My Experience Shows Why Big Box Stores Are Struggling to Survive

There are few things more frustrating than feeling like you're getting ripped off. I definitely had that feeling last week.

Just before Christmas, Julie and I went to a big box store in Cedar Rapids to purchase everything we needed to change the window coverings on our home's bow window from curtains to drapes. It's a huge window and we thought we were getting a decent deal when we were able to save 40 percent on each one of four panels for the window. We purchased each panel for $30.

After putting the drapes up late last week, we realized we thought it would look better with six panels instead of four. Knowing we had purchased the last four panels they had in stock at the store, we called to see if they had received any more. Thank goodness, the answer was no.

The associate told Julie she could order them from the store's website and we could pick 'em up at the store. Awesome news. How much she asked? The associate told Julie they'd be $12.50 each. Say what? Two for $25 for something we paid $30 each for in the store?

I told Julie to ask about a price match? They said they couldn't do that with purchases from their website. So we said we'd like to buy six from the website and return the four we purchased in the store. We were then told they would give us a refund on the price difference for the four we'd already purchased.

Let me give you the numbers quick to put this into perspective. If we had purchased all six panels in the store, it would have cost us $180. I'm so glad we ended up needing two more. We'll now get six for $75 dollars. And brick and mortar stores for national chains wonder why they're closing...