A debt of gratitude to Costco . . . to Walmart, not so much.

I'm a little late with posting today, and for that I'll blame Wal-Mart.

I woke up this morning, put on my glasses, and heard a 'snap' that made me feel sick to my stomach. As I brought my hand away, I saw that the left-arm had snapped clean in half, rendering me effectively blind. There's nothing more gut-wrenching than feeling that kind of utter helplessness. I can manage around the house without glasses, but reading . . . doing anything on the computer . . . driving . . . all impossible.

So, I went to Wal-Mart (where I bought them, and where they were under warranty), but they only had a salesperson on hand, rather than a technician. First of all, if you can't staff your department with somebody who can actually do the job, why staff it at all? I'd rather them be closed, than to offered false hope. Anyway, the salesperson told me that even if she could find an arm that matched, she wasn't qualified to replace it.

Really? Not qualified to remove and reinsert a single screw? Really? 

Yes, I'm sure there's some sort of liability involved or some other reason for it, but back to my original point - if you can't staff your department with qualified people, then why bother at all?

So, on a whim, we decided to head for Costco. I told the woman behind the counter what the problem was, and she said to give her half an hour to see what she could do. We went and grabbed some lunch, came back, and she had the glasses fixed. Not only had she replaced the broken arm with a very close match, she had replaced the nosepads too. After a quick adjustment, all was good . . . and all was free! I didn't buy them there, and she had no obligation to help, but she did so and she didn't even charge me.

Now that's the kind of service I'll remember when it comes time to buy a new pair. Considering we're talking high-index lenses with all the coatings, and considering my spouse wears glasses too, that's over $600 in combined business leaving Walmart and heading for Costco.

Actually, make that $650 in combined business. I was so relieved to be able to see again, I did what any other bookslut would do - I headed straight for the book section and bought three!
♥