How much of a prat am I going to look if I ask them to replace this tree?

[MrsKoala]

We ordered an xmas tree of a certain size to be delivered this morning. Yesterday i went out and when i got home a tree was outside the front door and there was a message saying they were dropping it early. The tree looked bigger than i want so i measured it and it's 2ft bigger than ordered. It wont fit in our living room. We wanted one which was floor to ceiling.

We don't have tools and things, or the time or inclination to be chopping bits off. Where we would need to chop off the top would mean it looks ridiculous and wouldn't have a 'point' anymore.

I want to call and tell them to collect it and deliver one the right size. Will i look like a twat? I understand it must be hard to find exactly the right size tree to order, but they do advertise trees by size and i'd rather a smaller one if necessary.

Oh God, I didn't see Zing and co's posts when I suggested that. Still , great minds......

oh how lovely to be able to chop your own tree down.

i am going to take a pp advice and get some tools to sort our overgrown garden out in the winter. No idea what i'm doing but it might be therapeutic.

You've all made me chuckle

Glad they're sorting it OP, and fwiw not remotely twattish to want something roughly the size you asked for not 2 feet taller!

6pm is ages away - chop it and decorate (maybe with newly purchased saw and not bread knife though)

Oh Mrs K! Our tree was too broad in the beam and I made OH trim it twice, at midnight, so it was in the stand for the kids to decorate when they woke up. Swapping sounds like a better idea (when you don't have to brave the queue of precious wankers at IKEA who insist on having fourteen different trees unwrapped before picking the first one they saw).

Gardening in the winter can be quite fun with kids - wrap everyone up warm and in wellies and give them something to dig/rake/wash while you work. And MissK can kip in her order.

Pushchair. Not order.

I always seem to get over-ambitious and end up with one that's too big. I find they do bend to fit if you push hard enough (and don't mind a curved tree)...

I bet they don;t swap it at all - they'll park round the corner, "take it to the van" & "come back with a shorter one"

Do you not always have to saw the bottom off a real tree anyway like you do with cut flowers? My DH always does? Although that might be to make it fit into the stand thingie...

Can we have a pic of the finished product?!

FFS! I know this thread isn't about this but it's along the same vein. I bought these shoes for ds1 in Millets sales last year and now ds1 should fit them so got them out the box and look! Look!!!

I don't have a receipt anymore and bought them 6 months ago. I'm going to take them back, but are they likely to tell me I'm too late?

Take them back anyway - you never know they might replace them. And you won't know if you don't try.

Saleh - i will do, but please don't get your hopes up and expect anything nice or tasteful. DH doesn't think xmas is a time for taste or restraint. The more colour and tackiness the better.

The rules are; no white lights and no colour scheme. More is more at christmastime.

I cut my own tree down every year. We usually go to a tree farm up in the mountains and have a lovely morning strolling through the trees, amazing views from up there too and they have a little barn shop where they sell hot cider and chocolate and homemade baked goodies. My husband (having cleverly manipulated me into believing that it's fun cutting down a tree the first year while he stood there sipping his hot chocolate) bought me a little tree-cutting pruning saw because he said the long poles with the curvy saw bit on the end they lend you at the tree farm are pieces of shit, although, if he wears his black hoodie they are better for posing with if you want to look like a twat the Grim Reaper.

Not yet this year though because we've moved.

Nah, don't take them back (presuming they're the same size & one left, one right). When you're 40 4 it's cool to have something a bit different!

oh how lovely to be able to chop your own tree down.

Ignore me. I'm clearly too old for a thread like this.

He's gone to b&q wearing them - he loves them. When he's 15 i will wear odd shoes when i go out with him (or bare feet) - that'll teach him.

Lorelei - Margo Leadbetter is my power animal. I think i have to face the fact I am the Margo in this situation. (i have the perfect dress and matching headband too)

When I was a teen we were supposed to wear white ankle socks at school. Plain white. Clearly we didn't, the thing was to wear the sports ones with coloured bands at the top - one blue & one pink. Don't ask, no idea 😂 So you might have to work harder to embarrass him when he's 15!

My son has two different pairs of batman converses and takes great delight in wearing one of each as he thinks its cool, he s now 21, I think you may be in for the long haul with your son

You don't have much luck do you OP?

If you're Margo, can you make a paper hat (and do you have a copy of the Telegraph in order to do this....??)

Show you win the thread for the understatement of the Internet

Bought this the other day and took ages to spot the problem

I agree regarding your DS and odd shoes, my DD is now 20 and still always visible odd socks and may sometimes wear odd shoes.

The tale of your tree has made me chuckle out loud whilst eating my lunch, thank you I really needed some light relief today.

I am sure if we were able to have a real tree then DH would have to go and buy a new saw just to trim it, not because we don't already have 7 in the garage, but because every time we need to do some DIY he always needs a trip to B&Q, we have enough trouble moving furniture and putting up the fake tree (and it goes in the same place each year).

DParents had a row every year about the Christmas tree, DM had always bought the wrong one and DF never trimmed it or brought it into the house at the correct time. At the time it was stressful, now looking back it was like a comedy. Same as the turkey that always takes longer to cook.

My DH belongs to the same school of tree decoration as yours, the tackier the tree the better. The year I did it alone in white lights and coordinated decorations, it lasted 48h before the DC & DH changed it.

The tree is also a work in progress. DH adds to it daily (it's his version of advent). Buying random crap wherever he goes. By Jan it's groaning under the weight of tat. I had to negotiate to put the tree up this late too. He was wanting it from mid Nov.

I think our 2yo is going to destroy it tho. Everything is a test of strength to 'Father Liam'.