And I am all about peace. Unfortunately, I was not at peace yesterday. A nasty little person (and a nasty little creature) made me angry!
(My Loyal Readers often comment on how "real" I am. They seem to appreciate my imperfections. Good. I am about to let the imperfect flag fly! :/ )
Let's start with the people and work our way down to the critters, okay?
Target (my very favorite store except for Office Depot) made me angry. You see, the week before Thanksgiving, I bought a backpack for my son. I am organized, so I kept the receipt (in my planner during the month, but then I keep it for a year in my receipts file). My son used the bag for two days, carrying one folder, a blankie, and a stuffed animal. Then the bag ripped. It didn't rip on anything. Instead, the seam just came apart. It was clearly a manufacturing defect.
It was within 90 days (heck, it was the SAME week) and I had the receipt to prove it, so I brought it back. (We won't even talk about how his replacement bag from another store also ripped before he even used it.)
Understand, I spent $450 at Target yesterday and spend between $125 and $200 there weekly. The snotty customer service manager still claimed that it's their policy not to accept the "used item."
I, being a lawyer, read their policy to them. Nowhere in the policy did it exclude used items. In fact, it said that if something was excluded from the 90-day warranty, it would be noted on the receipt. There was no note on the receipt.
She explained that she was "in charge" of this decision and that she would not be granting a refund. I explained that I am an attorney, and that Louisiana law requires her to take back a clearly defective item unless they specifically state that they don't (say, by saying "sold as is").
She then offered me a gift card, preaching to me the entire time about how she should not be doing so. I spent $450 and she almost made me walk out over $18.
Funny how the words "I am a lawyer" get action, isn't it? It makes me so mad when people do that because, if the customer isn't a lawyer, does that mean the customer is simply treated poorly?
I should mention that other than this incident, I have gotten exceptional customer service this holiday period. Having worked retail, I know how difficult and stressful it is, so I appreciate that. Of course, this happened at 8 a.m. and I was her first customer of the day.
I *might* have had low blood sugar at 8 a.m. yesterday. I always plan breakfast and snacks due to some medication that cause low blood sugar if I don't eat. My satsuma (a south Louisiana version of a tangerine, but tastier) was sour and I had to throw it out and not eat. Note to planner: "put almonds in purse for such emergencies."
Speaking of food, we have critters. A mouse was spotted in my laundry area on Thanksgiving morning and the trap has caught NOTHING. In addition, my chocolate is contaminated with little teeth marks. (Excuse me while I hurl.)
As a service to my Loyal Readers (and because mice creep me the heck out), I have researched how to deal with this issue (you know, in addition to traps and poisons, 'cause that creature is going to Mouse Heaven in time for Christmas).
1. Don't store candy or food in plastic bags on the floor.
D'uh. That said, despite a very organized pantry, we stored our Halloween candy in plastic bags on the floor. Any remaining candy in our house is now stored in hard plastic containers.
2. Put things in cardboard and paper containers into sturdy plastic instead.
This means all my cereal needs to go in containers. I am not happy about that. It's on my task list, but it is expensive and time-consuming.
3. Do chores regularly.
Here's the deal. We did oodles of cleaning before Thanksgiving.
But since then, we've done virtually nothing. We've been trying to deal with a back load of homework, Christmas shopping, and dishes, but not daily sweeping, mopping, and wiping away of crumbs. I will be changing that, effective immediately.
Don't be me (unless you want a pet mouse). Sweep your floors, people!
4. Clear out clutter.
I am really organized. However, I have piles of Christmas gifts in every corner of my room and a cluttered laundry closet. I saw the mouse in the closet, but in my room would be EVEN WORSE. So decluttering is about to happen.
5. Close your trash with a lid and bring it out often.
We close ours, but we need to take it out more often. That is going on my planner, of course.
Bye bye, Mr. Mouse.
Etcetera.
16 comments:
We use plastic containers for our cereal because we buy the huge bags. Keeps the pantry much neater.
We buy those, too.
And don't forget to put your rice, flour, sugar, etc. All dry goods in the same kind of plastic or glass container with understandable labels. (If you get different containers, they won't stack or fit well together.
We had a mouse when lived in Germany. I couldn't get rid of that damn thing. I think he would have even survived a burnt down house. Mice suck!
When I was young (like you) I opened a box of crackers one day to find weebles (I know, but this is less gross). Ever since then, not a bag or box stays in my house. Everything is in glass jars with pretty labels! lol Don't like bugs. Don't like critters. I hope you catch that little mouse soon.
I have been chasing a little bitty mouse around my house for two weeks now....I have no open containers or otherwise food but I saw the stupid little thing peak out of a hall closet and taunt me. I will hope you get yours gone too...We can have a double funeral....lol
Proverb - The first funeral that I am ever looking forward to attending!
Twice in the last week I have had to educate customer service reps on their policies. Luckily, I wasn't met with resistance. I would have hated to have had to pull the ole "I'm a lawyer" routine 'cause, you know, that would have been a lie. :)
And yes, I am one of those who likes your authenticity. As much as I like reading organizing blogs, I suspect that most of the photos are staged. Either that or someone was lucky enough to marry and have kids as organized as themselves or are making the other members of their family miserable by making them conform to their standards.
So have the boys started campaigning for a cat yet to help with the critter control? ;)
I am deathly allergic to cats. (I get asthma attacks.) So no cats, though a few feral cats live in our backyard and we never shoo them away.
I think that they think they live here, because they bring me dead mouse and birds. You'd think the mice would get the message!
Girl, we had a couple of the creepy little critters scampering through our house like it was a spa. They didn't have to get into my snack cabinet because they were getting fat, dumb, and happy from the bait on the traps: peanut butter, glued on chocolate chips, good old-fashioned cheese. We got new traps, they cleaned those out, too. Finally, we bought these http://www.victorpest.com/store/mouse-control/m142. About an hour or so later, one mouse bought the farm, and the next morning the other joined his partner in crime. Good luck!
That Target employee was not "On Target"... a defective item should be able to be returned. I'd suggest you call the 1-800 number and relate your experience to them, so that it doesn't happen to others. Even if an item is used, a defective item can be returned to the store. She should not have treated you like that. You should have gotten a full refund.
Oh, and she is not "in charge"... Target HQ is and they want their policies followed consistently in each store, not by individuals "in charge" of each store making decisions for guests that affect their brand.
It's always helpful having an attorney in the family.
I tracked down how the mice were coming in my house. A whole under our deck that went into the basement. I went to the hardware store, got myself some expanding foam, steel wool and a kitchen exhaust fan filter. I filled that whole, packed it all up. I dared those mice to break into that. So far in 5 years not a mouse to be seen.
The only thing more intimidating than saying I'm calling my lawyer is ......I'm a lawyer.
Post a Comment