I am so shocked right now. The behavior of those two women is obnoxious and I don't think I would have been nearly as kind as you. Yay for you for being the bigger person!
WOWWW! I'm sorry you had to deal with such over-dominating thrift store folk. Seriously haven't they ever heard about the customer ALWAYS being right? I do think the bed is beautiful. You were smart to go the extra mile. I always like it when you can kill anger with kindness, and you certainly seem like a very , very kind person!
I would have run out of the store with the first wave of that blue nailed finger. I'm such a wuss. Good for you for sticking to your guns. Your furniture is gorgeous! Will you take me thrifting with you someday? You always find the neatest things!
You are amazing. Absolutely THE most patient and loving person I (cyber) know. I would have been yelling, swearing, probably physically attacking the employees (well, I am nine months pregnant, and hormones play a BIG role) but just reading your story gets me all fired up. I am so GLAD you have the complete bed!! It is beautiful, and the rest of your bedroom furniture is beautiful, too! You inspire me to find the patient person buried deep, deep, deep inside me!! :)
That is so crazy! I would have done the same thing. I don't know if I would have been able to keep my cool as well as you did though. You scored so HUGE!!! I can't even beleive it. It is all so pretty and good for you!!
Wow, congrats on getting real furniture for such a great deal! The posts totally make the bed look fantastic.
I think you handled everything perfectly. I would have been a mess with that situation. I'm so happy for your grown-up furniture (we've never had a headboard either) and for the woman you gave the $50 to, she must have been thrilled!
What a great story! I seem to have a bit of a temper when it comes to things like that. I probably would have been waving my stubby finger back at her, and had to leave angry and without the bed posts. Way to go! They look great!
Seriously...you had no choice but to do EXACTLY what you did.
I have a motto in life...Never argue (or try to reason with) a crazy person. In this case, an irrational person (which is one and the same) Enjoy your bed a beautiful furniture. You will tell that story for years to come!
What steals! I love your furniture...definitely worth the fourteen years of waiting. And the pillow on the bed is a perfect touch.
As far as your dealing with the blue-nailed thief...I think Shakespeare said it best, "The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief." ~William Shakespeare, Othello
I love reading about all your Goodwill Finds. I love to find great furniture at thrift stores too. BUT...I wouldn't have been able to hold my ground with those rude two!! I cannot believe that!! The manager too?? I would be complaining big time to someone. You did great though and your furniture is fabulous!!
Oh my lands! The drama!! I just do not understand people like this who are totally ok with attacking a complete stranger. I would have been in tears... I can't handle being yelled at and accused of something I did not do or did not know. I'm glad you won & got your great baragins. I never see nice stuff at Goodwill... maybe I need to go more than once every other year!
Love the story and great deals you got. I would love to come to your Goodwill ans score some deals and meet your new blue-nailed friend too! Your bedrooom looks beautiful!
Holy cow, Kristi! I cannot believe the behavior of those two. I cannot believe what a great score you STILL got even with the extortion factored in! And I cannot believe what a fabulous bedroom set you found at Goodwill -- you didn't even have to paint it? Amazing!
You absolutely did the right thing!I bet there is even more pay off down the road, if any of those characters end up working there for long..? I would have been furious- you did great- way to go!!! love the bed, dressers, everything AMAZING!
way to stay calm.. I for sure would have a had a really red face.. with frustration and embarrasment.. the bed post lady would have totally intimidated me.. way to just go the extra mile and give her a little more!
your bed just looks so inviting! I love the posts, and you are right they do totally make the bed!
I cannot believe how badly treated you were! You are a much nicer person than I am, because I would have been calling the company and writing letters about the behavior of their employees, thrift store or not. However, that was a great price for a bed frame. Our bed is one of 3 pieces of furniture that we have ever bought. Everything else was handed down to us when we were married. Nothing pretty, but it was free.
Your bedroom looks beautiful! I can't believe that the mirror you had already - everything just fits! What a great deal - even with the nutso lady! I think you handled it the only way you could have - since you go to that store twice a week! Now, you will have two best friends in your corner there. Perhaps for Christmas you can give that one crazy lady some new blue fingernail polish?! I could have never been so nice and calm. You certainly did the only thing you could have done - and the results are awesome!
Beautiful bed--what a find! My mom is a thrift store junkie and refuses to go in any mainstream store except Walgreens. Basically that leaves me getting random weird stuff for gifts, including a bra that was 3 times my size! Mom's shouldn't be buying their daughters bras after a certain age anyway... But it is amazing what she and I have found sometimes in thrift stores--and at a fraction of the normal price.
Way to keep your cool, and you ended up getting what you wanted! Isn't it sad how some people can be so bitter? What was she going to do with unique bedposts and no bed???
Well, you definately can sleep better knowing that you were the better person in this scenario, and your pay-off - a beautiful bed! What a find!!! Congratulations.
First of all, what a gorgeous bed! Congrats to you for having such a wonderful, beautiful bedroom set. Also, congrats to you for keeping a cool head, and remembering that you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. You looked ahead and thought about how this could affect your future goodwill visits, and you thought about how that money might (and probably did) make a difference to that lady, much more than it probably would have to you. And, just think, you will laugh about it someday - everytime you look at your bed and snuggle to sleep in it! Missy
Go Kristi! You were so gutsy! I wish you could secretly get pictures of these people...I would like to see if they match what I imagined when I read your post! (Being in the south myself, they probably do!)
I read this post over the weekend and didnt have time to reply, then when I looked this morning there was so much new, wonderful stuff to read (Ps I like your ninja shoes!!) The photos of the cinnamon rolls made me hungry -yum!!!
I am so proud of how you dealt with the lady in the thrift shop, you were so gracioius and it wasnt even your fault!!! I dont know if I could have kept my cool. Well done for you!!!!
The result is simply wonderful, your bed looks so beautiful. I think I would have been happy to wait 14 years if that is the end result!!!
That is a story. I can't believe that all occured. I don't think I would have been as calm or offered them money, but I probably would not have gotten the posts either. SO good for you for being so resourceful. The bed is beautiful by the way.
9:00 AM
[Image] Finally my goodwill finds
This will probably be anti climatic sharing my $15.00 find, but because I waited I ended up having a dramatic ending to my story.
[Image]About a month ago i acquired 3 pieces from my local Goodwill. This Lane Cedar Chest was brand new (from the 1960's) with tags, advertising and [Image]believe it or not the key! It was $30. [Image]That same day I found two matching small dressers. [Image] they are solid cherry. They were all lined with old paper and there is not a scratch or stain or mark in any of the drawers.
[Image]Yea! it is a total score for $20.00 for the small one and $25.00 for the larger one. We have NEVER had real furniture in our bedroom or any kind of end tables, so this was thrilling.[Image]then next to my $15.00 find.
so for the past 14 years Jeff and I have slept on a metal from on top of these plastic risers trying to make our bed feel like a normal bed. I have dreamed of buying an actual bed, but have not found anything I think I would love for the rest of my life and didn't want to spend the money or should I say didn't have the money to spend.
so when i walked into Goodwill and found a wooden bed taken apart and thrown in the corner I ran to see if it was a king size. I have NEVER seen a king size bed at a garage sale or thrift store, well maybe one but it was brass. Anyway I asked the employee how much it was. He didn't know but looked at a headboard behind the one I was looking at it was a twin bamboo headboard (ugly) and it was $10.00 so he said how about $15.00. I said SOLD. I didn't care if it was a Queen or a King (i still was not quite sure) for $15.00 it was worth a try.[Image] It was missing the finials on the bed and I thought I could find something on ebay. We came home set it up in our backyard (the bed is half the size of our backyard -oh how we miss Tennessee and our trampoline). It was a weird size too big for a queen but too small for a king. So we took it upstairs and Jeff figured out a way to buy some wood and make it work. He spent $50 on wood so now our bed was up to $65.00
[Image]but it was the first night in 14 years we were no sleeping on plastic stilts!
[Image] I love the headboard and felt like a grown up sleeping in a grownups bed.
[Image]I spent a few days online looking for finials that could some how work. Then I thought, "i am going back to goodwill and see if they are in the store somewhere in a box" I was thinking they were just wooden like balls that sat on the end. I walked in the store and this is what I found against the window with a sold tag on it and someone elses name. I thought THOSE GO TO MY BED. I asked one of the cashiers if she knew who's these were. I told her my whole story. She said the name was an employee and she would do some investigating, but if she could not figure it out then she would let me have them. Then the drama began... oh my! I was waiting by the front when an employee asked, "can I help you" I explained I was waiting to find out these bed posts. She said, "Those are MY bed posts and you can't have them!" I was very calm and said, "oh because I think I just bought that bed last week" she said, "My Bed! you bought my bed. I have been looking for that bed, you have to bring it back to the store. I paid for that bed last week and left it in the back room when I was on vacation. That is my bed, I paid for it and you WILL bring it back" (she was giving me the total finger wave with her 4" blue fingernails) I instantly thought to myself - {kristi do whatever you can to get those posts and be nice} I apologized over and over for buying the bed (even though I was not sorry for buying something that was for sale at a store -gee whiz) I said I felt really bad and didn't know what to do, but it was not possible for me to bring the bed back and that my husband had spent $50 on wood to make the bed work for our mattress's. She said fine, keep your bed but you are not getting my bedposts. She said you can look at that bed in your room while I look at the bed posts in mine. One of the other employees snapped at her and said that she was being crazy and should just give me the bedposts. She said "no way I paid $35 for that bed and these are mine!" So I offered to pay her $35 for the bed posts and explained that the store will give her her money back so she will make $35 off of it. Her story was very fishy and didn't make a lot of sense. I don't believe she did pay for it but was using this as a way to say she wanted it. I think she put it on hold for a week and after that week someone put it on the floor to sell because she had not paid for it. She finally agreed to let me go get some cash and pay her personally for the bedposts. I really believed that the bed posts should have been mine as I paid for the entire bed, but didn't not want to do anything to make her mad. I picked up the girls from school and went and got some cash. I decided to take out $50 and give her an extra $15. It is likely that $15 to her could make an extra difference in her day. The story gets more exciting as I walked back into the Goodwill. another woman (not in a uniform) was now holding the posts and waved her finger at me saying, "you are not getting this bed posts!" She was all in "my grill!" I kept telling myself to stay calm. Turns out this woman is the manager and starts accusing me of going in the back room last week to find this bed. The customer service rules do not seem to apply in thrift stores. I assured her I do not have a habit of sneaking in thrift store back rooms and that the item was on the floor for sale. The manager got a pad of paper wanted to write down my name and number, asked for my receipt and wanted me to give her the name of the man who sold it to me. I was being interrogated. I ignored the manager for a minute and turned to the other employee and handed her $50 and said, "here take yourself out to dinner, I am sorry I got the bed but can not sleep on it every night knowing you are so upset with me" She threw her arms around me and instantly became nice and my best friend. Then the manager said to me, "you did the right thing" Give me a break! I wanted to say to the manger "you did the wrong thing - attacking me like I stole the bed" but I zipped my lip and grabbed the posts and ran out the door. My only goal was to get the original bed posts for the bed. There was so much wrong with this situation i don't even want to think about it, because it kind of fires me up. Many of the employees know me because I go in there twice a week, and that last thing I want is to get them on my bad side. I feel fine about the situation and was happy to see that lady happy in the end. [Image]so I got my bed posts and they make the bed so much better!
[Image]so my new bedroom furniture in total cost me...
$15.00 bed $50.00 wooden slats $50.00 bribe for the bed posts that should have come with the bed originally $25.00 large side dresser $20.00 small dresser $.free mirror my friend gave me in Tennessee that matches perfectly
total. $160.00. Definitely worth the 14 year wait for bedroom furniture.
so what do you think. should I have bribed the lady? should I have made a bigger stink and insisted they were mine? do you want to come to goodwill with me and meet my new blue fingernailed friend? You better believe I will blog about seeing her again next week.
posted by everything pink! at 1:06 PM on Apr 25, 2008
Untitled
35 Comments -
Wow Kristy what a story!!
you were too nice but did the right thing...
you SCORED!! The bed is awesome!
2:24 PM
I am a bit fired up myself. I would have been in TEARS, but the bed is wonderful and worth the effort you put into it.
2:25 PM
I am so shocked right now. The behavior of those two women is obnoxious and I don't think I would have been nearly as kind as you. Yay for you for being the bigger person!
Your furniture looks beautiful!
2:28 PM
WOWWW! I'm sorry you had to deal with such over-dominating thrift store folk. Seriously haven't they ever heard about the customer ALWAYS being right?
I do think the bed is beautiful. You were smart to go the extra mile.
I always like it when you can kill anger with kindness, and you certainly seem like a very , very kind person!
2:30 PM
I would have run out of the store with the first wave of that blue nailed finger. I'm such a wuss. Good for you for sticking to your guns. Your furniture is gorgeous! Will you take me thrifting with you someday? You always find the neatest things!
2:46 PM
You are amazing. Absolutely THE most patient and loving person I (cyber) know. I would have been yelling, swearing, probably physically attacking the employees (well, I am nine months pregnant, and hormones play a BIG role) but just reading your story gets me all fired up. I am so GLAD you have the complete bed!! It is beautiful, and the rest of your bedroom furniture is beautiful, too! You inspire me to find the patient person buried deep, deep, deep inside me!! :)
3:13 PM
That is so crazy! I would have done the same thing. I don't know if I would have been able to keep my cool as well as you did though. You scored so HUGE!!! I can't even beleive it. It is all so pretty and good for you!!
3:25 PM
Wow, congrats on getting real furniture for such a great deal! The posts totally make the bed look fantastic.
I think you handled everything perfectly. I would have been a mess with that situation. I'm so happy for your grown-up furniture (we've never had a headboard either) and for the woman you gave the $50 to, she must have been thrilled!
3:58 PM
I forgot to say how fabulous the trunk and the dressers are, wow, wow, wow and how cute is the pink Christmas pillow on your bed??
3:58 PM
What a great story! I seem to have a bit of a temper when it comes to things like that. I probably would have been waving my stubby finger back at her, and had to leave angry and without the bed posts. Way to go! They look great!
4:41 PM
Wow..no wonder your FM was acting up last week!!!
Seriously...you had no choice but to do EXACTLY what you did.
I have a motto in life...Never argue (or try to reason with) a crazy person. In this case, an irrational person (which is one and the same)
Enjoy your bed a beautiful furniture. You will tell that story for years to come!
4:41 PM
What steals! I love your furniture...definitely worth the fourteen years of waiting. And the pillow on the bed is a perfect touch.
As far as your dealing with the blue-nailed thief...I think Shakespeare said it best, "The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief." ~William Shakespeare, Othello
5:30 PM
I love reading about all your Goodwill Finds. I love to find great furniture at thrift stores too. BUT...I wouldn't have been able to hold my ground with those rude two!! I cannot believe that!! The manager too?? I would be complaining big time to someone. You did great though and your furniture is fabulous!!
www.springdellgirl.blogspot.com
5:34 PM
I am WAY impressed by:
your thrifting skills
your calm, cool, collected nature
your FABULOUS bed!!
My husband and I have been married for 13 years this July and our bed remains without a headboard or footboard. Someday!
6:08 PM
your wait was well worth it...I love the chest & dresser...what drama at the Goodwill. Ours never has furniture.
6:36 PM
Oh my lands! The drama!! I just do not understand people like this who are totally ok with attacking a complete stranger. I would have been in tears... I can't handle being yelled at and accused of something I did not do or did not know.
I'm glad you won & got your great baragins. I never see nice stuff at Goodwill... maybe I need to go more than once every other year!
6:56 PM
Love the story and great deals you got. I would love to come to your Goodwill ans score some deals and meet your new blue-nailed friend too!
Your bedrooom looks beautiful!
7:44 PM
I would have been shaking. You did an impressive job of keeping calm. I would have lost it!
7:54 PM
Holy cow, Kristi! I cannot believe the behavior of those two. I cannot believe what a great score you STILL got even with the extortion factored in! And I cannot believe what a fabulous bedroom set you found at Goodwill -- you didn't even have to paint it? Amazing!
8:38 PM
You absolutely did the right thing!I bet there is even more pay off down the road, if any of those characters end up working there for long..?
I would have been furious- you did great- way to go!!! love the bed, dressers, everything AMAZING!
8:41 PM
Excellent finds. Totally worth the $160 and probably even the obnoxious, crazy behavior you had to deal with. Enjoy that furniture!!
9:37 PM
Wow, good for you for remaining calm and working it out. That bed is beautiful!
10:17 PM
the bed is beautiful! way to go!
way to stay calm.. I for sure would have a had a really red face.. with frustration and embarrasment.. the bed post lady would have totally intimidated me.. way to just go the extra mile and give her a little more!
your bed just looks so inviting! I love the posts, and you are right they do totally make the bed!
10:26 PM
I cannot believe how badly treated you were! You are a much nicer person than I am, because I would have been calling the company and writing letters about the behavior of their employees, thrift store or not. However, that was a great price for a bed frame. Our bed is one of 3 pieces of furniture that we have ever bought. Everything else was handed down to us when we were married. Nothing pretty, but it was free.
12:35 AM
Your bedroom looks beautiful! I can't believe that the mirror you had already - everything just fits! What a great deal - even with the nutso lady! I think you handled it the only way you could have - since you go to that store twice a week! Now, you will have two best friends in your corner there. Perhaps for Christmas you can give that one crazy lady some new blue fingernail polish?!
I could have never been so nice and calm. You certainly did the only thing you could have done - and the results are awesome!
8:25 AM
You are so nice (and brave).
I am sure I would have been in tears. I hate confrontations of any kind.
Your room looks great!!
8:41 AM
Beautiful bed--what a find! My mom is a thrift store junkie and refuses to go in any mainstream store except Walgreens. Basically that leaves me getting random weird stuff for gifts, including a bra that was 3 times my size! Mom's shouldn't be buying their daughters bras after a certain age anyway... But it is amazing what she and I have found sometimes in thrift stores--and at a fraction of the normal price.
Way to keep your cool, and you ended up getting what you wanted! Isn't it sad how some people can be so bitter? What was she going to do with unique bedposts and no bed???
9:12 AM
Well, you definately can sleep better knowing that you were the better person in this scenario, and your pay-off - a beautiful bed! What a find!!! Congratulations.
9:16 AM
First of all, what a gorgeous bed! Congrats to you for having such a wonderful, beautiful bedroom set. Also, congrats to you for keeping a cool head, and remembering that you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. You looked ahead and thought about how this could affect your future goodwill visits, and you thought about how that money might (and probably did) make a difference to that lady, much more than it probably would have to you.
And, just think, you will laugh about it someday - everytime you look at your bed and snuggle to sleep in it!
Missy
10:14 AM
Go Kristi! You were so gutsy! I wish you could secretly get pictures of these people...I would like to see if they match what I imagined when I read your post! (Being in the south myself, they probably do!)
10:31 AM
You ARE good! I think I would have walked right out of the store the first time too. Only WITH those blasted posts!
10:42 AM
oh my! what a story to go with your beautiful furniture!
not sure i could have remained calm but so impressed that you did.
i think you did the right thing since you go there so often. (especially with the finds you have found!)
10:47 AM
I cry when confronted and yelled at. I think you are very brave, and I am glad you got the bed. It is beautiful.
5:57 PM
Kristi
I read this post over the weekend and didnt have time to reply, then when I looked this morning there was so much new, wonderful stuff to read (Ps I like your ninja shoes!!) The photos of the cinnamon rolls made me hungry -yum!!!
I am so proud of how you dealt with the lady in the thrift shop, you were so gracioius and it wasnt even your fault!!! I dont know if I could have kept my cool. Well done for you!!!!
The result is simply wonderful, your bed looks so beautiful. I think I would have been happy to wait 14 years if that is the end result!!!
Have a great week - luv Mandi
6:01 PM
That is a story. I can't believe that all occured. I don't think I would have been as calm or offered them money, but I probably would not have gotten the posts either. SO good for you for being so resourceful. The bed is beautiful by the way.
9:00 AM