Mood:
incredulousNow Playing: Fury, in my head.
I mean, it's beyond ! OK, so last night, Dearest Son's favorite ball merges with the infinite, and I promise to take him to replace it today. Off we go to the Mart. And...there it is. The elusive, impossible to find Cars lunch kit. The *exact* same one we ordered yesterday, the very one he wants ! What the heck, we'll have a spare ! It's the only one, too.
So, joyfully, we get the ball and take the stuff to the scanner. Lunchbag won't scan. OK. So I take it to the CSM counter, and she checks it. And tells me that, yeah, it's only $5.88, but she can't sell it to me.
WHAT ?! What in the freaking - why not ? She doesn't know, just repeats that it can't be sold. I take it to the service desk, and get the same crap. Not one amongst 'em knows why, but there's a box of 'em in the back, and they can't sell a one. Please remember, I've been trying to find lunch boxes for over a month, and aside from some dusty Superman ones, this is the first child-themed one I've seen. I've ordered the same exact one online not twelve hours prior - so what's wrong with it ?
If it can't be sold, then why is it on the sales floor ? And what's so horribly wrong with it that, if I buy it, something dire will happen ? If I put an egg salad sandwich in there, will the freakin' thing explode ? Or are there hidden lasers in the headlights, or tarantulas in the lining ? If something's been recalled, there's gotta be a reason ! Is it a threat to the Republic ? It is a mystery...
So, after dealing with an upset Son, we buy the stuff we're allowed to, and leave. I called back for the manufacturer's name - of course, they took it away as soon as they decided it was in my best interest that I not have the mysteriously dangerous thing - and call them directly. Of course, Zak Designs (www.zak.com) has no recalls. Their products are lead-free, always have been, and have been subject to numerous safety tests for the last 20 years. During the 2005 lunch-bag lead recalls, Zak's were consistently found to be safe and usable, and their products weren't amongst the ones cited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
I call the nice lady at the online company I ordered from. First she's heard of it, too, and her son's carrying the same lunchbag ! My order had already shipped, and she was down to her last few. So she calls her rep - who told her that, for some reason, the Mart decided not to carry any PVC lunchbags. So they have all these highly in demand lunch-carriers in the back, where no one can buy them, and nobody knows when or even if the Mart's gonna return them so they can be sold elsewhere.
Now, a quick aside. We DID buy a PVC lunch kit, at the Mart ! Had to have something until his Cars order arrived. It's made of the exact same stuff as the Cars one, and it's also bearing a 'Lead Safe' hangtag. The sales rep hypothesized that the Mart had some sort of whizzing contest over Zak Designs, and refused to sell their products, instead deciding to hold them until no one would buy 'em. I mean, how many lunch boxes does anyone buy in October ?
The Zak kits are also 'Lead Safe', and I believe Zak and my seller. It is ridiculous, but that's the Mart for you. I'm seriously considering shopping elsewhere from now on. I mean, we're poor, but why support a company who can keep product off the shelves just to make a rather random point ? If they're not gonna sell soft-sided PVC lined lunch kits, fine - but don't sell any of 'em ! It's bad enough they don't pay employees crap and expect distributers to starve so their stock goes up 2c this quarter - but refusing to sell things that are in stock, that people need, for no dangerous reason is beyond expectation. Maybe they should stop selling eggs - what if that horrible sharp shell gets into my eye when I'm making breakfast ? OMG !!!!!
Who'd have thought that a d@mn lunchbox would be such a difficult purchase ? Or I'd have to play internet detective over such a darn mundane thing ? I mean, crap, I used to be a reporter, but this is stupid. What, is it Mart's policy to not tell their employees anything, so they can't be debated or answer questions ? It's just a *&%$ lunch bag !
Things to consider...
