Friday, May 13, 2016

Let the buyer beware (a somewhat long rant)

Be forewarned, this is not about books, at least not directly, lol!

Minor confession...I spend WAY too much time in the bathroom reading (really!)...because the light is wonderful in there.  Yep, it's not good for you to sit on the 'throne' for long periods, but somehow I get lost in whatever book I am reading.  One of my doctors mentioned that I should have my feet elevated, so I use a vanity stool for that purpose.  Well, it's time for a new stool and I had sticker shock when I saw what they are selling for nowadays (upwards of $60) so I started looking for alternatives, since this isn't supposed to provide me a seat in front of my vanity mirror but rather a place to rest my feet.

Stepstools?  Either too short or too tall or too hard (yes, shades of Goldilocks).  Barstools?  Too tall.  I contemplated buying one of the folding chairs with padded seats that I see at Costco, but then I came across a folding ottoman at my local Bed, Bath and Beyond store.  I love wandering around in that store because they have all kinds of gadgets that I never knew existed.  The ottoman has a padded top and supposedly can support up to 300 lbs.  Even better, I can store spare bath towels and whatnot in it, so it will serve a dual purpose.

The only drawback?  It's not in my favorite color, although the stool in the picture on the box itself is.  Solution?  I looked online at the store's website to see what other colors they have, thinking I could order it in blue.  To my delight, the black foldable ottomans were on sale for half price!  I made a special trip to the brick and mortar store (which is in the next town over) and purchased two.  I figured they'd be great to get some of the books off the floor (see? there is a slight tie-in to books, lol) as well as provide additional seating.  Simple, right?

Well, they were such a big hit, I decided to get one for one of our elderly friends, because she was so comfy with it when she visited over the weekend.  The problem?  When I went back to the store (after looking online the night before and seeing that the same price was listed as the clearance price...although the button that said 'check store' did not indicate there were any more at the store I wanted to go to), the darn thing rang up at full price.  I tried to explain that I had been to the store just 3 days prior and it was a CLEARANCE price!  Nope, it was full price again.

I never realized that clearance prices can go back to regular price, and...after multiple contacts with the corporate office, I have finally gotten the store to honor the lower price...but wow...I think that is very deceptive...and I will now know that clearance means temporary sale price (which makes one wonder how it differs from a 'sale' price, hmm?).

Truly, caveat emptor...let the buyer beware!

1 comment:

  1. Yeah I've seen stores do that too. Unless the sticker shows a sticker on the shelf that it's still on clearance they usually won't honor the previous clearance or sale price. Glad you were able to get it fixed though.

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