T and I went television shopping on Saturday after his NHD school event. Trust me, it was a long day! We spent a few hours television shopping and I took notes on what T was interested so that he could comparison shop. It amazed me how easily he was able to part with his money, especially since he really liked the idea of buying his own television for the basement.
He narrowed the search down to two televisions. Different brands, 2" difference, "as is" vs. new and different stores. I was completely not in favor of the "as is" which was identified as having been purchased and returned two days later. It was a Sony Bravia 40". The other television was 42" Philips, new for $2.00 less; however, the Bravia was at ABC where they are willing to beat any price (or so they claim). After T made numerous calls to DK who was internet comparison shopping and giving customer reviews, T decided he wanted to "wheel and deal" at ABC Warehouse. Needless to say the Customer Service Reps laughed in his face when he walked in and said I (in dress clothes - pants, shirt, tie, dress shoes and almost 13 years old) "I want to wheel and deal. I'll give you $450 out the door!"
I have to admit that seeing that it was his gig, I kept completely out of it, standing on the sideline. A different CSR said, "You can't even get a 32" for that price!!!" So T and I looked at each other, said OK and walked toward the door. The initial CSR hollered, "I'll give it to you for $565 plus tax!" At this point, I finally said something which included purchasing a brand new television, with warranty, never open, two inches bigger and significantly less. The guy then asked where and when I told him he said, if it's a Philips, yeah we don't carry that. Seriously, I don't know how they stay in business - I've never had decent customer service there or anything even remotely price competitive to anywhere else!
T was actually rather bummed though. While the same Philips television was at Sam's club and $60 less than the price at Meijer, with the Meijer discount on Monday, it would be over $60 less than Sam's. T was hoping that he could be with me to purchase his television and ride in the car with it and bring it in the house. Unfortunately, unless he wanted to go before school, it just wasn't possible as he was with his dad in the evening.
I picked up the television during the day. Unfortunately the first Meijer I went to didn't have one left. The Meijer across town did and off I went to purchase the television. It fit rather nicely in the back of my car, not the tight squeeze of the 47" television I purchased! I have to admit it went in the car with the help of the sales woman much easier than me getting it out of the car solo! The television was downstairs, still in the box, when T arrived home from school.
He was super excited to have his television. He wanted to set it up, but wasn't going to do so with me at work. Good thing, since the television is heavy, way too heavy for him alone!
I did set up the television tonight, struggling with whether or not to wait for him or not. JA is coming over to sleep though in the morning as she has a house showing, so I didn't want her to be without television. The television is all hooked up and I even got it working! I'm making progress with my electronics! I'll work on putting the room back together later!
I have to say though, the television still looks very small along the basement wall. The old television might have been a 27" or 29" and this is a 42" and it still looks small. Exactly how is that? I think it has to do with the difference in the size of the television box vs. the flat screen. He wants to keep both televisions downstairs and connected to utilize both for his party and the ability to play different gaming systems simultaneously.
What a boy wants, what a boy needs, whatever makes him happy...
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