A Tale of Two Shoes

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

With (major) apologies to Dickens, this is the story of my love affair with a pair of shoes that apparently was not meant to be.

When my hubby and I went to Hawaii, we spent our last night on Oahu, on Waikiki. We weren't so wild about the crowds on Waikiki, but we loved our hotel. If the tourist scene is your thing, I highly recommend the Hotel Renew. We weren't the only ones who thought it was fantastic.

While we were there, we wandered around in a few shops, including the Crocs store. I know what you're thinking: they're ugly, they're clunky, they're so three years ago. And then I saw these (cue the angel choir, please):

And I put them on my feet, and lo, they were cute and comfortable and sassy!

Unfortunately, our luggage was full to the bursting point, so hubby and I had a confab. He was confident enough in his packing abilities that he gave me the go-ahead to buy the cute shoes. (Have I mentioned how I love my man?) But I made the fatal call: no, I'd wait until we got back to Texas. There are Crocs stores in Texas, I said. I can get them there.

Bad move, Lisa. Not smart. A pair of shoes in the hand is worth a dozen pairs in a state an ocean away, as I would soon learn.

On my way back from a business trip, I went to the Crocs store in the outlet mall outside Houston. I described my cute shoes with the chunky heel and the cross strap to the manager. She knew exactly the shoe I meant. "No," she sighed mournfully. "We don't get the cute stuff here." Oh dear. Was I going to have a hard time finding my sweet Crocs in Texas?

While I was in Dallas last weekend, I thought, here's a town with style. I looked up Crocs on my handy-dandy phone and found a store in the Dallas Galleria. When I called to check availability, the clerk sounded surprised I would ask such a thing. Of course the shoe was in stock.

The only problem with this plan? The Galleria wasn't exactly on my way out of town, and fighting mall traffic isn't my idea of a good time. "There's this great new thing called the internet," sniffs my sister. Huh, you know, she might just have something there. Not shockingly, crocs has a web site. A few clicks later, I was happily not stopping by the mall on my way out of town.

Ah, but as they say, the best-laid plans of mice and shoe-shopping women drop many mangled cliches into a single post. A few days later, I checked my order status, only to find that my dream shoes hadn't yet shipped. Whaaa? I forgot to call them on Thursday, and of course they took Friday off.

When I called them today, I spent 25 minutes on hold. Naturally, I used the time effectively, finding my shoes on amazon, where I am a member of their Prime program. Free two-day shipping, y'all! So let me get this straight... I could order from amazon over a week later than I ordered from crocs.com -- both with free shipping -- and get my order from amazon several days earlier. Nice.

Once a human finally answered my call on the Crocs not-so-hotline, I have to give them credit: Erin was friendly and professional, even giving me her direct line in case I had further questions about my order. She said it appeared my order was being processed by the factory and would still reach me within the ten business days they decree they have to get you your order.

Ten days? No offense Erin, but that ain't customer service. I'm looking at an order I placed last month, for cryin' out loud, and it hasn't shipped yet.

I hope these shoes are as amazing as they were the first time I put them on my feet. Even then, they may not be worth the wait and the hassle. I'll be ordering from amazon from now on.