A Cautionary Tale for the Online Ordering Fraternity (OOF)...
Fri, 07/05/2010 13:51 - eBay.com. I ordered two Vifa XT-25 tweeters
Tue, 11/05/2010 16:12 - Eugene, Oregon. Dispatched by vendor.
Sat, 22/05/2010 07:52 - India. Arrived at Customs.
Mon, 31/05/2010 15:14 - India. Cleared by Customs.
... 12 days of nothing ...
Sat, 12/06/2010 14:30 - Local PO, Mumbai
Wondering why it's been 12 days since customs clearance, and still no delivery, I drop in to my local Post Office. I spot my postman, who says, "You mean the package that was refused 6-7 days ago?" The mater had struck, unwittingly! Apparently, levies were due and my mother told the postman to take it back because I wasn't home. He tried to give her the intimation slip so that the package could be claimed later, but she refused to accept anything in my absence. The postman took it back to the PO and marked it "refused". A few days later, still unclaimed, it's gone, on its way back to sender.
Unspoken rage. Frustation. Exasperation. Gradual calm. Back home, a quick check on the IPS website says the parcel was last scanned at 10:41 this morning and "inserted into outbound bag". Too late to do anything now - it's Saturday evening. When I ask Mom, I realize that this was probably a language issue; she'd meant take it away and bring it back when her son was home, but the postman thought she meant "return it". She hadn't understood what he was trying to explain about claim slips. Then, uncharacteristically, she'd forgotten all about it and never informed me.
She's a bit freaked and very apologetic when I tell her about this, but by now focused on remediation, I say it's no big deal - just some shipping costs and time.
Mon, 14/06/2010 11:30 - Local PO, Mumbai
I decide on one last valiant try at the local Post Office, hoping to stop the parcel before it's dispatched abroad. The quest begins from the top down, thus:
1 - Postmaster: Guarded, minimally communicative, asks me to check with the Asst Postmaster 'J' &/or his PA 'M'
2 - PA: "Returned? It's out of our hands, then. Next step? I dont know." Disgusted with his disinterest, I go downstairs to...
3 - APM: Smiling, he says it's his first day on the job, just transferred in. Obliging but completely clueless, he checks with some other guy. "Maybe it's at Santa Cruz Airport Cargo. 'N' may know something, he handles foreign parcels." So, clamber upstairs to...
4 - 'N': earnestly trots downstairs with me in tow, trying to find contact details for the Foreign Post Office; looks at a list under a glass tabletop, through a couple of people's diaries, finally gets them on the phone. Guy says "Come immediately to the FPO, Ballard Estate, 3rd Floor, see Mr. 'G'. Bring photo ID. May have to write a letter requesting re-delivery"
5 - I zip across the city to the FPO
Mon, 14/06/2010 12:30 - Foreign Post Office, Mumbai
1 - Customer Service, 3rd Floor. I meet 'G', who takes me down to the Dispatch Room, where we meet 'J' (in charge) who says, proudly, "Saturday? It won't be here; we clear immediately nowadays!", this pronouncement cheerily echoed by nearby colleagues. His reluctance to physically confirm this seems to stem from his unfamiliarity with the computerized tracking software. 'G' pipes up, "Lunch time! We'll see at 2pm. Meanwhile, write letter. 'J' will give content." 'J' grumbles and waffles a bit but, gently pressed by me, he snags a lady talking on her mobile nearby, who promptly brings up bag tracking status, says parcel is at Shipping Dispatch Center. 'J' says, "Go to lunch, come back at 2pm". On the way out, we meet 'R', 'G's assistant, who promises to follow up too. "Sit in the Waiting Room on the 1st floor, we'll call you, don't worry."
2 - I amble off to the Irani restaurant opposite for huge glistening artery-clogging chicken cutlets, the smallest item on the lunch menu
3 - Stuffed, I marinate in the waiting room till 14:10. Then, trudge upstairs to 'R', who says 'G' has already gone to the GPO with my (and others') papers. "You'll surely get re-delivery, it was only bagged on Saturday. Can't have gone yet." A restrained relief trickles over me. We shoot the breeze over chai; the glories, tribulations and vicissitudes of government service and the bureaucratic process. He also tells me about how they're migrating from using sea-mail to something called SAL-Mail (Surface/Air-Lift) which does only the longest leg by air and cheapest surface transport for the remaining sectors
4 - 'G' returns with a spring in his step, says, "Sir, your work can never be done! The parcel is in a shipping container and sealed already. I have the ship's vessel number." Sitting down, "I'm so depressed; my mood is ruined! After all that work..." (Yes, that was him saying that, not me.) After comforting him, I get the details of the ship that will take 1 to 2.5 months to gently rock my tweeters all the way back to the US, thank everybody I met, and leave.
5 - And while intermittently kicking myself on the way out, I ponder that, had I checked at the local PO even a day earlier, I could have gotten re-delivery! But on the other hand, everything that could have gone wrong in this situation, did. Was it Fate? We shall see when I re-order, O Moerae!
