a quick update

The past four months have been nuts with Christmas and all so I never had much of a chance to do any new posts on this blog. I doubt anyone really ever looks at it.... it's mainly for me to keep track of good and bad experiences I have in shopping, as well as a quick reference for my family and friends who've asked me to do this.

Over the past few months I've had some very good and some very bad experiences in shopping, both in stores and online. Here's a few of them.

Walmart: Around the end of September we were looking forward to having family come visit us for two weekends in a row but we had nowhere for them to sleep, so we went to the Ontario Walmart and bought a queen-size airbed. It had a built in pump so we really didn't have to do anything except plug it in and hit the switch, and in less than 10 minutes it was ready to go. Blah, blah, blah... point is, it was comfy and high up off the floor. Our visiting family said that it was really comfy, so we decided to keep it. Two months later at Thanksgiving we took it out again for Thanksgiving, filled it with air, went to lay down on it a few minutes later and half the air had leaked out. We inspected it and found three holes. NO idea how they got there, but considering it was the third time we'd used it and it was perfect the last time we put it away, we did not want to keep it. We had lost the receipt, so I took it in to Walmart and asked them what they could do for me without a receipt to prove what price I paid or when I had purchased it. They totally trusted me and said that since it was within 90 days of purchasing it they would give me in-store credit for it ($60) and take it off my hands. WOW. It's been a very long time since any customer service rep was so trusting and understanding. Say what you will about Walmart, but with not having many options for shopping out here, it was reassuring to know that we don't have to worry about making returns there.


Bath and Body Works: Many of you know that I really like shopping at bath & body works and have been that way for almost 10 years now. Well, being out here I have to do my shopping on their website. I recently 'discovered' oil warmers and almost prefer them to candles. They had a new holiday ornament-shaped oil warmer that I just loved and it was 50% off, so I bought it. I was so excited when it arrived and immediately took it out of the packaging and set it up, only to find that the base was crooked. Not just a little, but seriously crooked. Looking at it from the side, the left side was about 1/4" higher than the right.... and when you're talking about hot oil suspended in a glass saucer over a flame, that's not acceptable. Well, since I only paid $7.50 for it I didn't want to spend $9 in shipping to send it back for a replacement, so I decided to cut my losses and just post a review for the product on their website to warn other online shoppers not to buy it without seeing it first to make sure that it was level. This part makes me mad.... I got an email back from their customer service team informing me that they would not post my review because it contained a quality control/customer service issue. I don't get it. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I don't get it. Isn't the point of letting your customers post reviews for your products so they can give their honest opinion and warn other customers of potential problems?? Well, I emailed them back and explained all this, only to receive an email a couple days later telling me that I could send it back for a replacement (at my own expense, of course) and giving me a "coupon" for $10 off my next purchase of $30 or more. SERIOUSLY???!?!?! They want me to spend money to send it back for a replacement that could have the same problem, and then spend more money to buy more of their products without seeing them first when that was the point of my review??? Anyways, I'm not a fan. I really do love most of their products and will most likely buy more the next time I have the chance to shop in store during one of their big sales, but no more online shopping with them. (PS: Never buy their stuff unless it's at least 50% off)

Amazon.com: What can I say, except I love them! Back around Thanksgiving they had Andrew's "BIG" present on sale (marked down from $279 to $99 with free shipping), which only happens once or twice a year (I'd been watching the price for the past six months). The problem was, we were going to Salem for Thanksgiving and we wouldn't be here when it arrived, and that's no good. Then a message popped up that said we could get a free month of their "Prime" membership, with free 2-day shipping on almost anything sold directly by them, with no minimum purchases. We went ahead and signed up for it, and Andrew's present arrived two days later just before we left for the holiday. Nice. We ended up using amazon for practically all of our Christmas shopping this year. Some of their sales are amazing, and the fast & free shipping is SO nice. Anyways, when the free trial period was almost over we just signed in to our account and clicked the option not to renew. That simple. Summary: I loved the free trial, fast shipping, and great prices, and if we ever live where there isn't a normal store like Walmart, I'll probably sign up again. It's only $80 a year for unlimited purchases for anyone in your household. I hate sounding like a commercial, but I seriously would recommend it to anyone who does a lot of online purchases and lives far from a non-grocery store.

More to come......