Never Gone

I got back home a couple of days ago after a 10-day trip and was hit by a huge pile of mess that some incompetent translator left for a friend of mine to deal with.  So, after unpacking/retrieving the mail at the post office/picking up books from library/grocery-shopping/cooking supper/updating finances, I crashed for the night and went straight to work on the mess all day yesterday.

While working, I thought I'd let the friend know that I'd take care of the crisis.  So I got on MSN and tagged on a little personal message there.

A while later, I got a message from Viv, a dear friend that I still haven't had a chance to meet in person.  We exchanged our usual spiel and went on working our own stuff, me deciphering all the questions the other translator couldn't hack, her off to ironing!  (Don't laugh.  Ironing is seriously time-consuming and if you know Viv you'd be hard-pressed to find her spending time at home ironing.)

After cleaning up the mess, I sent if off and started getting ready to take S to Ice Cream Social at her school.  Visited with other parents and some teachers and left past 7:30.  Had supper close to 8pm.

Today I finally felt up to doing the laundry and catching up on my online reading.  I went to Viv's blog and found that she'd come out of hibernation.

My dear friend, you were never gone.  :)

As always, I'm eager to see what you'll be writing about.  You know you've got quite a reader base and we'll all be craning our necks for the latest.  ;-)

What's Science Got To Do With It?

After having wrangled the State Report for the last two months and finally finishing it last week, S is now going to work on a Science project, due in a month.

The Science Fair is a brand new thing for S's school. Apparently they never had this for 5th graders before. Mrs. P, S's 5th grade teacher, has a daughter who went to a different elementary school in the same district and had to do a science project in 5th grade. So when Mrs. P came to S's school to teach, she was shocked that we didn't have a Science Fair and immediately initiated to set one up.

That's all nice and well. Except that after the gruelling two months dealing with the State Report, we could sure use a breather. Unfortunately, there's simply not enough time for that before school gets wrapped up for the year. So we're forced to take this science project head-on.

That's still okay with us. I mean, both S's dad and I each hold a degree in science and we're clear-thinking and logical persons. It should be easy to come up with a good topic for S to sink her teeth into.

In fact, we gave her lots of good ideas. Mine was tweaking an paper airplane called "the Master" and finding the optimun design to achieve the best flight. Aerodynamics. Pretty cool, huh?

S even joked that she could do some kind of shooting experiment with her dad to test the ammo at the shooting range. Sounds like a lot of fun, I said, except that I don't think R's parents would approve.

Yep, the project doesn't have to be done solo. So S has decided to go into this with her friend R. R's parents are liberal-minded and very much into homeopathy and alternative medicine that kind of stuff. And the funny thing is, R's mom has pointed out more than once that she's got a master's degree in Bioscience. So it never ceases to amaze me just how deluded she is whenever the topic of "treatment" comes up in our conversation.

Long story short. Yesterday evening, R rang S up to talk about what they'd do for the project. Sitting at the diningroom table, we could hear S talk about birds and bird food, and what bird would like what kind of bird food. In other words, completely unrelated to what we'd discussed half an hour ago.

I said to M, "I can already tell that's a bad idea." M agreed.

After S hung up, we asked her if they'd come up with a topic for their project. "Yeah!" S enthused, "We're going to put out different kinds of bird food and see which attracts bluejays the most."

Yeah right, as if they could just sit by the window all day for days to observe bird activities.

Honestly, how can they even make it work? The project is destined to fail, because A) They need to go to school and don't have the time to do the observation themselves; B) In order to make this experiment work, they'd need a motion-activated camera to record all the activities surrounding the bird food. And of course they don't have such equipment for it.

Gently, we explained to S why this wouldn't work. She listened half-heartedly but agreed that they needed to come up with something else.

This morning, I found the Science Fair packet that came home with S in her backpack. It said that the sign-up form is due tomorrow.

"You need to make sure R won't go ahead and turn in the sign-up form." I told S.

With an uncomprehending look on her face, S asked, "Why is it again that the bird thing won't work?"

GRRRGGHH!!!

I'm just glad that I didn't have to walk her to school and that M was the one explaining to her yet again why that "project" of R's simply wouldn't work.

Around noon, M called home to touch base.

"Did I tell you that I had the pleasure of telling R's mom why their project wasn't scientific this morning?" he said.

Turns out R's mom was pretty defensive about their brilliant idea. And when M proceeded to refute every "scientific" notion of hers, she got all mad and said in a huff, "Well, guess what S came up with at first?"

"What?" I asked M with mild intrigue.

"She said, 'S wanted to test which bullet can go the farthest!'"

I chuckled and M said, "So I said, "I told S that testing to see which ammo is the most precise is probably a better idea.' After that we pretty much reached school, so I just left her."

"What about S and R? Did S talk R out of it?" I was more interested in that.

"Don't know. All I heard on the way to school was S telling R that it wouldn't work."

Well, imagine my surprise when I picked S up after school today!

Asked if they'd decided on what to do with the project, S said, "It's not which food will get the most jays. It'll be which food gets the least jays."

Wel, what difference does it make? No matter how they spin it, the approach would have to be the same. And that means they don't have to the means to do the observations!

But S simply couldn't see it. And she's supposed to be bright and smart and all that! Gosh I can't stand it!

Not Sure I Like This Change

It's been a while since I updated anything here. It's pathetic, I know. But that's just how things are these days...

Anyways, I had no idea that Google was in cahoots with Blogger! So I thought I'd give this new thing a try and see if there are more templates to choose from. Because honestly, when was the last time anyone saw any new templates around here?

No such luck, I guess. Now I'm wondering if I should just switch back to the old Blogger setting, since otherwise I'd have to remember a whole new set of password, log-in name, etc. With my limited memory capacity, I don't think I'll even remember if I made the switch or not. Ah, so I'll try to switch back and see if it's a go. If not, I'll come up here and let myself know.

After looking into it a bit, it seems to me that I CAN'T switch back to the old Blogger. That's a bugger! Now I'll have to memorize the whole new set of stuff. UGH! Perhaps next time when something similar occurs, I'll have the presence of mind to use the same set of variables?

PostalAnnex+ In Tualatin? There Are Better Choices!

The tracking record shown is my "overnight delivery," handled by the PostalAnnex+ store in Tualatin, Oregon. So far, none of the recepients of this letter has responded to my complaint.

Tracking XXXXXXXXXX02 　　　　　Reference (PCS)XXXXX
number
Signed XXXXXXXX　　　　　　　　　Destination XXXXX, TX
for by　　　　　　　　　　　　　Delivered to Residence
Ship dateSep 15, 2006 　　　　　　Service Standard
Delivery Sep 18, 2006 　　　　　　type Overnight
date 11:32 AM 　　　　　　　　　　Weight 1.0 lbs.

　　　　　　　　　　　Status　 Delivered

Date/Time　　　　　Activity 　　　　　　　　　Location
Sep 18, 2006 11:32 AM 　Delivered 　　　　　　　　XXXXX, TX
　　　　　　　7:56 AM 　On FedEx vehicle for delivery　PLANO, TX
Sep 16, 2006 7:29 AM 　At local FedEx facility 　　　　PLANO, TX
　　　　　　　6:50 AM 　At dest sort facility 　　　　　 DALLAS, TX
　　　　　　　4:27 AM 　Departed FedEx location 　　　MEMPHIS, TN
　　　　　　　4:24 AM 　At dest sort facility 　　　　　DALLAS, TX
　　　　　　 12:35 AM Arrived at FedEx location 　　　MEMPHIS, TN
Sep 15, 2006 4:49 PM 　Left origin 　　　　　　　　　　TUALATIN, OR
　　　　　　　4:08 PM 　Picked up 　　　　　　　　　　 TUALATIN, OR
Sep 14, 2006 4:47 PM 　Package data transmitted to FedEx

#################################################

Dear Sirs,

After a frustrating attempt to resolve my complaint with the PostalAnnex+ owner in Tualatin, Oregon, I'm forced to direct the matter to your attention.

Last Thursday (September 14th, 2006) I went to the PostalAnnex+ #193, located at 19210 SW Martinazzi Ave, Tualatin, OR 97062, to send an insured package (declared at $2000) for an overnight delivery. It was to be shipped via FedEx (tracking number XXXXXXXXXX02) and arrive at 3PM on Friday, September 15th.

Friday afternoon I was told by my husband that our friend in Texas didn't get the package. We tracked the package online and found out that it had never even left Tualatin. To find out what happened to our package, I went to the store right away.

I talked to a woman (who, as I found out after my subsequent visit to the store, is the owner Kate LaMare) behind the counter about my package and how it never made it out of Tualatin. She went to the pick-up bin and took out an envelope and said, "So that's what this package is for!" She said that when the driver came to pick up Thursday afternoon, he didn't take this one with him. "But," she declared, "I'll hand-deliver this package to him today when he comes in and make sure your friend gets it tomorrow."

Since the package wasn't delivered as promised, I asked for a discount. Ms. LaMare grudgingly said that she could give me $10 and perhaps ask FedEx to reimburse her later. I think it's fair to say that many people in my situation would ask for a full refund already. However, I wanted to give them a chance to remedy the mistake and I believed her when she said that my friend would get the package on Saturday. Besides, I didn't want to hold up other customers there or make a big scene and cost the store any business.

Monday morning my husband called me from work. The package never showed Saturday. In fact, our friend still hadn't received the package when my husband called me. He suggested that I go to the store to ask for a full refund this time. Before I left home around 10AM, I went online to track the package and print out the record (see below). By then the package had been delivered, at 11:32AM in Texas, on Monday, September 18.

It was well before 10:30AM when I got to the store. I waited until the customer there left the counter (and was well outside of earshot) to approach the clerk. "I'm sorry to bother you," I said, and I began to tell him about my "overnight delivery." Upon hearing that a woman told me that she'd make sure my friend would get the package on Saturday, the clerk said, "That's not right. This person should know better, because FedEx doesn't deliver on Saturdays."

When I asked about a possible refund, the clerk told me that he's not authorized to issue any refunds; only the manager can do that. And in their store's case, the manager herself is the owner. I asked when she'd come in, to which he replied, "She was supposed to come in about half an hour ago. But," he chuckled, "she kind of makes her own hours. I'm sure she'll be here any minute, though." He asked me to give him my phone number and assured me that he'd ask the owner to give me a call as soon as she came in. After leaving him with both my home number and cell phone number, I left the store around 10:35AM and went to the Fred Meyer store in the same building to get some groceries.

Thirty minutes later, after coming out of Fred Meyer, I loaded the groceries into my car and decided to take a quick look to see if the Postal Annex owner was in. As I walked in, I saw the person who said she would make sure my friend get the package Saturday chatting with the clerk. (Ms. LaMare didn't say anything like she was just about to give me a call. In fact, neither my home phone nor my cell phone had rung during the whole time I was grocery-shopping - so she was there, but chose not to return my call.) I showed her the tracking record that I'd printed out, but Ms. LaMare didn't even look at it, and she didn't want to hear about a refund. "I hand-delivered the package to the driver Friday like I said I would, but if he didn't earmark it for Saturday delivery, there's nothing I can do."

I asked why didn't the driver earmark it? Her reply was "Because Saturday delivery would cost extra." I told her that when she said my friend would get the package Saturday, I believed her. If FedEx messed up and it costs extra for Saturday delivery, she should've made sure that they would earmark the package, absorb the cost and deliver it on Saturday. I paid a lot of money to insure a package and have it delivered overnight, but it got to my friend 3 days later than intended. That's not what I paid for. I don't know who made the mistake and messed it up, but shouldn't the customer get compensated for this?

Ms. LaMare didn't like what I had to say. She thought that the $10 discount was compensation enough. She repeatedly told me that she didn't do anything wrong, that I couldn't ask her to change the past, that I didn't need to tell her how to run her business, and that there was nothing she could do as long as the package was delivered and not lost (i.e. misplaced package = recourse; late delivery = too bad for the customer?). I told her I wasn't asking her to change the past or telling her how to run a business, but saying that as long as the package was delivered there was nothing she could do was just not right. She could have given me a refund and told FedEx that they messed up and she had to refund her unhappy customer, and that they should reimburse her for this. But Ms. LaMare was not interested in giving me anything, not an apology, not a cent. And when I told Ms. LaMare her unwillingness to resolve the situation with me would force me to tell our friends not to do business with her store, she only said, "That's too bad."

Trying to show her another perspective, I offered this scenario: "Suppose I came in on a Thursday afternoon and said I wanted to ship this package so my friend could get it Monday close to noon. What would the rate have been?" Ms. LaMare's reply? "There would've been only about 7 dollars' difference in the rates. So actually you made some money with the discount that I gave you." The condescension was so blatantly pronounced on her face and in her voice that I was prompted to say, "And I should be so grateful," to which Ms. LaMare said she didn't need the sarcasm and asked me to leave.

I am baffled by Ms. LaMare's lack of goodwill to work with me. I gave her store a second chance to rectify the mistake, and was never accusatory or aggressive when I talked to her. I can understand that she wanted to have a good working relationship with her driver and FedEx, but that doesn't mean doing it at her customer's expense. Both PostalAnnex+ and FedEx are businesses based on timely delivery and customer satisfaction. When an unfortunate mistake as gross as this happens, one would think that these companies would do everything within their power to do right by their customers. I didn't do anything wrong, and yet my friend and I were failed twice for this transaction. But not only were we denied a full refund, there was also never a hint of apology from the owner of the store where this mistake took place.

Going to PostalAnnex+ was supposed to make our lives easier. I'm sad to say that in my experience with the Tualatin store, it has been anything but. It cost me a lot more time and energy than I ever wanted to. As a consumer, all I can do is not take my business to Ms. LaMare's stores and encourage my friends to do the same. I'm not going to fault PostalAnnex+ in its entirety for this, because I've certainly encountered friendly PostalAnnex+ stores before. But I feel sorry for PostalAnnex+ to have Ms. LaMare as a franchisee.

Thanks for listening. I hope you can make it right.