It started with my
daughter, Misty, looking out my back door
at the moss- covered
patio and encroaching flora and deciding
“I am going to power wash
your patio and trim your hedge as
a belated Mother’s Day
present!”
“Okay, who’s going to turn
that down? Haven’t considered it
before, but what the
hey?”
She arrives with a big
set of power clippers and a power washer
and I am impressed! Who
taught my kid to do this man chore,
anyway?
In a morning, she opens
up and brings light and sunshine to my
formerly dank,,tiny little patio.
A few days later, I am
looking out there, admiring her work
and I think about it
returning to its former dank jungle state and in a
phone conversation, Misty
suggests I seal the patio. She recommends
picking up a concrete
sealant at my local hardware store.
Sealed, the moss won’t
grow back and that small fact comforts me.
Then I begin to see how
nice it would be to have a little table and
chairs out there, like in
a little bistro in Paris, having my tea or
coffee or wine and
sitting in the pleasant breeze with a book or
writing pad enjoying the
ambiance of a lazy summer day.
So, I go online to see if
I can find a bistro set at a reasonable price.
I am gratified to find
a set on sale (or so I believe) for $110.
Free shipping. Wow! I am
only too eager to order the cute bistro
set, immediately and put
it on my credit card. After all, the total with
tax is only $119.24. What
a deal! It has a celebrity name of someone
who’s taste I’ve been
pleased with in the past, so the photo of the set
is enough to convince me.
After only the bistro
table arrives, I call the company. Ann, the customer
service lady tells me
that she is sorry, that the chairs were just "display" and
they would be another hundred
bucks! She pardons herself and puts me on
hold. Meanwhile I go back
online and see the photo of the table and chairs
and sure enough
underneath the illustration is the statement offering only
the table! I am
adequately miffed! I begin to think, ‘when I get off the phone,
I am writing a complaint
on YELP.’
As I am looking at it
longer, I see that the price is $139.99 for the set of chairs.
(She may have set a timer.) Ann comes back on the line and says, “Sorry
for the misunderstanding,
but usually that set is $139.99, however, I am going to
offer it to you for $100.
and free shipping.”
with a human being in the
first place, this whole incident would not have
happened.
Psychologically I have
been outmaneuvered. Now I will take the deal offered
even though I feel played
and I am spending almost double the money, which
makes it not that great
of a deal and to add insult to my injury, as beautiful as
the granite topped table
is, there is clearly a decal on it that reads: Made in
China and I feel double duped because this multi-national company
has made
me a traitor to my own
culture!
