hapless

So Mark and I went out the door at lunch today and found a note taped to it from the "Sameday Right-O-Way" courier company.

We had both been home all morning with no music or anything going, so we were a bit surprised to have missed the courier.

"What do you think it was?", asks Mark. I told him it might be the hand-held vacuum we ordered with our Visa points. Yeah! We were both pretty happy.

I read the little blurb on the courier note and it said that I could either go get my package at their depot, or for a $10 fee they would re-deliver it. Uh-oh. This is Bridgetown. I suspected that the depot was probably in Greenwood, which is almost a half hour from here. Have I mentioned that the weather forecast for today and tomorrow is "ice pellets"? Yeah, here's the pic:


They weren't joking, either. It's not nice out. Check out those little triangles - someone at the Weather Network is getting creative on us!

ANYWAY, I was a bit surprised that the courier, who may very well have tip-toed onto my back porch, left the note, and ran, was now going to either make me brave the horrible weather and come get whatever the package was, or charge me $10. After one FEEBLE delivery attempt. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

So I called them to discuss, and the abrupt lady from the courier company told me that those were my only options, and that the depot is not a half hour away in Greenwood; it's AN HOUR AWAY in Kentville. So I either drive an hour in ice pellets, or I pay $10.

Ugh!

I asked her who it was from. "It's from us", she says. Uh, what? I asked her what it was. "It's a free reward - it's a gift" she says. What?? I ask her what it is again, and she says "a camera or something probably".

It was all very confusing. I told her that we were an hour from the depot, and that I wasn't paying $10 for a free gift that I hadn't asked for. So she asked if I wanted to send it back and I said whatever. She says "it's your choice, what do you want me to do?" and I said, AGAIN, that I wasn't paying for a free gift that I hadn't asked for.

That phone call thoroughly confused me. Who are these people? Why are they trying to scam me with free gifts? What is going on here?

I looked "Sameday Right-o-Way" up on the Better Business Bureau and didn't find an entry for that company. Drat! I DID find some online forums discussing the company, and it turns out that they're pretty big, and a legitimate courier company.

I was not feeling happy. What if it was my vacuum? I would pay $10 for that. It's a Dyson! DYSONS RULE. I've heard that if you have a pet you need a Dyson, but since the big models are waaay expensive we've never actually owned one. And now, because the courier company is mentally defective, my free hand-held Dyson vacuum might be kept from me!

I decided to call back and hopefully reach an operator who wasn't so abrupt and weird. So I call, and I get a girl with a brain. I told her that we were home but the courier left a note anyway, and that I'd called earlier and had a confusing conversation, and that I just wanted to know who the package was from. She says "it's from a Rewards Program". Aaaaah. That is a much less retarded way to answer my question, thank you operator. I asked her if I'd have to pay $10, and was ready to offer up the argument that we've always heard our door before, and if we don't the dogs do, and I shouldn't be forced to pay because their delivery guy is feeble. I didn't need to say it. She told me that they'd try again tomorrow, and there would be no $10 charge.

Alright, free vacuum! Hopefully!