The Dress Story

Confession time: I sometimes buy clothing from Fred Meyer.

Because sometimes when I walk by the clothing section, something pops out either because it's a screaming good deal, or super cute, or both. And it's strange to think that at Fred Meyer, the store where I do 98% of my grocery shopping and home and garden shopping, that I would also do my clothing shopping. But sometimes, I do.

Just so you know, when ever I've purchased a piece of clothing from Fred Meyer, I've always had compliments. And when I share my secret of where I bought the item, friends are always shocked. Or maybe they are just acting that way.

Anyway, the dress.

I saw the dress out of the corner of my eye as I was wheeling my cart over to the toothpaste section. I wasn't planning on buying clothes, let alone a fancy dress. I just saw it. I went to investigate and found out that the dress was on sale. Originally $58, it had been marked down to $38. And it wasn't too short. And it had sleeves. And a cute ribbon tie at the waist (I know it's hard to see in the picture...sorry). I would have been a fool to pass it up.

I took the dress home without paying for it. But before I get into that mess, I first need to tell you that when I got home I decided I needed a new pair of shoes to go with it. So I ordered a pair of black suede heels from Zappos.com. Then I figured jewelry would be a swell addition, so I ordered a lovely necklace. All justified, of course, because of the screaming deal I got on the dress.

Just how screaming that deal was, I had no idea.

Later, I was admiring the dress and I noticed that the bulky plastic security tag had been left inside the dress. I was a little ticked at the thought of having to return to Fred Meyer to get the tag taken out, but when I remembered I go to Fred Meyer about 3 times a week, I figured it wasn't too much trouble. I retrieved my receipt and scanned it to make sure it was the right one. It was the right one. There was no question it was the right receipt. The problem was, the dress was not on the receipt.

I never paid for the dress. I'd taken it through the check out line and reminded the cashier to scan it. I didn't want to put it on the conveyor belt with my raw meat and suspiciously drippy milk containers, so I'd kept it in the cart. She looked at the dress, but never scanned the tag.

Today when I went back to explain the mix up and get my security tag removed, the customer service gal was so grateful. Because I was honest. She mentioned there was a 15% off coupon for apparel and said she wished she could give me a bigger discount.

I did too, but $32 is a pretty good price for a dress. Maybe enough to justify a cute sweater to go with it?