So here we thought we'd be flamed mercilessly for wasting people's time with our mostly off-topic rant about our problems with a certain very large consumer goods department store, when instead we received a ton of feedback from viewers similarly burned by the Lamer Side of Sears. Evidently Sears is a tad too large for its own good or something, since its 800+ stores still seem to be using some seriously antiquated order entry software which has a propensity to "lose" orders every once in a while-- which is why our fridge, scheduled for delivery to our shiny new studio commissary last Monday, failed to materialize and doomed us to three days of canned soup, microwaved dinners and takeout. (Not that that's a terrible fate or anything, but cold drinks are nice to have around when all you're doing is lugging boxes.)

So to all of the other people out there who have had less-than-stellar experiences with Sears in the past, we feel for you. This time, however, we feel that our problem was resolved in an adequate manner. Sure, when we called to report the missing fridge we spent a considerable length of time in phone tree hell, but once we managed to talk to the salesperson who sold us the fridge, she promptly put us in the queue for a replacement. The earliest she could manage was Thursday, which wasn't great, but it's what we could get. Our delivery window was 9-11AM, and we're relieved to say that at 9:10 a truck pulled up bearing a fridge slightly better than the one we ordered and paid for. It's installed and cooling down, and soon we'll be able to stock it with Tater Tots and grape Kool-Aid like civilized non-scavenging people. Situation resolved, and quite nicely.

And as for our surmising that people buying iMacs at Sears might be in for similar nightmares, longtime faithful viewer Charles Martin assures us that it's unlikely. Charles trains the Sears salespeople in his area to make them more Apple-savvy, and he states that iMacs are stocked in Sears stores-- at least the ones he works for. When a customer buys an iMac at Sears, he or she gets a pickup slip, takes it downstairs, and receives the iMac live and in person to take home and love. The only time any sort of delivery is involved is when the required flavor is out of stock, in which case the customer gets a phone call to come in and pick up the merchandise when it's delivered to the store. So buying an iMac at Sears is a fairly safe thing to do, at least as far as the "lost order" phenomenon is concerned. Thanks to Charles for clearing that up. Now excuse us, as we go to stock up on every known variety of vegan junk food...