On a Rampage
or
So What Else is New?

June 18, 1999

I'm really pissed off. Specifically at JoAnn's Crafts. These stores are the worst. JoAnn's used to be House of Fabrics. They were really bad. I was somewhat pleased when I heard that they were being bought out.

Well, things went from bad to worse. Their selection of fabrics is pathetic. Half the lights in the stores are burned out, most of those over the actual fabrics so you can't see what there is to buy from their crappy selection of materials. The sales help, when you can find any, is angry and/or apathetic. All around this makes for a very unpleasant shopping experience.

Why am I telling you this? I know you're wondering. Well, JoAnn's is the closest fabric store to me--less than a mile away. As a quilter I have a lot of need of a fabric store.

When JoAnn's was House of Fabrics I bought a sewing machine from them. With an extended service warranty. I'm not the type to generally get those things, I figure it's a waste of money. This was a really good deal. $85 for a three year extended warranty with all regular maintenance for free.

Since I use my machine a lot I figured for that alone it would be worth it. (Regular maintenance runs about $75 a shot, and should be done at least once a year.)

About four weeks ago, on a Monday, I called JoAnns to see if they were honoring the House of Fabrics warranties. "Yes", the woman on the other end of the phone said. "Bring your machine over. They go out on Friday's and it takes a week, so your machine will be back next Friday." This was perfect as I was current on all my projects and figured I could do without a machine for a week.

I show up at the store and the woman asks if I have the paperwork from HoF. "No", I told her. "You didn't tell me I needed that when we spoke on the phone." "Service will be $75.00", she said. "No", I said, "I have an extended service warranty. We discussed this on the phone earlier." She made some phone calls and finally managed to get the machine serviced for free. Come back a week from Friday. No problema.

"Take your case with you", she said. "We're not responsible for any accessories." Again, no problema. I then asked if I should take my sewing machine foot. (As a quilter I use a special presser foot which helps me to make perfect 1/4 inch seams--required if you want all your pieces to fit together.) "No, that will be fine, don't worry about it."

HA!

I went on the designated day to pick up my machine. First they couldn't find it. Great! About 15 minutes later they show up with my machine. It's all wrapped in plastic. I didn't inspect it. My mistake.

Well, my sewing machine has sat, in the same plastic from the store, for about three weeks. I've been kinda busy and didn't have anything to work on so I didn't give it another thought.

Well, as you know from yesterday's entry, I went to my FAVORITE store and bought fabric. There I was, entry posted, baby sleeping, dinner dishes cleaned up, and ready to embark on a brand new quilt.

I cleared up my work space, cut some fabric to do a test square, set the machine out and wait. . . the little foot thing that you press on to make the machine work is not there. I looked inside the case to see if I'd overlooked it, I turned my office upside down, I looked in my car. Still no presser foot thing.

Then I take closer look at my machine and my special foot is missing too.

I'm good and steamed by now.

First thing this morning I call over to JoAnn's Crafts from Hell. Politely I explain my dilemma to the manager. She'll look into it and get back to me.

I had to leave the office at 3:00 today so when I get home at 5:20 I call over to the store. I get the lady who spoke with me originally when I brought the machine in. She says she'll call the repair guy and see what she can do. She calls me back two minutes later and says that there's no answer and she can't do anything until Monday. And even then, she doesn't know when she'll be able to get my stuff back for me.

I'm hopping mad!

OK, I guess I should have thoroughly inspected my machine before I left the store, or at least when I got it home but it was so nice and tidily packaged I just assumed all the parts were there. And, I can't even test the machine to see if it's working, which it probably isn't, since I don't have the part that makes the machine actually go.

Arg.

So, I will NEVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER be shopping at JoAnn's Crafts again. And once I get my stuff back from them I will NEVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER be stepping foot in one of their stores as long as I live. And, I urge you all, gentle readers to do the same.

Don't mess with a woman full of hormones!

For those of you on fertility watch '99, things are progressing at an excellent pace. We go for two turkey bastings this month. One on Sunday and another on Monday. Oh Joy!

Chuck thought he would try the javelin approach to my injection last night. This was not funny. My butt is still aching from his little dart escapade.

Until next time. . .