Back to see me mum for Christmas so here I blog from the unseasonably warm picturesque city of Boston. Here's some irony- I brought my big winter jacket because normally Boston is freezing in December, in fact on Monday it was in the single digits (degrees/Fahrenheit). In Nashville, the day I left the temperature had started falling and it was getting colder, but certainly no single digits. Well, today in Boston, it's been in the mid-fifties all day, and I went with the springtime liner of my winter jacket when my mom and I went to go walk and pick up groceries. Meanwhile in Nashville, I spoke to some friends who tell me it's freezing and snowing. So I left Nashville expecting to freeze, and instead ended up in balmy weather in Boston while everyone in Nashville is freezing and can't get to work. Go figure. However, I don't expect the balmy weather to last. It's supposed to snow in Boston this weekend, and return to regular Boston weather. And by the time I get back to Nashville, I'm sure the snow will be gone.
Anyhoo, I was talking to my mom today about her latest adventure with UPS, other wise known as the WORST SHIPPING SERVICE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. She had ordered a gift through amazon for my sister and did the usual UPS service to receive it. Here's our story-
Dec. 11th- Package is sent from Vendor to UPS to ship.
Dec. 12th- UPS makes unsuccessful attempt to deliver to my Moms apartment. Mom proceeds to call UPS and change the delivery address to her work address, which is all of eight blocks away from her apartment in downtown Boston.
Dec. 13th- No visit from UPS, either at home or work.
Dec. 14th- Still no visit from UPS at either address. Mom, fearing the worst, decides to call UPS and determine the problem. UPS proceeds to inform my Mom that since they had to redirect the package, it needed to go to a different "depot". This being obvious bullshit, considering my Mom's apartment is, again, all of eight blocks away from work (she walks to work every day) instills little confidence in my mom that she will receive her package before Christmas. Mom calls up the Vendor, who she then tells that she believes UPS has no idea where her package is. The vendor responds- "that's not possible, let me call them and straighten them out." Mom waits through cheery Christmas hold music. "Ma'am? The Vendor here, UPS has most certainly lost your package. And we are out of the item you ordered so we will be forced to refund your purchase. We deeply regret the inconvenience. Again, we're sorry." Mom decides to go to a local vedor to get the item, and luckily, is able to find the absolute last one available in the city of Boston.
The fun doesn't end however.
Dec. 15th- UPS delivers a flat box addressed to my Mom at her office. The original item she purchased was rather large, and certainly not flat -(Item to remain anonymous in case my sister is reading this). Seeing as how it was addressed to her, my mom opens the box and discovers that it is two books addressed to her upstairs neighbors. She repackages the items and drops them off with a full note to her neighbors explaining the situation. For fun, my mom decides to see what ended up happening to her original shipment. Apparently, the item was delivered to a family somewhere in upstate New York, who then returned it to UPS seeing as how they did not order the item to begin with, and they are honest fine upstanding upstate New York citizens.
Moral of the story? If it absolutely, positively, has to be there before Christmas- DON'T RELY ON UPS.
If this story whet your appetite for UPS delivery escapades, please read the following links from the always hilarious Jay Pinkerton, as he describes his adventure with UPS in getting his computer from Canada to Los Angeles.
UPS is the Worst Shipping Service in North America
-and the follow up
UPS: The Revenge! (cymbal crash)
Merry Christmas all, I'll try and blog some more from the sunny, balmy shores of Boston!!!
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