With receipt in hand

At the end of May I bought black pants from Sears. A few days ago I saw a hole where the zipper had separated from the garment. This is not a good place for a hole. Today I took the pants and receipt back to Sears.

To my surprise the clerk said I hadn't asked for a return within 30 days. Seriously? I can see that limit applying to garments one decides don't fit or are the wrong style. But a garment that has a hole? One would expect a garment to last more than 3 months. If I wanted a replacement I could get it. But if it doesn't last three months I'm not interested. I asked for a manager. She said the same thing. The policy means (though I didn't say it while there) if a garment falls apart in the wash a mere 33 days after purchase the customer is out of luck. The manager turned me over to another guy. I appealed to higher authority. He said here's the national customer service, but they're going to tell you the same thing. He handed me the phone. Yes, they did tell me the same thing. Why did you bother to call? I asked the local guy to speak to the store manager. He was the store manager. I told him it was a horrible policy and indicates the store sells shoddy merchandise and if I walk out the door without a refund I'm never shopping in Sears again. He didn't budge. It's a two year old policy, he said – which doesn't make it a good policy. I stuffed the pants back in my bag and said I'm not coming back. He was amazingly unperturbed by that idea. Not coming back? Whatever. As I gathered my stuff together he said, "Have a nice day!" Grrr! You've done all you can to ruin it.

So, I'm not going back to Sears.

Yeah, many a gay guy would wonder why I stepped into the store in the first place. Don't I know and care anything about fashion? Know? Perhaps a bit. Care? Not really.