Yarn Drama and FOs!

I have been on a crazy finishing spree. I've stuck to my resolution. In a word, I rule. As ruler of this little domain (http://cuteknitter.blogdrive.com) I need to share a quick story.

Two of my knitting friends used to work at the same LYS (Local Yarn Store). One left because she needed a job that paid a living wage and benefits, and the other was wrongfully terminated. The circumstances of her termination are quite similar to when middle school girls pick one girl to exile to show their social power. But I digress.

I have been going to this particular LYS since I was six years old. I'm a bit older than that now, but that's not the point. When I went in as a child, they were unkind (and had a terrifying cat). When I started working for Karen, they were flat-out rude to me (16 years old at that point). When my two friends started working there, it was a relief to be able to make my purchases without being snarled at.

When the first friend left, I figured "Well, at least Friend #2 is still there." Bear in mind that the other employees (with the exception of ONE of the women, who is very friendly, but alas, not a real friend of mine) are all rude and brusque to me, despite the amount of money that I have spent there over the years. You know my shopping habits. Do the math. Not an insignificant amount.

I called Friend #2 in November and asked if it would be kosher if she ordered the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport for me (in the same colors that I had already bought), and if I could exchange the Shepherd Sock for the Sport. She asked the owner, it was totally kosher. Great! Sock yarn I've already bought turning into thicker yarn to be knit FASTER!

Last Wednesday (after Friend #2 was canned), I called to follow up on my order (ahem, 6 weeks had passed from when I placed it). I was told that my order had arrived that day. Great! Andrew and I went to pick it up and do the exchange promptly after work.

We get there and it turns out that I had some yarn on hold. Okay, I look at it, show it to Andrew, buy him two skeins (because when my friend was canned, I vowed not to spend money there, but my exchange and things I put on hold I felt obligated to buy/ exchange), swap out the rest (which was, ahem, marked up to $11 when everywhere else they're selling it for $10, same price as the sock yarn), pay the difference and go.

Guess what the snarky, bitch-ass owner does next? E-mails Friend #2 to say "Yeah, Jasmin came in and picked up her order. And returned an equal amount of yarn."

WTF?!

When Friend #2 recounts this e-mail to me, that was my response. "WTF?!!" This is why.

I never return yarn. NEVER. I just don't do it. I overbuy a bit, and the leftovers find a new home. This is the first exchange I've ever done of yarn, too. So, in theory, BitchAssOwner could look in his little computer and see "My, oh, my. She has never done this before." But I digress.

I told Friend #1 (who is temporarily helping out at the offending LYS) that I wouldn't be taking any of my business there anymore, since nobody there could be bothered to be polite to me. I also told her to pass on to the owners that their prices weren't competitive with online stores (same products... different prices), and the only thing that kept me going there was that my friends worked there.

So there, I'm a misanthrope (shocker). But at least I managed to swap out my yarn and they'll lose all my future business. And the business of my friends. Oh yeah... and the business of my CUSTOMERS. Muah ah ah.

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