Brief Cabinetgate Update & Some Halloween-Autumn Inspiration

Here’s a quick little update on Cabinetgate for those who are interested–if not, just skip on down a few photos to the fun stuff! On Friday, after the UPS driver left with the storage cabinets I had ordered still in her truck because she was physically unable to get them off the truck in order to deliver them…

 

…AND after having told me she would mark them in their system as damaged (the boxes were ripped open in several places) so no one would attempt to deliver them again….

 

…the exact same, ripped-open, 145 lb-each cabinets were delivered on Monday by a mystery UPS guy (he never rang the bell) and left leaning against my garage wall, completely vulnerable to the weather and in a position where there was no way I could move or open them.

 

I had already completed a return request at Amazon when the first UPS driver told me she was unable to deliver them a few days before. They were scheduled to be picked up the following day. The next day (on Tuesday) a tall, strong-looking Amazon delivery guy delivered a pair of sandals I had ordered. While he was here, I asked him if he could help me get the boxes off the side of my house and down on the ground so I could open them to see the condition of the cabinets inside. Once on the ground, I opened them up and found the cabinet pieces inside were chipped and dented, just as they always are when delivered via UPS. Here are a few pictures of the damage I found in just the first few pieces on the top. If some of the damage had been in areas that would not show, I may have been tempted to keep them, but many were in places that would be visible once the cabinets were assembled.

 

 

Damage in the second box…

 

I got everything back into the boxes and taped them back up. The return request I had submitted a few days before showed they would be picked up the following day. I thought they would be picked up by UPS since that’s who delivered them (and left them leaning on the wall) but an hour later my doorbell rang. Standing there on my front porch were two Amazon guys saying they were there to pick up the cabinets. Oh, the irony of this whole situation! If the cabinets had been delivered by two Amazon guys (as the last few cabinets I ordered were) none of this damage would have ever occurred. This delivery was done exactly backwards, damaged in two delivery attempts by UPS, including the one where the UPS driver couldn’t even get them off her truck, and then by a second UPS driver  (despite the first driver marking them as damaged) who left them leaning against the wall where I could not move or open them. Now that they were damaged and unusable, two strong Amazon drivers showed up to retrieve them, which is how they should have been delivered in the first place! You really can’t make this stuff up!

Happy Things! Okay, onto something fun! I’ve had a couple of requests for a post sharing the wonderful Advent Calendars I find available for Christmas this year. This morning I started out looking for just that, then got completely distracted at the Fortnum and Mason website. You may remember that last year, I purchased one of their large hampers with the idea to use it here in my upstairs family room/bonus room as a side table alongside this chair. (See that post here: Fortnum and Mason Hamper As A Side Table For Throws and Pillows.) I have so enjoyed having this hamper here, I love how it looks and works in this room. I still haven’t bothered to attach the feet I found to give it a more finished look since they work just fine with the hamper sitting on top, but one of these days I may do that using velcro or some strong glue.

Fortnum and Mason Hamper Basket as Side Table

 

So what distracted me this morning while shopping for Advent Calendars? Did you know that Fortnum and Mason created a hamper for Halloween? I had no idea! I’m tempted to order this smaller one for each of my grandsons. (Read more about it and what’s included inside here: The Wicked Wicker, Limited Edition.)

Fortnum and Mason Halloween Hamper

 

I really like this large one for giving to a family, but it doesn’t appear to be available for shipping to the U.S. just yet. I have a feeling that’s going to change though based on how it’s visible at the U.S. version of the Fortnum and Mason website. It’s a bit pricey since it’s so large and contains so many items, but wanted to mention it just in case you like this idea for Halloween. (Large Halloween Hamper can be seen here: Large Halloween Hamper for a Family.)

Fortnum and Mason Halloween Hamper for a Family

 

Their hampers make wonderful gifts any time of year, especially for the person who “has everything” and for whom shopping is always a challenge. You’ll find all of their wonderful gift hampers here: Gift Hampers. Or, you can put together your own bespoke hamper as I did when I ordered mine, here: Bespoke Hamper: Build Your Own Hamper.

Fortnum & Mason Piccadilly Hamper

 

I definitely want to do another hamper this year…love these adorable chocolates I found that are in the shape of the things you would see in a woodland forest. I love the little owl and the acorns! (Woodland forest chocolates are available here: Chocolate Forest.)

 

Okay, I’m going to force myself to start thinking about autumn since it’s officially here starting this Friday! I’m not ready mentally or in any other way. I’m still enjoying summer but the cooler nighttime temps are telling me to get ready! At least I have my Sweater Weather pumpkin out. Ha! Have you started your autumn decorating, yet?

Pumpkin for Autumn, Sweater Weather Pumpkin

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Comments

  1. I bet F&M created a Halloween edition just so they could use, “Wicked Wicker!”
    Hopefully, these are the last cabinets that you ever have to order.

  2. SharonFromMichigan says

    I love the “cabinet gate” update (lol & smh). If your whole continuing ordeal wasn’t so frustrating, wouldn’t it have been funny to see the UPS person who delivered them & ran away on camera? I know, I have a strange sense of humor! I did begin decorating outside for fall/halloween today only because I had ordered a live mum from a local women’s group fundraiser & they delivered it to my front door. (I wasn’t expecting delivery at all). I arranged my skeleton & two dog skeletons on my porch swing along with some “forever” pumpkins. I still have more Fall accents to put out. I do enjoy buying real pumpkins, but the darn squirrels around here chew on them.

    • Here it’s rats that do the chewing on the real pumpkins. Ugh.

      • Yikes! I noticed in the north Georgia mountains in places like Big Canoe, they warn that real pumpkins draws bears to your home, so they recommend ceramic/fake ones.

    • And I bet he did just that! I’ve been wanting to install a Ring camera at the garage door since so many times they dump stuff off there where it can be rained on instead of putting it on my covered front porch.
      Those sneaky squirrels! I’m surprised I haven’t encountered that. I have so many hawks in my neighborhood right now, that I’m not seeing near the number of squirrels that I used to. They may have moved out of my yard. Your fall decor sounds really pretty, Sharon! I think I’ll get busy with mine next week.

  3. Here in Northern NJ we have finally ended our string of hot, rainy and humid days and have cool evenings and sunshine days. So I have just started to do my fall decorating.But, what I do is Fall stuff in the month of September, starting to use fall colors and some pumpkins and gourds. Then in October, I “morph” into Halloween, by adding all the witch, spiders, ghosts etc to the fall mix. Then, come, November, I pluck out Halloween stuff and replace with turkeys and pilgrim related stuff, so Fall really covers 3 months of decorating before the Mother of all creative decorating begins: Yeah Christmas!

    • That sounds a lot like our weather the last couple of weeks. It’s so nice to see sunshine! That sounds perfect…the natural progression right into November and Thanksgiving. It all goes by so fast this time of year!

  4. In England only ever referred to just as “Fortnum’s”.

  5. Oh – I have a problem with DECORATIONS… specifically Fall and Halloween ones – so I begin decorating early (end of August) and I proclaimed that this year – my Christmas gift was to be the large hamper from F & M! but – I may not be able to pass up the Halloween Wicked Wicker!

    • I really do love their hampers! It was Christmas when I ordered one for myself the last time. They have a hamper that opens up like the old-fashioned picnic baskets and I’ve been super tempted to order one of those. Love that style! I hope you get your hamper this year, Maggie! I included a musical tin in the one I ordered last time and I love it! I need to bring it out again this Christmas.

  6. Dang, how inept can people be? Those hampers are awesome. Imagine receiving one as a gift?!
    I am ready for fall, but am really enjoying this last bit of summer. Cool morning walks and very enjoyable temps sitting on the patio in late afternoon. And NOT worrying about watering plants every.single.day.

    • I gave one one their Birthday hampers to a friend one year for her birthday and she really loved it. That sounds wonderful, Rita! I know, that is one nice thing about fall/winter…a break in the watering regime. lol

  7. Kimberly Talbert says

    Where did you buy the two story lighted house and figurines on your bookshelf? they are so cute.
    Kimberly

  8. UPS is really bad about delivering clearly damaged goods and just leaving you to deal with the mess. They delivered a large canvas pic and the box was broken in half. Guess what the canvas was. Yes. The vendor replaced with a picture of the damaged item and told me to just throw it away. Glad Amazon was able to help you out.

    • They definitely are! It can sound like broken glass inside but they are still delivering it. Oh, no! I’m glad it was replaced. You have to wonder what goes on in those warehouses and trucks!

  9. Susan, I feel your pain. The saga continues. The person who promised to call me Monday of last week called today. No explanation or I’m sorry. If you are a business person, you have the urge to yell “You’re fired !” I explained again that she was getting paid while I am waiting for months and getting nothing and have damage not repaired. If you have two addresses in your computer and one is a P O Box and one is a street address, why would you pend an order because you didn’t know where to deliver large items and couldnt be bothered to call for 10 days ? If only it was one unreputable company. I have a sign that says “Bang head here” Lawd love a duck.

  10. Oh Susan, what a mess with the cabinets! I guess the saying is true, “You can’t fix stupid”. So ironic that the Amazon guys came to pick up the cabinets, if only they had delivered them!

    Love the Halloween hampers, they look so fun and the goodies look so yummy!
    Hugs,
    Brenda

  11. I hung a fall quilt in my office and decorated my small table there. I haven’t decorated anything at home yet. I am so tired of the summer’s heat! Autumn is my favorite season and I am longing for cold mornings and cool afternoons.

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