Question of the Day - Tuesday, December 26th, 2023

[casportpony]

How was your Christmas?

Mine was good. The folks at the potluck enjoyed the turkey I made and Mike & I enjoyed a peaceful evening at home.

 

[sourland]

It was good. Changed plans and went to daughter's yesterday to see the grandson who had to work when we had our 'get together' on Saturday.

 

[HipMystic]

Great!
Partner and I woke up around 2:30am to do our personal Christmas, spent the next few hours visiting with our families, then just relaxed and went to bed early

 

[Sally PB]

Just the two of us, plus Freya, and the chickens. Good dinner, quiet, peaceful.

The pig ear we gave Freya seems to have been too much of a good thing. Though she might not agree!

 

[tripletfeb]

It was very nice. Went to Mass on Christmas Eve then over to mom and dad's to visit and have dinner. Then on Christmas morn, exchanged gifts and went back over to mom and dad's

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Very nice, big family breakfast, gift exchange then down time. then back again for the dinner prepared by our niece. Over indulged, I may have gained a pound! I got her Cranberry Relish recipe.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Well... Gather 'round, folks, and I'll tell you the tale of my Christmas fail.

A couple weeks ago, I took the youngest and we hit the mall to shop for presents for Mom. I had a short list, and she had a couple of other things my wife had mentioned to her as well. We hit a few stores and crossed a bunch of things off of our lists. The last place I wanted to stop was a jewelry store my girls both like to shop at. I found her a couple of things which my daughter approved, we paid, and the clerk took our stuff back to have it wrapped. Score. Wifey likes to snoop, so walking in with things pre-wrapped and threatening the kid with coal if she blabs is perfect. Mission accomplished.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning and we're unwrapping things. I'm pretty excited to see her reaction because I know she's going to love what I got her. Imagine my surprise when she unwraps the first box, goes "ooh $STORENAME!", pops off the ribbon, opens it and says "Is this a joke? There's nothing in here".

I thought she must be kidding, but sure enough, the only thing in the box was another ribbon like the one they tied it up with. I had her open the other 2 thinking maybe they'd accidentally put 2 in one box somehow.

All.
Empty.

...I'm not gonna lie, some poo came out. I was flashing between bewilderment, anger, and sadness. I had a couple of other small things for her, but those 3 little boxes were supposed to be the majority of her presents from me and now she had nothing.

I played the jewelry store visit over and over in my head, trying to figure out if somehow I'd left packages there and taken the wrong ones, but there was no way at all. THEY wrapped them. THEY handed them to me with my receipt, there was no way this was happening.

She was bummed. I was bummed. The kids were bummed. Then she gave me MY present, which was a gorgeous watch, and I felt like crap all over again. The rest of the day was fine, she got a nice clutch from her Mom and I got an Oura ring, but the food smells were a little off, the music was tinny and flat, and the whole edge was just dull because of my disappointment.

First thing this morning I grabbed the empty boxes and my receipt and made the trek over to the store to see if I could figure it out. I was prepared for a fight. I could easily see how walking in and saying "Hey, I bought some stuff 3 weeks ago and when my Wife opened the presents they were empty" definitely sounds kind of scammy. The clerk was super helpful, grabbed her manager, and after making sure my receipt and my ID matched and getting a quick rundown of what happened, she apologized and fixed it. No hesitation, no trying to dance around it, just "Oh no. I'm so sorry, Let me fix that for you." She even threw in a really pretty pair of earrings as an apology for the mix up.

In the end, I still got to see the delighted expression my wife had when she opened them. and she's a very happy camper.

So Christmas saved, and the moral of the story is "Gift wrapping is good, just make sure they do it in your presence, or do it yourself and verify contents"

And here's my watch (and the Oura ring)

 

[Sammster]

We had a nice Christmas. Our kids all came and spent the day. Our grandson was happy with his toys. Dinner was delicious and I sent left-overs home with the kids. I think I'll put decorations away tomorrow. It's so warm, that undecorating the porch should go very quickly - if I hop right on it

 

[tripletfeb]

Well... Gather 'round, folks, and I'll tell you the tale of my Christmas fail.

A couple weeks ago, I took the youngest and we hit the mall to shop for presents for Mom. I had a short list, and she had a couple of other things my wife had mentioned to her as well. We hit a few stores and crossed a bunch of things off of our lists. The last place I wanted to stop was a jewelry store my girls both like to shop at. I found her a couple of things which my daughter approved, we paid, and the clerk took our stuff back to have it wrapped. Score. Wifey likes to snoop, so walking in with things pre-wrapped and threatening the kid with coal if she blabs is perfect. Mission accomplished.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning and we're unwrapping things. I'm pretty excited to see her reaction because I know she's going to love what I got her. Imagine my surprise when she unwraps the first box, goes "ooh $STORENAME!", pops off the ribbon, opens it and says "Is this a joke? There's nothing in here".

I thought she must be kidding, but sure enough, the only thing in the box was another ribbon like the one they tied it up with. I had her open the other 2 thinking maybe they'd accidentally put 2 in one box somehow.

All.
Empty.

...I'm not gonna lie, some poo came out. I was flashing between bewilderment, anger, and sadness. I had a couple of other small things for her, but those 3 little boxes were supposed to be the majority of her presents from me and now she had nothing.

I played the jewelry store visit over and over in my head, trying to figure out if somehow I'd left packages there and taken the wrong ones, but there was no way at all. THEY wrapped them. THEY handed them to me with my receipt, there was no way this was happening.

She was bummed. I was bummed. The kids were bummed. Then she gave me MY present, which was a gorgeous watch, and I felt like crap all over again. The rest of the day was fine, she got a nice clutch from her Mom and I got an Oura ring, but the food smells were a little off, the music was tinny and flat, and the whole edge was just dull because of my disappointment.

First thing this morning I grabbed the empty boxes and my receipt and made the trek over to the store to see if I could figure it out. I was prepared for a fight. I could easily see how walking in and saying "Hey, I bought some stuff 3 weeks ago and when my Wife opened the presents they were empty" definitely sounds kind of scammy. The clerk was super helpful, grabbed her manager, and after making sure my receipt and my ID matched and getting a quick rundown of what happened, she apologized and fixed it. No hesitation, no trying to dance around it, just "Oh no. I'm so sorry, Let me fix that for you." She even threw in a really pretty pair of earrings as an apology for the mix up.

In the end, I still got to see the delighted expression my wife had when she opened them. and she's a very happy camper.

So Christmas saved, and the moral of the story is "Gift wrapping is good, just make sure they do it in your presence, or do it yourself and verify contents"

And here's my watch (and the Oura ring)
View attachment 3713041

The fact that the store clerk and manager had no issues giving you the items and throwing in a free pair of earrings, makes me very suspicious of them both. Was it a national chain or a mom and pop shop? Either way, the owners have some thieves on their payroll

 

[azurbanclucker]

The fact that the store clerk and manager had no issues giving you the items and throwing in a free pair of earrings, makes me very suspicious of them both. Was it a national chain or a mom and pop shop? Either way, the owners have some thieves on their payroll

Nationwide chain. I don't think the manager was up to stuff, rather she was an adult and knew that simply fixing this and keeping a customer happy was far more cost-effective and less hassle than arguing with me, causing a chargeback, a call to corporate, and review bombing them on socials. It's not hard math.

I do get it's kind of a weird thing to happen and I'd be making very sure my behind was covered were I in her shoes, but if the role were reversed and I was satisfied it was legit, I'd do the same.

Could some part-time gift wrapper have been swiping things and I was just another in a chain of similar incidents? Sure. I can also 100% see that. so who knows?