Black Friday Delivery Issues

Update on my big ticket Black Friday purchases. I am 0 for 2.

Big ticket item 1: Dining table from Hoot Judkins. Got delivered yesterday. Looks great. I can start using it.
Issue: gear that expands the table is broken. They didn't give me a date as to when they'll come back to fix it. My guess it won't be until after the holidays.

Big ticket item 2: Floyd queen platform bed. Finally pulled it out of the box this past week. I hoped with Ronnie helping out with home repairs yesterday that he could help me assemble the bed. I noticed one of the boxes I got was labeled "headboard".

I didn't order a headboard.

Issue: Steel legs and straps that were supposed to come in a separate box didn't come in. The above picture of the headboard along with 2 other photos of the shipment were emailed to Floyd Home Customer Service yesterday.

Hopefully this will be an afterthought by the time family comes for President's Day weekend.

Black Friday 2019 aka Support Your Local Businesses

My Black Friday, 2019.
I began the day online shopping. Returned to an old e-commerce retailer that started in 1977. It's also where I began my first full-time job in San Francisco. If you know me well or follow my blog, you already know this company.

The Sharper Image.

The visit to my former employer began after seeing too many pictures of myself from our cruise vacation last week. I noticed the spare tire in my mid-section in too many photos. Time to tone up. Bowling does a great job on my lower body strength, but need toning upper body and waist. No gym. Low impact. Something I can do at home.

Decided to get a portable rower.

source: Sharper Image
portable rowing machine

Compact, sturdy, simple, low impact. I can do it while watching TV.  Point, scan, and click. Done.

All that browsing made me hungry. Time for lunch.

My original Thanksgiving plans fell through due to a family emergency of the friend who was hosting dinner. Instead of turkey, it was takeout Thai, Lindt chocolates, bowling practice, and lots of catching up on TV I missed while on vacation. Hunger and withdrawal symptoms of no turkey were setting in. Need turkey now.

Jump in the car and head to Redwood City to my favorite place for carved turkey, Harry's Hofbrau. Locally owned. Harry's formerly had locations in Foster City/San Mateo and San Jose. When I worked in Foster City from 1999 to 2007, I must have visited that location at least once a month. Always got turkey. Either as a carved sandwich with dipped wheat roll, turkey dinner, or A La King style (cream sauce with rice).

When I got to the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to see a line and hear almost everyone order a turkey dinner or sandwich. The day after Thanksgiving. Realized many in line were probably in the same situation. They craved for carved turkey. I opted for the Turkey A La King. Happy tummy.

Now, off to another locally owned business in Redwood City, Hoot Judkins Furniture. Opened in 1962, it is one of the few remaining family and locally owned furniture stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been an admirer of their dining furniture for several years. It started not long after I sold my dining set when I moved out of the Outer Sunset house I rented from Kevin from 2011 to 2014.

HJ’s way of doing business is very retro. All furniture is real wood. No particle board or veneer. Sales staff don't work on commission. No high pressure sales tactics. They know buyers are going to make expensive purchases, so giving people like me time to decide is more likely to result in a sale.

I left the store 2 hours later as the soon-to-be owner of a new dining table and chairs that I'll get in about 4 to 6 weeks. As part of the Black Friday special, they paid my sales tax. It'll be well worth the wait. My dining table has a butterfly leaf that opens with a built in gear that requires little to no effort to expand the table. The chairs have reinforcements between the legs.

source: Hoot Judkins

You can buy a similar table and chairs for about the same price on Wayfair or Overstock. And you'll get it within 2 weeks. But you'll get it in boxes and delivered curbside. I'll get mine delivered inside and fully assembled.

My small contribution to small businesses. With outstanding service and value to boot.

Black Friday 2014 - Samsung Smart TV

Samsung TV remote

As tweeted earlier this week, I splurged again for a big ticket home item. First the buffet, then the clothing armoire, and now a new TV.

I got a new TV because I watched most of last weekend's Niners game with the right half of the screen dimmed. It would usually go away if I turned off and on the TV. But it didn't this time. My Toshiba Regza 47" is almost 8 years old, so I knew the problem was only going to get worse.

I spent the next few days conducting my own due diligence as to what would be my next TV.

My requirements:
- Samsung or Sony
- LED/LCD flatscreen (no Ultra 4K yet)
- 48" minimum screen size
- 1080p
- internet access and ability to set up apps such as Skype, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime
- price not to exceed $750
- order it before Thanksgiving

It then came down to where I'd buy the TV - Amazon or Best Buy. I loved Best Buy's offer on all TV's with at least a 51" screen would get free delivery, setup and haul old TV off for recycling. Earliest date I could get the TV would have been today.

I ended up going to Amazon. As an Amazon Prime member, I'd get free shipping and delivery by Black Friday, 2 days sooner than Best Buy's earliest date. It would arrive in time to watch Saturday's Ohio State-Michigan game.

I chose a Samsung 48" LED 6350 series 1080p Smart TV with a quad processor. I used my remaining American Express Membership Rewards points which helped me keep the total price (tax included) under $600 -- 1/2 the cost of the old TV bought in 2006. I'll put the old TV out curbside for donation this week.

My housemate Wil brought in the TV while I was out at bowling practice. When I got home shortly before noon, he helped me take out the TV from the box, assemble the stand and turn on the TV. I was surprised at how much lighter the new TV was than the old one. So light in weight that I was able to place it under one arm and hold it without much effort.

Here's what the setup screens looked like:

The setup instructions were extremely easy. Once the stand was assembled, it took no more than 5 minutes to get the TV on.

Smart TV access is not yet installed due to the terrible wifi connection in the living room. A wifi repeater and ethernet connectors are on order which should strengthen the wifi connection.

Until then, access to Amazon Prime films and YouTube is on hold for now. Can't wait.

Black Friday online shopping

This past week, I went out to Mervyns to buy some new Levi's. I've been a dedicated Levi's wearer since high school. They're durable, never go out of style, and most of all, it's the brand everyone knows. My current stock have gotten baggy and needed to get new ones in a smaller size (yeah, baby!).

I usually buy Levi's 550's Tapered Leg, relaxed fit. This time I bought Levi's 550, Bootcut, relaxed fit. Man, what a difference. With a bit of stretch (I no longer buy jeans without it), the slight flare at the end, and one size smaller, they looked so much better on me. I bought 2 pair and probably would have bought more had I been able to find them in other denim shades.

This morning, I decided to buy 2 more online. I could have gone back out to Mervyns in another location, but because it's officially the holiday season, I tend to steer clear of stores and malls unless it's absolutely necessary.

I first went to Sears. I had already been there the past 2 days after seeing free shipping. I couldn't pull the trigger. I'd put in, then remove the items from the shopping cart. Today I was ready. It was totally cool when they took off $10, but once I entered my billing address, the site froze. After 10 minutes, I gave up and closed the browser window. I just went there a few minutes ago and they're now completely down.

Next, I went to Kohl's. My last purchase of Levi's came from them. I didn't see free shipping, but thought maybe I'd see something discounted once I put the items in the cart. Once I saw $8 in shipping, I removed the items from the cart and abandoned the order.

Now, the third retailer I know that sells Levi's online at a decent price is JC Penney. They have free shipping, no minimum purchase required from now until 11/26. I would have saved the most at Sears, but the site is down. Even though JCP's Levi's are $2 more than Kohl's, I'd still be spending less at JCP because of free shipping.

This was my first time shopping online on Black Friday. Cyber Monday is in 2 days. It'll be interesting to see what major websites choke under the massive amounts of traffic.