DirectTV-0, FedEx-1
Woman in the Middle | November 19, 2012Nothing is more exciting than the Fed Ex Driver dropping off a package at your door, especially at this time of year, right? Well, last week I discovered that is not always the case.
On Thursday evening the door bell rang about 5:30 p.m. and I heard a clunk and running footsteps. The dog and I ran to the door and we both went outside to see what was happening. Just then the Fed Ex truck drove away from in front of my house. I looked down and saw a good-sized package. I assumed Hubby ordered something. I picked up the package and dragged it inside. Being the nosy wife that I am I inspected the return address. Direct TV? We don’t have Direct TV! Then I looked at the shipping address. It was addressed to the previous owner of our house! For the purposes of this post I will call him “John Smith.”
I decided to ignore the package that evening and deal with it Friday. Friday afternoon I inspected the package again. It said it was a reconditioned tuner. You would have thought that Direct TV would have confirmed the address before sending out said tuner. You would have thought John Smith would have confirmed the address for the delivery. You would think after us owning this house for two years and 8 months this would no longer be an issue. Guess not to all three things!!
Since the tuner was shipped to Mr. Smith from Direct TV I decided to call them. Mistake No. 1! I went online and called the only number I could find, which was their customer service number. They are really not set up to deal with someone who does not want service and doesn’t presently have service. I just kept saying “no” every time they asked me an automated question until I finally got connected to a real person. Then the real person had no more gotten “How Can I help you?” out of her mouth when we were disconnected. I got a few choice words out of my mouth and called the toll-free number again. Again I played a coy game of cat and mouse with the automated voice until I punched the wrong button, and was told I made an invalid entry and was instructed to call the 800 number again. Yeah, no. I changed tactics at that point. I called Fed Ex.
Fed Ex had an automated system as well but it was willing to send me to a real person a lot sooner than Direct TV. I explained what happened and the young man with a southern accent (southern U.S., not southern India) took care of the problem right away. Because I was calling in the late afternoon they couldn’t get it that day and so I was told it would bes whisked away the following day, which happened to be Saturday. Thank you Fed Ex!
A little while later Hubby came in carrying a padded manila envelope. I couldn’t believe it but Fed Ex had managed to deliver ANOTHER item from Direct TV to Mr. Smith and this time I didn’t even know it! I dragged everything out on the porch, happy knowing it would all disappear the next day. Except it didn’t! Hubby deals with Fed Ex quite a bit at his business and he informed me that they usually don’t do Saturday pick ups and deliveries. So the nice young man had given me incorrect information. Sigh! I am really hoping that Fed Ex picks it all up today sometime. I am hoping they take both the box and the envelope. Otherwise I don’t know what I am going to do with the reconditioned tuner and the mystery item in the envelope. They don’t look holiday festive on my porch, either!
As for Direct TV, I have no plans to get their service any time soon. They can’t even deliver a package to the right address. As for their customer service I wouldn’t know, since they hung up on me twice! Fed Ex wasn’t perfect either but they weren’t all bad. I may feel differently if they never pick up those packages!
Makes one wonder what would have happened if you had just decided to keep the parcells would Direct TV or Fed Ex ever notice would Mr Smith notice he didn’t get his tuner…………….
You would have thought Mr Smith would have know his own address when he placed the order………………..I hate it when I get a machine when I ring someone but it is what you expect now days honestly if a real person answered first up you would be in shock…………..lol
Well, the continuation of the story is that Fed Ex did not pick up the packages! So they are still sitting on my porch. Sigh!
You have described EXACTLY what my dad has experienced while on the phone with Direct TV!!
I couldn’t believe what I had to put up with!
How frustrating. We used to assume that people did their jobs as thy were trained to do.
BUT you’d be wrong for making such an outrageous assumption.