I wouldn't believe me either

So, today was meant to be Refrigerator Delivery Day, soon to be followed by "Denise Plugs In Said Refrigerator as well as Attaching the Water Thing-y That Makes Ice". What on Earth made me think this was going to go smoothly?

My delivery window was between 8:00 and 12:00. At 11:55, I called the office to find out where the truck was. They'd called several times (not my cell phone, not my office phone...the old house phone) because they couldn't find the house. [Note: This is not unusual. My street isn't in Mapquest or Yahoo or any online mapping.] The man on the phone said they'd bring it by on their way back at the end of the day and I gave him directions as well as my cell phone number and then tootled off to work.

At 4:15 p.m., I got a phone call telling me that they couldn't find the house. I asked if they'd gotten the directions I'd given the office, they said that they hadn't, so I gave them to them slowly. As I finished, I asked what time they'd be there so that I could sync up my leaving work to coincide with my arrival (as the office had told me would be possible). They had been following the directions as I gave them and were now in front of my building. While I was at work, 15 minutes away. Crap! I ran to the car (leaving work early on a day I came in late...fabulous, Denise), zoomed to the new house, and hoped for the best. It was not, however, to be.

What should have happened:
1. Unpack the fridge in the garage, verify all bits are attached, move to #2
2. Lie down padding on bamboo flooring so as to avoid destroyng said flooring
3. Move the fridge about 2 feet from garage door to space in kitchen
4. Turn off ice maker switch
5. Plug in fridge
6. Attach hose thing-y to both the fridge and the little spigot thing in the wall
7. Wait 24 hours, toss first batch of ice, then plan Margarita party - ole!

What did happen:
1. Lie fridge on side in truck, slide off packaging, roll off truck (this is very bad...says right on the packaging "DO NOT LIE ON SIDE")
2. They had not brought any padding to put on the floor. I told the first person that called over a week ago, the person who called last night, and the office this afternoon that they must bring padding for the floor because of the bamboo floor. No padding. After throwing major attitude, they decide to cut up the box for the mattress they'd just delivered instead
3. Fridge won't fit through door from garage, so we have to take it all the way 'round to the front, across the entire expanse of bamboo and past the granite countertops
4. Get fridge into the kitchen without destroying anything. Movers then mention that they think I need to leave it right there in the middle of the kitchen because I can't plug it in for 24-48 hours (because it's been on its side!) and, if they slide it in on the cardboard, it will have to be slid back out when "the installers" come to plug it in and hook up the ice maker - which will scratch the heck out of the floor in front of the fridge.
5. The throbbing headache and deepening sense of hopelessness that have stalked me all day envelop me and I call my mother to have a good cry

Honestly, if I were all of you, I wouldn't believe me, either.

Tomorrow is Electronics Recycling Day at work. What adventures does this next "super easy" day hold for me???

Comments

Sueellen said…
Now that definitely wasn't a smooth operation! Hope today goes better for you and you get some ice for those drinks soon! :-)
Bluegrass Mama said…
I had been fascinated by the concept of how "green" bamboo flooring is till I read this post, Denise. Not that this debacle would have been that much better without them. I hope today is going better!
Jenn said…
Isn't it frustrating when something so simple goes wrong?

We about died when our fridge was delivered and the delivery guy put down a piece of cardboard to stand on, and protect our floors, and the cardboard scratched our wood floors!! How does that happen?!

I can only assume there must have been gravel stuck to the board because he, in no way, did anything wrong. He sort of dropped the cardboard, which was fine since it's so light, but as soon as it hit the floor and scooted a couple of inches it left a big scratch. We thought we were screwed with the floor, if cardboard scratches what will the dog do? But surprisingly that's probably been the worst that's happened to it so far.
Matilda444 said…
Slippery plastic discs. You can get them at Target or the local Hardware Store. Great for moving things short distances without ruining floors or requiring help.
Matilda444 said…
Slippery plastic discs. Available from Target or the local Hardware Store. Great for moving heavy objects across fragile surfaces!

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