Today my daughter got a surprise present from her grandparents, a charcoal grill.
And a bag of charcoal.
We hadn't seen them for a little as they have been at their summer cottage out in the sticks for a few weeks since the weather has been a bit warmer - but with the rain, they decided to come back, which coincided with @smallsteps' name day. In Finland (and a few other countries) they have a designated day of the year for each traditional name so that people can have yet another reason to celebrate something. It is not as big as a birthday though, it is more of a reminder that the person exists.
It is because of this name day tradition, that there seems to only be about 500 male and 500 female names in Finland - and they cycle them through as "trend" names. Our daughter's appears on the Swedish side of the calendar - which is the excuse her mother has for not knowing when it was. Everyone else in the family (on the Finnish side) knew it.
What a terrible mother!
So, we got the grill and my wife was keen to get it fired up for dinner, so it was my job to assemble it, since it was still in the box.
"I can do that"
.
.
.
.
.
"No I can't."
After opening the box and doing my usual checks for pieces before starting, I realised that there were bolts missing. Important bolts. So, a call to my inlaws uncovered that they didn't have the receipt, but since it was bought on a store loyalty card, I would have to go and pick up my father-in-law and take him to return it.
After getting a box with missing pieces, I wasn't keen to replace it with the same brand, so on the way, I ran into the local hardware store and bought another one - just in case, as it was going to close soon and if things went south, we could still grill in the evening. All good.
Now, this is the section I had in mind when I started this post, the return of a grill to a department store. It was bought that day and wasn't an issue to return (other than some paperwork I don't think we should have had to fill out for their reclamation), but I was wondering if other people feel like I do.
Even though we were returning a faulty product, I get the sense that I am kind of on trial and it is somehow embarrassing, like I have done something wrong. It is a weird feeling in my opinion as I am actually in the right to make the return.
Does anyone else get this out of place feeling?
I know that some people have such an aversion to returning faulty products that they will wear the cost of them and use them broken (if they can), rather than go through the process of return. Often the excuse is "I can't be bothered - it isn't worth my time", but I think that is just to cover the truth, many people feel like crap when returning something.
I wonder what the value of unreturned faulty items are globally.
Anyway, we returned it and I thanked Papa for the gift and said that it happens (I think he was embarrassed too) and then got to putting the grill together once home, which took about 20 minutes longer than I expected it to take. But, together it is and once I finally got it fired up, heated and grilling, all was well - and the shame of returning the original was gone.
Okay, I might be exaggerating with the "shame" part, but it definitely isn't a comfortable feeling to have to return something. I used to work for years in retail and when people would return things, I was as accommodating as possible to mitigate their negative feelings in this area, as my sales worked on repeat customers and making people feel bad over what is relatively insignificant doesn't make them want to come back.
And the grill was great and I am glad we now have one for the summer, something that we had decided to put off since money is tight and it was put into the "unnecessary luxury" basket. My daughter is pretty happy too as she has a thing for grilled food since we barbecued at the neighbors place. She has a good appetite normally and a great appetite when it is cooked on the barby - I guess it is due to her Australian heritage.
So, this was our first ever family barbecue at the house and while there was social shaming involved, the food ended up being pretty good. I have to admit though, I need a bit of practice with the charcoal as I am more accustomed to cooking on gas burners - but hey,
there is always next weekend to practice again.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Living the High Life with a luxury grill.
I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about returning 'broken' or 'incomplete'. The sale was for a complete and useable item. I don't want anything that I don't have coming but I want every single thing that I do have. If the store makes me feel bad about it then I may not return.
I've returned a few things to Amazon. No shaming, no guilt, no cost. That Bezos might be on to something...
Name day. Actually seems sorta cool.
This is was my position as a salesperson. I didn't work on commission, so it was always in my best interest to have my customers with the best product for their needs. If they needed to return (even if they didn't like what they had bought), that is fine by me. I taught my small team the same and we had very loyal and trusting customers.
Yep, I think there is the sense of anonymity, and people can buy all kinds of things without having to worry about social implication - although Bezos knows everything.
I have adopted one based on a middle name - no one remembers it - because I am foreign I bet... ;D
Just google search coffee can charcoal chimney, quick and easy charcoal starter system. I prefer the system with a tube, (no bottom), because then you just use a pair of channel lock pliers to remove the tube and do not need to worry about dumping host coals or them bouncing out.
She certainly looked like she was enjoying the corn.
Thanks! - I thought I was going to have to buy one. The way I lit it wasn't "ideal" by any measure. I have never lit one before today :)
She ate two whole cobs, plus all the chicken :)
Cool grandparents and what an amazing daughter you’ve got there.❤️
Yeah, I am pretty lucky with both :)
No doubt! Enjooooy
Nice... i don't like to return faulty things back , its just too discomforting
I remember as a child when my mother used to send me on errands and i buy the wrong thing. When she tells me to go back, i always feel some how coupled with the fact that they were not receptive.. some of them will shout at you before changing it for you... as a child this was my most dreaded moment
Definitely doesn't make one want to do it as an adult, I am sure.
I know right
I almost always felt ashamed too to return a faulty product. Very weird indeed because it is a right to do that. I think we take the shame on ourselves because there is no one else to do it. Aka the producer of that item
Maybe it is that once we buy it, it feels like ours? We made the decision to buy it - so we are to blame? Not sure, but it is weird.
We take up a responsability which is not ours. I think it has to be connected to the way we deal with emotions and feelings of guilt. A lot of the time it can happen for people to take up the blame and feel ashamed for what others did just because they would hate to break the relationship. We want to feel good about ourselves and to make others to feel good too. It is very weird. But taking it from a very rational point of view, guilt and shame should not be happening when returning a bad product.
I think that this points to feelings in general - they are irrational. Sometimes they might reflect our actual thoughts on the situation, but a lot of the time they are disconnected from our rational selves and can be quite harmful.
Our mind ....Always in need of daily practice and training
Corn on the bbq is great. A bbq is an awesome gift. Glad she liked it one way or another in the end!
While I was cooking she said, "Remember, that's my grill, Daddy" :D
lol that's awesome. I've seen some people get very possessive over their grills.
Never say a grill is "unnecessary luxury". Never. That's blasphemy. :D
:D
I knew that was going to be a point of drama!
Returning a faulty item is never a problem. Having to drive out again is always a problem because I absolutely loathe driving to the very core of my being and do everything in my power to avoid it whenever possible.
Quiet areas and times are fine, it's mostly other cars on the road that I hate, the more there are the more I hate it
Barbeques are awesome. Have fun "practising" for the next few years ;D