My eagerly awaited parcel containing a couple of reels of thread (and some needles and some stabiliser) arrived, bang on time. It also arrived just in time, as I had this morning run out of one of the colours. The supplier had very kindly rushed the order through for me. When I ripped open the envelope, one of the reels was the wrong colour.
Fortunately, the one I needed was the right one. A quick instant message with the supplier, and a fresh reel was posted for tomorrow.
I wasn't worried. She's never ever let me down before, and it was an easy mistake to make. So easy that I had had to check it wasn't my mistake in the ordering.
MEANWHILE
On Friday, I ordered some beef from a really great online supplier, Pipers Farm. One of the (many) things I like about them is that they have morning deliveries, which is very important when you're buying such highly perishable food. I selected today as the delivery day.
I waited in all morning. At 12.15, the beef hadn't arrived. I contacted the company, just in case there had been a dispatch problem. Nope. It had veen dispatched. Their carrier told them that I had no answered the door, and so they had left the parcel with my neighbour at number XX.
This was rather odd.
Firstly, I hadn't gone out so why would there have been no answer?
Secondly, if a delivery man didn't get an answer from my door, it seemed highly unlikely that they would randomly try number XX. My immediate neighbours, both sides, were in. The next-but-ones, either side, were both in. XX is actually a flat in a small block, quite a few doors away from me.
I did, however, knock and see. And then I tried all the doors in between. And then two doors the other way. No delivery.
I phoned Pipers Farm back. I explained what I'd done, and asked them to check with the courier in case he had left it at the wrong road. They contacted the carrier, then came back to me to say that the delivery man might have got the number wrong, but he definitely left it. In fact, he would come in half an hour to collect it from the place he left it, and deliver it to me personally.
I waited. I tried to keep watch, as I was curious to see which number he had left it with (whilst believeing that he'd actually gone to the wrong road). I gave him extra time for traffic. And extra time for discovering that he had gone to the wrong road.
I didn't risk going out - not even to the shed to check on the chicks.
After an hour and three quarters, I phoned back.
At 16.30 the van arrived with my parcel. He had left it at another road, in the next village.
MEANWHILE
On Thursday, I ordered some extra doors from Omlet and paid for next day delivery. It turned out that "next day" translated into "Monday", which seemed a bit odd... but I didn't query it. Of course, nothing turned up yesterday.
I waited until mid afternoon today, and then phoned them to find out what had happened. Turns out the order hadn't been dispatched yet as one of the items wasn't in stock.
Normally, I would bite my tongue and just accept that sometimes things go wrong. It's been a crap day for deliveries though, and so I asked why it was that no one had contacted me to say that there was a problem.
"Good question!" was the response I received, and the lady on the phone said she would find out what had happened/was happening and would phone me back.
Apparently it was a system problem. The system said "out of stock", but that wasn't true. The warehouse didn't tell customer service, so customer service didn't tell me. It's too late to send it today now, so it will be sent tomorrow and will be with me on Thursday.
There really wasn't any point in getting cross with the girl on the end of the phone, and nothing would be achieved by complaining so I thanked her for sorting it out.
I am going to stop giving companies leeway - waiting an extra day, just in case. If I'd phoned them yesterday, or this morning, then I would have it tomorrow.
MEANWHILE
On the plus side, my Living with Birds order, containing a different type of squirrel proof feeder, arrived as next day delivery without a hitch.
So it isn't all bad.
