Thursday, March 19, 2009

B-A-D DAY? Try this one on for size!

Mrs. Dalrymple and the TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY.

Yep. That's what I said. Thanks for the line, Judith Viorst.
Have you ever bought paint? A gallon of paint? Did you trust that the paint-mixer-man put the lid on correctly (you know, pounded it with the rubber mallet)? Only to find out a couple miles down the road that he had merely pressed it on with his hands, then forgotten to hammer it in? Yes. It really happened. TO ME. Why me? Argh. Lavender paint. ALL OVER MY VAN!!! COVERING MY LEATHER SEATS!!! After trying to clean some of it up (read: scooping it from the seat into the can) while picking my older 2 girls up from sewing class, a friend said that I definitely needed to call the store (WM) and let them know what had happened. She suggested I call right away. There was a good chance I would not be able to get this paint all out. It was an ENTIRE gallon, ya know. It didn't turn completely on it's side, but tilted, so there was about 1/4 of the paint left in the can. Maybe if I had set it in the floor, instead of in the back seat, it wouldn't have tipped at all. It's not like I was driving crazy or anything.
So, I called WM. The VERY NICE MANAGER said if I could bring the van back up there they would clean it out for me. I weighed it for about 10 seconds, then agreed. I thought, "Many WM workers can clean this up faster and easier than I can at home by myself. And besides....it was the fault of an employee, and not my personal mistake."

I took the van back up there and 3 managers (including the store manager) proceeded to clean the paint out of my van. They took the seats out and worked and worked (in their white shirts and ties, mind you). It was going to take a long time, so they offered us a ride home. I felt bad enough as it was about the managers having to clean the paint out of the van, so I had my mom come get the girls and I. They are still working on it. I'm going to pick it up tonight, then drive it back in the morning, since I have to work anyway, and they are going to work on it some more. So far, it seems like it will all come out. The floor is the main concern, because no matter how much paint they seem to soak up, there is always more. Right now I'm glad I have leather seats. Can you imagine if they were cloth? Ugh. We have a really incredible team of employees at our local WM. I cannot say enough good about them. I realize they were probably worried about a law suit or something, but I would never seek such revenge. I'm just not a real vengeful person. They really are going above and beyond to make it right. I did receive another gallon of paint and more soda (since the box was soaked with paint). Other than that, the groceries actually made it out fine. I guess this was because I put all the groceries in the very back, but had set the pop and paint in the back seat, so as not to smash any of the produce.

Did I mention I got paint on my nice Nike's? And my jeans? The Ballerina got it on her jeans and shirt, too. Does anyone know of something good to get it out? LUCKILY, it was a water-based paint.

Do you feel better about your day now?


I think I'll move to Australia.

;0)

3 comments:

Loveandadoor said...

Oh my goodness! I can't even begin to imagine.... yick. But I think the guys at WM are being wonderful about it. (and thank goodness they are helping to clean as that is an overwhelming task!)
I hope today is much, much better!

Anonymous said...

Oh Jerri, What a mess! I do agree about our WM employees though. They really are great.

I love the table. I really like what you did with the top. Thanks for sharing!

Wendy said...

Really, it does sound like WM was great about it!! How did it all turn out?? I'm sure the stress of that would have given me a migraine, but I'm glad it was fixed. :-)