Ai Caramba.

[caddyman]

On Sunday night (actually it was Monday morning. Early.) I decided to order the complete Frasier on DVD from Amazon. All 11 seasons. I have wanted it for some time, but it has been far too expensive, but then Furtle noticed that on Amazon at least, it has been discounted to about 40% of its RRP. It was still a fair outlay for something essentially frivolous, but after some protracted humming and hawing I decided "what the Hell" and ordered it.

This is how we lead up to the 'is it me?' moment that I am now suffering from.

Amazon notified me on Monday evening that the DVDs had been despatched late Monday afternoon by first class post. Estimated delivery was for today or tomorrow. As it turns out they arrived yesterday lunchtime and, of course, there was no one in to take delivery. Now, had they been sent first class as advertised, the package would have ended up in the local sorting office around the corner and I could have picked it up this morning. But no. It turns out that Amazon, bless 'em, passed delivery to a company called City Link who took it away with them and left a card for redelivery.

So I am sitting here at home wondering what time they will arrive and preparing to get to work very late indeed (though I warned my boss yesterday and emailed myself some correspondence to be getting on with). I had hope that although the package had started out in Lanarkshire and got to London by just before midday yesterday, it would arrive rather earlier today having been stored over night in City Link's local distribution hub in Cricklewood, about 5 miles away.

A quick check on Amazon's website to track the parcel tells me it is back out for delivery as of 7.25 this morning. Scanned in Lanarkshire. They've taken it back to Scotland. In two days this bloody package will have covered the length and breadth of the country. Twice.

How's that for a carbon footprint?

Comments

[phil99.livejournal.com]

ooo I'm forever tempted by those box sets. I've got S1&2 but could never bring myself to pony up for the complete set. The amount of money just makes my head spin :)

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

It was less than half price or I would never have been able to bring myself to purchase it either.

And it's just arrived, so I guess I better put a shirt on and go to work. Maybe it didn't go back to Lanarkshire after all...

[fen-wolfchile.livejournal.com]

It's you, you who is killing the environment :)

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Killing it, no. I am merely punishing it...

[nyarbaggytep.livejournal.com]

Ahh, shitty link, the single biggest argument against privatising the royal mail to "make it more efficient"

[nyarbaggytep.livejournal.com]

For sure, but I think shitty link have it by a nose.

At least parcel farce generally just lose your parcel altogether. Shitty link can spread the anguish for days, as your parcel becomes Shrodinger's Parcel.

[mr-h-r-hughes.livejournal.com]

Amen sister, and UK mail aren't much better. But then I find Parcel Force excellent...and anyway at least if they can't get you they leave it at your local (in my case a 10 min walk away) Post Office unlike City Link who take it back to some depot which in our case is a 70 mile round trip away.

[mr-h-r-hughes.livejournal.com]

We order a lot and generally avoid where possible companies that don't use Parcel Force/the Royal Mail, we've never had so much as a single problem with PF, I think they are great - if nothing else they are better than every alternative.

[sack-boy.livejournal.com]

This is the reason why I get stuff delivered here to work - it saves so much hassle with non delivery. Work's OK with it, but now anything which arrives without a work generated order number etc is kept in stores (or the mail room), checked and then we have to toddle down to collect it ourselves.

[ellefurtle.livejournal.com]

Yep same here. My last place didn't let us, but this place is cool with it, so long as you are prepared to go down to the bowels of the building and rummage.

Parcel Farce and City Link both have the power to make you cry with frustration. No we can't change address, no we can't do weekends, no we can't specify delivery even to within 8 hours, coming to our depot 20 miles away shouldn't be a problem - we don't understand this 'don't have a car' business, you must use our automated service EVEN if the number on the card is illegible so you may actually be re-delivering someone else's parcel.

[fencingsculptor.livejournal.com]

I get Amazon and Play.com parcels delivered here to Government Towers.

No one has ever regarded it as a problem and I've never seen any advice officially or unofficially to suggest that it isn't permissible.

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

The postal service in this country is rega\rded by most as the best in the world.... This makes me wonder just how bad the rest of the world is. I know it takes two days to get a letter to USA and then it can take three weeks to deliver it within the USA and if it is an odd shape or even just book-shaped it can take longer.

We moan because we don't realise how lucky we are and we should resist all efforts to privatise the Royal Mail

[fen-wolfchile.livejournal.com]

But just imagine how much more efficient it could be under private ownership, just look at the railways...

Just don't look to hard :)

[ladkyis.livejournal.com]

HAHahahahahahahahahahahahaha! They were nationalised in the first place because they were not running efficiently and/or making money for the government. Now they have been sold off to make money and will probably be nationalised again when some socialist party gets big enough and powerful enough to win an election - this present lot are just the Tony blair leftovers party

[kathbad]

Oooh, a man after my own heart.

David Hyde Pearce FTW!