At Least My Breath Is Fresh

This morning I had a dentist appointment. I am not one of those people who hate the dentist. I actually look forward to it. An entire hour of lying back not being able to talk. Not to mention noticeably better looking teeth afterwards. That is my idea of a good time. But I admit to feeling nervous during the "check-up". You know, when the hygienist gets out her pokey tool and checks your gums and reads off numbers to an assistant. She told me that they like to see gums in the1 to 3s range which indicate healthy tissue and any number greater indicates poor brushing. The butterflies began because I'm not a great flosser. And that is being kind to myself. In addition, I missed my last six month check up so it's actually been a year since I've been in the chair. She starts on my upper right gum (I'm sure this area has a name and number but I can't remember) and hallelujah...the numbers are threes! And they get better as she moves towards the middle. I admit to a few fours on the back bottom and took my scolding with true humility but I feared much worse. Now I have this fresh from the dentist feeling and no cavities! Score!

With Henry at a sitter and Sammy at preschool, I had hoped to run up to Sears to return some parts. But the dentist took a bit longer and I had a few books to return to the library. I picked up Sam at school and headed up to Sears.

**Alert! Strong language may follow.**

This post was almost titled "I HATE SEARS!" Two weeks ago, I mentioned the catastrophe that was our washer. Andrea's husband, Jason, just happens to be in the laundry business and called after reading about my woes to offer an alternative to the expensive repairs. He offered a new Maytag front loader at a price just a little more than the cost of the repairs. A new, dependable washer vs. a lemon crapper...it was a toss up. Jay and I chose the new Maytag. I immediately called Sears to cancel the repair order. Keep in mind that this phone call took place less than 24 hours from the original service call. The clueless customer service rep I talked to made note of my wishes and said that I should receive a call from them soon confirming the cancelled order and instructions for the refund.

That was December 29th. We went away for New Years Weekend and came home to no messages, no attempted calls. I gave it a few more days but then noticed the deduction from our checking account for the first half of the repairs. Again, I called Sears and gave them the entire history. Three transfers later, a young-sounding gent told me that unfortunately, the parts had already been shipped. I snapped and told them that I had cancelled way before those parts could have been off the shelves. He assured me that there was absolutely no way of knowing exactly when they were shipped(load of bull) but they were due to arrive at my home the next day. All I had to do was refuse the parts and once they were safely returned to their precious warehouse, I would receive my money back.

The next day I waited patiently for the delivery. Anxiously, I left once to go pick up Sammy from preschool and left a note on my door refusing the parts. I came home to the note still on the door and thought perhaps they had come then because there was no delivery the rest of the day. The following day was Friday and the only time I left my house was to go to the YMCA after school. Again, I left the note on the door. No delivery, no mention of attempted delivery. I'd call on Monday to see if the parts were noted as refused.

We left for the weekend and Monday I took the boys to their swimming lessons after school. What do you think was waiting for me on my porch when I returned??? Two blasted boxes from Sears! Big boxes! Heavy boxes! My blood was boiling. I mention that I still didn't have a working washer so having no clean clothes and a pile of stinky clothes probably didn't help my mood. I called Sears early the next morning and lit into them. Transfer, transfer, transfer, transfer....to Carl. Nobody seems to know what to do and nobody seems to know how I can get my money back. Carl tells me they are sending a service tech out to pick up the parts on Wednesday. Tuesday night, I receive an automated telephone call from Sears telling me in that helpful, computerized voice that a service tech will come between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm.
I skip volunteering in Seth's classroom because I don't want to miss the service guys. By 3:45, they still hadn't shown up and I needed to leave for the boys' swimming lessons. I leave a two-page note on the boxes and put them on my front porch for pick up. At 4:30, Sears calls me telling me they are sorry they missed me but if I'd like to reschedule, I can call their helpful 1-800 number. I call it and they explain that no one answered the phone at my house and they need to verify that someone is at the home before they actually send someone to the house. It would be way too much of an inconvenience otherwise.

I am not a yeller. I cry if I get overly frustrated (my brother-in-law, Rex, can attest to that). But when I called Sears last night, I warned the poor 18 year-old college student that I was done being nice and I was finished being patient. I was returning the parts to Sears, getting a refund and leaving them with the problem of getting those damn parts back to their warehouse. Transfer, transfer, transfer....to Paula. Paula looks on her computer for a place I can return them to and tells me the Northtown Mall has a parts and repair center. Fine. Goodbye.

I get a sitter for Henry because it would be way too hard to deal with these big boxes with him around. I switch cars with Jay so that I can have the truck. I drive the 20 minutes to the mall after preschool and my dentist appointment with Sam. Park. Walk in. Explain. Told to move my truck so they can unload the parts. Walk back to truck. Move truck. Unload boxes. Told inside by another guy that return is impossible. Their systems are completely incompatible and they can't return them for me. They have to be picked up by service guys who occasionally don't show up. I can leave them there if I insist (which I was doing) but he can't give me a refund. Unfortunately for my sanity, I need that $300. So the boxes got loaded back into the truck and I'm expecting a service call sometime between the hours of 8 am and noon tomorrow. I am never buying anything, not a lawnmower, not a pair of pajamas for my kids, not anything from Sears again. They don't care.

Once back in the truck, I decided to drive to a Verizon store to get new phones for Jay and I. We have both been eligible for upgrades for awhile and my phone is breaking (the hinge when you open it is really wobbly) and Jay can't hear anyone he's talking to. I am a confident online shopper and wanted to do it online but called customer service with one question and was talked into just going into a Verizon store. I get to the store and, I'm not joking, he told me I should just do it online. After my experience at Sears, I had no sympathy for young twenty somethings in sales. He half-heartedly helped me and then disappeared when I was ready to go. I waited at the counter for 10 minutes and then yelled that I was just going to do this online. He didn't care.

Other than that, I've had a lovely day. My teeth look and feel fabulous.