I wonder...what happens to the furniture that won't fit?

I'm planning to write about my new furniture purchases, which were precipitated by my sister's moving back to the midwest.

A year and a half ago, I bought a condo and she moved to California for a year in Americorps. In a dorm room. So I took the best of both our places, including:
-her bed
-her couch, which was formerly my dad's couch
-a console table

Fast forward a year, and she's got a place in Milwaukee. And wants to sleep somewhere. Imagine that. Her move is (continually) cursed, but basically, here's what happened:
1. She has a really comfy bed. She wanted it back.
2. She really likes the console. That goes too. (And I wanted something with more storage anyhow)
3. The couch...eh. I don't love it, but it matches my whole room really well. Plus, its heavy and she didn't get movers for the Chicago end of the move. Who wants to carry a couch down two flights of stairs?

So she reserved a U-Haul truck (she signed a lease on Friday evening and planned the move for Sunday--it was nuts). And then she showed up to get the truck, and they told her she didn't have one even though she had her printed out reservation and that she had a van* instead. They told her it would fit a small apartment, which was all she had, especially without the couch, and she was comfortable driving those from her time in Americorps, so she took it.

FYI, you can't fit a full mattress in a van. Or rather, you can't if you want to have anything else in there. It can't go vertical, it has to lay on the floor. And I'm pretty sure its a bad idea to put your table on your mattress. So there went that plan.

All that to say, we determined that I would keep both the bed and the couch, and buy my sister a new couch to make up for it all. (I also gave her an aerobed and a folding chair). Luckily, I have an employee discount at Pottery Barn, and my mom's couch is from there, so we know its good stuff. She picked it out, we ordered (Oct 9), I got a shipped item email (Oct 26)......then I finally called Nov 24, and was told it was close, then they called her and it was all set to be delivered on Dec 7.

And then.

It. Didn't. Fit. And not for any of the normal reasons either. It was the ceiling of all things. In the hallways. It didn't leave enough room for the turn. The delivery guys thought it would fit too--they brought it up and everything. And no. So it's getting sent back.

Pottery Barn customer service was very nice when my sister called. The cost of the couch should be refunded (yay) but not the shipping or in-home delivery charge (boo, but logical). So we'll be out about $140. And without a couch of course.

I'm thinking of getting her floor pillows for Christmas...

* Do not let them do this to you. Bad! Turns out vans have to be returned and trucks can be one way. My mother-who-barely-drives had to drive the thing back from Milwaukee to Chicago, so it was also more expensive than the truck would have been.