Jaybird180
Final Approach
Linking to this thread for reference
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=564
Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary with the reception that we never had. Everything turned out beautifully. EXCEPT......
We had the same jeweler linked above make new rings for us. Here's a little background:
My wife wears her engagement ring daily (mostly, about 99.99% of the time) and we both wear a simple white-gold band with an inscription also made by the same jeweler. We agreed, when we married that at our reception at year 5 there would be bling for me
. Now, she wants to be able to not wear the engagement ring and put it away for heirloom purposes (custom made- 5 figure value in diamonds and metallurgy, even without the creativity). So we agreed to replace her band as well with a nice band with diamonds too. We did some looking online, catalog surfing, jewelry store glass fogging, all for looking for inspiration. When we finally had it, we gave him the descriptions of what we wanted and made it clear that we needed it by Saturday 10/11/2014. I made the same family discount agreement and payment plan (very favorable) and sent the check at 50% so he could begin making them.
I called every Wednesday checking progress and he assured me that he's coming along. On the call on the 8th, I thought he'd say that he's done, but he wasn't and I was concerned. He called the next day and had gotten into work late and was going to next day ship them about midday on Thursday. I'm thinking, fine, will arrive on Friday.
He called Thursday evening to report that it's enroute via USPS and he will get the tracking number for me tomorrow morning. He didn't take pictures either
. I am getting a significant "hook up" and he's always been reliable so, I am comfortable based on his track record to keep my stress in check.
Friday he calls with the tracking number and the USPS website says 2 DAY DELIVERY (WTF???). I talked to the lady at the post office at my office and she explains that sometimes next day isn't possible due to location, I do live in a rural area so it makes sense. She shows me a printout of their internal system and I note the address is correct and note the insured value is $50 dollars.
Still in control of my stress and disappointment that there is no way to intercept, speed up or exert influence over the situation, I brood over my plan to call my local post office at strategic early Saturday morning hours to get hold if the right person to help.
Saturday morning, they're not happy with my calls, clearly they were not feeling my intention, they just wanted to do their thing. I'll get it when I get it. I was greatly concerned about the carrier doing a Ninja drive by and not being able to leave the carats without hand delivery, signatures, etc.
Throw in that we had a charity event for my daughters school that morning, the house was going to be empty. So we hatched this plan: while I went to the event with the children, my wife went to the post office. They could not find the package.
We were now at the mercy of fate. Maybe it's with the letter carrier, maybe if he comes he'll put it in the mailbox. Maybe maybe maybe....
We came home from the event, no mailman (good) we scoped out, listening ears perked all day. Were waiting for relatives. No mailman.
Time for me to head to my moms to change and get to the venue, no mailman - he's REALLY late today.
I got to moms, checked my email and viola! The mailman arrived, except the tracking said "UNDELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED". What the hell does that mean!
Somehow he snuck in just like a Ninja, left junk mail in the box and scurried off with our package. My wife tried to no avail to find him in the neighborhood. She went to the post office, with unanswered pleas for someone to answer the door. She could hear them milling about in our small town post office.
Remember the $50 insured value
I am really worried. Is the package lost? If it is, then what? It's only insured for $50 if that's the case, how in the world do we have the discussion with the jeweler, a friend of the family about replacement?
One thing is for certain: this has revealed a need for us to make friends with our postal workers. Perhaps they will be a bit more helpful in the future - hey had ZERO empathy this time.
http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=564
Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary with the reception that we never had. Everything turned out beautifully. EXCEPT......
We had the same jeweler linked above make new rings for us. Here's a little background:
My wife wears her engagement ring daily (mostly, about 99.99% of the time) and we both wear a simple white-gold band with an inscription also made by the same jeweler. We agreed, when we married that at our reception at year 5 there would be bling for me
. Now, she wants to be able to not wear the engagement ring and put it away for heirloom purposes (custom made- 5 figure value in diamonds and metallurgy, even without the creativity). So we agreed to replace her band as well with a nice band with diamonds too. We did some looking online, catalog surfing, jewelry store glass fogging, all for looking for inspiration. When we finally had it, we gave him the descriptions of what we wanted and made it clear that we needed it by Saturday 10/11/2014. I made the same family discount agreement and payment plan (very favorable) and sent the check at 50% so he could begin making them.I called every Wednesday checking progress and he assured me that he's coming along. On the call on the 8th, I thought he'd say that he's done, but he wasn't and I was concerned. He called the next day and had gotten into work late and was going to next day ship them about midday on Thursday. I'm thinking, fine, will arrive on Friday.
He called Thursday evening to report that it's enroute via USPS and he will get the tracking number for me tomorrow morning. He didn't take pictures either
. I am getting a significant "hook up" and he's always been reliable so, I am comfortable based on his track record to keep my stress in check.Friday he calls with the tracking number and the USPS website says 2 DAY DELIVERY (WTF???). I talked to the lady at the post office at my office and she explains that sometimes next day isn't possible due to location, I do live in a rural area so it makes sense. She shows me a printout of their internal system and I note the address is correct and note the insured value is $50 dollars.
Still in control of my stress and disappointment that there is no way to intercept, speed up or exert influence over the situation, I brood over my plan to call my local post office at strategic early Saturday morning hours to get hold if the right person to help.
Saturday morning, they're not happy with my calls, clearly they were not feeling my intention, they just wanted to do their thing. I'll get it when I get it. I was greatly concerned about the carrier doing a Ninja drive by and not being able to leave the carats without hand delivery, signatures, etc.
Throw in that we had a charity event for my daughters school that morning, the house was going to be empty. So we hatched this plan: while I went to the event with the children, my wife went to the post office. They could not find the package.
We were now at the mercy of fate. Maybe it's with the letter carrier, maybe if he comes he'll put it in the mailbox. Maybe maybe maybe....We came home from the event, no mailman (good) we scoped out, listening ears perked all day. Were waiting for relatives. No mailman.
Time for me to head to my moms to change and get to the venue, no mailman - he's REALLY late today.
I got to moms, checked my email and viola! The mailman arrived, except the tracking said "UNDELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED". What the hell does that mean!
Somehow he snuck in just like a Ninja, left junk mail in the box and scurried off with our package. My wife tried to no avail to find him in the neighborhood. She went to the post office, with unanswered pleas for someone to answer the door. She could hear them milling about in our small town post office.
Remember the $50 insured value
I am really worried. Is the package lost? If it is, then what? It's only insured for $50
if that's the case, how in the world do we have the discussion with the jeweler, a friend of the family about replacement? One thing is for certain: this has revealed a need for us to make friends with our postal workers. Perhaps they will be a bit more helpful in the future - hey had ZERO empathy this time.
.
(the bouncing smilie is sarcastic)
