Yet another customer service adventure.

We have the grinder pump ready to go. Tim has to pick up 50 feet of 3-12 wire...or is it 12-3 wire? Once that's hooked up to the breaker box, our drains are ready to go. The water has been hooked up for some time now, but it has not been turned on in the house. Tim did not water coming in until there was a way for it to drain out. 

We're going great guns on the bathroom. We have gray tile for the floor and I finished putting it down today. The tile for the shower is 12 x 24 large ceramic tile that is lightly veined in gray, like marble (but it is not). The only thing that we need to buy at this point is the white beadboard for the bottom half of the wall and a quart of dark gray paint for the upper wall. The picture is not our bathroom, but just an picture shamelessly stolen to give you an idea of the look. 

We bought a MOEN shower/tub assembly. Tim opened the box to install it. Much to his surprise there were no instructions. I went online to their website. It asked for the model number, which I put in. I received a 404 message. Thinking that I had typed something wrong, I verified the number, typed it in again, and got the same message. Page not found. 

Looking around on line, I discovered that I was not the only one with the issue. So...I called the help line. 

Predictably, all their operators were busy.

They gave the option of holding (approximate wait time was given as 4 minutes) or leaving a number for call back. 4 minutes did not seem bad, so I continued to hold. After 5 minutes, I received another message, giving me the option of holding (approximate wait time: still 4 minutes) or leaving a number for call back. I left my number. 1 hour and 22 minutes later, I hadn't gotten the promised call back. I went on their website and filled out a form. Model number. no instructions, can't access instructions on line, please advise. But when I hit send, it gave me a message. I needed to include a picture of the item. Since I was in the car, and the faucet was on the kitchen counter, I had to wait a few minutes, but as soon as we got back to the house, I took a picture. Before I could hit send, everything was lost. Just disappeared.

Tim said disgustedly, "Forget it. We are returning it." 

Because I am a stubborn woman, I tried their customer service line once more. There was a one minute wait this time, and so I waited. My call was answered. I explained the problem. 

"No," she said. "We do not include instructions in our products anymore. They are available on line."

"But I keep getting the 404 page not found response," I explained. "We're putting a bathroom together, and I just really want the instructions...that's all we need."

She asked for the model number. I gave it to her. She asked when it was bought. 

"Last week, at Lowe's," I said. 

"Do you have proof of that?"

I was a bit flabbergasted. This was an expensive faucet. It was not a clearance item. They had the item set up as part of a display on the way, and Tim had selected it from the display. It was one of several of the boxed items on the shelf.  

She jumped on my hesitation. "Do you have a receipt?" 

"Of course we have a receipt," I answered, and I was starting to get irritated. "Do I have the receipt with me right now? No. But this is a faucet purchased last week from Lowes!" 

She got irritated right back. "I'm trying to help you and I am trying to determine if the item is under warranty." 

I said, "I am not calling about a warranty. I am calling about instructions." 

She made some spluttery noises, and I said, "You know what? Forget it. We'll return the item to the store. I'm done here." 

And I was. 

I got an e-mail which included instructions along with the disclaimer "While these instructions are not for the assembly that you have, you can use them for your product." Except they didn't answer Tim's questions about our installation.

I replied to the e-mail, stating that the product was being returned and that we would never buy a MOEN product again. 

The reply came quickly: they offered us 75% off our next MOEN product. 

Yeesh. Marked as spam and deleted.

I'm all packed and ready to get up early tomorrow. I'm headed east for 4 days with my son and his family. I had to cut a day off the end of it, because of an unexpected appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, but I'm looking forward to this more than I can say. 

Good night!

My town: 

The Allegheny River is running pretty high. 

When we move, the town nearest to us has a post office and a church. Not sure how many people live in the town, but the population of the township is 450 people.