Went shopping with BF in the past week and I literally shopped until I dropped. It was EXHAUSTING looking for a plate. ONE PLATE. ONE.
We couldn’t find anything that we wanted. It either had too much design on it (snowflakes, hearts, flowers, pieces of food, pasta), or it wasn’t shaped right, not big enough, or not the right colour (white is what we wanted).
It took us 7 hours but we finally found it. In stock. Cleaned. And in a box. Sold by a company that actually wanted to sell something to its customers.
It was a fricking holiday miracle.. stuff I’d take for granted being in Ontario, is a real bitch to find in Montreal…
And the customer service here is UNBELIEVABLY awful.
Case in point: We went to buy a plate and the SKU wouldn’t scan. No problem. She tried 5 more times. NO problem.
(Before I go on, the SKU had a price on it and a couple of barcode numbers, so it wasn’t like she had no clue what the price was.)
But that wasn’t good enough for her. She WANTED to scan that damn barcode so badly.
So she proceeded to yell at an older lady (instead of walking up and asking her nicely) to find ANOTHER plate in a box (exact one) so she could scan that one’s pricetag instead. We told her it was the last one left, she gave us a condescending smile as though we wouldn’t be able to find an apple in an apple orchard if we had tried, and said “We’re going to try looking anyway.”
I felt like saying: Look, the problem is not the SKU. It’s your store because the SKU is not in the system and that’s why it isn’t recognizing it. You guys are the ones screwing up here. And you know what else? You could’ve tried typing in the SKU #. If that didn’t work, (which I guess it wouldn’t), then at the very least, put in a dummy SKU and type in the price, and let us pay for it so we can leave.“
It’s like they didn’t want to sell anything at the store. It was not conducive to doing business.
It took us all of 5 minutes of this BS hemming and hawing before BF looked at her, and said: FORGET IT. Keep your plate. I’m going to keep my money.
And we left…
ARRGH!!!
*breathes*
On another topic…
Wear opaque tights to keep warm
I bought a pair of espresso (black is sooo overrated) tights to wear under my pants when I’m outside as wind protection (and when I go for long hikes). I was looking at this fab skiing pair for $60 + tax (ouch!!!), but then I assessed the weather and realized I only needed to block out the wind and to keep a bit warm, not SUPER warm..
And the frugal, most economical way of doing that is to wear opaque tights 
They work like a charm under jeans (of course, not in minus 20 with below 50 windchill weather, mind you), or anything else because they’re thin, they keep out the wind, they keep your heat in your thighs and keep you warm, and keep your feet toasty warm as well… -$10.37 (got a $13 pair on sale!)
As for the shopping bit.. I’m really tired. I’m callin’ it quits. He’s really making a good case for me to never shop for fun again. It’s bloody tiring… wow, this could be good therapy for shopaholics. Anyone up for it? A day with BF, looking for the perfect kitchenware 
- Cereal and Leggings
- Has anyone tried inkjet refills before?
- It will always be there.
- Secret fashion pleasure
- Dress accordingly to the weather, I say!
Life is Wonderful
on Jan 3rd, 2008
@ 3:08 PM:
Loved the story about the plates…a great laugh at your expense : )
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 3rd, 2008
@ 3:56 PM:
Life: Glad someone else got a kick out of it too. I was in disbelief when I left the store, but def. saw the humour in it. BF and I laughed all the way to the next store
Meg from The Bargain Queens & All About Appearances
on Jan 3rd, 2008
@ 3:58 PM:
I recently went dish shopping online. I plan to write about them after they arrive, but I can tell you that it wasn’t nearly as easy as it should have been.
Also, I can tell you that we’re going with white square plates and round noodle bowls. We were ready for a change and wanted something simple and elegant. Fortunately, my husband and I seem to have remarkably similar tastes. My husband was watching Iron Chef and went, “Those are the plates you ordered!”
And I was so going to write about tights today, but you beat me to it. Maybe I still will. I’m enjoying a pair right now.
SavingDiva
on Jan 3rd, 2008
@ 4:56 PM:
That sounds horrible! I actually saw a reasonably priced (very rare for this company) and durable set of white plates at Williams and Sonoma…
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 4th, 2008
@ 8:57 AM:
Meg: LOL!! Great minds think alike.. we got a square white plate too
Finding dishes/plates of exactly what you want seems to be a real issue….
Write about tights anyway
SavingDiva:
We didn’t have a W&S here in Montreal, the closest one was in the States… they only have W&S stores in Toronto..!!!
Meg from The Bargain Queens & All About Appearances
on Jan 4th, 2008
@ 1:51 PM:
LOL! More proof that you and I are on the same wavelength!
And I’ll definitely write about those tights : )
Living Almost Large
on Jan 5th, 2008
@ 12:28 AM:
I wear under armour under my jeans.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 5th, 2008
@ 4:48 PM:
Meg: I am considering ribbed tights now.. the ones I bought aren’t quite warm enough
Or maybe my coat is too short 
Living: LOL.. under armour
I’m seriously considering thermal underwear…