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| My package arrived undamaged, but .... |
Nothing is as frustrating as sheer incompetence. I am not talking about small mistakes, or mix
ups. I am talking about outright
incapability. For the past two weeks I
have been a victim of this incompetence, and I need to share it with you.
Not long ago (actually longer ago than it should have been)
I ordered something from US Amazon (Amazon Canada
I ordered a train display case. Shortly after the order was taken and paid
for, I received a confirmation email stating that my package was sent--actually
it wasn't . After waiting a month, and
my package not showing up, I sent an email wondering what was going on. I was informed that my product was on back
order and would be shipped the following week.
No apology was given and my next two emails were ignored.
Now I know this sounds bad (and I agree that it is, and I
won't buy things from these people again--though, had they offered me an
apology, I would have given them the benefit of the doubt) but that wasn't the
worst of it.
The package was sent by UPS.
On Monday, I arrived at home to find a notice stuck to my front door
informing me that I had a package awaiting delivery and notifying me that some
money was owed before delivery could be made.
It also mentioned that they would only try three times.
In retrospect I should have had the package delivered to my
place of employment. I chose not to so that I wouldn't have to lug this
over-sized box on public transportation and incovenience other people.
Well, I called them and told them to try and deliver it on
Friday. I expected to be home that day,
and could receive the package. Of
course, ignoring everything I said, they attempted delivery the next day. I started worrying that they would try again
on Wednesday and then I would have broken the aforementioned 3 attempt
rule. I called again and Friday delivery
was confirmed.
Casually, I asked them about the package and they mentioned
that it was 7" x 7" x 7".
This certainly wasn't the kind of train display case that I had in
mind. The one I was expecting was
supposed to be 36"x18"x2"
I quickly became convinced that this was not my package. Just to be on the safe side, I asked several
employees whether these were actually measured, or just randomly
generated. Twice I was told that this
was done by some kind of scanning laser. (I sent an email about this to the
original seller, but never received a reply)
So I told them not to deliver the package and return it.
Surprise, surprise, on Friday they attempted to deliver the
package. I called, and they informed me
that delivery was attempted at 7pm. As I
was home, and not sleeping or listening to loud music, and my doorbell works,
that wasn't true. I arrived home at 5
and found the notice on my door.
I called and reminded them to send back the package. This didn't require too much effort. I just had to answer the same questions and wait
for the same confirmation I had gone through a couple of days earlier--I guess
practice makes perfect.
The original company called me and told me that I would lose
the shipping money if I returned the package.
I called them back and hashed it out with the customer service
department. (I still received no apology
but in the end I decided to accept the package at my work and brave the ride
home on the bus).
I called UPS and told them all of this. I even found out that I could pay the small
fee I had to pay over the phone (though this was never mentioned in my numerous
calls to them). I instructed them to
send the package to my place of employment.
They said it would not come the next day, but would take an additional
day. By this point, the word whatever
had become my go to world.
They were correct.
The next day the package didn't show up at my work. However, when I arrived home it was propped
up against my door. I guess it was a
miracle.
In the end, I got my package. However, the process was far from painless, the
courier company pretty much ignored every request I made, and the manufacturer
never once said sorry for sending me a completely false confirmation
letter. I guess customer service is
pretty irrelevant to some people.
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