The Weird Wacky world of package shipping
 

Everyone has a story or two of misdirected packages or some other kind of shipping hell. Tell us your stories :smile:[LIST][*]It once took me a week to receive a next day package that went to several wrong states.[*]I was briefly a used-book reseller on Amazon and may be able to recall a story or two to pitch into this thread if it shows signs of life.[/LIST]I'm prompted to start this thread because I have a success story (I think) involving monitoring the tracking info of a package that I am expecting. Later today I will know if I succeeded and will respond in this thread:

My Orders Order date: May 28, 2008
1 of : Obama '08 Ash Embroidered Hooded Sweatshirt - Large $35.00 Shipped

I've been waiting for this for a while and check the tracking data occasionally. I live in Redondo Beach, California and on Monday I learned that my package had been delivered to an office in Berkeley, California.

[CODE]Message from Ross xxxxx:
This package was just delivered to the wrong address in the current hour.
Please get it back. THE DELIVERY ADDRESS IS REDONDO BCH, CA. NOT BERKELEY!

Tracking Detail
Your package has been delivered.
Tracking Number: 1Z 394 99W 03 7072 914 1
Type: Package
Status: Delivered
Delivered On: 06/23/2008 11:13 A.M.
Signed By: MILLER
Location: OFFICE
Delivered To: BERKELEY,CA,US,
Shipped/Billed On: 06/20/2008
Reference Number(s): 265540/BJM, C
Service: GROUND
Weight: 1.60 Lbs

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
SAN PABLO,
CA, US
06/23/2008 11:13 A.M. DELIVERY
06/23/2008 5:33 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
MAUMEE,
OH, US
06/23/2008 7:29 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
MAUMEE,
OH, US
06/21/2008 2:12 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
COLUMBUS,
OH, US
06/20/2008 11:49 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
06/20/2008 10:19 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
PIQUA,
OH, US
06/20/2008 8:30 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
06/20/2008 5:44 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US
06/20/2008 5:33 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 06/23/2008 3:01 P.M. ET[/CODE]

Coincidentally, I looked up the tracking within only minutes after the delivery had been logged-in at Berkeley. As you can see, it still shows that as the final destination but I think I got it all sorted. I spent about an hour looking for a way to send them an email directly correlated with this shipment because I wanted the driver to go back and get the package. I was stymied a bit because they want to get messages after a package has been late a day or more.

Basically to get the message from me directly correlated with the shipment, I went into a Quantum View business service portion of UPS. I don't have an account there but was able to send an email about my package. I received this email in reply:
[CODE]
Important Delivery Information

Scheduled Delivery: 26-June-2008

Shipment Detail

Ship To:

REDONDO BEACH
CA
US

UPS Service: GROUND
Weight: 1.6 LBS.

Tracking Number: 1Z39499W0370729141
Quantum View Request Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[/CODE]

So today, I learn if I straightened it all out before someone walked home with my jacket :fusion:

Respondent disavows any association with said shipping incident and demands that you discontinue the use of his name in conjunction thereof.


Perhaps it was recognized that there is no possibility that a self-respecting resident of Redondo Beach would be associated with such content. The package must have been intended for someone in that "liberal" bastion, Berkley. :)

[QUOTE=Wacky;136642]Respondent disavows any association with said shipping incident and demands that you discontinue the use of his name in conjunction thereof.


Perhaps it was recognized that there is no possibility that a self-respecting resident of Redondo Beach would be associated with such content. The package must have been intended for someone in that "liberal" bastion, Berkley. :)[/QUOTE]
Perhaps it is the beginning of the next Berkeley movement: All Your Liberal Packages Are Belong To Us!

Something that I found amusing
 

I once had a new computer case delivered. They need not have bothered with the shipping label, it would have got here with just the writing on the side:
[spoiler]"A Genuine Screwless Case"[/spoiler]

[QUOTE=only_human;136632]Everyone has a story or two of misdirected packages or some other kind of shipping hell. Tell us your stories :smile:[/QUOTE]
As much as people complain about [COLOR="Sienna"][B][SIZE="4"]UPS[/SIZE][/B][/COLOR], it is better than [B][COLOR="Blue"]Fed[/COLOR][COLOR="Red"]Up[/COLOR][/B], [COLOR="Red"][B]D[/B][/COLOR]id[COLOR="#ff0000"][B]H[/B][/COLOR]e.get[COLOR="#ff0000"][B]L[/B][/COLOR]ost, [COLOR="Blue"][B]R[/B][/COLOR]ong[COLOR="#0000ff"][B]P[/B][/COLOR]ackage[COLOR="#0000ff"][B]S[/B][/COLOR]ystem, and the others. I had a case where DHL delayed an overnight biological sample (in a cooler with 'blue ice') for a day. Another one, FedEx unable to find a street that is on the map (this was the second attempt), I had to travel ~50km to get to their hub to pick up the item (it was supposed to be a next day item) and wasted ~3 hours.

5:30 P.M. and no package...

I was so proud of myself for recovering the misdirected package too.
Tomorrow I will follow ordinary procedure and inform them of the missing package. On Monday the 23rd, I went "outside of the box" to get a message to them about the package while the issue was hot. The consequences of that are that the entire final dogleg of the package journey from Berkeley to Redondo Beach are not in the tracking info itinerary; all I have to rely on is an email they sent me saying it would be here today the 26th. Because of that email, I didn't have any further reasonable action to take until this date too passed.

update: Deeper delving into the UPS site tells me that the package is still not lost, only late.
[code]UPS Tracking Detail
Package Information Download Results Printer Friendly (PDF)
Tracking Number 1Z39499W0370729141
Status LOCATION SCAN Latest Status Date 26-JUN-2008 16:00:00
Signed By Location
Deliver To xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
REDONDO BEACH, CA, US 90278
Service Type GROUND


Package Progress
Date Time Location Activity
26-JUN-2008 16:00:00 VERNON, CA, US LOCATION SCAN
23-JUN-2008 11:13:00 BERKELEY, CA, US DELIVERED
23-JUN-2008 05:33:00 SAN PABLO, CA, US OUT FOR DELIVERY
23-JUN-2008 07:29:00 MAUMEE, OH, US DEPARTURE SCAN
21-JUN-2008 02:12:00 MAUMEE, OH, US ARRIVAL SCAN
20-JUN-2008 23:49:00 COLUMBUS, OH, US DEPARTURE SCAN
20-JUN-2008 22:19:00 COLUMBUS, OH, US ARRIVAL SCAN
20-JUN-2008 20:30:00 PIQUA, OH, US DEPARTURE SCAN
20-JUN-2008 17:44:00 PIQUA, OH, US ORIGIN SCAN
20-JUN-2008 17:33:20 US BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED[/code]And I was getting all ready to attack the Cargo Cult Berkeleyites for gleaning my package of Liberal Trappings from among the chaff that passes through their eco-friendly Potemkin Offices

It happened to be a cold valentines day and I had ordered a baby rose bush with a box of chocolates for my wife. The local delivery carrier had apparently placed the boxed items over the truck's main heater and a dead rosebush and box of melted chocolates were delivered.

Needless to say, not just valentines day turned out to be cold.

[QUOTE=potonono;136726]It happened to be a cold valentines day and I had ordered a baby rose bush with a box of chocolates for my wife. The local delivery carrier had apparently placed the boxed items over the truck's main heater and a dead rosebush and box of melted chocolates were delivered.

Needless to say, not just valentines day turned out to be cold.[/QUOTE]

That is truly sad and of almost Hollywood romantic farce proportions. Hard to make lemonade from those lemons.

The package is almost here
 

[code]
GARDENA,
CA, US 06/27/2008 5:54 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
GARDENA,
CA, US 06/26/2008 10:41 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
VERNON,
CA, US 06/26/2008 10:10 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
SAN PABLO,
CA, US 06/23/2008 11:13 A.M. DELIVERY
06/23/2008 5:33 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
[/code]
A bit melodramatic perhaps, but following this package is well within the Weird Wacky* World of Package Shipping.

* All association with superior forum contributors of similar name, handle, or related nomenclature is incidental and no additional relationship expressed or inferred is intended. Not available in any store. Your mileage may vary.

Strange, Wacky and Wierd
 

[QUOTE=only_human;136763]Weird Wacky* World[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the footnote disclaimer.

Your title reminds me of a time when I worked for Tracor (which became a part of BAE Systems) in Austin, Texas.

One of my associates was a gentleman whose name was Carl Strange.
We were working on a project called "WIERD".

[QUOTE=Wacky;136771]Thanks for the footnote disclaimer.

Your title reminds me of a time when I worked for Tracor (which became a part of BAE Systems) in Austin, Texas.

One of my associates was a gentleman whose name was Carl Strange.
We were working on a project called "WIERD".[/QUOTE]

When I was an undergrad our dorm (Currier House) received a package
addressed to Professor Lehman Hall, in c/o our dormitory.

There was no Professor Lehman Hall. Lehman Hall was a building.
It contained a cafeteria, study carels, etc. and was the main domecile
for students who lived off-campus [of which there were very few].

Also, IIRC, Lehman Hall was also the name of a West-Point/Army
halfback. When we played Army there were quite a few jokes made
about this.

I ship literally hundreds of packages of plants each year. Because of the volume and because I carefully track packages that go awry, I have been able to significantly reduce the error rate. Here are the things I have done.

1. I don't use UPS except at customer insistence. They are the most unreliable carrier when it comes to handling perishables. I have not had problems with them handling non-perishables. When I used UPS a few years ago, I regularly had to re-ship packages that had been mis-delivered or had internal damage from rough handling. The performance was unacceptable.

2. I ship via either Fedex or USPS Priority Mail. Either one works about the same except for deliveries to the west coast and to Maine. Fedex is marginally better at delveries to those areas.

3. One of the biggest failures I had last year was from boxes being left out in direct sun at the destination or perhaps on loading docks along the way. I traced this down to the absorption of sunlight by standard cardboard boxes. The heat will turn a box of healthy tomato plants into crispy sticks in about an hour. After a lot of thought, I converted to using white boxes for all shipments this year. The results were dramatic. Last year I had over 30 packages of plants with heat damage. This year there were only 2. Total cost was 25 cents per box additional, or $125 for the year. Total savings was at least 25 packages with average value about $50. That was a good rate of return in my book.

DarJones

Most of my relatives are Austrian, so on more than one occasion we've had letters/packages intended for a person there arrive months later, after having taken a side tour, "sightseeing in Australia."

So now we always make sure to have the address read

Austria / [b][size=+5]EUROPE[/size][/b]

[QUOTE=ewmayer;137002]Most of my relatives are Austrian, so on more than one occasion we've had letters/packages intended for a person there arrive months later, after having taken a side tour, "sightseeing in Australia."[/QUOTE]Which service was the offender?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;137002]Reason: Not that I have anything against Wombats, Wallabees and Foster's-swilling wankers, mind you.[/QUOTE]Do you know why they name their beer XXXX?

[spoiler]They can't spell P-I-S-S[/spoiler]

For some reason, you don't seem to be able to spell "Wallabies". Been on the Bud Light again, have you?


Paul

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;137006]Which service was the offender?[/QUOTE]

USPS.

[QUOTE=xilman;137038]For some reason, you don't seem to be able to spell "Wallabies". Been on the Bud Light again, have you?[/QUOTE]

Godforbid I should ever be found ingesting that kind of - I'll use one of my Dad's pet phrases about mass-market American beers - "Winklepiss".

But regarding the bees/bies mixup, I admit I may have been hitting the pollen and nectar a bit much of late. [I'll spare you the obligatory "pistil-packing cowbee" joke - I wouldn't want to strain anyone's stamen-a via overuse of apiary humor.]

According to DHL's website, they can ship packages at approximately 6000km/h.
[CODE]Tracking history...
Date and time Status Location Service Area
7/16/2008 6:04 am Depart Facility San Francisco Gateway, CA
5:01 am Arrived at DHL facility. Fullerton, CA
3:53 am Depart Facility Riverside County Regional Hub, CA
3:47 am Transit through DHL facility San Francisco Gateway, CA
1:58 am Processed at DHL Location. Riverside County Regional Hub, CA
7/15/2008 10:30 pm Transit through DHL facility Riverside County Regional Hub, CA [/CODE]

[QUOTE=ewmayer;137121]I'll use one of my Dad's pet phrases about mass-market American beers - "Winklepiss"[/QUOTE]

Now, Belgian Beer :)