Home Depot Issue resolved

Finally, everything has been resolved with my countertop from Home Depot.  I finally have the two pieces I need in the sizes I need.  I also received a delivery refund from Home Depot and was able to pick it up from them.  I was so glad I did not have to deal with the delivery people again. Now I just have to figure out how to install them or get someone else to do it.

Vacation Over :(

It’s definitely been a while since I wrote on here but that’s what happens when you combine vacation with starting on you Masters degree.

It seems like the month really flew by and it’s hard to believe class is done.  Well almost I have not quiet finished my paper yet so technically it’s not done yet since the work isn’t finished but class is.  The paper is very interesting and maybe if I had been at home this would have been done on time and then there would be no issues but spending my whole vacation doing assignments and not being able to relax and enjoy my family wasn’t cutting it.  I didn’t spend lots of cash on two tickets to Germany and save all my vacation time so I wouldn’t enjoy my time.  Well my lesson is learned, note to self, next time take school break when going on vacation or else it is not a real vacation.

Let’s up date, I have not heard from Home depot after emailing Cliff about the counter top people continuously trying to deliver the counter top while I was on vacation.  That was very stressful and really uncalled for I specifically told them I would not be available to take delivery until after the25 of June.  Since the email there have been no more unannounced delivery attempts but I also have not heard from Home Depot in any form so I have no clue where things stand at this moment.

I think next time I will also avoid checking my voicemail while away, it just brings up stressful situation that I can’t handle as I’m not there in person.

After the zoo we kind of just hung out as a family, we went to our local zoo and to Pirmasens for a hands on type how things work museum and then K went off to computer camp for a week which brought much joy to all of us.

I even was able to swing a trip or two to the spa ok maybe more like 5 or 6 trips but I did need some me time somewhere in this month long vacation

We of course went up to our Landstuhl castle “Burg Nanstein” and even took Kristen and Carl.

I was able to see Kristen and even Jen a couple of time, which was nice.  I really miss our time together at the “Palace”.  We went to visit Kristen and Carl in Heidelberg which a lot of fun.  They took us to a special event Heidelberg holds 3 times year to re-enact when the French attacked the Heidelberg castle and set on fire.  They light up the castle to make it look like it’s on fire and then they have fireworks afterwards.  We watched all this from downtown Heidelberg.  The next day we went to the Heidelberg castle to stroll around there some.  Then we went to Speyer to go eat at a Mexican restaurant, which of course wasn’t open yet.  That was our second attempt to go to a restaurant that wasn’t open.

During this whole time I was hoping to try and get a job over in Germany but no such luck so far.  I really want to move back home even if it is just for a few years.  I am also trying to get to Korea or Japan.  We’ll see if anything pans out, I wont ….

 

*****Side note *****

Ok completely off topic and it really is ticking me off since I am sitting here with no choice but look at a big breast sticking out of a shirt.  This lady two seats ahead of us to the left, is standing facing everyone on the plane breast-feeding her child.  While I have no issues with breastfeeding in public most people are courteous enough o others and at least are discreet about it.

Now that that has completely sidetracked me, I may have to end my current blog now and try to get back to it.

I will post this as is once I get off the plane and will start a new blog when I can get my thoughts together besides I am hoping we are landing soon but probably just wishful thinking.

 

DrumTV on the News!

AFN Balkan Aircheck

Blues Festival - News Feature story

Really Home Depot has it come to this

Here I am trying to enjoy my vacation in wonderful Germany with my family, thinking that finally everything has been settled with my coutnertop from Home Depot and it should be waiting for me once I return. Right?
Wrong, although I mentioned several times in my meeting with Home Depot that I would not be able to accept delivery of my countertop because I would not be available, they have (well not home depot but their sub-contractor) attempted to deliver the countertop a few times already. I even received a phone message from the delivery guy that he was at the house and no one was there. Then I received another message from the delivery guy saying he was trying to deliver the countertop. First off this company has a habit of just showing up without calling before hand to deliver. On one occassion I was in a meeting and could not leave on the second occassion I had to take time off work to meet them at the house, only to find out the countertop was the wrong size.
So here we are, they are trying to deliver again without calling AND home depot obvisouly forgot to mention that I would not be able to take delivery until later on. It went even so far that Home Depot called me saying that this other company attempted to deliver the countertop but they couldn't reach me and they just wanted to let me know that they would be trying again on 9 June. Hello I will not be there.
I have even emailed Cliff (the Home Depot manager type) to remind him about the fact that I had told them in the meeting I would not be able to take deliver during specific dates. He has not yet emailed me back so I am not pleased.
This is not the type of thing I want to be thinking about on my vacation.
Ok that's it, I hope to not have to mention this issue again.

Amneville Zoo France

OK Let's start off with the fact that this is a pretty cool zoo BUT and this is a big BUT, it is, in my humble opinion, VERY expensive.
For ages 3 to 11 - 20 Euro
Anyone over 12 - 25 Euro

The main reason I mention the price is because you can't find it anywhere online. It's not on their website, www.zoo-amneville.com, nor anywhere else I tried to find it. It would have been nice to know before driving an hour and a half to get there.

So being that there for four of us, the grand total was 95 Euro, about $140.

We did get to see a lot of animals and we didn't even get around to the whole zoo. They list that they have 2000 animals. My favorites were:

Black panther

Cheetah

Penguins

Polar bears

Seals

White Kangaroo

The good part about the animals is they were almost always visible.

Home Depot Update

I had an appointment with Home Depot at 1100hrs to try to get this counter thing settled. Even when I wrote the email I knew it was confusing so this was no suprise that they wanted to see me in person in regards to this. I took in my paperwork that I orginially had taken when making the order so I could show it was their mistake not mine.
I spoke to Cliff and we had it settled even before the countertop person came in to work. They saw where the mistake was made, it was just a matter of not adding or specifiy that 25inches needed to be accounted for.
They are reordering it at no charge but I let them know I was not going to be able to accept the coutnertop for deliviery until the end of June. I also let them know how the delivery people from the company they use have a habit of just showing up or calling and saying we're about to deliver your countertop. Cliff agreed that was unprofessional. I hope all will work out.

The Home Depot situation

So way back in March, I did some renovations ( I didn't do them but had them done) to my kitchen and part of the renovation was a new counter top. So I decide to go to Lowe's first of course they are my place of choice and paid $35 to have someone come out and give an estimate. Well the installer called and after talking to Lowe's installer who said he would get as much money out of me as he could, I wasn't to pleased, and then I saw the price so I wasn't happy at all. Then I ask what it would cost just for the piece I needed and even that was pretty expensive. But Lowe's being Lowe's tried to help out and said they would talk to another installer and see if the price was different. They were taking to long to get back to me (which by the way they never).



Side note though, this is not my regular Lowe's so from now on I'll stick to the one that has giving me outstanding service every time, the one on Washington rd.



Back to the story, I decide to try out Home Depot which i haven't used since about 2004. Back then I had received horrible service and decided not to go back there again. I was hoping after 5 years this may have changed but NO, somethings never change.



I go in there and at first all is going well but that would not last. I received a great price for the counter top but didn't order it immediately. I came back the next day and order AND paid for it then left. I was told approximately two weeks. Not bad.

A week goes by and I get a phone call, sorry we charged you the wrong price you have to come in and pay an additional $168. Say WHAT. I think not. I tell them I will come in for my refund but by the time I do in I am not in the mood to start all over again so I think maybe I should try to negotiate the price because if you really think about it, they can't make me pay more. I already paid for the product in full and nowhere on the paperwork does it say the price can change (unless you are having an installation done). If you look at it this way, it would have been like me buying a BBQ at say $150 and telling them I will pick it up when it comes in. Then they call me back and say oops we charged you the wrong price, you need to pay another $168. They can't do that as it was paid in pull the first time.

To be nice I decide to see what can be done because when it comes to special order things, normal rules might now apply. After a lot of discussion, we agree I will pay an additional $50 and I do. So now I am told two weeks. Ok I guess. now we are looking at a delivery around 11 April. I don't hear anything from anyone well past the 11th so I go in on the 21 April and am told I should have it by Monday 27 April. Like I have a choice. Then comes Tuesday 28 April and I go in again and ask where is my counter top and after about an hour, the merchandising manager tells me, the company is having a hard time finding it and I should get it by 7 May. ARE YOU SERIOUS. I have been trying to get this thing since 19 March. Now I am a little upset and ask if there is any way we can negotiate a refund of the mandatory deliver fee of $60. Mr Songer (the merchandising manager) says to call him once I have received the counter top and he will see what he can do. I then said, the transaction will be done by then, how will that help me. He says to call Wednesday after 1500hrs to discuss.
This is where it stands, I still have no counter top and am hoping they will at least refund the delivery.

Been a while

And this wont be long either. I am very busy at work lately working on Thunder Over Augusta a big Armed Forces Day event as well as working on the usual quarterly awards ceremony plus all other requests that have been flooding in.
I do have to say that finally my hot tub is in it's right position and location and hopefully today an electrician will come by and let me know how much it will cost to get it hooked up. If I'm really lucky this will be up and running soon. I really hope so.
I also got my garden together. Had fertilizer delivered on Friday and then bought some top fertilizer and other garden necessities (ok not really necessities but not the point) from Lowe's of course. And on a side note, I hope to write about why it took me 5 years to return to Home depot and why it will take even longer before I consider doing it again.
I planted seeds in my new garden early Sunday morning because I couldn't sleep. It is highly unlikely very much will grow as I have no green thumb to speak off. I also over-planted and did not follow the spacing requirements on the seed packets.
One more thing before I sign off, I have my first acupuncture appointment today for my back, I really hope this works because something needs to. Of course there will be more to follow on this.