iRant: HDTVs, FutureShop, the SuperBowl, and Snowstorms

I've been doing a lot of research into HDTVs lately and, being a bit of a videophile, I finally decided that buying one would be worth the hefty price tag. So, somehow convincing myself that, after all this time, I simply had to get the TV before the SuperBowl, I trotted out to the nearest FutureShop and proceeded to look around. Through some unknown inspiration, it seemed that my SuperBowl sense was right and that FutureShop was having a great sale on a couple of nice widescreens. However, this meant that I needed to buy the TV by January 26th. I thought about it and then returned to buy on that day, in plenty of time for the SuperBowl on February 5th.

Only they don't keep TVs like that in stock - too big - it had to come down in the next load from their warehouse in Montreal or Toronto. I was told that it would arrive on the morning of February 1st, but couldn't be delivered directly to my house (for $60) until the week after the SuperBowl. I opted to pick it up on the 1st instead (gotta see the SuperBowl) and was told to call the pick up place the night before.

In the meantime, I find out that my cable provider will not send people to hook up an HD box (and yes, they have to hook it all up themselves), unless the HDTV is there. Fine, but I wanted to make sure I got the most use out of it, so I booked it for Thursday the 2nd, figuring I'd be sure to have the TV at my place by then.

Unfortunately, this TV is way to big for my car, so I have to try to find a way to get it from the warehouse to my place. I managed to find a cab company that would send a van there and back to my place for $25, but I had to move it myself. Only I couldn't, so I arranged for my neighbours to be at my place when the cab arrived with the TV (and trusted on the good heart of the guy at the pick up place to help me put it in the cab).

So last night I call the pick up place and leave a message on their answering machine asking them to call me to let me know when they're open tomorrow (Feb 1st - 10am-4pm, it turns out). As I go to bed, a pleasant snow begins to fall on our frozen lawn.

I wake up to the phone at 7:15am - the guy from the pick up place - doesn't look like they're even going to be open today because, while I slept, over a foot of snow had fallen in Halifax. I asked if my TV would not get in until tomorrow (the 2nd) - he checked and told me that my TV had been there since Monday (the 23rd)! Well I could have easily picked it up Monday or Tuesday but, apparently, FutureShop don't bother to include phone numbers on the information they give to the pick up guy! He's complained about it too, so I end up asking him what it would cost to have it delivered to my house tomorrow. $50 - that's funny, if I had booked that through FutureShop (using the exact same delivery guys) it was to mysteriously cost me $60! Is this why they don't supply the phone numbers to the delivery guys? In any case, it didn't matter because he couldn't deliver it tomorrow because of the backed up deliveries he'd have from today (big snowstorm). In the end I look up some delivery service numbers in the Yellow Pages and, with costs ranging from $50-$175, I opt for the cheapest one I can find. We're to go tomorrow morning, in time for my cable provider's appointment in the afternoon.

I hope all goes well tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to having my new television and experiencing some high-def programming, DVDs, and, yes, the SuperBowl. :-)