RANTING

I like to think I'm a fairly savvy woman . . . open to new ideas but possessing a good balance between frugality and whim. Every now and then, I blow it. This was one of those days.

Perhaps I had suffered one of those "Samurai-Leg-Shaving" disasters that day . . . I don't remember, but the ad for the Smooth-Away hair removal pads hit me at a vulnerable moment, and I placed a telephone order. (I know . . . I know. . . I'm smacking myself at this very moment.)

I wasn't even greeted by a super-friendly customer service rep. The entire transaction was handled by a computer-generated voice, and once the process was begun, there was no cancellation opportunity.

At first it seemed like a great deal. Buy one set, and get one free. Cool! With Valentine's Day coming soon, I thought the extra sets would be nice little gifts for the girls, so I ordered two and a set of replacement pads. Then I realized there would be a separate $6.95 S/H charge tacked on for each unit, not set as in two boxes, but unit as in each box! And $3.00 shipping for the pads.

I tried to cancel the order, but all you get is the cyber-voice repeatedly telling you what a great offer this is and asking you how many total sets you want at this great price. After repeating, "Cancel" over and over into the phone, I hung up, hoping at some point a real human would transcribe the info and hear my request to kill the deal.

Not so. I arrived home to find a small 6X6X4 inch box on my counter containing all the Smooth Aways. The total bill was reasonable--$39.97. The shipping? $31.95! For a tiny box shipped freight.

I called the help number and complained. Immediately they offered me a $10.00 credit, a sure sign that they had been flooded with angry complaints. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I was placed on interminable hold, then the Customer Service rep returned to the phone to tell me all that could be done was to issue a $15.00 refund on the shipping.

Like Mike Wallace, I promised to expose that the fact that the real money being made in this deal is off the shipping. So allow me to warn you. If you want to try them, buy them off a reputable site like Amazon. Otherwise, stick to your Schick.