![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My conveyed-with-the-house lawnmower of 15+ years old finally gave up the ghost necessitating a replacement. Did the typical "go online check the big box stores for what's what" thing, found a few, educated myself on the specs, decided on one. My first run through focused on Lowes and Home Depot, with HD finally winning out for a particular replacement. As I finished up I remembered, "Oh yeah, Sears sells this stuff too. But the local store in Seven Corners is rather skeezy and the last few trips there have been annoying and eh..." so off to Despot I head.
Long story short, after half an hour of looking around for a mower and trying to get a straight answer from someone I'm finally informed that, for all intents and purposes, HD isn't selling lawnmowers right now. O_o
Eventually I convince myself to make the trip to Sears in the vain hope of not leaving in annoyance again because the lawn thing is past critical at this point. I first called ahead to check and see if they had mowers on display and got a rather puzzled affirmative.
I enter the store and notice that they have apparently gone to some effort to spruce things up. Merchandise is properly faced, the floors appear to have actually been polished at some point this year, the door handle isn't rattling around lose...all and all the interior looks like someone actually took some time to clean things up. Getting to the dept. I start checking out the offerings (maybe 20 different models out to poke at - nice) and someone swings by to ask if I need help. When I tell him I do he apologizes for being the only person on staff (uh oh), points out two other customers and says he'll be with me as soon as he can. Mentally I decide to allow 15 minutes after I finish my evaluation before bailing on the whole process.
Ends up being about 5 minutes. I point out the one I want, he checks inventory then says he's going to run back to the warehouse to ensure the one I want is actually in stock. Returning inside of a couple of minutes he confirms there's one back there and asks what kind of vehicle I'm driving to ensure I'll be able to transport it home in the box. Yes there was an attempted upsell of an extended warranty but a simple, "no" was all it took to move on from there. Paid up and told how to get to the merchandise pickup area so they can load it in the GTI.
Seeing as this is the last opportunity for this process to go sideways I prepare for the worst. Park the car, walk in, scan my receipt and I'm told to watch the overhead display for the status. In less than 3 minutes my mower is rolling out the door and being loaded. Couldn't have been smoother.
Long story short (too late!) it's time for me to reconsider my disdain for Sears.
Long story short, after half an hour of looking around for a mower and trying to get a straight answer from someone I'm finally informed that, for all intents and purposes, HD isn't selling lawnmowers right now. O_o
Eventually I convince myself to make the trip to Sears in the vain hope of not leaving in annoyance again because the lawn thing is past critical at this point. I first called ahead to check and see if they had mowers on display and got a rather puzzled affirmative.
I enter the store and notice that they have apparently gone to some effort to spruce things up. Merchandise is properly faced, the floors appear to have actually been polished at some point this year, the door handle isn't rattling around lose...all and all the interior looks like someone actually took some time to clean things up. Getting to the dept. I start checking out the offerings (maybe 20 different models out to poke at - nice) and someone swings by to ask if I need help. When I tell him I do he apologizes for being the only person on staff (uh oh), points out two other customers and says he'll be with me as soon as he can. Mentally I decide to allow 15 minutes after I finish my evaluation before bailing on the whole process.
Ends up being about 5 minutes. I point out the one I want, he checks inventory then says he's going to run back to the warehouse to ensure the one I want is actually in stock. Returning inside of a couple of minutes he confirms there's one back there and asks what kind of vehicle I'm driving to ensure I'll be able to transport it home in the box. Yes there was an attempted upsell of an extended warranty but a simple, "no" was all it took to move on from there. Paid up and told how to get to the merchandise pickup area so they can load it in the GTI.
Seeing as this is the last opportunity for this process to go sideways I prepare for the worst. Park the car, walk in, scan my receipt and I'm told to watch the overhead display for the status. In less than 3 minutes my mower is rolling out the door and being loaded. Couldn't have been smoother.
Long story short (too late!) it's time for me to reconsider my disdain for Sears.