There’s a first time for everything, I guess. Or at least a lot of things – I can think of many things I’ll never be convinced of trying. Anyway… After years of regularly buying things online and having them delivered to my door (or to my porch, as the case often is), something I bought was stolen. Last week I ordered a new, larger backpack from amazon.com, as the one I have is 1) not big enough to comfortably hold all of my crap and 2) falling apart in a few places.
The tracking information shows that it was delivered yesterday morning, but I was gone until around 3PM. I got the regular mail, and figured that the package just hadn’t arrived yet – it wasn’t even supposed to be here until the 27th. It was only later in the evening that I checked out the tracking, and was informed that the item I hadn’t found on my porch had been delivered. Oops.
I called the post office, and they weren’t a great deal of help. Essentially: “It was delivered. Sorry for your luck.” I didn’t expect much more than that (they did do their part, after all), but the lady I spoke to could have been a little sympathetic, no? Amazon, as usual, seems to be willing to bend over backwards to achieve customer satisfaction. They told me that if the post office doesn’t come up with the package, they’ll send me another one with overnight shipping. While I do want my backpack, I’m going to feel pretty weird / bad about accepting the replacement. Amazon did their part – they shipped the item to me, and it even arrived ahead of time. Why should they eat the cost of another one because some asshat stole the box from my porch?
Update: I assumed right away that the box was delivered to my house and then stolen from my porch, but after thinking on it some more, I’m not sure that’s the case. It may have actually been delivered somewhere else. The tracking shows that it was delivered at 9:11AM, but our mail never runs that early. Usually it’s in the early to mid-afternoon when stuff shows up. That, and I was still home at 9:11 – not for long, as I had class at 10, but I was in the house, and I heard no knocking, etc.
Comments 4
Why should you eat the cost because some asshat stole the box from your porch? Perhaps Amazon should ensure that they are not dropping stuff on porches in today’s day and age. And as I said, they probably have insurance and / or build such things into their prices in the name of customer service. If they could not afford to send you a replacement, they would simply tell you “tough crap, sorry about your luck.” Being that they value you as a customer, and they can afford to send a replacement, they will bend over backwards to make you happy and get you your box.
I was so tempted to simply reply along the lines of better yours than mine, but didn’t think that this was that sort of blog…
Posted 26 Aug 2009 at 3:57 pm ¶Yeah, they’ve probably built in “asshat insurance” to their costs.
Posted 27 Aug 2009 at 9:51 am ¶It’s also worth pointing out that one time I thought a box hadn’t actually been delivered*, but it just turned out it wasn’t sitting where I expected and was noticed by my mom a few days later. Though in your town setting, there probably aren’t so many good hiding places.
*With as remote as we are, someone would’ve had to really go out of their way to notice something in front of the front door.
Posted 27 Aug 2009 at 9:58 am ¶I’m going through a similar situation, but with FedEx. I bought $200 worth of clothes from Old Navy and tracking info says the package was delivered, no signature was taken. Just delivered. After shopping online at Old Navy for years now, this is the first time this has happened with them, but the 2nd time FedEx lost my package. Trust me, no one stole it, these delivery guys are lazy, dumb, and careless and will deliver your stuff to the wrong home.
Posted 01 Sep 2009 at 2:57 am ¶Post a Comment