My Crappy Fedex Experience

I mentioned a while back that Fedex was on my Crappy Company list and that I'd explain why later.  Now that the whole situation is resolved and I'm not as angry as I was before, I thought it would be fun to fill you in.

In early April my in-laws asked if I could find a specific porcelain statue for them on Ebay.  They do not have their own Ebay account and I had done this for them before a few times, so I found the statue they requested and made our bid.  We won the statue and I paid $848 on April 13.

On April 20, we received a Fedex door tag that said that we weren't home and they would try again tomorrow.  I called to explain that we work until 5pm.  The rep said that since it was Fedex Ground, we couldn't schedule a delivery time but we could have the package re-routed.  I agreed and gave them my work address.  After typing all of that into the ticket, the rep paused and then simply said that my address wouldn't work since my name wasn't the one on the package - my husband was the listed recipient.  I asked if I could provide my driver's license to verify the same address, but she said no.  I had to call back with my husband's work address. 

The next day, April 21, we had another door tag on our house.  I called and asked why the package wasn't re-routed to my husband and they said that a signature-required package couldn't be re-routed at all.  I asked why I had spent 45 minutes on the phone the day before if it wasn't possible.  I was then placed on hold.  When the guy finally came back, he apologized that I was misinformed and said they'd stick to their word and re-route the package to my husband.

My husband received the statue the next day, April 22, and dropped it off at his parent's house on his way home.  When his parents opened it, the statue was missing part of its head and hand...they were shattered.  I emailed the Ebay seller and he responded that he'd get the claim number from Fedex since it was insured and I'd need that number to have it shipped back.

I finally received that claim number on April 26 and called Fedex to have the package picked up.  The guy on the other end of the phone walked me through all the info they needed including my in-laws address and then asked me how we were going to pay for the pickup!  I asked why we'd need to pay since the package was insured and they told the seller that they'd pick it up.  He responded that all pickups required payment.  I asked what our free option would be and he gave me an address close to my in-laws home.

On April 27 my in-laws took the package to the address we were given and were told that the Fedex Express office could not take a Fedex Ground package.  My mother in-law asked why the rep gave us this address and she responded that she didn't know.  She then pointed to a phone on the wall and told my MIL to call and ask.  After talking to another guy, my MIL was told that the package would have been picked up for free and asked why we didn't do that!!!  She told them what I was told and they apologized and arranged a pick up time.

The package was finally picked up on April 28 and Fedex still had not refunded the seller's money when I inquired about it on April 29, May 3, and May 4.  Ebay refunded my $848 on May 18 after the seller refused for several weeks - he wanted to wait for his reimbursement even though he still had my cash in his Paypal account.

To summarize, I ordered this stupid statue on April 13 and didn't receive my refund until May 18.  I spent at least 2 hours on the phone with Fedex and another hour on the phone with Ebay.  All of this could have been avoided if Fedex had paid attention to the box that said "This Side Up" or even if they had given a refund faster.  They "misinformed" me about package re-routing policy, the package pickup policy, and even the address for the location they wanted us to go to instead!  I'll never use that Ebay seller again since he took my money hostage, but I also won't be using Fedex voluntarily after all this.  Argh!!!

Have you had any super fun dealings with Fedex?  Would you like to vent too?

Pro Athletes that Wasted it All

I saw this article on Yahoo that made me cringe - people making more than I will ever see in my life and throwing it all away. It makes my stomach hurt.

Here’s a quick run down on how much each of these pro athlete have tossed away:

• Evander Holyfield - $250 million earned and he is now flat broke.
• Lenny Dykstra – he is currently $30 million in debt.
• Latrell Sprewell - $96 million earned and he is now broke.
• John Daly – he gambled away $50 to $60 million dollars.
• Jack Clark – earnings and debt were not listed, but he’s bankrupt after buying luxury cars.
• Mike Tyson – he filed bankruptcy after wasting $350 million to $400 millions dollars.

Does anybody else feel my pain? I could live very happily on 1%- 5% of what these people tossed away like used diapers. Ugh.

Okay, I’m depressed…let’s talk about what we would have done with that kind of money instead. :-)

If we had $250 million, my husband and I would plan out the house of our dreams and pay for it in cash. It wouldn’t be too big since mansions intimidate me, but it would definitely have a big game room. We’d also pay off our cars and sell our current home. I might hire a driving service once in a while since I hate driving, but I don’t think I’d buy a big, expensive car. We’d also have a weekly maid service instead of biweekly and I’d never have to groom the dogs again. My husband would probably pay to have a Curling stadium built for the Houston Curling Club and be in every weekly league. Yes, they’d still have to pay dues for the ice, but probably half of what they pay now - that would be used to cover the utilities. We’d take some vacations and I’d still want to volunteer with dogs and for Meals on Wheels. I’d also still blog.

Hmmm…that would still leave us with about $250 million since all that could be done with the INTEREST ALONE. Argh!!!

What about you? What would you do with $250 million? Do you also want to slap these people upside the head?

Venting about Craigslist Flaggers and Spammers

Thanks to crazy flaggers, it took me two weeks to sell a brand new TV wall mount for $40. It would have usually only taken a day or two. My post was simple and to the point and got flagged off 6 different times in less than an hour. I even asked in subsequent posts to be emailed if there were any problems with my post so I could change it…nope, they just kept flagging it off as quickly as possible. I think it was because my wall mount was new and listed at $50 and everybody else was selling them for $75 or more.

Pure stubbornness kept me reposting until someone called. Hey you, flaggers, you can kiss my a…well, you know!!!

Now I’m having trouble with spammers. I have a couple of things listed right now and have to sift through con-artists and spammers in my email every evening to see if anyone was actually interested. I am reaching the end of my patience. Sadly, Craigslist is the only place I know of that will let me post for free or get someone local to pick up my stuff. These things are too heavy, bulky, and fragile to ship.

Anybody have any ideas? Is there a site that you use besides Ebay or Craigslist?

Venting - Lohan Sues Etrade for $100 Million, What?!

Okay, I don't usually read celebrity crud, but there was this article on my homepage staring me in the face. 

Lindsay Lohan is suing Etrade for a really funny commercial (the Milkaholic Baby one) because they used her first name!  Not just suing, but suing for $100 Million Dollars!!!  She thinks that Lindsay is in the same category as Oprah, Cher, and Madonna.  Yeah right!  And she thinks her pain and suffering for this commercial is worth $100 Million.  My head is going to explode.

Wow, just wow.  I like that Superbowl commercial and I never once thought it had anything to do with her. 

I wasn't a fan before and now I will actively avoid whatever she's associated with...what does she do now, movies or music?