Thank goodness it's all over!

After 3 weeks of waiting for 4 packages, I FINALLY have all of them in my hands...muahaha (sorry, evil laugh doesn't really go there, but the phrase "in my hands" seemed to beg for it).

Because I have a week's worth of work to do this weekend, but feel the need to procrastinate right now, I will share my love/hate relationship of the mail carriers/couriers with you:

1. My toilets: My toilet broke at the beginning of February. Unfortunately for me, I reside in a very old condo building that does not have your regular 21st century plumbing. So my toilet is not a regular toilet that I can go to Home Depot to replace (don't worry, it's not some freak alien toilet, just that the plumbing goes through the wall instead of the floor). Home Depot doesn't carry them in Toronto due to this city's goal to make everything and anything eco-friendly. Home Depot offered to special order one for me, but don't be fooled by their nice offer. They wanted $973 before taxes to get my special toilet. So after scouring online to find a better deal, I finally found it for half the price (even with shipping, taxes, and duties) on the US website faucetdirect.com. LIFESAVERS! So I ordered it and prepared to wait while the slow border customs people took their time. (Note: don't be grossed out by the length of time I had to wait for my toilet...we are fortunate enough to have 1 1/2 baths, so we still had a functioning toilet during this time.) After neurotically checking the courier's website to track my package, it finally told me it was in Toronto and that an appointment was required. So I called them up to make my appointment. And subsequently had to leave a message. That was Tuesday morning. I didn't hear back from them all day Tuesday and being the impatient person I am, I called them up again on Wednesday morning, pointing out that I had called the day before and left a message but no one had called me back. This is what I was told: Well, I can't do anything but transfer you to the appointment clerk. It has only been one day and it was just a long weekend. I'm sorry, but when did long weekends extend into Tuesday? Fortunately for you, I wasn't forced to leave another message and continue this rant because someone picked up the line after I was transferred. However, my joy was short-lived. After telling me they could come the following day, he then shocked me more than a courier company has every shocked me before: Will you have someone there with you? Why? I asked. Because we are only authorized to hand it off (at this point, he didn't say "hand it off" but used some fancy courier term I don't know and still don't know because he kept saying it and I kept saying, HUH?). After going back and forth like this for a few minutes, he finally explained, We are not authorized (read: paid) to deliver it to your door, just to hand it to you off the truck (not even lowering it from the truck on a fancy machine or old-school ramp. Me: But, but, but...but my building isn't that old! We have an elevator. There are no stairs. The shipper's website only said that I had to worry if there were more than 5 steps. I don't understand. Doesn't shipping it to me mean that it will be shipped to my door? We went on and on for 10 minutes or so and finally he said he would call the shipper to see if they would authorize taking it up to my condo. I asked him to call and let me know what they decided. He said he would only call if there was a problem. So I had to leave it at that and never heard back from him. So after getting back from work at 8:30 that night, I decided that they were indeed coming the next day and prepared to wait around all day for my package. Lucky for me, the guy arrived at 9:26 am, less than half an hour into my wait time! Unlucky for me, my super was PISSED. Why didn't you book the elevator? (Because they're just 2 toilets...not some massive piano that can't fit easily into the elevator. Because I didn't have to book it for my dishwasher and last time I checked, my dishwasher is bigger than my toilet. I could go on, but he was already rudely walking away.) Where are your renovation papers? (Well, the lovely C in my management office told me that it wasn't necessary because it wasn't really a renovation, but rather a necessary repair.) Ending on a good note though, he went to complain to the lovely C, who told him off (and we then scheduled my old toilet pickup for his day off to avoid more crabbiness from him). And another good note, the delivery guy was SUPER nice, delivering it where I wanted in my condo, waiting while I opened the boxes to check that all was okay before signing for it. My only question now is: why did they have to make the process such an ordeal?

2. B-day love from the family: So my family sent me a package for my birthday (Rare Minerals face care! TO DIE FOR!! <3 you guys). Since my birthday was the day after the long weekend (family day, none the less), I didn't get my package until afterwards. And I missed the delivery while at work. So I went to go pick it up the next day. And after waiting in line to get it behind the woman who wanted to get a moneygram but in a currency not available (apparently, she didn't understand this, but I heard the clerk say it clearly 4 times), and the man buying a box but stopping to ask in broken English if it was okay if he put the address on 3 different sides of the box (which astoundingly took 5 whole minutes), I was relieved I could finally get my package. But no, the woman behind the counter decided that the woman at the lotto checkout had been there first until I shoved my notice in her face and said CAN I PLEASE GET MY PACKAGE ALREADY? She tried telling me the woman at the lotto checkout was there first. Oh no, I said, actually I was here first (there were only those 2 idiots before me when I walked in), so I shoved my notice at her again and she had my package to me in less than 1 minute. Was that so difficult? Why don't we learn to prioritize? Don't you know that picking something up takes a lot less time than any purchase transaction? Get rid of me quickly and without stupidity when you have a huge line of people in your store.

3. Dell: Man, I hate these guys. My laptop power cord broke around the same time as my toilet (I know, great start to 2010). So I went online to get a replacement but couldn't. So I called them to get one. The guy took FOREVER taking my order, but I gave him the model number and the serial number of the computer and he told me it would be here in 3-5 days. So later that week I get a call from Purolator telling me a package for wdfoinasflnkv (that is not my name) had a package and would be available for pickup until a certain date. So I decided to ignore it, but when I was curious about when my package was coming, I went on the Dell website. Now, I had not been given a tracking number, but I had been given a customer and order number. So I thought, maybe I can look it up online, but the guy had not set up an online account for me. So I set one up. And it let me link my customer number and order number to my account. Where I saw my package tracking number. So I looked it up and saw that it was the package Purolator had called me about. So I went to pick it up (in the other end of the city of course), got home, excited to have power once again only to discover that they had sent me the wrong type of cord. After arguing with them on the phone about getting me a new cord ASAP (my post is getting too long for me to get into details), I finally sat down to wait for my new package. My order was listed on my account online, but I couldn't see a tracking number, just Information Unavailable - In Transit. So then I got a call the morning I was waiting for my toilets. They would come the next day to re-deliver it or it would get sent back (apparently, they said I should have gotten a call like last time, but I didn't this time). So I sat to wait all day for this package. Around 3:30, I once again got impatient and called Dell to get the tracking number so that I could call Purolator to find out where it was. Well well, lo and behold, they had already "been here" at 11 am and had left. I called and pleaded and must have sounded like a maniac because I did not want to have it sent back and start this all over again. They promised to contact the driver and call me back. Not just 1 person, but 2 people called me back and said the driver would return if I could wait until 5:30. I needed that cord, so I said sure. The guy did indeed return with my package. So now I have my power cord working and all is right in my world again.

Please note, I normally am not this neurotic and crazy, but I went through a period of mishaps with couriers in 2008 when my wedding registry was being delivered in pieces, and this brought forth many of those bad memories.

No more online orders for quite some time. I'm sick of wasting my time waiting for the mailman...

starting with a rave

As I sit down to finally enter the world of blogging, I decided it would be best to start off with a positive note. I apologize in advance for the caveman-like formatting (I am completely blog-illiterate). Seeing as I don't know anyone who will read my blog, maybe it won't matter...

In 2010, my favorite things so far are:
1. Container Store's cereal to-go containers = ingenious! Instead of carrying around 2 containers + a spoon, it's now all compacted into 1 container that fits in my cup holder.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/foodontheGo/foodContainers?productId=10022692

2. Pedicures where the pedicure chair gives you a massage. 'Nuff said.

3. The Bay department store: because they care about their existing customers. N's jacket broke 2 months after we bought it (not ideal when it's winter in Canada). The clothing company refused to answer my e-mails and calls, but after 3 weeks of non-response, I stopped by the Bay on a whim and asked if they could do anything about it. The Bay is fixing the jacket for us. They actually care about their customers. That made my day :)