So Faith Music Center has a deal with the Music Den (a local company) where they rent out instruments of the highest quality (usually brand new) and they cover the instrument with insurance so we, the end user, does not have to. Most music studios charge for insurance and either offer three month rentals or monthly rentals...but our program is 5 months long...the Music Den offers 5 month rentals with the option to buy, applying all the rental money toward the purchase if you should so choose. So, after this meeting I decided, merely a week later, that perhaps it was time to rent that clarinet since Adam already had one lesson with NO instrument....YUP.....going for MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD again (see previous post about that one....) So off to the Music Den we go.
Fist off, we walk in to a completely empty store. Open, but void of any people. Adam and I are wandering around looking, looking, looking...no one. So I start with the, "Hello???? Anyone here????" as we wander. Nothing. So I get a little louder, "HELLO? ANYONE?"...nothing. So I go to the back of the store and see an office with someone sitting at a desk, his back to me. So, I figure he must be deaf so now I say it even louder, "HELLO!!!???" At which point he spins his seat around and replies (in a snotty voice I might add), "Isn't someone out there!" UH....DUH....OK, I MAY be blonde, and I might even be slow, but I am NOT stupid (you will see the humor in this statement later in the post! HA!) "Uh, no...or at least I can't find anyone" I replied. At which point he spins around again, his back to me again and calls someone who walks out from behind the door and steps up to the counter. As soon as he came out the man sitting at the desk wheeled back to the door and slammed it shut! Ok then....
So I proceed to tell this man that I need to rent a clarinet and gave him the paperwork from Faith Music Center. He handed it back to me telling me he didn't need it. Ok, I thought, he must know all this info already. OK, I ask about renting the clarinet and guitar. No guitar rental, but a clarinet he has. He gets the paperwork ready to fill out and I begin to inquire about guitar lessons at which point he tells me that they only take cash for lessons....???!!! What? Who does that? I've never heard of such a thing. So I explain that I NEVER have cash. So rather than having to remember to go to the bank each week I ask if I can prepay for the month by check. "No, I told you we only take cash"...Wow....WAY weird. So I tell him that I need to hold off on signing up for guitar lessons cause I need to check some other studios, but in the mean while, go ahead with the clarinet paperwork. He begins to fill it out and explains to me the three month rental agreement and the $8 per month insurance charge. Hhhhmmmm I thought....this is odd. I could have sworn that the rental agreement was 5 months and that insurance was included but I guess I must have misunderstood....Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time I got something wrong. I go ahead and pay for the clarinet and go on my way.
We get home and checked out the instrument and were shocked to see it was old, dirty and NOT in good shape. Whatever, it makes noise and for now, that is all that matters.
The next morning, Sharon and I are on the phone getting ready to pray and I start telling her about this incident the day before at the Music Den....how weird it was that they were so rude, that the clarinet was crappy and that they only take cash....seems shady to me, but hey, who am I. So Sharon starts telling me that I must be mistaken because she knows for a fact that the Music Den takes credit cards for lessons. Not convinced it was ME that was wrong I question her. She goes on to tell me that her daughter, Anna, has been taking lessons at the Music Den for years and she went there the day before and paid for them with a credit card, like she does every month. And she was also surprised at the shape of the clarinet they rented me....
At this point, a light bulb goes on because she asked the dreaded question, "Are you SURE you were at the Music Den?"....uh oh....I reply, "Where EXACTLY IS the Music Den?"...she proceeds to tell me it is in Ledgewood Mall.....hhhhhmmmmm....then I had to ask, "So what is the music place on Route 46 in Budd Lake?!?"......."Robbies Music Center" she replies......OH GOOD GRIEF CHARLIE BROWN! *^%$@@#%*,,,,,,,How on EARTH could I have made that mistake (see the irony here of my saying earlier that I may be many things, but I am NOT stupid!) OK, so now I am stuck with this crappy clarinet paying insurance that I shouldn't have to pay for a shorter contract than I need....She says, "Go back and explain it to them and get your money back"....
UGH! So the next day I went back, tail between my legs, and proceed to TRY to explain, with a shred of dignity, why I have to return this clarinet a day later. They must have asked me three times to tell them again. I'm not sure if they were slow or they just were enjoying watching me writhe in self pity as I clambered to explain the stupidity of it all....I'm guessing it was the latter. So, in the end I DID get all my money back except the first month insurance ($8 and WELL worth it to get out of that rotten deal). From there I went to the REAL Music Den and....can you believe that they took credit cards! AND they paid the insurance! AND they DID offer a 5 month rental AND, HEAVEN'S TO BETSY they rented me a BRAND NEW clarinet! Imagine that....
Yes, this is my life. Yes....I am crazy and surprise even myself pretty consistently! Anyhow.....
Until next time....
