Bad Luck Charm, part 2

I really wasn't kidding when I wrote my blog post about how bizarrely common it is for me to buy something that is broken, missing parts, or otherwise needs to be returned.

Our TV has been dying for about 7 months. Around Thanksgiving time we started to have to hit the TV to get it to work when we first turned it on each day. Then it would work pretty well for the rest of the day. By Christmas, it was a little more frequently that we needed to hit the TV, as it would black out at random times throughout the day. By April, you got a regular Tae-Bo workout by getting the TV to work. But it would always come on eventually. We looked at LCD tvs last December, but I knew how much they were coming down in price, and I wanted to get as much use out of our 9-year-old set as possible before buying a new one. Yes, we are the only family in the country with one television set.

Well, the old set finally died. So about 2 weeks ago, Mark and I sat down and ordered a new LCD tv from Crutchfield. Not only are they the most highly-regarded online seller of electronics, they also had the lowest price for our television. We were told it would be here in 5-7 days. That is, 5-7 days for a normal human being. I am the perpetual girl walking under ladders, spilling salt, and meeting black cats wherever I go, so I knew it would be a little bit longer. But I could not imagine what would follow.

I was given a phone number of the local office of the freight company that would deliver the tv. I called them after 5 days, and they told me that the tv would arrive in town no later than June 19th, and we should expect a call that day to schedule delivery on the 20th. That was good news for our TV-starved kids.

Nobody called on the 19th, so I called late that afternoon. The guy told me that he was really sorry, but they had "lost" our TV somewhere between Virginia and Columbus, Ohio. By "lost" he meant it had been likely stolen somewhere along the line. They notified Crutchfield, who shipped out a new TV on the 20th.

On the afternoon of the 21st, I got a call from the freight company that they had indeed found the TV, and it was ready for delivery. They said they would be here first thing today (monday) morning. This was VERY good news for our kids. One TV here, and a back-up replacement on its way already.

The delivery guys came this morning. I expected to see a guy with a very big box on the porch. Instead, it was a very big guy with a clipboard, and a funny look on his face. "Ma'am, I want to show you something in the truck." This box had been punctured so bad that it left 2 dings in the back of the TV. The box was completely mangled. Did I want to accept it anyway? Not a chance. Joel was tearing up as I came back into the house and told him that we weren't getting our TV today.

Supposedly, the new one is going to be in town on Friday, and set up for Saturday delivery. That's the plan for now. What else could go wrong?