Finding Kit Kat's Car Dealer

Kit Kat had to take her car into the shop for a recall. Momoko and I suggested she just drop the car off. This morning we got up early to do that. When we got to the dealership, her dealer was nowhere in sight. She thought she knew where it was. Unfortunately they only had Honda maintenance there. Oops.

I told Kit Kat to just call up her dealer. That helped us get to her dealership. There was only one dude in the back of the showroom. Apparently the dealer next door for another manufacturer does the maintenance. So we dropped the car off and headed to Chik-Fil-A for breakfast.

Today I also had our handyman come to work on our house. The toilet on the main level was leaking. That was a severe pain. The faucet in the kitchen dripped sometimes. We also had some preventative maintenance done for the dishwasher. Once the handyman arrived and he got started, Kit Kat and I returned to the dealership to get her car.

I grabbed some lunch to go and returned home. Kit Kat and Little Kat went out to brunch. We now know where the closest dealer for Kit Kat's car is located. And a bunch of small things in the house have been repaired. Was a busy but very productive day for our household.

Taking Kit Kat to Work During Christmas

Kit Kat had to work this weekend, like almost every weekend. Things were a bit different though. Stars Wars just came out. Plus it is nearing Christmas time. She thought she would not be able to get a parking spot near her work. So she needed a ride to work. I somehow got volunteered.

The drive to Kit Kat's work was not bad. It is the same path I take when I go to community college. However once we got close to the mall, I saw why Kit Kat needed a ride. Parking was pandemonium. Kit Kat could see that the area where employees are supposed to park was full.

We waited in line to get off the road and into the main parking lot. They had closed off vehicle access in front of Kit Kat's work. There is a drop off point in front of the Cheesecake Factory restaurant next to Kit Kat's building. I let her out there.

The fun was not over year. I had to get out of the parking lot. There were lots of people trying to find a space. And there were lots of cars trying to drive around. Getting out was almost as hard as getting in. Luckily, Little Kat said he would pick up Kit Kat after work.

Mattress by Mail

Little Kat needed a new mattress. He really wanted me to order him one from a company that only sells them online. That seemed suspicious. However his friend had one. Little Kat said they had a 100 day money back guarantee. In the end, I gave Little Kat the money and let him buy the bed. He said he would fully take care of any returns.

The day the mattress arrived, Little Kat had to go to school for his final exam. I heard a knock at the door. I went up and found a delivery guy needing a signature. I signed, and he brought out a good sized but heavy box. I dragged the thing inside. It was Little Kat's mattress heavily compressed.

Little Kat got a memory foam mattress. I thought it would not provide good support. But when I tried it out, it seemed pretty stiff. I guess for beds you call this firm. He said he was fully satisfied with the new mattress. The cost was comparable to what I would have paid at the local discount store. So no worries there.

Today Little Kat and I borrowed my brother's truck and transported his old mattress to the county dump. Goodbye Serta. Hello new online mattress. We took a chance and it actually turned out okay buying a mattress online.

Mattress Shopping

Little Kat has a custom bed. There is no frame. Instead there is a wooden base that has drawers in it. Optimizes space in his room. Previously the center of his bad caved in. He slept on top of it for a while. Then he complained. We repaired the bed by nailing some plywood on top. However there was some damage done to his mattress. He lived with it for a while. But it is now time for a new one.

I had Little Kat drive us to the local deep discount mattress store. He checked that it was still in our town. When we arrived at the location, some other store had taken over. I got on the phone with the store. Apparently they moved down the street. The sales guy told me to use Google maps. I told him to just give me verbal directions to his store.

Once at the store, they tried to get Little Kat to spend time on their mattress analyzer bed. No time for that. I told them to show us all Twin XL beds, starting with the cheapest ones. We had to go into the back room for the really cheap ones. Little Kat and I both found one that was barely acceptable.

Then we walked out into the main showroom. We tried a couple more bed, increasing in price. Little Kat found one that was good. The sales dude quoted me $1100+ for it. Too high for my budget. I asked him what his best price was for the bed. He called his manager, who said he would give me the deal of a lifetime at $699. Closer to what I want to pay. I estimated they could go down to $550 for it.

Little Kat and I went home to mull this over. He had another idea for a bed. He had heard good things about an online seller of custom beds. His friend has one of them. We looked them up online. They had a money back guarantee. I was suspicious. The Better Business Bureau had not rated them yet. Momoko also did some research about found customers complaining about the lack of follow through with their guarantee.

In the end, I provided Little Kat with financial backing. And he purchased the bed online. Let's hope this is the right bed for him. If not, he may have to learn that companies are hesitant to refund your money. There is often fine print where you end up shelling out some bucks. Little Kat said he would live with that, and cover the cost and hassle of any returns himself. Good luck Little Kat.

FIAT Dealership Failure

I have had my new FIAT 500 automobile for about almost two months now. When I left the dealership, they put temporary tags on the car. Strange because other dealerships can provide the permanent metal plates immediately. Oh well. This was a small dealership. The finance guy said he would call me in 2 to 3 weeks when I could get my permanent plates.

A month after I left the dealership, I sensed trouble was brewing. Nobody called regarding my license plates. I called the finance guy up. He said he had my plates, and could overnight them. I would have to sign for them by noon the next day. Of course the plates never arrived.

The following week I called the finance guy. He backpedaled and said they don't pay extra to deliver plates on the weekend. He also found out they did not make the delivery signature required. Somehow the plates got lost in delivery. The guy offered a UPS tracking number and proof of delivery. I told him I did not want any of that. I just wanted my plates.

I called my sales guy, and tried to contact the general manager. Some manager stand in called me back from the dealership. All I got from him was more nonsense. He wanted to provide me with a tracking number and chalk this up to a communication failure. There was failure all right. Customer service failure.

I was not overly upset that the shipper lost my plates. But I could not believe the dealership would hire a third party to deliver my plates, and then send me to whoever they hired to sort out the mess. They should have cleaned up the mess themselves. Eventually I got my permanent plates, just as my temporary ones were about to expire.

These jokers at the dealership requested that I give them all 10s when the manufacturer contacted me about how well the dealership did. They were lucky I did not give them the lowest marks available. I might still contact the manufacturer to let them know they local dealer is screwing up and giving the brand a bad name.