Tipton F.
Yelp
Why all the 4-5 stars . . sentimentalism?
Save your time & money and either shop Staples, Office Max/Depo or online.
This place is like an over-priced, under-stocked wax museum, where the workers seem to have traveled through time from 1974.
OK, fine, the employees are fettered, the inventory over-priced, and "selection" redefines the word . . but it's a local merchant, right? And we should look past the warts and kiss the frog because our cup-o-guilt wouldn't taste the same unless we did, right? lol!
The time you spend reading this yarn, and the time it took me to write it, will start paying dividends immediately.
1. I get off BART at Montgomery. I want to get a pencil sharpener. One that works, instead of breaking the lead and making a mess.
Note: Yes, pencil sharpener . . I appreciate classic writing implements, paper, notebooks, etc., as much as the next guy/gal - so, Patrick's is a natural . . disaster, yes!
2. I think, "Hey, Patrick's probably has the best selection for some dated thing like this, plus, they're bound to have the coolest, latest one that all the pencil-geeks worship.
Check out this awesome Palomino:
http://palominobrands.com/product/palomino-kum-long-point-pencil-sharpener/#tab-description
3. Looking around, I notice Patrick's has the same selection as any where else . . no awesome Palomino, nothing pencil-geeks would look at in awe.
However, since I'm there, and they have an electric one from X-Acto (yes, they make pen-like knives too, red flag #1) for $30 . . what the heck, I'll take it
(file under "seemed like a good idea at the time").
4. Walk 5 blocks to the office.
5. At my desk, discover the sharpener doesn't work.
6. Check everything: Battery orientation of the "+" and "-" marks, ensure the "safety feature" isn't preventing operation, check the "receptacle" cover, etc., all to no avail. The X-acto from Patricks (formerly known as "Hell"), doesn't work.
7. During the time (formerly known as "Lunch"), I walk the 10 block round-trip, but am told to come back later because the manager is at lunch - must be nice!
a. (that's right, any of the 8 wax museum look-alikes can take your money, but none can refund it - this is like Hotel California).
b. (why not stop by on the way home? They close at 5:30 - the only people that leave the office before 5:30, no longer have jobs).
This sick joke gets even ironic, because there's a Staples 2 blocks from my office. I bought a SD card for $80 a month ago, and returned it later that day without question by a kid with tattoos and acne.
Patrick's combined employee age exceeds the average tree in Muir Woods, but they can't refund $30 for a broken pencil sharpener either. lol!
Don't listen to the sentimentalists. If you want to see Patrick's future, look no further then next door, to the long-closed, boarded up "Grant's Tobacco".
. . . chapter 5, chapter 6 . . . lol!