Hi Clare, When you do speak to someone at Ira Wood, tell them that if they have to restock the valve, that signals that they have it in hand. Tell them you will pay extra to have it expedited to you this week. Since they obviously do not have the part, and therefore, no restocking is necessary, they cannot get the part to you faster. I would do as suggested above and mention the Garden Web forum. If this thread ultimately ends with you being screwed by them, then I would imagine they have lost way more money in the long run than by not charging you the fee. Maybe you just haven't spoken to the right person there. Sometimes you have to deal with a manager who will have more authority to reverse a charge and often has more common sense. Give them a chance to do right by you and you may have a happy ending. I am in the midst of dealing with 2 Ford dealers about the service to my car. One messed up, but did the right thing by us in the end. The other committed fraud when dealing with us and I am awaiting a return call from the owner. I made it clear I am giving them a chance to rectify before I call in authorities. The first place was only guilty of a mistake yet bent over backwards to retain my business and make things right. I do not have high hopes about the fraudulent one, but have made it clear that I will pursue the matter and they will end up with a bigger mess. I am guessing they know they were caught and will try to minimize the fallout. BTW - I did report all the to Ford's HQ and will see if that is any help as well. HTH

I used to think morality mattered in situations like this, but I'm not sure if I feel that way anymore. I sold a house to young immigrants from Poland once, and their free-wheeling/creative aggression when it came to questioning financial rules was eye-opening. Afterwards I wondered if it was because they grew up with a less controlled economic system than ours. Capitalism is inherently ruthless at the macro level. Why should it suddenly grow a conscience at the micro level? Smart investing require making smart business decisions. Which path makes the most sense financially for your family, long term? Crunch the numbers, make a decision, and then live with it. Personally, if I were in this situation my first responsibility would be to protect my household's financial strength, no matter what it took.

Qdog, I agree. There are many nice places to live in both PA and NJ and there are always the bad areas. The same as any other state. Call me weird, but I actually like living in NJ. Yes my property taxes are more than most people's mortgage payments, but we do live in a town with one of the top school districts. And even in a down market our property values have held steady. Also I love being fairly close to NYC. We get the best of both worlds. We are close to the best (IMO) city in the world while being able to raise our children in the suburbs. And this is just my experience so don't attack me, but I have found the NY/NJ area to have the most diverse, highly educated and sophisticated populace in the country. Most people we know are college educated, worldly and tolerant of other religions and races. I haven't found that to be the case in most other parts of the country. C

That's interesting, Donna. And I don't doubt for a minute that the author is correct, considering our current political environment. I certainly prefer to read about characters with flaws, because characters without flaws are just not very interesting. BUT in the 'Harriet' book, it's the narrator (who I don't think of as a character) that is bothering me. This narrator speaks directly to the protagonist in second person, and here is an example that bothers me: ...You miss the sense of purpose and the vitality of downtown. You miss lunching at the Continental. Most of all, you miss having a career, some other yardstick besides household cleanliness by which to measure yourself. In a month or so, you'll have all that. Look at you, controlling your own destiny! You've done your work: typed those letters fastidiously (eighty words per minute; you haven't lost a beat), licked those envelopes, delivered those resumes (in person, dressing the part perfectly). ... There is no mention that Harriet wrote the letters and resume - only that she typed, licked envelopes, and delivered them while nicely dressed. I mean really, would the narrator say those words to a man who had done exactly the same thing? And the "Look at you..." sentence is just downright condescending. BUT if the narrator is to be considered a character ... well, then he (presumably "he") is just a character I don't like.