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Subject: 
VERY BAD Experience at Zany Brainy Lancaster, PA
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.market.shopping
Date: 
Sat, 27 Mar 1999 22:22:58 GMT
Viewed: 
625 times
  
My first rant... (kind of long)

I thought I made a decent find today at the ZB in Lancaster, PA.  (For
anyone not familiar with the area, it is under heavy construction and not
that easy to get to.  Also, for me its about a 1/2 hour drive, so I don't
make it out there that often.)  Anyhow...  I found one 8440 Formula Flash on
the shelf.  I had not seen this set on pas trips,I usually peruse the Lego
aisles quite closely, so I thought it must be my luck to find some old
inventory on display.

The price tag was gone and the box was badly shelf worn, having been retaped
closed in several places.  Opening the cover flap, it looked like everything
inside was untouched.  I took it to the register asked about the price and a
discount for the wear and bought it for $39, down from $50. Not a great
deal, but I was happy.

I get the thing home, make myself a drink, and prepare for a nice Saturday
afternoon of Lego building.  What do I find??   One of the parts bags inside
is a ziplock sandwich bag, the others are stapled and taped shut, the tubing
has already been cut (not straight or to proper length), the tires were
rimmed backwards, the soft rubber parts are covered with lint (not my own),
the manual looks like it was dropped in the toilet and air dried, and the
sticker sheet is missing.  What, no free Lego club membership card?!?.  OK,
now I'm a little PO'd.

So lets see if all of the parts are here, after all, that's what I'm really
after...

THIS THING HAS ALREADY BEEN ASSEMBLED ONCE AND THEN DISASSEMBLED WITH WHAT
MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY DULL BUTTER KNIFE!!  Most of the red plates are dinged
on the edges from being pried apart and don't seat properly, the steering
cable ends won't stay latched, assorted scratches on other parts...  (mental
image of wife definitely not convinced of the $39 value, my haggling prowess
is diminished).  Now I'm alot PO'd.

I'm too mad to pick up the phone and feign politeness...  I'm barely able to
type (thank God for spell checkers...).  I think I'll take my drink and go
walk around the neighborhood for a while...

In all fairness to ZB, this must have been some management trainee moron,
who thought it was important to maximize use of inventory, even if it meant
selling flea market quality goods as if it were new.  I'll let everyone know
what the official ZB response is to my predicament.


-Rob Doucette.



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: VERY BAD Experience at Zany Brainy Lancaster, PA
 
This was a return, and ZB didn't do a good enough job of checking. ZB is an excellent place. After you calm down, call them up. I'd wager they'll take it back if that's what you want to do. They might even reimburse you for mileage if you're polite. (...) (25 years ago, 28-Mar-99, to lugnet.market.shopping)

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