I have the grumble bug with Wal-Mart right now. You can buy anything in the store 24/7. But you can only return certain items when it’s convenient for them. I purchased a relatively expensive Sony digital video/still camera at 3 a.m. After a few days of trying it out, I really didn’t care for the digital stills and felt the video wasn’t as wonderful as it should be – although Jim and Wayne and Marie, you showed up pretty damn well with voice. I tried to return it at 1 AM on my way home from work. After standing at the return counter for 15 minutes, waiting for someone to come up from ‘cameras’, someone called the courtesy desk and told the clerk that no one was around to check out the contents of the box. I was told I would have to return it during the day – from 9 to 9. Get real! I had a fit. And no, I didn’t swear. But I wanted to. I told the clerk that Wal-Mart didn’t really give customer service. They allowed me to buy at any hour of the day but I had to return only when it worked for them. And I apologized to her for going off on her but she was the only one available. I even went so far as to tell her I would like to throw the camera on the floor that I was so irritated with their policy. Aghhh…phhhht! Best part of it was that she agreed with me. She works at night too…and sleeps during the day. Yes…I got the damn thing returned, on their hours.

But a week later, I bought a wireless keyboard and mouse, decided to return it, and went back at 10 PM. Same scenario. I couldn’t return it because there was no one in computers to check out the contents of the box. The woman even came up from computers and kept pointing at the wall at their return times, blah, blah, blah. I had a fit. Again! I ranted about the fact that I was not getting customer service from Wal-Mart. I was getting crap. I left in a huff, but I did think about throwing it on the floor and stomping up and down on it first and leaving them with the mess to clean up. The following day, I went to a Super Wal-Mart and returned the keyboard. This clerk never even thought of calling up someone from computers…and she never even opened the box. She just gave me back my $$$.

But don’t let me stop at Wal-Mart now that I’m on a roll. When I decided to do the travel the U.S. thing and bought the ‘coach’, I went to Camping World and purchased the 5th wheel hitch for my truck. They installed it also and it only cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,300. Then I ordered a Splendide washer and dryer (cost over $1,000), and an Onan 7000 Gold Generator (cost over $5,000), and they installed these too when they came in (the generator was on order for over three weeks), for an additional $800 or so. Not to mention a few other $$$ I’ve spent in their damn store since.

Run the generator for at least two hours a month to keep up the warranty, put Onan Fresh and a few other things in the gas tank to keep the residue from gumming/varnishing inside the engine, blah, blah, blah. OK! As soon as it started to warm up outside, I cranked up the generator, turned the air on and after a few minutes, the power on one side of the Coach shut down.

I went in to Camping World and complained to the manager of the shop. He acted like I was a complete dolt and asked if I checked the breakers on the generator, one of them could be blown. OK! I did. The 20 amp breaker was off. I turned it back on. A week later, I cranked up the generator again, same scenario with one side of the Coach losing power.

So…I took a trip out to Camping World a week ago last Saturday. As I was trying to set up a time to bring in the Coach, because sure as hell, they won’t come to me – I got the rudest people in the world. John, the shop foreman for the day, said they couldn’t look at it that day. I replied, “Good! I didn’t bring it with me.”

He didn’t think that was funny at all.

I wonder how many people just show up with their coach attached on the whim that service will run right out and check things out for them. From my experience with these people, it takes a week or a life time to get them to do something with a unit.

After he walked away, I remembered that I needed a small clip to hook the break-away brake cable to the hitch. To date, I’ve slipped the cable end over the hitch handle. I asked the clerk about it. She, of course, had no idea what I was talking about. A customer on my side of the counter knew exactly what I was talking about and he tried to help explain to her what I needed. She went to the shop to ask John and came back with the reply that the break away cable should have come with the coach. No Shit! I said it did. What I was looking for was a small clip that should have come with the hitch. She huffed. I gave up.

Long and short of it. I took the coach in, had to take the night off from work, my butt was dragging (the only thing I got out of it personally was the practice of unhooking everything, hitching up, returning home at 100 degree temperatures, leveling up, unhitching, and hooking everything back up). Kee-rist!

And they did fix it. It was two wires that needed to be switched. But don’t worry, they didn’t apologize or offer to pay for my diesel or my time or my loss of time at work. (Hey…they don’t know I’m a flake and really haven’t been working so don’t go there.) And on top of all of it, they are RUDE! And yes…Camping World Customer Service is going to receive a letter from me.