I found this thread because I just got off the phone with my wife who informed me that replacement slings for our set of six Telescope chairs will be $780.00! That is a very tough pill to swallow, and like many here we weighed this heavily against just getting a cheaper set from HD, Costco, or any number of stores. Our set is about 10 years old to date (purchased summer of 2010) and the aluminum frames, table, and umbrella have held up extremely well (we do store them inside for winter though). Ultimately, I decided to stick with these and pay the exorbitant price for a few reasons: - The rest of the set is extremely high quality. I feel good each year when I pull it out of storage - heavy duty powder coated aluminum construction that has lasted well and still looks 9/10 after a spring wipe-down. - It does bother me how much importation has changed - pushing us toward a throw-away-away-and-buy-another culture. I do feel like we enjoy additional quality on these American made items (not always the case). - Less and less stuff is American made any more. As an engineer and a maker, I miss the days when we made most of the best stuff here. This set still exemplifies that quality. It's a little thing, but something I rarely get to enjoy these days. - After 10 years, with very little degradation (other than the fabric slings), I know what to expect from this set, and feel confident that they will last another 10 years easily with new fabric. The convenience of going 10-12 years between having to think about this, or take a gamble on something potentially less durable is worth something to me. Surely, I'll be feeling the sting of this bill in about a month (so good thing I'm writing this now!), but I thought I'd share what tipped us to reinvesting in this very expensive set. Pic when new April 2010:

I did hear back from Target on the check issue. This is their policy, and no it's not a Telecheck thing (they do their own processing). I actually have a history with Telecheck, which is why I haven't had a check refused (fred meyer uses them as do many of the other large retailers). After a legnthy argument with the gentleman who I was instructed to call, I said, "It's obvious you don't want my business or the business of my company". He offered to take some information from my account which he could put in the system so any size check I write will be allowed. I passed. It's a stupid policy period and I'm not going to weasel my way past it just because some goofy manager feels he dosen't want to lose a high dollar customer. If you want a clients money, you don't make them bend over backwards to give it to you. It's the principal of the thing. I do shop there at least once a month, we often have to quickly outfit a place for staff we're bringing in short term to a corporate rental. But I always use a credit card. It's rare I use checks anymore, (I love the miles from the card LOL) but when I write one, I expect it to be taken if there is no logical reason otherwise. LOL at the Vegas comment...so true. I don't need to shop at Target, and if I felt the same about Walmart or Fred Meyer, etc., I could easily go elsewhere. It's not like they're the only store out there that carries toasters. So in the future I'll go elsewhere, BB&B was great, with higher quality items (yes more expensive I'll grant you that) and I can easily do this stuff there. So, as much as I love ghost chairs...they'll come from elsewhere when I buy them (and I do love them...we'll probably use them in the dining room of the victorian). Ohhh and even at a higher cost for shipping, they won't ship to Alaska :( Morons. I hope the economy kicks Target in the arse.

There's no Target closer than an hour away, so I've not been more than four or five times in the past twelve years. I do have something wonderful though, that I bought at target many many years ago. It's a table runner of some dark green silky material bordered in a deep red velvet, appliquéd with lighter green holly leaves and beaded berries. It's sitting on top of our living room mantel right now with a deer family on it, but at one time or another it's been in every single room in our house. I think it was under $20 and it's safe to say I have gotten my money's worth out of this purchase! OTOH, I am almost allergic to Home Goods. There's one near my mother, and I have visited it with her quite a bit but have never bought or even liked anything they have. People say you never know what's going to be there for sale, sort of like Tuesday Morning, but it's the type of stuff they have that really just doesn't appeal to me. So no love of either here, despite this fabulous Target runner from the late 1990s:

Not quite the same, but I have my own Target story. The local store is also a good place for a quick restroom stop, so I'm in there more often than for just shopping. (The restrooms are very clean and right inside the front door.) Anyway, the store has a number of employees with disabilities of various levels, both physical and developmental. One of the cart boys is a 30-something developmentally disabled man who seems to have identified me as someone from his past. His speech is difficult, but near as I can tell, he thinks that I taught him to swim at a summer camp long ago and that there was another teacher/counselor named Gary. Wasn't me, but I've learned to play along, asking if he's gone swimming lately or saying that the weather is too cold for swimming or whatever. It bugged me at first, but seeing me certainly seems to lift his day. And makes me smile, too.