Weekend Rants and Raves

This past weekend I drove up to Sacramento to visit my friend Kerri. We decided to do something a little different, and hit a comedy club on Saturday night. We ended up at The Punchline. The headliner was Jamie Kaler, whom neither of us had heard of. Apparently he's been in a few things, including the TBS series My Boys (which I've never watched). Well, Kerri and I have decided we might have to start watching now. This guy was hilarious! We laughed so hard, I expected to go down a pant size (ab workout and all that). Anyway, if you can catch his stand up, I would recommend it.

On Sunday, we decided it time for some shopping, so we hit the mall that's near her house. Before leaving for the weekend, I had set a spending limit of $100 for myself (I knew we were shopping, and had decided to replace certain undergarments that have been known to attack - and have since been eliminated from my wardrobe). We cruise through Macy's and see some very cute and overpriced shoes alongside some very skanky and overpriced shoes (a pair of which I picked up and showed to Kerri, stating "Wow, these will totally match my new pole!" Um, then I realized I made the joking exclamation perhaps a wee bit loudly...) But that is neither here nor there.

We came upon the NY & Co store (which I am still in the habit of referring to as Lerner's), and saw major sale signs plastered in and around their display windows. Almost Everything in the Store - Buy One Get One 1/2 Off! So, of course, we had to go in. I actually found 2 items that I liked and decided to buy. After waiting about 4 hours in line (a slight exaggeration, but really not that far off the mark), I get up to the counter and the frazzled associate rings me up. My 2 items come to over $80 (WAY more than I expected to spend, and hadn't even gotten what I'd come to the mall for)!! I questioned the sales girl, since I picked both items up off of the racks/tables with the sales signs prominently displayed. I was told that one of the items wasn't included in the sale, and I assumed it was the satin shirt I had nabbed...I was kind of at a loss, and at that point accepted it and signed the receipt.

Then, as soon as Kerri was done with her purchases, I grumbled to her that I got no discount, and that I was annoyed that the sales girl didn't mention to me prior to completing the transaction that one of my items was bogo 1/2 off and the other wasn't - usually they will at least ask if you wanted to pick up a 2nd item covered under the sale. I stewed a while and as we left I had pretty much decided to come back and either return both items or simply return the shirt that I assumed was the non-sale item and pick up a 2nd sweater, which I assumed was the sale item.

Kerri could tell I was p.o.ed, since I was totally quiet all the way to the elevator (anyone who knows me knows that isn't regular behavior for me), and was no doubt visibly seething. We decided to hit NY & Co on our way back out the mall, allowing me more time to figure out what to do. So, we did some (necessary for me) damage in Victoria's Secret, sniffed around the Body Shop, and found antibacterial hand soaps at B&BW for $3 (good deal!).

Now, Kerri and I are starving - mind you it was the first day of the time change and we'd barely eaten all day. So, on our way back out we decided that I'd stop in at NY & Co and exchange the shirt that wasn't on sale for the 2nd sweater that was, and Kerri would go on to Macy's to pick up a sweater she was drooling over after our first walk through. I was planning to just meet her there when I finished.

Well...the best laid plans and all that... I guess I wasn't the only unhappy customer, because aside from the 2 or 3 purchases ahead of me in line, there were also 2 returns and a huge problematic return in process. People were muttering and whining in line, and a few of them left instead of sticking around to buy. Kerri called me when she was done, and I was still 2 people back from the front! When I finally got up there, with the 2nd sweater I decided to get for the bogo deal, I was told that the sweaters were the items that were NOT on sale, rather, the pants that were folded on the bottom shelf of that display were. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? The sweaters are folded on the top of the table, flanked by two giant signs advertising the sale. The pants are barely even visible. I was disgusted and did a straight exchange for a refund. Saved me over $80!

I left pretty peeved, and don't think I'll be shopping there again for a while. Slight grudge, perhaps, but I consider that to be total false advertising. And then, come to find out, the headband that Kerri had purchased wasn't on sale, though it was on a rack that had a 40% off sign. I also got an email today from Kerri that explained the reason she set off every alarm in all of the stores we entered and exited yesterday. NY & Co didn't remove the security tag from the shirt she bought. So, she has to go back AGAIN, to have the tag removed.

OY!