So, we ordered a shed online last month to be delivered May 1st. According to the website it would be delivered between 6AM and 8 PM and a phone call half hour before delivery.
In my humble opinion, I thought 6 AM was an insane time to be delivering anything, but especially with a truck that has a lift gate, and the use of a hand pallet jack. Pulling that up a driveway would be extremely loud.
That being said, we never received a phone call, nor did we receive our shed. However the next morning at a little past 5 AM, I woke up and checked the status of our shed. It said delivered 11:51 PM on May 1st.
WHAT!!! who delivers anything at nine minutes to midnight? I clicked on the tracking option and it said delivered 10:44 PM on May 1st.
Now, I'm not a genius, but that's a whole hours difference in time. Which was it 10:44 (at which time I was still up and watching TV) I would have heard the truck out front and also the pallet jack coming up the driveway. Besides that, my husband pulled the car in the driveway at 9:00. They would have had to leave it behind the car. AND, they never called.
Needless to say, I was annoyed. I went outside, walked all around the car and of course it wasn't there.
I'm pretty sure no one stole it. It weighed 400#s was 6 feet long and 3 feet wide according to the website.
So, where was it?
Either they delivered it to the wrong house, in which case when you saw it, wouldn't you either call Home Depot or come down the street to where it should have been delivered? I know I would have probably done both.
So, I waited until 6 AM when the stores open and called the number on the website. I spoke with a real nice lady who put me on hold a couple times while she did some checking. Unfortunately, on one of the holds we got cut off.
So, I called back. Explained to the new person what happened, and he saw all her notes. He put me on hold, called the trucking company (who more than likely doesn't work on Saturday) and left them a message for them to call me directly.
If anyone has tried to call Home Depot during the day, you'll discover they are experiencing a high volume of calls and the hold could be 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the people I spoke with Saturday couldn't tell me which Home Depot the shed came from, but it wasn't from the store I ordered it..
Figuring the trucking company probably didn't work on Saturday, I waited until Monday to pursue the matter. I was awake again by 6 AM so called Home Depot again, explained the situation, which she had notes from the previous phone calls, but she said they'd have to wait until 9 AM to speak with the trucking company because that's what time they opened and that I should call back later.
I requested they call me back because I wasn't sitting on hold for 45 minutes or longer.
She insisted I call back, so I asked to speak to her supervisor. Who praise the Lord, gave me the name and phone number of the store that supposedly delivered it. She also gave me the manager's name and told me to speak directly with him. She said she spoke to him and he was going to contact the trucking company at 9:00.The reason they couldn't call me back is they have a call only line. True or not, I don't know.
Oh and he told her the shed was delivered at 11:15 (another different time). She very nicely told him they don't deliver anything that late.
I waited until 11 to call the store since I hadn't heard from the manager. I mean how difficult is it to call a trucking company and speak to them about what happened to the shed. Of course he told me to wait until Monday and he'd call me after he talked with the trucking company.
11:30 AM Monday, May 4th, and I still hadn't heard from anyone.
If anyone has tried to call Home Depot during the day, you'll discover they are experiencing a high volume of calls and the hold could be 45 minutes.
So, I finally called the store, asked for him, and of course got put on hold for five minutes, then told he wasn't answering his phone. But she took my number and said she'd have him call me.
Well he finally did. Funny thing, he said he was talking to the trucking company as we spoke, but what was the order number of the shed. Seriously! If you're speaking to him, you must have the order number or why would you be speaking to him?
So, they checked into what happened to the shed and if it got delivered to the wrong house. Now how could they possibly know that, if they had my address and said it was delivered. How could they know which house it went to. Oh and my house numbers are quite large, so not easy to miss them.
The manager said they'd figure it out and get a shed out to me.
I had to call them back yet again to find out when they were getting the shed out to me. Finally it got delivered a couple of days later. Of course with all the rain we'd been having, there was no way to put the shed up.
Until Memorial Day weekend that is. My sons came to put it up and all was going well until they were almost done.
A piece was missing. the right corner panel. So, of course I called the store. Was told we'd have to bring the shed back and they'd give us another one. Seriously, I'm not kidding.
Yeah, like that was going to happen. She insisted that's what we'd have to do and I asked to speak to the manager. I explained it all again, told him we weren't taking it apart and bringing it back to the store - it weighed 400 lbs. Not to mention they were almost done putting it together. Besides, what difference did it make if we brought the shed back with a missing part than if they gave us the part from another shed. Either way they'd have a shed with a missing part. So, he put me on hold while he checked if they even had the shed. Several minutes later I got disconnected. Called back, got the manager again and he gave me to someone else. Nope, they didn't have that shed, besides it came from a different store so call them.
So call them I did and asked to speak to the manager, who I'd become quite friendly with since I'd spent so much time with him on the phone to begin with when the shed was missing. He said they had the shed, so I sent my sons to pick up the piece.
Well....the only shed they had was one for parts and, of course, the part we needed was gone. They even let my sons check. Nope, that part was definitely gone. So they suggested we call another store, which I did. Meanwhile, my sons were on the way to store I was calling.
I, again, asked for the manager, explained the situation. He put me on hold, which I again got disconnected from after a long wait. Called back, got him again, and he apologized, but he was with a customer and didn't have time to check for the shed. I told him my sons were on the way and they'd ask for him. By time we hung up, my sons were pulling in the parking lot.
Well, after checking, nope they didn't have the shed. The manager was nice enough to check with other stores in the area and that shed wasn't available within 100 miles of us.
So...I called my friendly manager back from the store that delivered it. He said he'd order the part from the manufacturer but he doubted they were open. It was Saturday after all. He promised to call them Tuesday morning, and would call me back then also. I did ask for something more off for my inconvenience - even though it wasn't their fault. But they did sell the shed, and I am inconvenienced.
So shed is partially up, missing one panel and door. Looks pretty good even that way.
Tuesday morning, I again called because of course they didn't call me by 11:00. He said he contacted the manufacturer and the panel would be shipped, but due to Covid 19, it would probably take 3 to 4 weeks. And he agreed to send me a gift card for my inconvenience. Since it wasn't the stores fault, I couldn't ask for anything more. I wasn't out to gouge them after all. On the other hand, if the shed had been delivered as promised, we would have been putting it together that weekend and maybe, just maybe, one of the stores would still have had the shed in stock and we could have gotten the part. But nonetheless, it's a done deal and I can't do anything but wait for the part to come.
So that's what's happening in my world. As my mama used to say, "This too shall pass."
Excerpt from Geriatric Rebels:
Peeking around the corner into the dimly lit halls, Mike watched the pretty silver-haired lady slip into a dark room. What was she up to? He looked up and down the hall to make sure no one was around and followed her. Next thing he knew, he ran smack into her.
“Whoa,” she whispered. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Maybe I should ask you that question,” Mike answered. “This isn’t your room.” A tiny little thing, she barely came up to his shoulders. She put her hands behind her back, and Mike chuckled. What was she hiding? “I’m night security,” he lied. “What’s behind your back?”
She lowered her head and brought out a water pitcher. “It was only a joke.”
Mike took her arm. “You better come with me.” He led her to the hall after a quick check to make sure it was still empty. “So you’re the one stealing the pitchers.” She shivered and for a moment he felt sorry for her. What a mean trick, but he couldn’t help himself. He pushed open the exit door.
“Where are we going?” Elsa stiffened and tried to pull away. “Where are you taking me?”
Her timid tone melted Mike. Time to confess. Damn, too late.
“Wait just a dog-gone minute.” She pulled away from him. “How do I know who you are? Where’s your uniform? Show me some identification.”
Although she spoke in whispers, the tone of her voice showed Mike she wasn’t buying his act. Surprised by her sudden change of attitude, he stopped, raised his hands in surrender, and grinned at her.
“Who are you? Where do you think you’re taking me?” She glared at him with the lightest, bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Eyes that right now, he swore pierced into his. “You’re a burglar, aren’t you?” She tapped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest. “If you think for one minute, I’m going out that door with you, think again, buddy.”
Mike stifled a laugh, finding her amusing, obviously she didn’t trust him. Not that he blamed her, he did lie to her, and she didn’t know him from Adam. What did he expect?
“What were you doing in that room, buster, and if you don’t tell me who you are, I’m going to scream for help.”
“Okay, okay, quiet down.” Hell, she meant business. “I was following you.” He tried to sound serious, but he couldn’t. He found the whole situation humorous. “My name is Mike Powell, room 110, but I don’t belong in this home.” He held out his hand toward her.
“Yeah, none of us belong here,” she scoffed. “Why were you following me?” Since she ignored his outstretched hand, Mike lowered it. “I was curious to see where you were going in the middle of the night.”
“Humph.” Elsa tapped her foot. “So why are you here?”
“I fell and there wasn’t anyone to take care of me. My wife passed away three years ago, and I don’t have any children. So they threw me in here for therapy.”
“I never see you in therapy.”
“That’s ’cause I don’t need it anymore.”
“Humph. So how come you’re still here?”
“Nothing to go home to. I have more fun here. They don’t know I can get out of bed.”
“And just how did you pull that off?”
Elsa seemed surprised to hear he had fooled the nurses into thinking he couldn’t get out of bed. “Simple, I refuse to get out of bed. Of course….” He combed his fingers through his thinning white hair and laughed. “They don’t know about my night time escapades.
“Ah, I know who you are. You’re that difficult man. I hear them talking about. You don’t eat, refuse to take your medicine, or even get out of bed. They call you the ‘Geriatric Rebel’.”
Mike chuckled. He liked the sound of her voice, musical, not raspy or whiny like the other women here. “So why are you here?” he asked. “You don’t seem like the typical resident.”
“Humph, kids are on vacation and don’t want to bother with me. I’m Elsa Logan, by the way.” Elsa turned away. “I better get back. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” She left him standing in the hall.
A quiver of something familiar went through him as she disappeared down the hall and into her room.
***
Mike sighed as Doris’s soft hands slid over his forehead and soothed him. He liked her voice, soft, sweet, almost sing-songy. But no amount of cooing was going to make him get out of this bed. You would think after a month of trying, she’d give up. The others had.
“Come on, Mike, you know it’s not good to lay here like this.”
He squeezed his eyes closed ignoring her, wishing her away. “Just leave me alone!”
“Okay, Mike, but you’re not doing yourself any good.” Doris left and closed the door.
Guilt gnawed at him the minute the words came out of his mouth. He shouldn’t have yelled at her like that, she was one of the few nurses in the home who bothered with him, and he savored the pampering. She’d been coaxing him to get up to socialize for a month. Sure, socialize, like half the residents here would even remember.
Except Elsa.
Elsa with her curly silver hair, quick temper, beautiful smile and bright blue eyes, he closed his eyes, remembering the previous night. Mike smiled at the memory. He couldn’t wait to see her again.
He napped off and on throughout the day to help pass the time. Finally, they dimmed the lights. Now was his chance. He sneaked into the hall, and there she was peeking out of her room. Was she looking for him? He hoped. “Hi, Elsa.” Strange, he felt shy with her. He’d never been shy a day in his life. Not with his wife, not with anyone. Never one to mind getting up in a crowd to speak, this shyness made him uncomfortable. “Want to go for a walk?”
She gestured for him to lead the way. “Wait, how are we going to get back in?” Elsa stopped and pulled him back at the exit.
“Don’t worry, the door doesn’t lock. Look.” He went out, pulled the door closed and then pushed it open. “”Come on.” He led her out to the parking lot.
“How come the alarm didn’t go off?” “I disabled it and jimmied the lock.”
She stumbled as she hurried to keep up with him. “Do you think you could slow down a little?”
Mike waited for her to catch up. “Sorry, I forget old people can’t keep up with me.” He took her hand. Something about her brought out his playful side, a side long forgotten.
“Who are you calling old, you blustery old fool?” She pulled her hand away, planted it on her hip, and glared at him.
This was definitely a woman to reckon with “You’re really pretty when you’re mad.”
“Humph.” She furrowed her brow and stepped away from him. Uh, oh he had pushed her too far, but he couldn’t help teasing her, he felt so alive.
“I’ll show you mad.” Elsa swung her fist, just missing him.
“Hey, I was joking.” He grabbed her hand. “Truce?” She pulled her hand away but gave him an agreeable nod. They stepped out into the parking lot and to a clump of trees. “This is my special place.” He led her beyond the trees to a small grassy area. “It’s where I come when I want to get away from them.” He nodded toward the home.
Elsa sat on the grass next to him. “It’s like a million miles away from them isn’t it? It’s been a long time since I’ve been out in the evening. Thank you for bringing me here.”
Mike stroked the back of her hand, enjoying the intimacy of the moment. “Why do you steal the water pitchers?” He couldn’t help being curious about the soft-spoken, petite woman with the quick temper, who invoked feelings he hadn’t felt since his wife died
“Just for the fun of it- I get bored. Besides, I can’t sleep at night.” She shrugged, “I took the nurses’ lunches a couple of times,” he said, “but usually I just come out here.”
“That was you?” Elsa giggled. “They talked about it for weeks. Boy, were they mad.”
Mike liked the youthful sound of her laugh He suddenly felt young and mischievous. “Let’s go back and fill their coffeepot with ice.” He squeezed her hand as he helped her up.
Pushing the door open a crack, he looked down the hall. “Okay, coast is clear, come on.” He led Elsa to the break room, looked inside. Empty. He motioned her inside and followed her in. “Stand guard, while I fill the coffee pot.” Mike couldn’t help but laugh as he dumped a couple of containers of ice into the pot. “That should do it.”
They laughed so hard, he was afraid they’d get caught. Elsa shushed Mike as they walked to her room. He hugged her goodnight. Warmth surged through him like a tidal wave when she hugged him back. He hurried back to his room, feeling more alive than he had in years. Maybe I’ll get up tomorrow, he thought. He chuckled, remembering their conversation, ‘Geriatric Rebel’ they have no idea. He sighed before he fell asleep.
***
For this and more of my books check out my page at BWL Publishing
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