My First Purchase

We went to the mall to purchase a curling iron, since my 1st one burned up, after I plugged it into the 220 outlet.

The mall is huge, with a lot of small stores and very limited options, but since none of them had curling irons, my very smart and cute neighbor, Treasure, took us to Rustan's, which is kind of like a high end Wal Mart. The 1st sales person we asked conferred with a co-worker and decided we should try the 2nd floor. The 2nd sales person also conferred with another, and was pretty sure we needed to be in cosmetics on the 1st floor. After searching cosmetics and speaking with a 3rd sales person- yes she conferred as well- told us that curling irons are sold in the electronics dept on the 3rd floor!

The electronics section of the store is a self contained store within the store, and they have about 25 people working in an area the size of a Jack-In-The-Box. We finally located the curling irons, which are kept behind the counter, in a glass case along with the hair dryers. I found the one with the largest barrel, and asked to see it. The man behind the counter found the correct person with the keys for the door, and proceeded to hand me the most expensive curling iron, not the one I asked to see. I decide on the cheapest one, at a mere 2,350p or $53.40 U.S. and asked to purchase it. I was then asked to give my full name and address, phone number and all this information was taken down by one sales person to be entered into the computer, while the original salesperson proceeded to remove the curling iron from the box, set up an electrical outlet, plug it in and let it heat up, so that I could confirm that- yes indeed it did work.

He then returned the outlet extension, repackaged the iron (with great care, taking time not to rush it) and gave me a carbon of the original information, and told me to claim it at the register.

I proceeded to the register where apparently several of the workers were trying to decide whether or not a person with only a temporary address and no personal phone number was allowed to make this purchase, even though I would be paying with cash. After assuring them that they would be able to contact me at The Fraser Place for the next 2 weeks, if they decided that they wanted the curling iron back, they printed out an offical receipt and took my money.

Only then was I allowed to show the receipt to the security guard, who was standing 4 ft away at the door, and had been watching the entire process, to exit the store. All in all it only took a little over 20 minutes to make a purchase that would have taken about 5 back home, and that's only if I had to stand in line.!