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The three new bar stools came from EasyMart each with its own compact box. Some engineer with considerable ingenuity had packaged the legs, seat cushion, and other pieces inside the seat back. After removing the packing material and cutting the plastic ties that held the pieces together, I studied the assembly instructions.

The hardware included various screws and feet for the legs trapped under a plastic layer to a sheet of cardboard. I opened the package and began connecting the legs with eight Allen screws. A metal ring slipped around the legs to add strength and provide a foot rest. The seat cushion attached to the seat with four wood screws. The seat assembly and a swivel mount joined the leg assembly to complete the job. Although it took 40 minutes to assemble the first stool, it looked great, and the next two stools shouldn’t take as long.

After also assembling the second stool, I opened the third box and repeated the process of removing the various parts. Suddenly, I realized with considerable frustration that there was no hardware package for the third stool. I would have to return to EasyMart for the missing parts.

Returning to the store, I searched for the Service Counter, finally spotting it at the other end of an endless line of check-out lanes. Walking up to the counter, I showed the clerk my receipt and explained that as I was assembling the three bar stools, I found that one box was missing its hardware package. I explained that I either needed a hardware package or to exchange the stool for a new box that included the required parts.

The clerk studied my receipt carefully and then told me that she couldn’t help me. I would have to contact the supplier of the stool on my own to get the missing parts. I told her that I expected EasyMart to stand behind its products – not ask me to do its work for them. Besides, the box for the bar stool was stamped “Made in China” with no mention of a city much less a mailing address, phone number, or email address. Finally, the clerk called the store manager who confirmed that their policy required me to contact the supplier.

I returned home stunned. Now what? I decided to call EasyMart’s home office. The customer service line offered 7 menu options. None of them mentioned contacting a supplier. I finally selected number 7 – “other.” After waiting 10 minutes listening to once popular music from the 1970s, a voice finally answered the phone, and I began explaining my problem. Suddenly, I heard a dial tone and had to start the process over again. After three tries and over an hour of waiting, I gave up.

Totally frustrated, I pondered my problem. I had two bar stools assembled, and most of the parts for the third stool without the required hardware to put it together. I could buy some of the parts at a local hardware store, but the screws would likely require a special order, especially to get the correct color. In addition, I needed four feet that were a special design that would be difficult, if not impossible, to locate.

Suddenly, I remembered that my nephew’s wife worked in the corporate offices of EasyMart. Maybe she could help me. That evening I called her up and once again explained my problem. She told me that she would check and get back to me. The next evening she called back, and amazingly enough, told me that she was able to get a phone number for the supplier in China.

I decided to give it a try, wondering whether anyone at the supplier would even be able to speak English. Due to the difference in time zones, I called at 1 am the following morning. After a few rings, a voice speaking a strange language answered the phone. Forging ahead, I asked to speak to someone who could speak English. After about five minutes, the plant manager answered the phone in slightly accented English.

I explained my problem to him and to my great surprise, he told me, “no problem.”

“You mean you can send me a hardware package for my stool?” I repeated.

“Of course, give me your address, and we will ship it directly to your dock.”

“I don’t have a shipping dock or fork lift truck – I need it delivered to my house,” I protested.

He replied that “everything shipped from the plant is loaded onto a pallet, shrink wrapped, and placed in a shipping container.”

“Perhaps I can make arrangements to use a dock where I work, but how much will this cost?” I muttered.

The plant manager told me that “there is no charge for the missing hardware package, but the shipping cost is $157.50 – the minimum for our smallest pallet.”

“This is outrageous, I can’t and won’t pay to fix your error. Isn’t there any other way?” I exclaimed.

The plant manager replied that “I’m very sorry I can’t offer any other solution, but we do have a plan to avoid these problems in the future.”

“How?”

“We plan to stop supplying hardware packages – customers will simply get their own parts.”

Larry Eriksson is the author of Broken Strings, Missing Notes. He divides his time between Madison and Ellison Bay. This story was inspired by an actual incident.