"Two ships that pass in the night" -- a new jones

[ForresterModern]

This is one I have not heard of before so I just had to post it.

Back in mid May I ordered a machine sewn 16oz kilt in a custom weave, Ancient Red Douglas, from Tartanweb. Knowing it was a special weave I waited until November to start sending the usual "hey guys, any word on my kilt" emails, but got no response after several of those. I finally called overseas last week (wonder what my cell bill is going to look like next month) and spoke with the customer rep, a nice chap named John Paul. He took all the info and promised to investigate and get back with me, which he did today by email.

It seems, my custom weave was delivered to them at the end of July, they turned it into a kilt in 4 days, and sent it out in August. It was supposedly attempted to be delivered August 10, but with no answer at our door they supposedly left a note and then sent it back to the courier's local terminal to await my response (only a couple miles from my house it turns out). I never got any notifications on my door in August, so it must have blown away in the wind or something. They never tried to re-deliver it, and after no response for a month they sent it back to Tartanweb in Scotland. Tartanweb has no record of having ever recieved it, but they are still looking around to see it if ended up somewhere. 7 plus months of jonesing and only to find out it was so close a couple months ago, now lost to the ages probably. Anyway, if they don't find it post haste they promised to reorder the custom weave (won't be done until mid-end February) and turn around the making of my kilt and send me a new one sometime in March.
Arrggghhh, so close but yet so far.

Will post photos whenever it arrives, as (at least in the books) it is a beautiful tartan.

[cessna152towser]

This can be so frustrating. At least they are going to come good and build a replacement if they can't find the original.
I never did find out what the parcel was which the postie tried unsuccessfully to deliver to me while I was away in October and which was returned to the sender.

[lethearen]

Oh dear Sorry to hear of your loss...

[Big Mikey]

I blame the courier. I have also been the victim of sloppy service. I was awaiting a rather large order coming from Ontario and knew the day it was coming but not the time. Luckily my wife was home when it arrived. The driver dropped two large boxes on the stoop, rang the doorbell and was gone before she got to the door. Had no one been home, my $1800 worth of goods would have been left to any who may have wanted them. Delivery services need to improve their customer communication.

The preceding is just one, fat old man's opinion.

[seanachie]

One suggestion..... I have rented a mailbox at the UPS Store (previously Mailboxes Etc.) in now 3 different cities that I have lived. Sure I have to pay for it but it provides a lot of peace of mind. I had my Netflix membership suspended a few years back, when those red envelopes started disappearing, and then my wife had a special Irish crafted figurine that we purchased in Galway WITH clear instructions that signature was required for delivery left on the front steps. It was a gift for her Mom that was pretty irreplaceable. One thing to be careful with is that some of the mailbox operations are sort of fly by night so use a reputable one, or a local that you have a good degree of trust in. The UPS Store signs for my packages, sends me an email upon arrival and secures them until I pick them up. All the best...

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Couriers.....

I ordered a set of Dunbar bagpipes and the UPS driver left it out in the middle of our driveway (A shared dirt driveway that is about 500 yards long) in the snow. He was afraid of the nighbour's dog so he just tossed it out. It was in a white box so whoever would have come up the driveway would have never seen it because by the time I found it, it had a couple inches of snow on it. My dog was the one that enlightened me to the arrival of the box by making it her first sniff-stop when I let her outside.

Luckily it was in a hard leather case which was in a sealed plastic bag so the water didn't hurt it, although the letter or whatever it was (probably a list of box contents) from the place we bought it from was a soggy wet and illegible grey mess.

We have a post office box but a lot of companies won't deliver to them.

--Chelsea McMurdo--

[ronstew]

I HATE IT WHEN VENDORS DON'T SEND SHIPPING NOTICES WITH TRACKING NUMBERS!!!!!

It only takes a few minutes, and is automated with UPS and USPS (although I don't know the details). Here is such a message that I got on Friday:

This message was sent to you at the request of PINEMEADOW GOLF PRODUCTS to notify you that the electronic shipment information below has been transmitted to UPS. The physical package(s) may or may not have actually been tendered to UPS for shipment. To verify the actual transit status of your shipment, click on the tracking link below or contact PINEMEADOW GOLF PRODUCTS directly.

Important Delivery Information
Scheduled Delivery: 21-December-2009

Shipment Detail
Ship To:
Ronald Stewart
(my address)
Number of Packages 1
UPS Service: GROUND
Weight: 5.7 LBS


Tracking Number: 1Z****************** <- hot link to tracking information
Reference Number 1: 1*******.***

There is no excuse for an internet merchant to be so far out of step - and I don't care what country it is. "Keep the customer informed" ought to be the first goal of custmer service, but it frequently it is not. Such a failure cost me $350 a couple of years ago. Not acceptable then, not acceptable now.

[Kiltman]

Sorry that happened to you. I agree it's the carriers problem. Sometimes they don't hirer the most responsible persons. I know what it's like to wait. I'm still waiting for a kilt ordered on August 2, 2008.

[The Barry]

So close! Somewhere, out there, is a beautiful kilt; lost, all alone, and in need of a wearer.

Hopefully it turns up!

[sydnie7]

FedEx dropped a Toshiba laptop at my front door a few years ago, when I lived in a large-ish condo complex in a not-so-great part of Los Angeles. Big red stickers all over the box said "Signature required" but they just left it mid-day and I found it on my return home that evening. Fortunately I found it there, had at least one other box lifted and one ripped open/rifled through -- by the local young hooligans, I have no doubt, as they took the DreamWeaver CD that was inside but left the instruction manual!

Good that the vendor is stepping up, too bad that you've had to go through this.