parking lot with the mall multi-plex. Saturday afternoon movie and mall parking. You get the picture.

But once inside, I quickly found my way to the appliances, and to my pleasant surprise, there were three employees chit-chatting right in front of the exact model I wanted to purchase. The young clerk was friendly, and even ran upstairs to make sure that the 1 vacuum that showed up as in-stock was actually available before ringing me up. I decided on the extended warranty, got directions to the merchandise pickup, and even found my truck easily in the parking lot. The guy at merchandise pickup was also friendly and helpful. I hopped back into the truck with a new vacuum in the back seat, and my heart ready to visit my old stomping grounds.

I arrived at the first store and found something I wanted to buy. But as I stood at the register, I realized that I no longer had my credit card, the one I used to purchase the vacuum. I used another card for this purchase, and returned to the truck. I called Verizon information, and they connected me to the main number for that Sears store, now approximately 40 miles away. Somehow, Verizon connected me to a dead number, as the recorded operator voice explained. I called back into Verizon information, got a credit for the first call, and was connected yet again to a non-working number.

I called a friend and asked him if he had the time to look up a phone number for me. He explained that they don't have any phone books in their household, they use the Internet. He is explaining this to be because his wireless connection to his laptop is currently unavailable, so he can't help. He offers to call me back with the number. I decide that perhaps I had better just freeze the account until I know what is happening, so while I'm talking to my bank, his call beeps in, and I let him roll to voice mail.

After getting thing setup with the bank, I go to retrieve his voice message when a text message appears on my screen from him with the number. I try to call the number and only get a busy signal. In the meantime, I've headed out the parking lot towards the Sears store, redialing the number continually for more than 10 minutes. I give up, knowing that I've got a better chance for resolution in person. I call my friend back to thank him, and he tells me that he had to send the text message because my cell's voice mailbox is full. What?! The next 10 minutes of my drive time is spent playing back the voice mail messages and deleting them, most of them being automated calls from the library, sometimes several calls a day, about reserve items ready to be picked up.

I arrive at the store, return to the appliances, and find out that my card has been placed in the safe area of the office. It's another bit of a walk, but easy to find. I was very happy that the woman asked to see my ID before giving me the card! When I got back to the truck, I headed home while I called the bank to turn the account back on. I hit both Home Depot and Lowes on the way home, as well as Target, and arrived loaded with practical purchases that took me most of today to assemble and begin using.

It wasn't exactly the day I had in mind, but overall, I've got no complaints.