Should've gone to Costco

When was the last time you went to Wal-Mart and didn't find what you were looking for?  An old buddy calls me up today and wanted to borrow my S.U.V. He wanted to pickup an outdoor swing set for his nephew which he claimed wouldn’t fit in his “roomy” Toyota Echo.  8:00pm, we decide to drive down to the local Wal-Mart.   After spending about 10 minutes and not being able to find the swings – we decide to ask a sales rep.  Sales rep responds by telling us the Garden center is closed, so there’s nothing she can do.  She was kind enough to tell us the next Wal-Mart is open until 11:00pm, and we may have better luck there. 

 15 minutes later, we’re there.  We see the swing set on display outside the store and decide to grab one from inside.  Walked directly into the Garden center where a rep had no idea what we were talking about. 

Now for rep number two.  He guides us to the Toys section and says that’s where they would be.  Moving on to rep number three.  He tells us they must be outside where we saw the displays.  After clearly explaining to him they weren’t there, and nor were they the Garden Center – he directs us to the Customer Service desk.  After a nice 10 minutes in line, the rep there too has no idea where to find this unheard of product.  We finally get directed to the manager on duty.  And guess what?  No, you guessed wrong – she actually knew where it was.  Back to the toys section we go.  After 2 Wal-Mart’s, 4 reps, 1 manager and about 1 hour of my life that I will never get back we found the swing set.  Never before have I had to ask more than 1 rep at Wal-Mart to find something.   Not sure what it was – perhaps the spring products are just rolling out and staff isn’t aware?  I don’t know, but I’m hoping it was a one-off experience.