Showing posts with label lost in translation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost in translation. Show all posts

In which Fred spends some money and then makes a misguided attempt to spend just a little bit more

It went like this:

I bought a blazer and then I decided that I should have a medium blue skirt to wear with it. The blazer is an extravagance (hangs head) but for the fact that I've been having things adjusted and repaired and de-shouldered because I can't stand the idea of having horrid rashes all over me from wearing synthetic fabrics. OK, TMI.  I haven't been spending, period. Looking, yes. Trying, yes. Criticizing, yes. And therefore, extravagant purchase of blazer, yes.
The hunt.  I located the right skirt, and ordered the larger of my two skirt sizes, not out of any special foreknowledge, but because the smaller size wasn't available.

The hunt continues. Two days later, I took a look and noticed the following:

  ~. my other size had become available, and

  ~. the skirt had been marked down from $63 to $44.  I have rounded off the change. You might thank me when we get to the math part.
Telephone failure. I attempted to order Skirt 2 in my smaller size before it vanished, and also to get a price adjustment on the larger skirt in the first order. This was not successful. I pointed out that this order had arrived at Flintstone Towers within a few days of being ordered, so I was well within the "window". The concept of doing a price adjustment and a new order in the same phone call was, um, too novel for immediate acceptance. As they say in the theater, not my night.

A great plan takes shape. So I hung up, placed a web order for both skirts - larger and smaller - at the lower price, figuring I'd return Skirt 1 (same skirt, higher price), and when the 2-skirt order arrived (each skirt $20 cheaper than Skirt 1), I'd return whichever didn't fit and keep whichever one did fit.
Skirt 1 arrived. It fit.
The second order (2 skirts) arrived. As expected, one fit, one didn't. So off I went to return two blue skirts, in 2 sizes, from 2 different orders, each with its own packing slip showing its respective size and price.

An attempt to execute the Great Plan. If only. It soon became clear that the situation was far too complex for the associate at the register. She told me she had to call for "authorization," but did not explain what needed to be authorized. She placed a call and had tried to explain what was happening to her - she had a customer who wanted to return two skirts from two orders, what should she do?
And now, the math part.  After a lengthy discussion, she hung up and told me that $88 was going back on my card.

"That's not the total of $ 63 and  $ 44," I said.

"Let me take a look. Oh, I see, she (referring to person on other end of phone call) did both returns on this order(Meaning, the one with the two $ 44 skirts). So it's the correct amount."

OH GIVE ME STRENGTH!

After still more discussion, another "authorization" call was placed and another long explanation ... oh, I can't stand it any more. We have all reached or passed the point at which infuriating turns to boring. I have been instructed to watch the postings on my account, and also to be on the lookout for emails.
I ought to just return the last blue skirt (the $44 one that fits), but if I do I'll have to return the blazer that goes with it ... And the tights... and the...