A couple of nights ago I ordered another princess seamed jumper and a tennis dress (the first of many, I'm guessing) for Carli. I had already ordered four scooters (not skorts, mind you, but scooters - skirts with attached shorts), a princess seamed jumper, two navy blue polo shirts, 3 camis, 9 pairs of bikini panties and 12 pairs of socks, all in preparation for the new school year at her new school.

Well, since I needed said princess seamed jumper and tennis dress almost immediately and would never have found them in stock at Target, I went ahead and ordered them and requested 2-day shipping. Never once imagining that I would be charged an outrageous amount for such convenience ($17.97!)

On Friday, as my husband was checking our checking account online, he sent me a text at work asking me what I had bought and how much I had spent for the two items. I told him no more than $25 minimum. Well, he said, then how could the bill be for $50? $50? I said. I did the math (and so did he) and we came up with the same amount and it was not $50 for the two items, plus shipping and handling.

When I got home, I got online and checked my order with Target to see what I had ordered and discovered that I had been charged $8.99 shipping for one of the items to be shipped separately - because the item was in stock and the store did not want to inconvenience me by holding up my order - and $8.98 shipping for the other item (to be shipped later).

Well, the princess seamed jumper is only $12.99 and the tennis dress is only $14.99 - why in the world would I be charged more than half of the price of the item for shipping? What business, in their right mind would charge a customer so much for 2-day shipping?

I immediately called Online Customer Service at Target requesting to know why I was charged twice for shipping when I'd ordered both items at the same time? Not only would the lady not answer my direct question, but she told me that I was being charged separately because each item was being shipped separately. When I explained to her that I had ordered said items together, she did not seem the least bit interested in hearing me.

After I hung up on her, I thought to check my personal email account, just to see what was on there. I found a message from Target.com Guest Services regarding my recent inquiry. I opened the email and read it with great interest...'We always strive to provide a high level of service and would appreciate your feedback'...then it went on to say 'please let us know if we resolved your inquiry and there were two separate links to click, one for yes and one for no.

I clicked the 'no' link where I provided the confirmation number for my order and was given the opportunity to write an email explaining why I was not satisfied with the response I'd received. In part, my response was that I was outraged that I would be charged nearly $18.00 for 2-day shipping, suggesting that they use the United States Post Office to ship merchandise rather than UPS or any like shipping company, and that they have lost an online customer in me and that from now on I will be finding what I need elsewhere. There was a lot more than just that, but I'm sure you all get the gist of what was said.

Anyway, today I get on my email and I find another email from Target.com Guest Services, regarding my order #...I open the email to find an "I'm sorry..." and that "I realize the cost of shipping for your order seems high..." from an individual named Manjula M., Online Guest Services stating that they would be reversing all charges within the next 10 days, that my feedback is a big help to them and that the information will be shared with the right team. Again, there are links to let them know if I was satisfied with the outcome or not.

Well, I haven't responded to this latest inquiry as of yet, because although the shipping charges are being reversed, I'm not going to go back on my word of never ordering online from them again.

I learned an extremely valuable lesson here. I will always make sure I know what I'm being charged for shipping before I decide how soon I need my stuff.

It's obviously been awhile...

since I've posted. I know, I know...such a slacker. But I've been busy living my life, really I have. I can't imagine

Things have been going really well lately and life is good. I am going to have to go back to work for awhile until I get approved to be my father's caregiver, but that's for another post in another blog - look for it in 'Caregiving - what it's all about'.

Anyway, I finally ordered Carli's uniforms for her and they have now been shipped out. I pray they arrive in time. Meet the Teacher night is August 5th from 5:30 - 7:00 and there's supposed to be a uniform exchange where parents bring in used uniforms and sell them for anywhere from a quarter to maybe a dollar. Important information to know, especially if what I ordered doesn't get here before the first day of school (August 9th).

Unfortunately, Carli's first day of school is also my first day back to work. I think I'm going to show up late that day as it really won't matter if I'm there on time or not since there won't be any kids there and I'm guessing we're just going to be busy setting up our new reading lab - we've been moved from one classroom to another and we're gonna need the day to set up our tables and get ready to start getting ready for intervention.

I don't plan on working there the entire school year. As soon as I start getting paid to take care of Harry, I'll be taking a leave of absence. I'll miss teaching the kids to read and being a part of a collaborative team of great IA's, but Harry needs me here taking care of him...but I digress...this does belong in my other blog.

So...guess I'll close for now...toodles.