Target: Left Hand, meet Right Hand

My friend Maria wanted to buy some new pants from Target (a.k.a. Le Target Boutique)
so she checked for what she wanted on their website, first.

When you look at products on their website, the page will say whether the product is available just online or "Item is available online and in stores." If available in stores a BIG RED BUTTON appears that says "Find it at a Target Store." You type your zip code and within seconds ... Presto! A beautiful list of locations, distance from the provided zip code, and - most importantly - whether the item is available or not at that location. It's great!

So, Maria found what she wanted and the website said there were lots of them in stock at the Target store north of Alexandria, VA. So, off she went.

When she arrived at the store, she showed a staff person a printout of what she wanted. She was immediately told, "We don't carry those here. That's a webpage you are holding. Those are only on the website." She explained -- twice -- that the website had indicated inventory in their store. The staff person was not getting it.

So she went to a manager. Explained the situation. And SAME RESPONSE.
"I'm sorry Ma'am. You're confused. This is a store, and that is the website. We have different inventories". She tried to explain that the site said it was checking store inventories, but the manager persisted in insisted that she was confused. She finally left, absolutely furious at Target.

Hey Target Folks: Maria and I program web databases for a LIVING. It's what we DO. It's what we've done for A DECADE. We are not confused ... YOU ARE.

To summarize, there are two issues here:

1) The "Find it" function on the website clearly doesn't work. Whatever inventory system it is pointed to does not in fact reflect the real inventory at the stores

2) The staff at the stores are not only unaware of this function, it appears to be INCONCEIVABLE to them that the function could even exist. I think that some serious training is needed here, folks. Start small and simple, with an easy concept like "The Customer is always Right." Then you can build up from there.

Nutro Cat Food Recall

For all you cat owners out there ... Nutro Dry Food Recall.

Get your own Lids!

They now make special containers to put Cheerios and Gold Fish and other little cracker-type munchies in for toddlers. The lids on these containers have slits in them so the little one can reach through and grab a few bits, but hopefully not spill the rest ... mostly.

It's a nice idea and there are several brands. I grabbed a couple of Snack Traps. They work reasonably well.

But here's the catch: they only come with the lids with the slits in them. If you want to store or carry them around for any length of time, and don't want the crackers to get stale, you need a 'real' air-tight lid. They don't come with these lids; you must buy them separately. For several dollars plus shipping/handling.

No way. Here's what you do instead.

You go to visit your vet, and you pick up a couple of the free pet food lids that they always have sitting around. Personally, I got a few "Hill's" lids.

And Presto!! Instant lid. Quick. Effective. Free.

DMV: UGH

Look up the word 'bureaucracy' in any thesaurus and the phrase 'Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)' will surely be listed as a synonym.

Here's my current conundrum: My old 1994 Nissan failed Virginia State inspection in a fairly spectacular and very expensive way. As we just bought a new Toyota Rav4 last week, this gives me the flex to say "Time to donate you, faithful Sentra." To donate the car, I need the title. And of course, I can't find the title. So, time to contact Virginia DMV and get a reprint.

They have a wonderful site with all sorts of great online options, and all sorts of accompanying problems.

1. Bad secure key. That's the first issue. It would appear they are in the process of changing domains. My mailing I just got from them sends me to http://www.dmvNOW.com but as became obvious very quickly, the site's secure key is still tied to http://www.dmv.virginia.gov. Sooo, when you click on any form link you get BIG SCARY SECURITY ERRORS. Understanding the web as I do, I just put in an exception and keep going, but I bet a lot of others don't. Best to fix that, DMV. I suggest using just one domain myself; stick with .gov. You are not a .com.
2. A 'request a PIN' form that requires a PIN to submit it. Everything on the DMV site -- including the ability to request a reprint of your title -- requires a PIN (Personal Identification Number), which you must request to be sent to you in paper form. So, I filled out the request a PIN form, submitted it, and immediately got sent to a confirmation page that required a PIN. That is ... awesome.
3. An automated phone system that drives people into a dish-breaking rage. Feeling that I had struck-out online, I tried their automated phone system. Requesting a PIN was an option. Great. You had to enter your customer ID. OK. The auto-attendant started up "If your customer ID begins with an A, press 1. If your customer ID begins with a B, press 2. If your customer ID begins with a C, press 3..." As I looked at my 9 digit Customer ID in front of me, I felt I could not make it, so I abandoned the cause.

At this point, I am hoping that my ill-fated PIN request online went through. I guess I'll know in a week. In the meantime, my car can hang out at the Nissan Dealership, I guess.

[If you're sitting there saying 'Why don't you go to a DMV office?" My response is Ha-ha-ha-ha. The last time I went to one was 10 years ago. It opened at 9am. I got there at 8:30am. The line stretched around the building 3 times and I was told that it was already too late. i.e.,. They counted the people and calculated that they wouldn't be able to get through them all by the time the office closed.]

Victoria's Secret: Still Not 'Very Sexy'

Just about a year ago, Victoria's Secret's CEO proclaimed that the company would start making their clothes sexier and less juvenile.

I just received my spring catalog in the mail and opened it with great anticipation.

Here is what I saw: the amazingly UNsexy "Side-Bow Cheeky Panty." Really? This is new and sexy, huh? My husband would beg to differ. Or how about this: the "sheer halter babydoll" in polka-dots. Totally sexy ... if are a big fan of Dr. Seuss.

I'm of course pointing out the worst ones. Some items in the catalog are moderately attractive. But nothing jumps out and says "Wow! Sexy!" to me. Try again, Victoria.

We got a new Car!

My husband and I decided a few months ago that we probably needed a new car. Our 1991 Chevy Blazer and 1994 Nissan Sentra, while beloved, are certainly getting up there in age. Best to have at least one newer car.

By reading reviews, we narrowed our desired car to one of these 4 choices in the small SUV class:
Toyota RAV4
Ford Escape
Honda CR-V
Subaru Forester

Over the past few months, we have been visiting dealerships. I suppose I should have been blogging about each visit, but I confess I've been strapped for time. So instead I've kept notes on various topics and will soon begin my "Car Shopping" series.

But here is the summary of the results:
After our first round of visits, we narrowed our choice down to Toyota Rav4 vs. Ford Escape.
And finally, this past weekend, we chose the Toyota Rav4. [And I have named it "Red XIII" after our favorite Final Fantasy character.] It almost broke my heart to not buy American in these current economic times. But the Rav4 had one feature that no other small SUV offered: an optional 3rd row. This gave us a lot of flex, if we should decide to have a second baby. Had it not been for this, I would have bought the Escape, because it is a fabulous car.

Here is Ford's consolation prize: I am going to write here for everyone to read and search engines to crawl, that Ted Britt Ford of Fairfax, Virginia is utterly fabulous. I absolutely want our next car purchase to be a Ford, just so I can buy a car from them. Great people. Totally professional. Completely not the typical 'car salesman' model. Loaner for life program. Amazing service bay. And our sales consultant, Dave Glover, was just so cool. This is a guy we'd have as friend: Former military (like my husband), small kids (like us), likes video games (like us). Dave is a straight-talking, common-sense kind of guy, and we have already recommended him to our friend who knows he wants a Ford Escape, but hasn't yet decided between the regular vs. the hybrid.

So, kudos to Toyota for having the idea of putting in that 3rd row and kudos to Ford for creating an excellent small-class SUV made in the USA.

Spirit Airlines: Low Cost for Little Customer Service

My friend Joanna Pineda recently had a very bad experience with Spirit airlines. So, this article in the New York Times' Sunday Business section (March 29, 2009) caught my eye: "Don't come crying to this Airline." The article talks about the Spirit business model of ultra low cost service, which translates to little or no customer service. The word 'non-refundable' is ABSOLUTE at Spirit, apparently, and has garnered many complaints. CEO Ben Baldanza calls this a "mismatch of expectations."

I guess what I take away from this is that when you book on Spirit, online, you need to very carefully verify what you are typing. Also, they need a big, RED, FLASHING notice that explains that this money is totally nonrefundable and if the flight is cancelled don't expect any help getting a new one. Perhaps that would solve the 'expectations mismatch' that is causing all of these issues. And there will probably still be lots of people willing to spin the roulette wheel for the chance at a $9 plane ticket.