Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Moral dilemma

Okay, I need some advice from the internets... and don't fail me. The fate of my soul is in your hands. So be gentle. Here's the situation:

About five weeks ago, I ordered the fixtures for the clawfoot bathtub online. I ordered the whole shebang, including supply lines, waste line, faucet, shower, shower ring, and soap dish. When I got home and showed Margaret the pictures, she pointed out that she wanted a shower with an additional handheld shower so we could wash the baby, water the plants, and spray down the bathroom to make a burst water line claim on our insurance.... I kid, I kid. We'd never water the plants in the bathtub!

Anyway, I called them the first thing the next morning and told them that I needed to confirm something or other with our plumber and could I put the order on hold. They told me that the order had already been packed but that they would hold it until I contacted them again. In the meantime, we found the fixture that we really wanted, so I called the first place back and cancelled the faucet, shower, and shower ring but left on the order the other things, which they said they would promptly ship. A few days later, a GIGANTIC box showed up on our front porch--much too big for two supply lines and a waste line. I mean, a LION would have fit in that thing! I opened the package and, lo and behold, the entire original order was in the box! At first I was aggravated, as I thought I was going to be stuck with the shipping costs to return it. Then I looked at the shipping invoice: it only had the modified order listed as the contents of the box. At the time, I didn't have the time to deal with the situation, so I just stuck all the boxes upstairs to deal with later.

Okay, fast forward to last week when I was breaking down the shipping boxes for recycling. I noticed a giant neon sticker on the side of the shower fixture box that said, "INSPECT PACKAGE: AFTER 5 DAYS WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGED OR LOST ITEMS" and I thought, "WHAT?" So if something gets lost and the hapless buyer doesn't tell them in 5 days, they're off the hook? That's messed up! Well, that got me to thinking, does it work the other way? Am I responsible for their lost items? Since their self-declared window of claiming loss is long expired without them notifying me, what claim do they have on this stuff? What am I supposed to do to minimize the cost to my eternal salvation yet maximizes what goes in my wallet. (Just kidding). Seriously, though, what should we do? We tried giving the set away to our friends the Burningman's, but they, sensing the bad karma surrounding it, declined.

I know I should just call the company and let them deal with it, but a part of me really wants to screw them for having a policy that probably has screwed a lot of people. So the next time you visit and we offer to let you wash your car with the beautiful clawfoot tub shower and faucet that is mounted on our driveway, you'll how it got there.

...seriously, though... what would YOU do?

...no, seriously... what should I do?

...dude, SERIOUSLY! I'm in a conundrum!

...hold me... uh, but don't judge me... I hate that.

8 comments:

Tracy said...

Ah... Good question.

Ikea actually has a similar sticker on boxes you have shipped to your home. Our car doesn't have any cargo space, so we have had some of our furniture shipped. Weird, huh.

Ok, my first response, is to say, call them, tell them they screwed up, sorry you haven't gotten back to them sooner, but you are busy. So what do they want you to do, but do not agree to anything that would put you out financially etc. Their fault, their responsibility....

On the other hand, I was getting to the Ikea thing. We ordered a desk right after we moved. They sent us two for some strange reason. This worked out well, as half of one was broken. We took that to our advantage. Bad? I hope not, I really don't feel guilty about it.

Will said...

Can you get cash back on your return ;)

Deb said...

Don't you have a bathroom downstairs that needs a new tub? :)

Seriously....I agree with Tracy, let them know and maybe even allude to their policy and how you should be able to keep it. And definitely don't do anything that would put you out financially or time wise.

Good luck with your dilemma....I wish we lived closer, we could really help you out..wink, wink. :)

Deb said...

Oh...and one more thing. I just saw the babystrology rotating baby. 21 DAYS!?....tick, tock, tick, tock. We are getting excited!!

Terri said...

It is the shipper's responsiblity. Legally if someone sends you something, it is yours to do with what you like. It probably cost them less to ship it the way it was packed than to pay the hours it would have taken someone to redo the order. Since you were only billed for your amended order, no bad karma on them or you.
Terri

Anonymous said...

by keeping it and selling it online on criags list aren't you really just lessening thier karma on their return policy- aren't you really just doing them a favor, and managing to open a college account at the same time?! Hell- your kid could be president - now wouldn't that be good for the world?

Margaret said...

I can use all the good karma I can get for birth!!!

One Sassy Princess said...

I say return it--dounto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't be caught being their judge...then again it is your conscience and not mine in question.