Shopping at Kmart @Solsticepublish

It seems that every retail store is trying to cash in on either internet sales or phone sales.  More and more, my inbox fills with “on line only” and “mail order” offers.  As a person who does not get many opportunities to shop in stores, I have been taking greater advantage of them.  Just recently, however, I actually went to Kmart to buy some shoes.  I really love these particular shoes and they are the only ones who carry them.  When I heard they were on sale, I made a trip to the store.  As luck would have it, they were out of my size.  I eventually found a store associate and was told that I could place an order in the store and they would be delivered to my house for free.  That sounded fair enough.  So I placed the order in the store after buying my daughter some shoes.  On her order I was given a coupon for $5.00 off my next shoe purchase.  So I tried to use the coupon on my shoes.  They said I could not use it because the order was being placed for shipment to my home.  I was disappointed but figured it was not a big deal.  When I returned home I noticed the wrong size had been ordered.  I tried to call the store but they had closed for the evening.  So I called the phone sales department.  They said they could not cancel the first pair of shoes but I could order another pair and when they both arrived I could return the wrong size in the store.  I wasn’t happy about putting out twice the money but at least I could now use my coupon.  When I brought it up I was told it was an “In Store” coupon and that I could not use it for shipment to the home.  This was one of those points you have in life where you either blow your top or laugh.  I chose the latter.  When I was asked what was so funny, I responded that the store said I could only use it for shipments to the home and now they were saying I could only use it in the store.  They had to see the irony there.  In my most polite voice I asked that they check with their supervisor and see if they could make an exception.  In the end I was allowed to use the coupon.  I soon had two emails saying my orders had shipped.  This should be the end of the story but it is not, sadly.  Yesterday I received an email saying one of the orders had been canceled and I would not be charged.  (Even though I had already been charged.)  It turns out when they ordered the correct sized shoes, they put in some address in Iowa that didn’t exist instead of Nebraska.  The wrong shoes arrived and the right ones were cancelled but not refunded.  So I called again and was told I would have to order again but that they were no longer on sale.  I didn’t laugh this time.  In a bothered but calm tone I told them it wasn’t my fault they couldn’t transfer the shipping address from one order to the other and I wanted the price they were when I bought them…and my coupon!  Skipping to the end, they finally have ordered the shoes that I have paid 3 times for and have nothing to wear.  If only they had stocked my size in the store, none of this would have happened.