Thursday, September 13, 2012

I’m A Big Fan of Efficiency

dhl_shipment

I ordered a phone handset battery for our home.  The order shipped Sept. 7th from the East Coast of the United States.  It arrived two days later in Union City, CA which is the town sharing a common border to my town to its south.  That means, the battery was on September 9th merely 4.5 miles from my house.

Since then, they have sent it to various locations around the Bay Area as you can see above.  The route they have followed has added approximately 40 miles so far and the battery sits in Oakland, which is 15 miles to the North.

I think that if you give an estimated delivery date of 8 days after the item arrives within 5 miles of the ultimate destination, you have to send it around like this to justify the delay.

That’s my theory.  Do you have a better one?  In the meantime, if they had just left it in Union City, I could have simply walked down and picked it up.

5 comments:

  1. I too am a great fan of efficiency. However, we have to make allowances for the laws of the Universe and delivery companies like FedEx. If I weren't laughing this minute I'd be crying at the memory of many a blunder.

    I recently was fined a cool £68.00 for not responding in time. I had never received the damn communication in the first place. On the phone, believe it or not, I am charm personified and I put my case: So, whilst the company saw my point that having delivered to the wrong address I could hardly be blamed, my plea to waive the extra fee fell on stone cold deaf ears. Their reasoning: "Once post leaves us it's not our responsibility any longer." Made me think, not least about customer services. So who, exactly, is responsible for that void, the time in transit, the time between sender sending and addressee not receiving? Let's blame the Bermuda triangle to give us some consolation.

    U

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  2. Maybe the battery was having a last holiday and travelling by the scenic route!

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  3. I bet that the guys were using google map to locate you!

    I would like to share my experience with you about a delivery that I am yet to receive of September issue of the National Geographic. I shall send the thread of mails exchanged by email to you. Fascinating tale.

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  4. What the hey? This is insane, but you already know that. It's possible that some folk have not been taught to be efficient.
    Blessings ~ Maxi

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  5. Maybe the delivery truck ran out of energy and had to borrow your battery - or do they run on rubber bands? Anyhow - maybe it would behoove the shippers to rethink tracking capability. You would be frustrated, but you wouldn't have any idea why !

    Mewhere sympathizes.

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