Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Scruffy Stu


Ever have one of those really lazy feeling days? Well it seems Stu is having them most days, although he does perk up considerably for a walk. Its far too icy out there right now for us to even consider that. So he has his messy winter coat and a very dirty face from ? last night's dinner?

No real stitching to report from here, although I have pulled out a quilt I was working on last year and I have gotten a few more blocks put together. I finished a round robin for the embroidery guild which I'll hand off tonight.

And I have a rant about Michael's. I went in this afternoon to pick up some floss, it was on sale 3 for $1 which is a really good price any more. And armed as I was with my 40% off coupon, I decided to indulge in a cool quilting book. This was a second one in a series, the first one I had taken out from the library last year some time. The price listed on the back was $26.95, so 40% off and I was laughing. Until that is, I got to the cashier. The book scanned in for $44.95!!! I kindly pointed out that the price listed was $26.95, which no other price showing anywhere and I was informed that was the US price, the Canadian price was $44.95! However what a bonus I was getting with getting $18 off with my coupon, the cashier pointed out. Outrageous!!! Why wasn't the price we pay listed? As the book is being sold in a Canadian store, I expect to see a Canadian price tag. And even with the exchange rate added on to $26.95,the book should have been around $32.00.

So stupid me, I bought the book anyways but when I got home, I thought no way am I going hand my money over to Michael's so easily. I checked online, and found the same copy at Amazon.ca for $19.60 so it looks like they will be getting my hard earned dollars instead. I've already taken the Michael's book back and ordered from Amazon. Jeesh. It looks like I'll be buying my floss from Michael's and that's about it in the future.

Time to get off my soapbox....and ready for dinner.

11 comments:

Carolyn said...

I think your dog is so cute:)
You did the right thing taking that book back.I hate the way they price books here in Canada...Just put the Canadian price.They must have some magic formula for bumping our prices..gosh knows what it is though???

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Well sounds like you and I had some shopping woes today...I had one in Wal-Mart, where the fabric department was un-manned...sign said "find nearest associate to help you". Well I did and no one "knew how to cut fabrics". SO I asked for over head page...after 30 minutes and 3 overhead pages that I had to go tackle people to do...someone FINALLY showed up....if it wasn't fabric "to die for" I would have walked out and purchased anything...BUT it was really nice and matched a project perfectly...so I can sympathize and hope that your cheaper book suits you fine! LOL!
:)

Anonymous said...

They definitely should have given you the book for the price that was on it. It is outrageous that they wanted to charge you a different price.

Cute pic of the pup.

Carol said...

Good for you!! I have had problems with Michael's too. Please let me know which RR group you want to be in - the high count or lower count group?

Von said...

Michaels is not my favorite either, but my local one has improved recently. Think the latest bunch of employees they've hired are better qualified. Still, mostly I go in with my 40% coupon and get out. :)

Anonymous said...

Stu is a little cutie! He does look a bit fed up there though :)

Good for you for taking the book back - I hate paying over the odds for anything too and that price was definitely a rip-off.

Annemarie said...

Poor Stu: confined to the house when he would rather go walkies!
Michaels sounds like a place better avoided!

I read in one of your previous posts that you use scroll rods for your Mirabilia (well, this particular one, anyway). Do you like working with those? Can you recommend it? I'so curious about those, but they're too expensive to just by them and try them. I want to be sure I like them first!

barbara said...

Our doggie is also not reacting well to the reduced walking time (a picture in my blog today too, coincidentally).

As for your Michael's experience, we also have stores here with signs saying "Scanned price is accurate" so they can put whatever they want on the sticker price. Let the buyer beware!!

Glenna said...

Jeez about the book--and I think the exchange rate difference is only about 10%--best to buy with a credit card from a mail-order like Amazon, as you did, so you get at least an accurate exchange rate. I'm always appalled when I go to Canada and buy books, because they're so much more expensive since the exchange rate is never up-to-date. Also, I've had good luck buying books (even nearly new ones) from Abebooks.com (they're a used book seller, but it's amazing what you can get for little money, and they operate like Amazon.

The Silver Thistle said...

Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog. It makes me feel better to know that someone other than just me knows Puss Puss was here :)

I wouldn't have taken the book at that price either BTW! Good luck to them trying to sell many of those, with the concealed price tag hike.

Mary Ann said...

Oh, poor little Stu--he looks so pitiful.

I'm glad to hear that you took the book back to Michael's after finding a better deal online. Good for you!