OK, this post will be most useful for those who are on the Island or like us, need figure out how to get stuff shipped to the Island.
Shopping can be one of those Twilight Zone experiences. Yes, the stores look familiar but when you look at the details… not everything matches up. For example, we scoured BBB (Bed, Bath and Beyond) for a kitchen spider-you know, that round, shallow metal wire basket thingie on the end of a handle that you use to remove things like shrimp and french fries from hot oil? Gosh, I can’t imagine a kitchen without one. Funny, they were nowhere to be found in BBB. At checkout I happened to mention that I couldn’t find one to the clerk. “Oh,” she said “Here in Puerto Rico we don’t fry foods like that.” Oh, really? I though. Do, do, do, doooo-play the Twilight Show theme here in your head. Yeah. You know what it is and you don’t carry it. I haven’t check Walmart, but I can’t remember seeing one in their housewares department. But in all fairness, I wasn’t really looking at the the time.
And then there’s Ikea. Think of it as “Ikea Lite”. You can’t actually buy anything in the store. It all has to come from their warehouse. The store, by the way, is this tiny showroom, less than half the size of a Walgreens-which in PR are huge. Dean mistakenly didn’t order the LED lights for the floor lamp we bought so on one of my Home Depot runs I decided to swing by and pick them up. Yeah. Not so easy. You can’t buy them in the store-literally everything has to come from the warehouse-and there is a minimum order, which the lights conveniently don’t add up to. So, it was back to the Home Depot where I picked them off the shelf. This is not exactly a consumer friendly business model, Ikea…
And then there is the Home Depot.
One of the problems with renovations and a tight time frame is getting what you want when you need it. Yes, there are Home Depots, Sam’s, Walmart’s Sears, etc., but they tend to stock only Island-centric appliances, For example, since I had to re-do the kitchen counter, this was the time to plan to put the dishwasher in. After ordering the materials to rebuild the kitchen counter-top we went looking for the display for dishwashers. Not seeing it, we asked. No, we were informed, they didn’t stock dishwashers, custom order only and it would take at least four weeks to get it. Four weeks? Do,do, do, doooo…. It seems that Puerto Ricans have a cultural bias against dishwashers. Go figure… We found a couple of used ones-literally 3 of them- on Clasificadosonline (where everyone goes to buy/sell everything-think Craigslist on steroids) where people were ripping them out and selling them, but no luck. They were gone before we got there. We needed a solution, so Dean hopped on the computer to chat with the Home Depot (for among other things, a sink we wanted) and here’s what he found out:
Katy: Thank you so much! This is for the Vessel Sink in White with Sheven Faucet in Satin Nickel that you would like sent to Puerto Rico, is that correct/
Dean Sorensen: yes, but my question is “in general”, is it possible?
Dean Sorensen: i dont see an option online.
Katy: We don’t have ship to store options for Puerto Rico locations available at this time. However, we do have a team that assists with Latin America and Caribbean orders. Would you like the number for our Punto Mio Team? They should be able to assist you with having this item sent to Puerto Rico for you.
Katy: I apologize this option is not something that can be selected on our website.
Dean Sorensen: no thanks. Shipping to a Condo in PR can add days to the delivery. I can’t buy the item in store, and my time in PR is limited on each visit.
Katy: I completely understand Dean. The Punto Mio team assists with having the item sent to a Florida store that then has it transported to a store in Puerto Rico for you. It wouldn’t have to be sent to the condo.
Dean Sorensen: ok, then yes, I’d like the contact info for them. Thank you.
Katy: It does add a few days for this option though and I can understand wanting to have this item as soon as possible.
Katy: Oh you are most welcome. Their number is 305-436-6811.
Katy: What other questions may I assist you with today?
Dean Sorensen: that’s it. Thank you.
There you go! Yes, it’s possible to get your Home Depot online order to Puerto Rico, but you have to really work it.
This is important information because virtually EVERYTHING that we saw on the Home Depot website says: “Item cannot be shipped to the following state(s): AK,GU,HI,PR,VI” Well, apparently it can, via Miami, and yes, we’ll be using that service for our next visit.
I guess we are learning.