056 RANTING ON

One of the very few disadvantages I have found to my move to Maple Ridge is the apparent confusion if causes to some organizations.  It’s not like I have moved to the deepest, darkest reaches of the Amazonian jungle, I’m 30 minutes down the highway from my previous address.

My battles with TELUS are well documented already and resolved, so I won’t rehash those.  But according to BC Hydro, my address still does not exist and so after 4 months of living here, I have not received my first hydro bill.  It’s scary to think what it will be when my address finally does exist.  I have electricity, so that isn’t the problem, it’s just, how much is my bill building up?  Fortunately, I have been playing it smart and putting money away in a separate account, based on my electricity bills at the old house.

I had a problem trying to donate some clothes to the BC Diabetes Foundation.  I advised them of the pickup and then did everything that was asked by bagging the clothes up and leaving them on the front doorstep with a label on them.  I left specific instructions on how to find my unit as you have to drive around a corner to get in.  Two days went by, no pickup, so I phoned.  The driver advised her that there was nothing left out.

That was a lie and I told her so and sent her a digital photo showing the clothes still there.  She called the driver again and he changed his story and said he could not get in due to construction.  Again a lie and I sent her a photo out my window.  All construction was in an area behind me.  I was going to have to wait 30 days for another pickup but she gave me the location of a drop off box and I ended up doing that.

What really prompted my rant today, is I am a frequent online buyer of things from Amazon.  Mostly movies and books, but some other stuff as well.  Again, I am only 30 minutes from my old place.  There I had available same day delivery service available and yes it was a couple of dollars more expensive, but I liked ordering in the morning and getting it in late afternoon.  I can’t get that here, even though their distribution center is actually closer.  I never had any problems with deliveries in Vancouver.  Out of 8 orders since moving, it’s gotten screwed up 4 times.

The best I can get here is one-day delivery and they usually ship with Canada Post.  Since mail gets delivered to my “Superbox” at 11:30 AM every day, I know when my package will arrive.  Every so often though, they do weird things like splitting my order and sending part by Canada Post and part by Purolator or UPS.  I had one late delivery by Canada Post and the problem is, they just deliver once per day and that is at 11:30 AM.

UPS was right on time, although that was one delivery.  Three deliveries have been by Purolator and two of those have been screwed up.  The first one the package didn’t arrive and tracking info showed delivery was attempted, but unable to deliver.  They even gave a time for the attempt and the strange part about it, was I had been standing outside talking to my neighbour and never even saw a Purolator truck.  Surprisingly the package was able to be delivered the next day.

My latest adventure is partially the fault of Amazon and partially the fault of Purolator.  I am an early riser and at 5:00 AM on Sunday morning I ordered the book 13 Hours the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi as I had seen the movie a few days before.  Coincidentally, the delivery of that movie was another one of the screw-ups by Purolator.  However, I ordered the book and saw an Amazon special for a great deal on the full series of Star Trek Enterprise, so I ordered that as well.

I paid the extra for the one-day delivery and when I checked on the package later in the day, I discovered it would not even be shipped until Tuesday.  OK, I get that Monday was July 4, American Independence Day and a holiday in the States.  But, the Amazon distribution center is in Burnaby.  The guaranteed delivery date was Wednesday.

Amazon split the order and sent the book with Canada Post and the TV series with Purolator.  The book arrived in my mailbox Wednesday morning at 11:30 AM.  Tracking the TV series with Purolator, it arrived in Port Kells, Surrey at 7:30 AM.  A beautiful sunny day, the first in about 10 days, and then I get a notice from Purolator saying my delivery was delayed by weather.  Really?  Port Kells is about a 15-minute drive from my place.

But, weather?  Come on.  Was it too sunny and bright for the driver to be able to see?  A phone call to Purolator resulted in a 45-minute wait on hold before I finally gave up.  I contacted Amazon this morning and within 10 minutes all of my shipping charges had been refunded.  I still don’t have the TV series, but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I didn’t have to pay for shipping.  This is sure a bit of bad advertising for the reliability of Purolator.

***UPDATE***

The package from Purolator arrived Thursday afternoon at around 1:00 PM.  Coincidentally, while it was delayed by the sunny weather on Wednesday, the shipment arrived in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, that looked like the heavens had opened up.  Unreal!