Sale on Furniture at Target.com -- not such a deal after all

Not so much.

Now that House 2.0 is complete, I've been trying to fill it with furniture and make it a little more functional. I saw on Brad's Deals that Target.com was having a double coupon sale on furniture:



I decided to pickup a desk and a matching console table.




I ordered both on February 20th, 2006; the desk arrived on Thursday 2/22 and the console arrived yesterday 2/27. Even though the boxes were about the same size and the same weight (about 70lbs each), the desk was left on my porch while I had to schedule a delivery for the console table.

Both pieces arrived in about 100 pieces, and the instructions state clearly that you need to first inventory the contents of the box against the packing list; if any pieces are missing, you should box everything back up and return this 70 pound box to your nearest Target store for a refund.

With the desk, I inventoried the contents, everything was there, and I spent a little over an hour putting it together. For build-it-yourself furniture, it's some of the nicest that I've ever seen. They use a cam-lock system so that all the pieces fit together tightly and don't give over time (like the screw-together schwag you buy from a certain blue, Swedish, art-deco company).

When the console arrived, I again inventoried the contents before I started putting it together. Everything was going along fine, until...

both of these pieces are just like the other
both of these pieces go on the right
they're labeled different, which causes a problem
looks like there's going to be a fight...

Why a fight? Why should I return a 3/4 built console table to Target, and have to sit home another afternoon while they ship me a new one?

The front of the instructions have an email address (for the manufacturer) if you have questions, so I shot them a note:

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:11:18 -0500
To: customercare@aimcorp.com.tw
Subject: Problem: Style MDJ1825 DPCI 249-13-0063

I ordered both the console table (which this email is regarding) and the matching desk on 20-FEB-2007 (Target order #601-5865063-4028912). I had no trouble assembling the desk when it arrived last week.

The console table arrived today. Per the instructions, I did an inventory of all pieces before assembling. I realized when I got to step 5 that although the two sides were labeled 2A and 5A, that the 5A labeled piece is a second right side. I am attaching pictures -- since I have already assembled this and I did follow the instructions, I would like a replacement left side panel (should be 5A) sent to complete this.

Thanks
Attached: [pictures you see above]

For good measure, I emailed Target.com and let them know of my plight. They were first to respond:

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 20:42:59 -0800 (PST)
From: "Target.com Guest Services"
Subject: Your Target.com Order (#601-5865063-4028912)
Bounces-to: RealTimeEmail+CS-CUSTOMER_REPLY-He42vkeS0O@bounces.amazon.com
X-AMAZON-RTE-VERSION: 2.0
X-AMAZON-CLIENT-SENDTIME: Tue Feb 27 20:42:59 PST 2007
X-AMAZON-CLIENT-HOST: cs-bsf-1113.vdc.amazon.com
X-AMAZON-MAIL-RELAY-TYPE: notification

Dear John,

Can you give us a call at (800) 591-3869? We'd like to help you out, and it would be easier to take care of this over the phone.

Thanks for writing. We look forward to speaking with you.

Best regards,
Tarang

I decided to wait until today to call the 800 number. When I did, the rep I spoke to apologized and gave me two options: (1) return the half-built desk and he'll send me a new one, or (2) he'll send me a new one, take the part I need out of it, then return that to a Target store. He did also offer that if I took the latter choice, I could "have the delivery person wait, take the piece I needed out, repackage it, and let him take it back along with a preprinted return label".

What a nice thought, but it was hard not to laugh at him. They means that I need to sit home and wait for the replacement, but also that I need to remove 100 pieces from the styrofoam packing to get the one piece I needed off the bottom, then repack everything. It takes at least 20 minutes to unpack all the pieces from the box.

What I want is a replacement left side, which Target isn't able to do. I understand that the inventory process at the beginning is supposed to prevent all this, but I did that and I'm being penalized for not realizing that a part was mislabeled.

I did hear back from the email address on the instructions:

From: AIM S1B-SZ
Cc: AIM Ban-sz , customercare@aimcorp.com.tw
Subject: re: Problem: Style MDJ1825 DPCI 249-13-0063 2.28
X-Mailer: Lotus Notes Release 6.5.1 January 21, 2004
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:35:30 +0800

thanks for your mail.
we already order the left side panel(5A) form the manufacturer at same time,
pls tell me your detail adress & tel# for following up.
thanks.

customer care

Uhh...you need all your pant today? All your pant not done.

Wowsers. I sent them my information, hopefully that means that they can send me the part I need and avoid having to return one of these monsters to a Target store. The rep I spoke to did remind me that I have 90 days to return this, so hopefully it all works out.

Reagan defeated Communism so you could have microcredit

While learning about Microcredit in my Economics class, we've discussed Prosper.com -- an online marketplace for borrowers and lenders:



This is their second incarnation after a recent redesign. The idea is really interesting, but whether it will take off or not remains to be seen I guess.

I was explaining it to Kirsten this morning, and I suggested that we become eLoanSharks. There is discussion about Prosper on Clever Dude in reference to Rateladder.com. I shared an interesting analysis of a loan that Rateladder funded through Google Reader...

What I have in common with little girls

Periodically, I find myself checking labpups.com to see if they have any new chocolates.

I saw a commercial for Real Housewives of Orange County last week where one of the little brats was shopping for ponies online. She picked one out, and her uber rich step father-to-be was like "I don't like that one".

So when I was browsing to look at puppies, it occurred to me that probably 90% of their website visits are little girls going omg look at the puppy!!! look at the cutsie widdle puppy!!!.

Call me what you want, but I think adorable little puppies bring out the little girl in all of us.

Some Blogkeeping Activities

(1) Great Moments in AlphaJohnness -- deleted
(2) Google Adsense ads -- all removed
(3) Your Blogsmith -- tired and cranky today

That is all.

Watch in amazement as your employer thinks for itself!

Oh wait, never mind:

All,
This is a just a reminder of our meeting Tuesday, February 20 at 1 PM. [Redacted person] is researching [redacted concept] at other universities to see their membership, responsibilities, and duties.

We will eventually have a draft mission statement to review.

In the mean time, it's an opportunity to share and communicate across
departments.

This is an actual email I just received, reminding me of tomorrow's meeting. This group has been meeting for years now, but they need to meet tomorrow and continue to see what other schools are doing so we can decide what our (draft) mission statement should look like.

::scratches head::

Many organizes suffer under group-think, this is some kind of second-guessing that cripples us; we always need to see what other schools are doing before we make a decisions, even though we always want to do things differently.

We need an autocrat in the worst way.

McGraw-Hill's Homework Manager is a cunt

I'm taking my last required account class this semester. Our professor requires that we do our homework online using McGraw-Hill's Homework Manager. For very simple home assignments (especially things like matching and some basic journalization of transactions) it's pretty slick. Beyond that, it blows.

We did not have class this past week because of Wednesday's snow storm; our professor sent an email and told us that the due date for this homework assignment was extended another week.

Vaguely remembering this email, I came home tonight a little after 9:30pm and checked homework manager to be sure the due date wasn't midnight tonight (like it always is). Sure enough, it said assignment three was due at midnight.

I spent the next two hours rushing through the assignment to make sure it was in on time. Keep in mind that my book and my notes are at the office, and I'm trying to do this from home.

I finished with less than five minutes to spare, and my grade comes back a 74%. Considering there's a chapter of material we didn't cover, I thought this was actually pretty good. Then I looked at the side-by-side of my results and the correct answers and realized why I lost so many points:

• I denoted negative amounts in parens ($1000), which is a convention in accounting, instead of with a negative [-$1000] sign
• I miscalculated formulas I have not yet learned (that I dug up on the Internet(s))
• I left three digits after the decimal instead of two (more precise == more wronger), and
• in a five part question where everything was done in order, I did not going back twice to earlier parts of the answer and update the T-Accounts in part one with changes that happened in parts three and four (which the instructions never told me to do, and makes no fucking sense)

I emailed a nastygram to my professor and told her I was not amused that I rushed through that and spent two hours to get a 74% when it wasn't even due. I should be able to redo the homework for a higher grade (we typically get two chances) once she fixes homework manager, but clearly it's going to take at least an hour to redo since it has about a million fucking parts to it.

What a fucking donkey show this class is turning out to be.

Robot Insurance

Thanks to Will, though now I wish I had an attack robot... :/

Order from Chaos

In case you missed the news, it snowed a little bit here in Northern Virginia. Not to worry, because I used the time to finish the hall closet and get the house back in order. I'll be putting a light over the kitchen table this weekend, then House 2.0 will be finished (decorations not included).

Look for a house warming party evite in the very near future, followed by one or two roomates of varying shapes and sizes.

Two Trips to Teany

One of my favorite places to visit when I'm in New York is Teany, a small cafe owned by Moby. It's nice to take a break from running around to sip a pot of tea and chat with power lesbians about Anna Nichole's death.

Later in the afternoon, I realized I had lost my cell phone at Teany:

Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 13:56:27 -0500
From: ransim
To: theAlphaJohn
Subject: Your Cell Phone

You're cell phone is at Teany's, you left if there, I tried to call you and someone called me back from there and wanted me to tell you. Hopefully you get this, not really sure how else to reach you and wasn't sure when you were heading back.

Also I told her if you had left or didn't get it back that you'd call to have them mail it.

-mary

A trip back that evening reunited me with the phone I plan to dump and filled my tummy with the best piece of carrot cake known to man (with some kind of vegan frosting that still made my inner carnivore smile).

I will be sending a thank you letter.

Until our dreams come true, we live on Avenue Q...

I saw Avenue Q for the first time in February 2004, right before they won the Tony Award. I figured it was so funny I'd see it again:

What is AVENUE Q about?

AVENUE Q is the story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account. He soon discovers that the only neighborhood in his price range is Avenue Q; still, the neighbors seem nice. There's Brian the out-of-work comedian and his therapist fianceé Christmas Eve; Nicky the good-hearted slacker and his roommate Rod -- a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret; an Internet addict called Trekkie Monster; and a very cute kindergarten teaching assistant named Kate. And would you believe the building's superintendent is Gary Coleman?!? (Yes, that Gary Coleman.) Together, Princeton and his newfound friends struggle to find jobs, dates, and their ever-elusive purpose in life.

Still a fucking riot. I was surprised that it was no where near packed, and on a Friday night.