Can You Please Repeat That?

In nothing less than a monumental clusterf comedy of errors, Target managed to make the biggest mess out of literally no mess at all.

We ordered patio furniture from them online. Three of the pieces- the sofa and a set of 2 club chairs- required delivery by truck. The delivery company called and set up a delivery time. The furniture didn't show up, so I called that afternoon. The delivery company said that they never received the sofa, only the chairs. (From movie-going experiences, this is where JeffC sees what's about to happen, and none of you see it yet. I certainly didn't.)

They asked if I wanted the chairs delivered, and then wait on delivery of the sofa, or to just hold the chairs until the sofa showed up. I told them to wait. After a week I called them again and they said they still haven't received the sofa. So I called Target. I spent an hour on the phone with customer service with someone I could barely understand.  Companies shouldn't hire people with heavy accents to do customer service. There are plenty of places for people who don't communicate well in the language of the country they are dealing with to work- customer service is not one of those. Nothing frustrates customers who are already having an issue with you more than a struggle to communicate.

Same applies, when US companies deal with customers overseas. Hire people fluent in those languages (with some semblance of the proper accent) to help those people.

So over about an hour, she gave me three separate stories of what seemed to be happening with the silly missing sofa before settling on "lost in transit." They would figure out where it was and call me within 48 hours.

No call.

So I called them and had another long chat with someone who had an ever thicker accent than the first. She was getting more frustrated with my constant "I'm sorry. Can you please repeat that?" than I was. Gah. Stop the madness.

After my insistence that they either send me a different sofa or cancel the entire order, she eventually passed me to a supervisor (who had no accent at all- thankyaJesus). The supervisor figured out what to do. It would be a long, confusing process. She would refund my original sofa as a "return," but with no actual return. Then I would order a new sofa, which they would deliver while they found the missing one.

Another sofa was on its way, to arrive in 10 days. The delivery company would have to deliver my chairs immediately though, because they had reached the limit of storage in their warehouse. (Seriously?) I would have to take 2 deliveries.

This is where Jeff realizes what's probably happened is that they think the two boxes are the 2 chairs, when they have actually been the chairs and the sofa all along.

Forty-eight hours later, the delivery showed up on my doorstep, unannounced. It was...

the chairs AND the sofa.

*forehead smack*

Mind you, the boxes are completely different sizes and are clearly labeled "2 Club Chairs" and "3-Seat Sofa."

Now I have the missing sofa they say I've returned and another sofa on the way.

I tried to contact Target via email (to avoid the whole communication issue), both on their website and by the tons of emails I had received through the process. There isn't an email on the site for order inquiries. Not one. The emails I received came from addresses to which I couldn't reply.

There isn't a chat feature on their website either. Your only choice is to call. Let me just say, email or chat would solve a lot of issues and be far cheaper for them in the long run.

LUCKILY, the supervisor who had arranged all the weird return/refund stuff emailed me, from an address I could email her back. She said the delivery company reported that they had delivered the original sofa and 2 chairs that day. I replied yes.

I'm pretty sure another sofa will show up here on Monday.


Sunday Stealing

Thinking about: the day Lauren was born

Feeling: excruciating lower back pain from washing windows yesterday

Reading:  12th Man Magazine

Listening to:  "This Girl is on Fire" Alicia Keys

Wondering:  where to find stainless steel ceiling fan pull extenders for outside

Looking forward to:  O.Henry Pun Off next weekend

Missing: my mom

Watching:  nothing. Last thing was Dance Moms last night.

Eating:  nothing yet- I'm starving

Making me happy: Jeff and Lauren