To: Mr. FedEx Man
06/29/08 09:41 AM Filed in: Stories
I ordered a new iPod.
Which, normally, would be the most significant aspect
of this blog post. Alas, it is not. The more exciting
story is how it got here.
I ordered the iPod, with a case, on Tuesday. They informed me the items would be shipped separately depending on availability, which was fine by me. I got a shipment confirmation email later that night saying the case had been shipped from Memphis, TN. I checked my email the next morning to find a second shipment confirmation saying my iPod had been shipped from Shanghai CN. In my naivity, I assumed this was Connecticut, which I now realize is CT. At this same time, my case was leaving Memphis, TN.
I checked later that night and found my iPod case had successfully made it to Chicago. My case, on the other hand, was in Anchorage, AK. If AK was Arkansas, this would be closer than Connecticut, but AK is Alaska ... this was when I realized my iPod was coming from China, not Connecticut. In which case Alaska was progress.
I checked my email yet again on Thursday morning to find, to my great surprise, that my iPod was “at the local FedEx facility” in Cedar Rapids already! Apparently overnight it had gone from Alaska, to Indianapolis, to Cedar Rapids. One thing I found ironic was that it didn’t get an International Shipment Release until it went from Alaska to Indianapolis ... does that mean Alaska isn’t a part of the US according to FedEx? Anyway, back to my case ... it was still in Chicago for some reason. It hung out there for a while until it was finally shipped to Ottumwa, IA and loaded on a truck for delivery.
I was pretty excited; two days later and both my packages were going to arrive on the same day. Now if I could only get my paws on them before anyone else did and made me sing for them ... :P. (In case you don’t know, if you receive a package or three letters int he same day at the camp I work at, you have to sing or tell a joke in chapel for it.)
Ben, Jesse, and I were in the shop working on ... *cough* ... something. And we saw Mr. FedEx man pull in. Though, strangely, he didn’t come all the way to camp. He stopped at the house at the front of the lane. That’s Ben’s house. Definitely not 1433 F52 Trail, which is the shipping address I specified. Ben’s house is 1426, I think. The camp is 1433. This is clearly marked with numbers on Ben’s house. Even still, Mr. FedEx man insisted on delivering to the wrong location. I jumped into the truck and drove down the lane to snatch my package from the delusioned delivery men.
I got to Ben’s house just as they were about to pull out of the driveway and leave. “I have a package here for Alex,” said Mr. FedEx man after I waved him down. “I think you’re supposed to be delivering this to 1433, which is just down the lane from here.” He looked at me for a little while, unsure of what to say, and finally said, “Are you Alex?” I took his electronic thingy and put my John Hancock on it. I traded him his electronic thingy for my package and double-checked to make sure the delivery address was, in fact, 1433. It was. Shame on you FedEx.
Sadly, this package was just the case. The iPod itself was coming on some bigger and better truck, all the way from China! I figured it would come later in the afternoon, and I knew Joy was in the office to sign for it, so I felt safe taking a nap at 2:30.
I awoke from my nap at 4:30 and wandered dizzily over to the chapel to see if my package had come. “Not yet,” Joy informed me. I sat down at the computer to look at my tracking number. To my frustration, it said, “Delivery exception: Customer not available or business closed - signature required.” 4:24. Sarah came back from her house at this time, holding up one of those door hanger things they leave if you’re not home. They had just been there and delivered to the wrong place again!!
Needless to say, I was frustrated ... two seperate FedEx men tried to deliver my packages to the wrong address. What if that house hadn’t been Ben’s house? Someone else might be holding my iPod right now! Joy called FedEx Customer Service immedietly and tried to get the truck to turn around, but the lady on the phone was rather rude and mostly just wanted to get Joy off the phone, so the call was to no avail.
To redeem the second FedEx man, he came back on Friday while Joy, Jesse and I were sitting in the office, this time he came all the way to the camp and delivered my package. At least I have both of my packages now. Still, something about these deliveries seems very unprofessional ... if you pulled up to a house that was in the driveway to a camp and the owner wasn’t home, wouldn’t your first thought be, “I’ll bet he’s at the camp ...” No. Your first thought probably should have been to look at the house number :p.
I ordered the iPod, with a case, on Tuesday. They informed me the items would be shipped separately depending on availability, which was fine by me. I got a shipment confirmation email later that night saying the case had been shipped from Memphis, TN. I checked my email the next morning to find a second shipment confirmation saying my iPod had been shipped from Shanghai CN. In my naivity, I assumed this was Connecticut, which I now realize is CT. At this same time, my case was leaving Memphis, TN.
I checked later that night and found my iPod case had successfully made it to Chicago. My case, on the other hand, was in Anchorage, AK. If AK was Arkansas, this would be closer than Connecticut, but AK is Alaska ... this was when I realized my iPod was coming from China, not Connecticut. In which case Alaska was progress.
I checked my email yet again on Thursday morning to find, to my great surprise, that my iPod was “at the local FedEx facility” in Cedar Rapids already! Apparently overnight it had gone from Alaska, to Indianapolis, to Cedar Rapids. One thing I found ironic was that it didn’t get an International Shipment Release until it went from Alaska to Indianapolis ... does that mean Alaska isn’t a part of the US according to FedEx? Anyway, back to my case ... it was still in Chicago for some reason. It hung out there for a while until it was finally shipped to Ottumwa, IA and loaded on a truck for delivery.
I was pretty excited; two days later and both my packages were going to arrive on the same day. Now if I could only get my paws on them before anyone else did and made me sing for them ... :P. (In case you don’t know, if you receive a package or three letters int he same day at the camp I work at, you have to sing or tell a joke in chapel for it.)
Ben, Jesse, and I were in the shop working on ... *cough* ... something. And we saw Mr. FedEx man pull in. Though, strangely, he didn’t come all the way to camp. He stopped at the house at the front of the lane. That’s Ben’s house. Definitely not 1433 F52 Trail, which is the shipping address I specified. Ben’s house is 1426, I think. The camp is 1433. This is clearly marked with numbers on Ben’s house. Even still, Mr. FedEx man insisted on delivering to the wrong location. I jumped into the truck and drove down the lane to snatch my package from the delusioned delivery men.
I got to Ben’s house just as they were about to pull out of the driveway and leave. “I have a package here for Alex,” said Mr. FedEx man after I waved him down. “I think you’re supposed to be delivering this to 1433, which is just down the lane from here.” He looked at me for a little while, unsure of what to say, and finally said, “Are you Alex?” I took his electronic thingy and put my John Hancock on it. I traded him his electronic thingy for my package and double-checked to make sure the delivery address was, in fact, 1433. It was. Shame on you FedEx.
Sadly, this package was just the case. The iPod itself was coming on some bigger and better truck, all the way from China! I figured it would come later in the afternoon, and I knew Joy was in the office to sign for it, so I felt safe taking a nap at 2:30.
I awoke from my nap at 4:30 and wandered dizzily over to the chapel to see if my package had come. “Not yet,” Joy informed me. I sat down at the computer to look at my tracking number. To my frustration, it said, “Delivery exception: Customer not available or business closed - signature required.” 4:24. Sarah came back from her house at this time, holding up one of those door hanger things they leave if you’re not home. They had just been there and delivered to the wrong place again!!
Needless to say, I was frustrated ... two seperate FedEx men tried to deliver my packages to the wrong address. What if that house hadn’t been Ben’s house? Someone else might be holding my iPod right now! Joy called FedEx Customer Service immedietly and tried to get the truck to turn around, but the lady on the phone was rather rude and mostly just wanted to get Joy off the phone, so the call was to no avail.
To redeem the second FedEx man, he came back on Friday while Joy, Jesse and I were sitting in the office, this time he came all the way to the camp and delivered my package. At least I have both of my packages now. Still, something about these deliveries seems very unprofessional ... if you pulled up to a house that was in the driveway to a camp and the owner wasn’t home, wouldn’t your first thought be, “I’ll bet he’s at the camp ...” No. Your first thought probably should have been to look at the house number :p.