Last month, I tried desperately to order a modest bathing suit for Deanna. The stores had very little to choose from and most options were tankinis, which I won't let Deanna wear.
I ordered one from Sears and one from Penney's. I always try to make sure the children have two suits since we swim often. I like a nice one for the pool and a not-so-expensive or nice one for the lake, since whatever we wear in the lake ends up stained with Georgia red clay.
The first arrived. Deanna loved it. It was white with pale blue and turquoise flowers, a ruffle on the top and a matching skirt with a ruffle. It was darling, but too small. The second one arrived. Deanna hated it. Too plain. One solid color with no detail except a small appliqued heart in green and green straps. No go, she said. Send it back.
I finally found a nice Speedo for her at a sports store and set out on Wednesday to return at least one of the suits to the local store, which I was sure would save me time since I wouldn't have to go to the Post Office and repackage the thing. Penney's gladly took the darling suit back and then asked if I wanted one in a larger size.
"There aren't any larger," I explained. "I already checked on line."
"My computer shows us as being able to order a larger size," the saleswoman said.
Shocked beyond belief, I quickly ordered a larger, pleased as punch with myself. It was such a darling suit and I couldn't wait to see Deanna sporting it.
Yesterday, I got the confirmation e-mail for the larger size. Still unbelieving, I went to the website and looked it up. No larger sizes in the darling suit. I cut and pasted the item # from the confirmation and, voila, a horribly ugly suit shows up on my computer. Frantic, I called the 1-800 number for the store.
I explained that the suit they ordered for me was not the suit I returned. I hated the suit they ordered. Did the change the item #? What gives here?
Suddenly, while talking with them, the sad truth struck me. I had returned the darling suit to Penney's. But the darling suit had been purchased from Sears. The ugly suit came from Penney's.
Good grief. How could I have done such a thing. And how could they have accepted merchandise for return that wasn't even theirs? I quickly asked the operator if she could stop the order.
"Sorry, but no. This suit in a larger size has already shipped."
Double good grief. Not only was I out the money for the darling suit because I couldn't return it to the store where it had come from, but I had bought and paid for yet another ugly suit.
UGH! The woman on the phone encouraged me to call the store quickly. Perhaps they still had the darling suit and I could exchange it for the ugly suit that had come from there. Then I could return the cute suit to Sears and would just have one more return to take care of when the second ugly suit arrived by mail.
I got the local store on the phone and recognized the accent of the woman to be the same one who had helped me at the store. I explained my mistake. She laughed and admitted that this was a first for her, but that she still had the darling little suit. She had noticed after I left that it had a prominently displayed "Sears" tag.
It took me two hours today to switch the two suits and return the darling one before I screwed up anything else. Sears had great difficulty accepting the return.
Little did they know how much trouble I had returning it.
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