Suckers!

During a recent trip to the mall, we got waylaid by one of those kiosks in the centre. He just wanted to show us his product for TWO MINUTES! Ok, sure, 2 minutes and we're out of here. I'm not buying though, but knock yourself out buddy.

Then he put ringlets in my daughter's straight as a pin hair. That was cool. Ok, well.... still. I'll let him finish his spiel and maybe if it's around $40 or maybe $60, well. maybe but I was skeptical. Then he got to the kicker. "Regular $240!"

He was going to have to do some major discounting to get anywhere with us. He played up to the girls and showed them how smooth and shiny it made their hair. He showed the different fancy designs of the various models he had. His boss came over and chatted us up, oohed and ahhed over my cute triplets.

Then they told us about the back to school special price they were offering. Pffft. Still a LOT. I maintained my "not interested" stance. They went over my head and appealed to the girls. "don't you think your mom should get this great deal?" "Ok. Ok. You know what? When you buy more than one, the price gets better! but I will give you that price even if you just buy my last one today." Hmmm, well that's a little better but still pricey!!! "Tell you what. I'll give you a gift. What are your favourite colours girls???" They quickly told her and she pulled out little clip in hair strips in THOSE colours and offered to give them to them for free IF we bought one. and they only had ONE left on the special deal. Suddenly I was alone against 5 sets of pleading eyes that couldn't comprehend a mother who would be so cruel!

Bah. They weren't getting me with that emotional bribery business. We left but the badgering went into high gear. They were willing to forfeit allowance, they'd do this, they'd do that and on and on. I ignored and kept heading for the parking lot, leaving them to keep up or get left behind (well not really, but they're never sure. muahahahaha!). We got into the van and on it went still. Finally I thought. I'll put an end to this. I'll ask Murray if he's willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a flat iron! Ha! That'll fix them. So I sent him a message.  He didn't immediately say no. huh. well that's interesting. and it was kindof cute and it did make CURLS in Honey's hair!!! But, no! Fight the impulse. It's ridiculous! Who needs an expensive thing like that to do their hair!??!? Murray wanted to know if it had a warranty. Well, actually it comes with a lifetime warranty. He checked online reviews, did price comparisons. All came back favourable and the price on ebay was actually more expensive so he told us to go for it. Where was my partner in solidarity???? Oh well who am I to argue with the breadwinner???

Three little girls exploded with joy as I showed them the "go for it" message. They were out of their seats so fast that I had a hard time keeping up with them in their haste to get back there before "their" straightener got sold! "HURRY MUMMY!"  huh. so they DO know what that means when it suits them. I warned them that they'd better be VERY good for a loooooooooooooong time! (obviously this was BEFORE the wedding fiasco) They told me they would be good, they'd be super duper extra British good! Well that was a new one. I guess they think that all British people are very proper and always well behaved.

Smiles like these are priceless right?

Too bad I couldn't reproduce the sales guy's effects at home! We were getting ready to go to the wedding and Sweetie's straight hair went perfectly. She loved it. Honey was not as keen on my efforts. I pulled the way I thought he'd showed me. No result. a slight wave maybe. Hmmm. I thought it might get better as I went. Maybe it needed to heat up more. Maybe I need to put a bit of hairspray on and then try it. That didn't work much better but then after a few more attempts, I started to see some results. It wasn't much but it wasn't straight anymore. Half way through, she looked and told me it was awful, terrible, no good and to quit. Why that wasn't reason enough to walk away right there, I don't know. I'm a stubborn masochist, what can I say? I convinced her to let me keep trying and it did get better as I went. Not as good as the guy at the mall, but hey, it's my first day here! She wasn't willing to cut me any slack and stomped enough in disgust as I got the last piece done.

Lovey was undeterred though and showed up for her turn. I've now been working with this 450º wand for an hour and in the small bathroom, I'm getting hot and my last customer hasn't done anything for my mood. I start smoothing it and she jerks back. "MUM! you're not curling it right!". What? " You want yours curled? Did you SEE Honey's? That's my best so if you don't like hers, let's quit right now." Nope. She thought Honey's looked fine. OK then.

I worked away but it was awfully hard for her to stand there, sit there, wait there etc. Sigh here, sigh there. She kept turning her head the wrong way and almost singed her face countless times. I was on the last piece, now very overheated and frustrated that I can't get this stupid curling action to work well and she's still not holding her head up so I can pull the piece through properly. In exasperation, I thrust out the wand to point to the spot on the wall where I want her to point her eyes towards when I suddenly make contact with the actual wall. with the 100% 450º degree ceramic plates. Guess what happens to super hot glass like substances when they smack into a solid object. Crack! tinkle. Shards of shiny black ceramic fell to the counter and floor and then I stepped on one to add insult to injury! I almost threw up on the spot. Not only had it been a silly, impulsive, extravagant purchase. I'd destroyed it after ONE use. Oh dear heaven. Murray was surely going to kill me! I managed to hold on to my lunch and finish the last piece with my curling iron, all the while my mind racing with the horror and dread. I frantically grabbed on to the thought that I'd purchased it on my credit card! Anything I buy, if it gets lost, broken, or stolen within 90 days of purchase, has insurance coverage! I can probably buy a new one and get reimbursed! IF they approve the claim. OK. Maybe I can fix this. Then it was time to take off for the wedding so there wasn't time to dwell on it and then we had other problems to worry about there (see previous blog post for details).

Today I phoned the credit card insurance and they sent me the paperwork to fill out. They said the normal procedure is for me to go buy the replacement and then send proof of purchase and then that's when they do the reimbursement. OK no problem. Wait. It was a special offer last week, we bought the last one. What if they're now back up to regular price??? That's OK. I'm prepared to beg at this point. Maybe they'll understand and let me buy one more at the sale price. Or maybe the sale is still on and they get a few to sell each day!

I headed to the mall this afternon with the broken one, shards and all and talked to the guy from last week. He remembered me and the girls and as I explained and asked if replacement parts can be bought, I felt kindof sick all over again and he told me not to worry. He said he'd call his boss and see what she said. The phone call lasted quite awhile but after he hung up, he told me they were going to replace it for me free of charge but I MUST understand that the warranty doesn't really cover this and if it happens again, it won't apply. I was so relieved I could have done a little dance and hugged him. I managed to contain myself to an effusive thank you!

Whew! saved by the kindness of strangers again!