Dicks

So as part of the "eat healthier and get in shape" mid-year resolution that should last at least until late June, I bought some adjustable dumbbells from Dick's Sporting Goods. I'm pretty far from having what could be called a home gym, but with these and a curl bar I bought last year, I now really have no excuse for my pipecleaner arms. I'm also hoping that doing some shoulder exercises with them will make my volleyball swing hurt less, but that's a vague wish that isn't based on any evidence or actual advice from anyone who knows about this stuff.

Anyway. The dumbbells work as advertised, and I'm pretty happy with them. Unfortunately, the set's stand is missing a piece -- the small plastic rack that one of the weights sits in. Should be no problem, right? Just return to Dick's and grab one out of the box, right? Wrong.

Of course, I got the last one and they're out of stock. But that's still no problem, since the guy I talked to last week assured me they'd have more this week and I could come in and get my piece of molded plastic. Of course, when I called this week, nobody had any idea what I was talking about. They didn't have any in stock, and they weren't willing to swap out the piece even if they did. They gave me the (wrong) number for the manufacturer, who sent me right back to Dick's. To make it worse, the people at Dick's kept asking me who I talked to last week. As if it made a difference. No, I don't remember who I talked to. It's not my job to remember your employees' names. It's your job to train them not to screw up and give bad information.

Also, you may not realize it, but Dick's is the most ass-backward company in the free world when it comes to stocking their stores. In the internet age, where just-in-time delivery is king and communication is easier than ever, the morons running Dick's are stuck in the 1920s. Want something they don't have at the store? They can't order it for you. They can't get it from another store in any reasonable amount of time. They can't even predict when more will be delivered from their warehouse. The best guess anybody at the store could offer me was, "Maybe in two or three weeks we'll get more." Um, yeah. Thanks. Fantastic. So I'm going to be returning a $300 piece of equipment because it's missing a 50 cent hunk of plastic. And the morons at Dick's are going to have to ship this 100+ pound bastard back to the manufacturer. I hope the random employee who outright lied to me gets a hernia loading it onto the truck.