I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but I tend to put a lot of thought into how and where I spend my money.  I prefer quality over quantity and nothing frustrates me quite as much as buying a product that fails to deliver the degree of quality I expect – except maybe a company that fails to deliver the level of service I expect.

On the other hand, I get an inordinate amount of satisfaction from experiences in which I feel I got an excellent return on my money.  I’m not talking about just those times where I find a great bargain though I do love a good 75% off sale as much as the next person.  I get a huge amount of satisfaction from a product that delivers, or better yet exceeds, my expectations.  Or instances in which I receive excellent customer service.

I’ve purchased quite a few products for myself, my home, and my kids over the past few months.  I thought I’d take some time today to share some follow-up information about my experiences with the products I bought and the companies I bought them from.

Amana French-Door Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator
I purchased this refrigerator on the same day I started this blog.  It was the first new ‘fridge I’ve ever owned.  The entire family loves it and we haven’t had a single regret about our choice of products, style, brand, or vendor.  The automatic ice maker, a mild bone of contention for The Husband, works great and I’m really glad I pushed for it.

Men’s Khakis from Aeropostale
The pants are nice enough. The Son likes them and they look pretty good on him. But I wouldn’t buy them again and I won’t buy any more. Why?  Because the waistband button came off in the first wash.

I know how to sew on buttons and I had all the necessary tools and materials on hand to get the job done — but I was busy and I hate sewing on buttons.  I put the pants in a “to do” pile, stuck the button in my shorts pocket, and forgot about them.  It wasn’t until last month that I finally got around to sewing the button on so it wasn’t until last month that The Son finally got to start wearing the pants.

Then, the second time I washed the pants, another button fell off.  This time it was the right rear pocket button.  That button is still sitting on my kitchen counter.  It will not be sewn on as I have neither the time nor the inclination to replace the second of three buttons to fall off this pair of pants.

The Daughter, who herself has owned several pair of Aeropostale khakis, informed me that the buttons always fall off their pants.  She just uses a safety pin instead.

I say “bull pucky”.  I say, “no thanks, Aeropostale”.  If I wanted build-your-own pants, I’d do just that — go back to making my children’s clothing by hand.  When I buy a pair of pants, I expect the buttons, clasps, and other fasteners to stay on for the life of the garment — or at least pretty darned long.  It’s the principle of the thing.

So, Aeropostale is on my “nope, won’t bother” list.  Improve the quality and I’ll come back but until then there are too many other sources of men’s khakis that don’t require me to keep a sewing needle and bobbin of thread at the ready.

Hanes Comfort Waistband Classic Briefs
If you followed along on my agonizing and expensive Great Underwear Search of ‘08you’ll remember that I ended up hitting righty tighty whitey paydirt with Target’s men’s Hanes Comfort Waistband classic briefs.  Despite the fact that The Son declared these the best fit, these purchases have not been unequivocally happy ones.  In fact, I have two complaints about this product/brand.

The first is just a minor complaint — they don’t come in white.  Colors are great; colors are fun; The Son is fine with colored briefs.  But white would be good too.

My second complaint is much more serious and, under normal circumstances would keep me from buying this product altogether.  They aren’t 100% cotton.  Well, let me clarify — only some of the briefs are 100% cotton, the solid colors.  The heathered colors are a cotton/poly blend.  And all of the packages contain at least some heathered colors.

I take my preference for 100% natural fibers pretty darned seriously.  The Daughter, in these recent years as an independently minded teenager choosing her own clothing, has chosen to purchase certain garments that contain synthetic fibers.  The Son and I, however, are strictly natural-fiber wearers.  And when it comes to underwear, cotton is a must — even for The Daughter.  Cotton breathes; nylon and polyester don’t.  Underwear, in order to maintain proper temperatures and optimal health of the areas covered, should be a breathable fabric.  Therefore, everyone in our family wears cotton underwear.  But now The Son owns and wears underwear constructed of blended fabric.  That is a compromise I never imagined myself making — and it hurts.

Cottonfield organic cotton briefs
These briefs are almost identical in cut, size, and style to the Hanes Comfort Band briefs discussed above.  There exist, however, huge differences between them.  The first would be price — I pay $9.49 for a package of 5 Hanes briefs at Target.  The Cottonfield organic cotton briefs run $17.95 — a pair!  The second would be the fabric.  As stated above, many of the Hanes briefs aren’t even 100% cotton much less 100% organic cotton.  For some people, that wouldn’t be an issue at all.  For me, it’s a huge issue.

In all honesty, if The Son were done growing and I knew he’d wear these briefs for as long as they’d last, I’d buy a couple pair at a time (to help spread out the expense) until we’d built up a full wardrobe of them.  But at 13, there’s no way he’s going to stay in this size for very long — even if he retains his skinny form.  So for now, we’ll mix the one pair of organic cotton briefs in with the cotton-blend Hanes briefs and I’ll just have to learn to live with it.

Company Store Cotton Flannel Sheets
Of all the purchases I’ve made over the past, well I don’t know how long, this is one of the most painful and disappointing.  It’s not just the expense involved — especially since I’m still within my 90 day return window.  It’s the degree to which I feel this product let me down.

As I wrote, I bought flannel sheets from The Company Store a couple of years ago that were nothing short of beautiful.  Even now, after several seasons of use, they are thick, soft, and as smooth as a baby’s bottom.  They are luxurious.

The new cotton flannel sheets don’t even come close to matching the quality of the older sheets.  These new sheets pilled extensively.  In all fairness, they’re still pretty soft because the “pills” aren’t as hard or defined as the pills on our old cheap flannel sheets.  Still, they pilled.  And that’s just not what I expected.  The old flannel sheet from The Company Store don’t have a single pill among them — three fitted sheets and any number of pillow cases.  Every single one of the new flannel sheets and pillow cases is covered with pilling.

I called The Company Store’s customer service phone number this morning.  The agent tried to help but there wasn’t much she could offer.  My original sheet purchase was no longer in the computer system so we couldn’t confirm exactly what those sheets had been called.  We did clarify that the original sheets are labeled as having been made in Portugal presumably of Portuguese cotton flannel while the new sheets were made in Czech Republic of German fabric.  We also clarified that their heavier-weight cotton flannel sheet currently offered in the catalog are supplied by the same company — made in Czech Republic of German fabric.  Thus, it’s a pretty good bet that upgrading to the 6oz flannel won’t solve the problem of pilling.  It seems to simply be a case of different suppliers between the two purchases.

I’m struggling with what to do at this point.  The new sheets are usable albeit disappointing in relation to what I expected and to my original flannel sheet purchase from the same company.  I can send them back for a refund (I’ll have to eat the original shipping charges and I’ll probably have to pay return shipping though.)  If I send them back, I’ll have to keep looking for a different source of flannel bedding because we can’t make it through next winter having only one sheet set for each bed.  I dread the thought of another Great Underwear Search — expending both time and money trying out products until I find something I like.  Flannel bedding is heavy and I could rack up some serious shipping charges in no time at all.

Whatever I decide, I need to do it soon.  I purchased the first batch of sheets (for the kids’ beds) on January 11.  I have a little longer on the sheets for our bed — I purchased those on Valentine’s Day.  But if I send some back I’ll want to send them all back so I have to decide what to do this week.

edit:  I’m editing this post to add a photo of the sheets in question.  On the left are the new flannel sheets (The Company Store, 5oz flannel).  On the right are the old flannel sheets (The Company Store, specific product name unknown).  Also, I’ve corrected the countries in which the two different sets of flannel sheets were manufacturered (sorry, forgot to fact-check before publishing).

My new monitor was delivered yesterday just as the kids and I were leaving to run our errands.  I love getting packages and I always want to put everything aside to play with new toys immediately 

But I had to be strong and stay focused on the tasks at hand.  So I didn’t get to unbox and set up the new monitor until last night.  The unboxing wasn’t too difficult  ;-)   The setting up was a breeze though the quick set-up instructions really should emphasize the order in which things should be turned on (monitor first, then computer).  That little tidbit is buried in the product’s info booklet.  Being the good IT tech that I am, I leafed through the booklet before doing anything so I got the order correct the first time.

Once the monitor was hooked up and turned on, I hit my first snag.  The display was distorted (no big surprise since this is a wide-screen monitor).  However, when I went into my control panel to choose the correct settings, the option I needed (1680×1050) wasn’t available.  The booklet mentioned this possibility and suggested that I go on-line and locate an updated driver from my computer’s manufacturer.  This proved slightly more difficult than I’d expected but I was eventually successful.  Once I had the updated driver, everything came into clear view and all was good.

The monitor’s only been on-line for about 12 hours so I can’t really give testimony regarding it’s quality.  Don’t you just hate rave reviews given after only a few minutes of use?  Most bad instant reviews are due to the user’s own incompetence and good reviews can’t be considered valid because the user simply hasn’t had time to evaluate the product over a period of time.  If I remember, I’ll report back in after a couple of months.

What I can review is my on-line purchasing experience with Costco.com.  The whole thing went smoothly from start to finish including a follow-up email from Costco.com today to confirm yesterday’s delivery.  One might view the email as unnecessary and even annoying but not me.  Suppose we’d left the house 5 minutes earlier and missed the UPS guy?  Suppose he’d left it on my front porch and someone had helped themselves to my new monitor?  I might not have discovered for another day or two that it had been delivered but that I hadn’t gotten it.  I wouldn’t hesitate to make another purchase from Costco.com.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid-per-post blog entry. I am NOT a paid-per-post blogger. This product opinion, and all opinions expressed on this blog, is most certainly biased (based on my own experiences) but is not influenced by the manufacturer or supplier of the product nor is it purchased by any third party.

Whether it’s due to the fact that I’m a Leo or just simply the way I am, I tend to be a very loyal person. But my loyalty is neither easily won nor blindly maintained. I’m not a girly-girl and I’m not a brand-hound so bling and labels have no intrinsic value. My criteria has to do with a product’s practicality, value, durability, quality, ingenuity, and maintenance requirements.

For my first Product Review post, I’m sharing one of our favorite clothing products: SmartWool socks. I love SmartWool socks and the only family member not fully outfitted in SmartWool is The Husband.

SmartWool offers a huge variety of styles with sock heights ranging from knee-highs to footies and sock cushioning ranging from super thin to extra heavy cushy.

My preferred style is the mini crew with medium cushioning. I like the short length as it allows me to wear wool socks 8 or 9 months out of the year without the added warmth on my calves. Also, I like my socks to have a fairly substantial inner cushion because I spend a great deal of time walking around shoeless on our wooden floors at home. The medium cushion and gentle compression of the socks help ease the chronic foot and leg pain I experience as a symptom of Fibromyalgia. SmartWool’s medium cushion socks provide just enough cushioning without adding unpleasant or annoying bulk in my everyday shoes.

The Son prefers SmartWool’s hiking socks. These are crew-length socks with medium cushioning. In the early years of buying SmartWools, before I figured out the differences in the styles of socks, we purchased several pair of Light Hiking socks, not to be confused with Hiking socks. The Hiking socks that The Son prefers have cushioning loops all the way up the calf whereas the Light Hikers have cushioning in the footbed only and standard ribknit uppers.

Like me, The Son wears his SmartWool socks nearly year-round. The wool absorbs moisture and allows for very natural, healthy breathing of the skin.

The Daughter, odd ball that she is, prefers an ultra lightweight footie style. They provide just the perfect balance of warmth and breathability for her without adding any bulk — these socks are as thin as any ultra-lightweight cotton footie she owns. The Daughter has a much shorter SmartWool wearing season than do her brother and I but she does really value her few pair during the winter months.

SmartWools socks are extremely well-made and durable. Although we’ve had to pass down many pair over the years because they’ve been out-grown, we have yet to retire a pair for being worn out. This is a significant acheivement in longevity if you consider that I’ve had some of these pair for at least 6 or 7 years and they get daily wear on our floors. The Son and I both have a few pair that are getting thin but none that have completely giving up the ghost.

Another great advantage to these socks is their low maintenance. Wool, unlike cotton, doesn’t need to be washed after each wear. I can usually get three days out of each of my pair of socks. I encourage The Son to change his every other day as he’s a stinky teenaged boy who frequently plays hard in his socks.

Washing is easy — I let the dirty socks collect in a special laundry basket and wash many pair at once. I put them in the machine and wash on the gentle/handwash cycle in cold water with a cold water rinse using wool soap from the local yarn shop. SmartWool says the socks can be machine dried (see more below) but I prefer to hang dry. They dry very easily overnight on a great little plastic drip-dry multi-clip hanger I found a few years ago.

Make no mistake, SmartWool socks aren’t cheap — typically $12.95 - $15.95. But in my experience, they’re worth every penny — especially since I never buy them full-priced (more on that in just a minute). Several years ago I let an REI employee talk me into trying REI’s cheaper SmartWool wannabe socks. I’m a huge fan of REI and their house-brand products but that one pair of REI socks was the first and last pair I ever bought. The REI socks are denser and less flexible. They are simply wool socks; they provide none of the “walking on a cloud” experience I get with the SmartWool socks.

My two favorite sources for SmartWools are REI and Sierra Trading Post* (affiliate link). I have found a few pair at Marshalls or T.J. Maxx (I can’t remember which) a year or two ago but haven’t see them since. Thanks to the excellent sales I’ve found over the years, I’ve gradually been able to go from having a few pair worn on extra cold or snowy days to having a full wardrobe of socks for both The Son and I.

Sizing Tip: The SmartWool sizing guide assumes that the socks will be dried in a clothes dryer. If you use a dryer, go by the sizing chart. If you hang dry, buy one size smaller.

According to the sizing chart, my size 10’s would require a size Large. But I prefer to hang dry my socks so I adjust my sizing accordingly and usually buy size Medium. But this sizing/shrinking issue gives me a little extra wiggle room when I’m bargain hunting — if size Large is the only size available or had a better selection of colors, just a single trip through the dryer shrinks the socks down to the right size. And this shrinking process does not felt or otherwise affect the feel of the socks.

Washing Tip: I picked this tip up several years ago from a very helpful REI employee. The best way to wash your SmartWool socks (and arguably all of your socks) is to wash them inside out. This allows the skin and oils to be released into the water and washed away instead of being trapped inside the socks and locked deep into the inner cushiony loops.

image credits: REI and Elizabeth