My Patience Tested at Kmart

I am up very early this Saturday morning. Last night I had a horrible experience at KMart.
While I was on my Black Friday shopping adventure last week, one stop I made was to KMart.
I decided to take advantage of the lay away at KMart. I just thought it would save me some time in the store. The cash out lines were sooooo long and lay away would free up my cash for the day so I could continue shopping. Just figured I'd pick it up another day.

The transaction at the lay away counter went very smoothly, they told me it would have to be picked up on Friday, Dec 5th. Ok, I thought, not a problem.

Well...I got to the store yesterday at 6:10pm (right after work). I couldn't believe my eyes. It seems EVERYONE was told they had to pick up their lay away by the same day. The line for lay away was the length of the store! Ok..I thought, I had no choice but to suck it up...stand in line and wait.

Let me say...This experience really tested your patience. I was now already 1 1/2 hours into waiting on the line.1 1/2 hours! The lay away department was one confused,disorganized mess. Seems they weren't expecting this turnout.

Some people were getting inpatient, grumbling can be heard.The department decided to take people's receipts and get their layaway to help the line move faster. What this actually did was cause commotion. Now they wanted to call the corresponding number to the packages and allow those people to check out. What that did was allow some people, some only being in the line for minutes, to jump ahead of those people who have been waiting for over an hour (like me). Can I just tell you that that didn't go over very well... :0)

The lay away dept. quickly decided that wasn't a very good idea. I think a riot would have erupted!

Anyway, now I was in line for 2 hours and I was next. Thank GOD. I don't think I could take another minute. So, it's my turn. They hand me my stuff, I pay... finally and couldn't get out of that store fast enough.

I should mention that behind the counter were about 5 frantic people, with only room for about 2 people. They were confused, created a total mess with items all over the place and no room to check the packages to make sure everything was in the bags.

After that experience, I had gone out to dinner etc..., so I didn't get home until about midnight. I bring in my bags and begin to unpack the items. OH MY GOD! One item which is a Christmas present for my guy's daughter is not in the bag. The store already closed, I can't do anything until today.

I guess my patience will be tested again today because now I have to go back to KMart and explain what happened. Being I already paid the entire balance, I don't know what they will do.

Well, what I first thought was a brilliant idea to save time and money has turned into a nightmare, with me actually wasting time and money. I do not believe I will ever use KMart's layaway again. I sure hope the store replaces this item.

Has anyone used KMart's Layaway? What was your experience?