-- buying tools vs. donating a kidney

This is from an email Dan sent about his experience trying to buy some tools. It was so funny I had to post it:

So. I bought the Dewalt 12-inch miter saw and attempted to buy a Dewalt brad nailer. You can't just pick up the nailer, you have to get a ticket and then take it to the cashier, pay for it, and then they go get it for you.

When paying for it I asked the cashier, "You have this in stock, right?" Because I didn't want to pay for it only to be disappointed. "Yes, we have it," was the answer.

Well, what do you think happened? After standing around for 30 minutes, they told me they didn't have it.

So now I go back and choose another one, the Bostitch. I get the ticket, come up, and have a problem because they want me to stand in line again (the lines had become long, the place was a madhouse). I had already stood in line and it wasn't my fault they made a mistake and didn't have it... I shouldn't have to stand in line any more. It took some arguing but I got helped out at the customer service counter and didn't have to wait. But now I was pissed. Anyway I get my Bostitch and get out of there, with about 1 pound of receipts.

So I rush home and pry open the box, only to find out... it's not a brad nailer. It's a crown stapler. The box was mis-stocked, and had the number of a nailer on the side of it.

Now it's 9:30pm and the store is closed.

SO I get up the next day, and travel 30 minutes to a different Lowes, because they are managed better and it's always nicer there. Those people are nice, they understand everything instantly, but do not have the Dewalt either. But they give me a Bostitch (we open the box to check) and then I go home.

Time: 4:30pm Sunday.

I rip open the box, plug the hose into the nailer and try to nail something. Just a hissing noise, no satisfying pop. Crap. What's up?

After spending 10 minutes trying to figure out if there's a safety or something, I take it apart. Inside it's a complete mess - the piston is sideways in the cylinder. This happened before I got my hands on it.

Now I've got less than an hour left before Lowes closes, and I've spent the entire weekend trying to buy a f-ing nailer. I go back to the crappy Lowes near my house and exchange the nailer. They have one in stock, but it takes an hour for the disenfranchised, incompetent, and uncaring workers to make it all happen.

After taking my money, they forgot about me, I just stood there near the tool corral for 15 minutes expecting someone to show up. When i finally went back to the cashier, she said something to me like "so do you want me to do something?" Unreal.

This time the nailer worked. I ended up taking the next day to finish my window. But getting the nailer was like donating a kidney. Without the moral satisfaction.

No wonder he hates going into those big box stores anymore.