My clothes shopping rant for today

[Ottakee]

We have a purchase order from the court for foster ds's fall clothing.  It lists 4 stores we can shop at including JC Penny.

 

Today I called the store and asked if they accepted this purchase order as the store is out of the county he is from but the letter had an account number on it.  They said yes.

 

We drive 1/2 hour to the store with foster ds and my 2 girls.  I stop off at the customer service desk to double check and after about 10 minutes they say YES, they accept that.

 

We then proceed to shop for almost 2 hours to try to find clothes that look appropriate and fit a 5' 200+ pound 11 year old---need men's size 36 waist pants and x-large shirts.  Most stuff in that size is too old looking or designed for young adults and has inappropriate stuff on it.

 

We FINALLY get to the register and ring up our 5 t shirts, 3 jeans, 2 gym shorts, 1 dress shorts, 2 belts, 1 pair of slides, and 2 packages of socks (they don't have coats or boots out and he has tennis shoes and undies).  The VERY nice lady that had been helping us through the shopping thing plugs in the numbers and finds out that the account number we were given to charge it to is missing at least 1 number.  Being that it is Saturday and the court is closed we can't call to find out the correct number.

 

We then pack up the clothes to be put in a manager's office with my cell phone number on it.  We leave the store empty handed..............after I had "terrorized" this boy with shopping for 2 hours.  He does NOT like shopping at all.

 

I will say it was NOT JCP fault at all or the wonderful lady that helped us out.  It was an error on the court's end.  I should have known better than to go shopping on a Saturday.......but they were having good sales today and good clearance stuff.

 

The county he is from is very rural and doesn't have any big box stores in the entire county I don't think.  Guess I will have to drive an hour away to the Shopko in their county seat for the rest of his stuff.

 

A gift card or even plain reimbursement would have been a whole lot easier.........as he just wanted to go to Walmart and pick out stuff there.............where it would be much cheaper and easier to find stuff in his size.......and we could have found black shoes for band.

 

The kids were all good about it so we hit the Taco Bell by the mall and each got the $2.29 meal deals.  That made him smile.

[GailV]

:grouphug: I hate shopping, and that sounds like a total nightmare.  I'm so sorry you all had to drag through that entire thing.

[Catwoman]

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

I'm sorry it was such a nuisance! You have such a good attitude about the whole thing, though -- it's so nice to hear that you didn't blame the woman at JC Penney; many people would have taken their annoyance out on her, and I think it's great that you didn't do that! :thumbup:

 

And now I'm hungry for Taco Bell! :)

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm so sorry.  If you get the correct number can you call them with it and then have them deliver it?  

[BlessedMom]

Bless you!! I am sorry it worked out that way.

[MyThreeSons]

When I was in high school, a classmate of my sister was placed with us through the foster system. My folks were given a very specific shopping list along with the funds to purchase them. Among the items on the list was a girdle!! This was 1974; the girl was 15yo. Crazy!!

[Melissa in Australia]

:grouphug:

[Ottakee]

I might see if they can ship them, otherwise we will go pick up the clothes.

 

It was not the lady at JCP that was at fault.

 

They do have unique clothing lists for kids---some things that they never wear like a bathrobe but then they totally miss things like gym shorts.  I think this clothing inventory thing was made up 30 years ago and never updated.

 

Each county and sometimes agency does things differently and then it depends if they are state funded or county funded and which fund they are funded under (are you clear on that???).  Sometimes we will get a gift card to Walmart or Target and then have to turn in receipts.  Sometimes a purchase order, sometimes we just have to pay up front to the dollar amount they tell us and then we get reimbursed---at some point in the next 6 months or so.

 

The purchase orders are hard as he needs school clothes but I have 30 days to purchase everything and he also needs a warm coat and boots but those aren't out yet.  Also, JCP didn't have things like PJs that would at all appeal to an 11 year old boy in his size and some of their stuff is double the price that Walmart is for the same thing.

 

I shouldn't complain because we at least are getting some clothing money.  I just wish they would put foster parents on the boards that make all these policy decisions as those in the trenches know how to make best use of the money and how to shop for these kids.  I know I am not alone in having a child that doesn't fit typical clothing sizes for his age.  His older sister is a 3-4X in plus size womens and our last foster girl had size 12 women's shoes---both of which are hard to find at discount prices.

[Alessandra]

:grouphug:

[Harriet Vane]

I always *hated* dealing with the clothing vouchers. Hated it. It can be hard to find stores that accept them, and the paperwork end of it is such a pain for both the foster mom and for the store. And there are often store employees who are not as nice as your JC Penney lady was. So sorry for the hard time you had.

 

:grouphug:

[Tammyla]

Oh, you poor guys.  I hope the red tape is cleared up and they can ship the stuff.  I'm always amazed at the regulations on so many things; they often just seem so stupid and counter to common sense.