Interpret Sass: Table and chair drama

Back in September Rob and I ordered a table and chairs set from a local Amish store. It took us 2 hours to decide on the table, which chairs we liked best and then the color stain we wanted. It was a grueling task. I was promised I would have them by Thanksgiving. Perfect!

Finally the week was upon me, I hadn't heard anything from the store, which was odd, because they said they'd called when it came in. I called and got the news that the chairs were not done yet...something about being at the finishers.

He couldn't tell me when they'd be in, maybe December4 or maybe December 14 or 16th.

What?!?

He apologized, told me that the chair maker has become "inconsistent".

Whatever that means...

Could he bring the table and loaner chairs?

The chairs he brought, he said, were from another order the chair maker screwed up, now he had 64 of the he was trying to sell...he jokingly asked if we wanted to buy four?

Wrong color, wrong style and wrong wood.

I kindly declined.

Dec. 4th came and went with no call.

Dec.14th and Dec.16th came and went without a phone call.

Monday I called. My chairs were in, could he bring them out tomorrow.

Absolutely!

Chairs arrive an hour later then the time I was told...

I walked out to see them.

My heart sank when I saw that they were the wrong chairs.

I spoke this out loud.

Rob stood there staring, The guy went to look a the order form and I went inside and got the picture off my fridge. The picture I had been looking at everyday from the day we ordered them. I was fighting tears as I went back outside and handed Rob the picture.

"Yeah, I can see on the order these are the wrong chairs." The guy says.

I was crying now, couldn't talk, defeated.

The guy rattled on about how the chair maker named two different styles the same name and that He could get us our chairs in two weeks...work some kind of deal...

I walked back in the house. I left Rob to deal with it.

The chairs would stay with us until we got the right ones...

Rob and I talked about it all night. I couldn't understand the lack of attention our order was given. Did he really NOT know that these chairs were wrong until I said something? Does he not check these things before he delivers? Was he hoping to pass these off to me, hoping I wouldn't notice?

I know mistakes get made, but at what point do you try to make amends? At what point do you say to your inconsistent builder "Hey look your work isn't what we want anymore, we are going to go with someone else."

The chairs are not ugly, they are nice actually, but they are not the chairs we picked out, chairs we took 2 hours to choose.

What kind of deal would we be offered?

It came in this afternoon, and hefty discount on the chairs, if we kept the wrongly made chairs otherwise it would be another 4 weeks for the right chairs.

That didn't seem right, I get the chairs I ordered, 2 months later then originally told and no discount?

That made me angry. Made my hair rise up.

See when we ordered our table and chairs, I was willing to pay in full, but He said no, wait for the order to settle up.

Okay fine.

Well, I now had the table I ordered, four chairs I didn't, but matched the table and I had to settle up.

I called him up, He got mad at me!

"What you've never had a mistake happen in your life or what?!"

"That's not it, I have lost confidence..."

"I can guarantee that the chairs will be perfect."

"No. No you can't, you already guaranteed me the set by Thanksgiving, then you brought the wrong chairs. Your guarantees mean nothing to me now. This is what I want you to do for me: Give me the price you told my husband, I will not be paying the delivery charge and I will settle up right now."

He mumbled through the calculations and gave me a number; it was less then the number I came up with. I said "Settled."

Seems like a lot to have gone through for a table and some chairs. But in the end it saved us over $500 and 4 weeks wait.

Here are the chairs: