The Microwave

Editor's Note: I have told this story twice so far, both times in long-winded detail. I have a feeling that this third time will be no different. Brace yourself.

Pre-move, I purchased a microwave from Best Buy. I did this without considering the size of the space that I had to put the microwave. Thus, the microwave did not fit. It was too large in all directions. Bah. Of course, said store is across town and not particularly on my way anywhere, so I put the microwave box in the trunk and hoped to pass by Best Buy in the near future.

Meanwhile, I am without a microwave. This is not a happy thing. You would not believe the amount of things you miss being able to do when you are microwave-less. I decided to check out the on-line Independence Day circulars for our local stores. I ended up finding a great Emerson microwave in the circular for Target. On Monday, I went to the Target I normally go to and found the microwave on the shelf. Then, I realized they only had the RED ones out. Of course, I wanted the Stainless Steel, not the RED. So, then I had to go and look for an associate. I looked for 20 minutes and did not find anyone. I had some place else to be, so I measured the microwave so I could be sure it will fit in my kitchen and then I left.

Tuesday, I tried again at a different Target. I found the microwaves on the shelf, and the only ones they had out were the RED ones. Then, I removed the tag from the shelf and found one of their little price-scan machines. I scanned it in and, VOILA, the machine informed me that there were some stainless steal ones in-stock.

Armed with this information, I found an associate who said he would find me an associate. When the second associate showed up, she had a hand-held machine for checking inventory. This machine told her there were none in stock. I explained to her that the microwaves had only been on sale for 2 days and the fact that they were out of stock was a little ridiculous. I urged her to check again since the OTHER machine said they had some. So, associate #2 calls associate #3 and he calls someone in the back and they look for it in their super-inventory-computer. We are then informed that there are none in the stock room, but there are some on the truck. This is the truck that they are not allowed to unload until the next day.

So, then I go to customer service and have them write me a rain check (I was leaving the store with SOMETHING DAMMIT). This process also took about 15 minutes. All in all, I spent an hour in Target on Tuesday without buying anything.

WEDNESDAY, I CALL the first Target that I went to and, with rain check in hand, provide them with the product number and ask if there are any in-stock. The associate that spoke with went and looked on the shelf and said there were five. I asked him politely if it would be possible to have one labeled with my name and held at customer service. He did. Then, I drove to Target, paid for the stinking microwave, and left.

After all of this, I went to Best Buy and returned the original microwave that I purchased. The return process took less than 5 minutes.


NOTE TO STORES: You should really make it easier for people to BUY STUFF from you than to RETURN STUFF. Really. This should be common sense.

OH, and PS the new microwave is snazzy and works very nicely. It will be great for heating up my frozen food.