Thursday, September 26, 2024

Farmer H Is The New Centipede

A few weeks ago, when Farmer H was having so much trouble with his feet, and had me order some special insoles... he said he also needed new shoes. He has been wearing Skechers for a couple years. He wears one pair until they are almost falling apart. I tell him he should alternate shoes, and that might help his feet feel better. That's what I did while teaching. I'd change to another pair after lunch. I kept them in my cabinet for that very purpose. It felt like I had new feet!

Anyhoo... last time I ordered shoes for Farmer H (he can't find the style he likes around here in the discount shoe stores), I got two pair of the same kind. He has worn out his second pair. Just when I was thinking I'd order his shoes the next day, Farmer H came in from his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2) carrying two pairs of Skechers. One was white leather with a little blue symbol on the side, kind of like a court shoe. The other was white mesh, more like the black style Farmer H likes, with a running/walking kind of sole. 

"Where'd you get those shoes?"

"They was in some stuff I traded one of my buddies at the lockers."

"They look new."

"They belonged to an old man that died. He didn't wear them much. I don't know if he even wore this one pair at all."

So... I was waiting to see if Farmer H wore those shoes, or still wanted me to order his. He wore the running style a couple days. I don't think he's tried the leather court shoes yet. But he DID ask if I'd ordered his shoes. I told him I'd been waiting, and that I would do it that day.

I searched my email for the confirmation on the last pairs I bought, to get the model number. The company I used to order them from has gone out of business. So I searched Amazon. Found the exact shoe, but in a 10.5 extra-wide instead of the 8.5 extra-wide that Farmer H needs. I found a slightly different color combo in an 8.5, but it was regular width. AND they both shipped from the UK, which would take two weeks. Nope.

I tried the official Skechers website. The only shoe I could find with that model number were WOMEN'S, and they did not look the same. The only thing that came up in my searches was on eBay. The model was one number off. The shoe looked the same, but was in gray, not black. It DID come in 8.5 extra-wide. It was on an eBay Commerce Store website. Said the shoes were new, in the box. 

I figured I should just order one pair, to see if Farmer H likes them. Then I thought how it had taken me an hour and 45 minutes to find this pair, so I might as well get two. I went through all the order stuff, deciding to pay with PayPal. That part went fine, then it sent me back to the eBay store. Which wanted me to prove I wasn't a robot, and click on a picture of a gorilla playing a saxophone. But that wasn't a choice, so I hit NEXT as instructed, and saw a picture of a roaring lion standing by a piano. This time it said to click on all "likenesses" of that photo. So I clicked on four roaring lions. Then it told me to finish my transaction on PayPal.

However... I was back to the order page, where I was not given a chance to SUBMIT or whatever word they use to finish a transaction. I was just trapped on that page. This was getting frustrating! I could have hired a cobbler to construct Farmer H a pair of shoes in this time! I clicked on the PayPal choice again. It took me back to PayPal. Where there was a button to complete my transaction. Which I clicked.

Well. You might have guessed by now. But I got two emails confirming my purchase. I HAD ORDERED FOUR PAIRS OF SHOES!

I don't expect Farmer H to grow three more pairs of feet. I'm hoping he likes these shoes, because he will be wearing them for a couple years! 

If he doesn't like them, there are going to be new shoes in the box for sale at his SUS2.

8 comments:

Rae said...

I've also had the problem of getting locked on a page and not being able to find the "button" to close my order. Some websites that the company thinks are so great, really should be tested by people who actually use them. I got into it with my insurance agent when I accidently clicked on the box to pay the balance of our homeowners' insurance that wasn't due for another 2 months and a substantial amount and was unable to unclick the box. Then when I wanted to pay all of the vehicle insurance, one of the vehicles wasn't showing on their website. Anyway, I ended up paying the vehicle insurance (less the missing vehicle) and the house insurance because there was no other way to get out of their website. When I talked to our agent (a putz) he was pretty snotty with me, knowing I am a bit on the elderly side of things, thinking I was too stupid to know how to use their website. He even applauded their website, telling me how great it was. I asked him if he had ever gone on it, and he had to admit he had not. So, after confirming what I had paid, I paid the "missing" vehicle insurance through him. That cocky little bugger said maybe I should pay all of my insurance that way, by calling him. I did it online because it saves me money for stamps and I don't need to talk to anyone so why the heck I would call him, I do not know. I said maybe they could make their website more user friendly. I paid in June, online, with no problem so take that you putz of an agent. Sorry long stupid story. (BTW, the website had been changed and a thousand times easier to maneuver. Maybe it wasn't just this old lady who had trouble with it? Ranee

Pudge450 said...

Have you ever used Zappos? They have some affiliation with Amazon. Ship next day delivery. Free returns. I used them a lot for my grandson. Returned quite a few shipments for various reasons. Never a question. So easy.

Hillbilly Mom said...

Rae,
Farmer H says it sounds like they have their website like that on purpose. It wouldn't surprise me!

Farmer H goes by our insurance agency to pay some of the policies, but I mainly do it by mail. Lately he has gone there to complain about an increase, and change our coverage. I give him a check and he pays there, rather than waiting for a new bill that may or may not show the price they quote him. Our agent went to high school with me, and Farmer H knows the secretary.

Hillbilly Mom said...

Pudge450,
I have not used Zappos. I've seen them online, but found what I needed elsewhere. It didn't come up when searching for Farmer H's model of Skechers, or I would have given it a try.

River said...

I hope the shoes fit and he gets to wear them. I have used PayPal for just about everything I buy online and they me and my computer now so clicking to finish a sale is easy, I don't to enter my password and click back and forth between pages.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
I've used PayPal for many years, and never had this issue before. I'm convinced it's how that eBay Commerce Store had set up their website. It's their page that wouldn't let me proceed, and told me to go back to finish on PayPal. The only way to get back was to click on their PayPal link again.

River said...

ebay has changed, I got an email a while ago about the changes they were making but I didn't read it since I rarely buy there anymore.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
It's been at least 10 years since I bought anything from eBay. I'm sure I got a notice, but didn't read it! I imagine Farmer H still has his account, from when he used to like buying collectible beer trays and Coca Cola stuff. They had the commerce stores then, too, depending on the seller. No problems until now. Maybe that email said they were changing their site to CHARGE TWICE, heh, heh!