Category: Rants & Observations

Lowes – Improving Home Improvement Rebates (please!)

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My first experience with Lowes Home Improvement rebates was rather frustrating, although all ended well yesterday when I got my check for $35 from them. Of course, it begs the question – did I get ripped off initially, or did they make a mistake in my favor? But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In November, we bought some paint that offered a rebate of $5 per can. I can’t remember how many cans we bought, but I thought it was seven. On January 13th, I checked the rebate status on Lowe’s website, and it said the check was mailed on Dec 27th. I thought it a bit odd that the check hadn’t yet arrived, so I emailed them the following day, hoping they could track the check’s status:

“Hi, I see on your site that my rebate check was issued on 12/27/04, but at this time I still have not received it. The rebate number is ### and the submission number is R2#####. Is there any way to confirm with the post office where the check is? I find it hard to believe that it hasn’t made it to me in two weeks. I appreciate your help!”

Two days later, I received the check, so I cashed it. I didn’t bother to email Lowes back because I was certain that a) they read and responded to emails in the order they were received, meaning my “nevermind” would be useless and b) they could see in their records that the check was indeed received and cashed by myself. Do you see where I went wrong there?
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My idea of eye candy

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To my women readers – raise your hand if you’ve gotten the “Eye Candy Calendar” in your e-mail box recently. Two of my friends sent it to me today and I found it interesting that at least three of the months featured Brad Pitt. Are there not enough “hot” men to go around? I find it hard to believe they couldn’t find 12 different guys to put on this calendar.

And honestly, is Brad Pitt even that sexy? Ever see him with a nasty cigarette hanging out of his mouth? What a turn-off! Personally, I didn’t find any of the men in the calendar appealing and I deleted the e-mails. As far as celebrity men are concerned, I’d be hard pressed to pick 12, but if I did, my list would be …

Nick Lachey, John Corbett, Robert Smith, Matt LeBlanc, Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, and I’ve run out of steam already. I don’t find a lot of men attractive because I have to like what I know about their personality before I develop any kind of “crush”.

Besides, I’d take Joe over all of them any day of the week!

So who is on your list? And yes, I’ve posted about lists in the past. I’m an anal person and I like lists, so sue me.

Incredibly Ridiculous

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We intended to see The Incredibles this morning, as we both really didn’t want to wait the unusually long time it takes for Pixar films to make it to DVD. After seeing the matinee price at the theatre, however, we ended up leaving, and are uncertain whether we’re going to try a different theatre next weekend or just wait to buy the dvd when it comes out since it would cost the same and then we’d own the movie.

As I lamented back in July, Sony Loews continues to increase their matinee prices. Last time we went to a movie, it was $6.75. They have increased it yet again, to $7.25!!! For a matinee! I remember what that was regular price! I refuse to pay that price when for $15.50 I can own the movie. It’s bad enough they want $8 for a Coke and a popcorn, and now this. And I don’t feel bad to admit here I sneak food and drinks into the movie theatre all the time because I am not paying their outrageous prices. Now the ticket prices are insane too.

I’m sure the movie theatre’s argument is that with the introduction of dvds and increasingly higher-tech home theatre systems with huge high-definition televisions, more people are staying home to enjoy movies, thus they need to increase their prices to stay in business. Perhaps it’s even true. But I am done paying for it. As I’ve ranted before, I am not going to pay those prices just to be annoyed by the idiots who have no respect for the people around them who actually want to hear the movie.

I have a love hate relationship with Sony to begin with. I think the majority of their products are piss-poor, yet they charge more than their competitors. So I guess it’s no surprise that their movie prices are over $1 more than the Marcus chain, for instance. The only reason we didn’t go to the Marcus to begin with is that their earliest showing was noon, and Sony’s was 10:45 am. I like going to the movies as early as possible so my entire afternoon is free for shopping. :)

I hope if you saw The Incredibles this weekend that you paid a decent price and enjoyed it. I can’t believe it’s two hours long! I really can’t wait to see it. Hopefully it won’t take a year before it’s available on dvd. :p

Ding dong, go away

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We had our first solicitor today. Joe spotted him from upstairs and yelled to me to not answer the door right before the doorbell rang. I found it amusing that I was sitting at my computer, which you can see from the door if you’re looking through the narrow window, completely ignoring the guy standing right there. I really hate answering the door, especially for pests. It’s just as irritating as telemarketers. If I want to buy something, or sign up for your service, I will find you. Do not come to my home, or call my home, and expect me to treat you with any respect because to me it’s an invasion of my rights.

Discover how much Walmart Online’s Customer Service sucks

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I have a killer headache. Thank you Walmart Online.

So I got replacement Discover cards in the mail the other day because Joe’s card was literally falling apart. I forgot to activate them. So I’m online this morning, trying to order our new bedroom set and decide to call Discover to change my address so when I give Walmart the new address, I won’t have any problems.

Discover makes the change and I go back to my online order. Then I start thinking, “Hmmm … maybe I should use the new expiration date from the new cards since I’m going to activate them tonight when I get home.” So I try that, but I keep getting an error and then it locks me out and won’t let me use that card to place my order.

I contemplate going home to activate the new cards and try again, but the laziness factor wins and I don’t. During lunch, a call comes in on my cell but I don’t answer it because I don’t recognize the number. I get a new voicemail, so I check it and it’s from Discover’s fraud protection department asking me to call them right away. So I call the number on the back of my card and get automatically transferred to that department. The women who answers says they saw some suspicious activity on the account and asks if I tried ordering from Walmart Online. I explained what happened and she said she’d activate my new cards for me.

When I get home I try placing my order again, but it’s still giving me an error. Before it locks me out, I call the activation # just in case to make sure the new cards are in effect because as it turns out, the 3-digit security code is different on the new cards. But the site still gives me an error, stating that the information I’m providing and the info the credit card company has on file doesn’t match. I triple-check everything and it all matches, so I call Discover and the guy says maybe the address change hasn’t really taken affect yet in their database and that it will do so at midnight tonight/tomorrow. He suggests I call Walmart and explain and see if they can push the order through for me.

I get some really smart chick at Walmart Online who informs me that she can’t do anything more than what I’m trying to do online. Ok, so what are they paying her for exactly? She then suggests I just give the wrong/old address when placing the order. Well why would I do that when by tomorrow it will be updated anyway? So I say sarcastically to her, “Well I guess I just won’t place an order with Walmart then” and she replies, “Ok, so is there anything else I can help you with?” and I yell, “You didn’t help me to begin with!” and she starts her little “Thank you for calling” exit line and I hang up on her.

Sheesh. All I want is some bedroom furniture. Look how pretty it is!