What A Hassle!

We got some things knocked off our baby registry this weekend but it came with a price!

** Warning - Vent Session **

We met my mom and MIL on Saturday morning and planned to purchase the cribs, mattresses and conversion rails at BRU. Sounds easy, right?

I knew it was going to be slightly difficult because we wanted to get their 10% muliples discount. The one catch is that the items have to be purchased at the same time and on the same receipt (side note: if you or someone you know are expecting twins, BRU offers this discount on almost all of the bigger items).

We head back to the crib section and I told the girl behind the counter what we wanted to do. She looked up the cribs and said both were in stock. Excellent! They also had both mattresses so we were prepared to take everything home that day.

She wrote up the ticket for the crib and ordered the conversion rails. I also wanted to purchase the rocker I picked out because I had a $30 coupon. She placed the order for that and wrote up the ticket so I could pay for it.

So far, so good.

We got to the register and I explained the discount situation to the cashier. She said, "No problem. We can do a split tender". Excellent!

She rang up the sale but forgot to include the mattresses. Mistake #1.

Mass confusion ensues as we try to determine which credit card was processed and whether it went through. She rang up the sale again and we got through that one OK.

Then, I went to pay for the rocker. I handed her my ticket, coupon and gift card and she said, "You can't use the coupon because the rocker isn't $200 or more". I looked at the ticket more closely and realized the girl wrote down the ottoman and not the rocker.

So, I had to get out of line and went back to the crib section again. Mistake #2.

There was a different guy there and I explained what happened. He fixed it in the system and called back to the stock room to see if they had the rocker in stock. They did! Excellent!

He gave me a new ticket and I went back up to the register. Transaction complete.

So now, we're just waiting for them to bring up the items so we can load them into Todd's truck.

One crib box appears. And then the rocker.

And then a girl approaches me and says, "There was a mistake in our system and we only have one crib in stock. We'll need to order the other one". Mistake #3.

She said they would need to return one of the cribs that we purchased and then I'd have to buy it again when it came in.

I explained the whole discount/split tender situation to her because I could see that being a problem.

She had to call a manager over. The same guy who fixed the rocker for me.

At this point, we've been in the store for almost 2 hours.

I asked if they could check another store and I'd just go pick it up. He said they'd be happy to do that but they still needed to return the crib to adjust their inventory.

Uh? Your inventory was wrong to begin with?!

So, we found the crib at the next nearest location and decided to put the return on a merchandise credit so we didn't have to mess with anyone's credit card.

Part II
Yesterday, we went to pick up the crib and I told Todd, "Watch. The crib won't be there or it'll be the wrong one".

They actually had the right crib on hold for us so that was a relief. I got a new purchase ticket from the girl in the crib section and headed to the cashier with my merchandise credit. Should be an easy transaction, right?

No. The guy rang it up and told me I owed $45. I explained the situation and asked if he remembered the 10% discount. He said "no" and looked all flustered and confused. He reached in his pocket and scanned some card and then told me I owed $25. Again, I told him he was wrong. The merchandise credit should be for the exact amount and he's not ringing it up correctly. He started getting aggrevated with me and turned the computer screen around to show me the pricing.

Meanwhile, the line behind me is growing with 4 people waiting and staring. Finally, I just said, "It's not right but I'll pay it so I can get out of here".

Another guy brought up the crib and was waiting for me to finish so he could take it out to the truck. Todd could tell I was pissed and asked what happened. I looked at the receipt and said, "He gave me $10 off and not 10%".

I was so fed up that I just wanted to get out of there. I guess the other worker heard me and asked if the price was wrong. I told him and he said, "Come back in with me. I'll fix it for you".

He ended up being the assistant manager and gave me 15% off instead of 10%.

Seriously? Should purchasing 2 cribs be THAT difficult? I worked retail for 15 years so I totally get that things happen. But every transaction with that store has been disastrous.

When I was creating my registry, several items were discontinued or out of stock. When I went into the store to finalize my registry, I'd try to scan something and it would say "Low inventory. Please scan another item".

And, then my sister purchased my double stroller and after a week, it was still showing on my regisry as not purchased! I had to call customer service to have them fix it. I'm still not convinced that it will update correctly and I can see getting double duplicates of things.

For being one of, if not THE, largest baby retailer, you'd think they would have their act together a little better than what I've experienced.

Anyway, we now have both cribs, mattresses and the rocker. And, Operation Clean Out has begun. We got all of the closets cleaned out/re-organized. Next weekend, we'll completely empty the soon-to-be nursery and paint.

No wonder it's recommended to begin planning the nursery months before the baby is due. I'm exhausted already!