Sun 4 Nov 2007

The Problem With Package Tracking

... is that you can see them screw it up in realtime.

I paid quite a bit of extra money for shipping on a parcel from Washington (state, not DC) in the USA last week. It contains a gift for somebody that I want to give them this week.

The merchant did their bit and shipped it on the day I ordered. UPS then managed not to pick it up on the first day (noted as a "driver error" in their online system) and, since then I've seen it get to Ontario, California — so far, so good. It should typically then go to Hawaii and then Sydney when using UPS — then Phoenix, Arizona(!), Albuquerque, New Mexico(!) and Louisville, Kentucky(!) in quick succession. What the hell?! It has now travelled two-thirds of a continent in entirely the wrong direction without anybody apparently noticing. Fortunately, it's having a layover every 200 kilometres or so, apparently, so it won't get tired on the plane. There is no way that UPS have decided Kentucky is a good launching pad for packages going to Australia.

The package appears to be addressed correctly (including the correct country, so the Malcolm Tredinnick in Sydney, Florida will not be receiving a surprise package). I've apparently managed to score a succession of the dumbest parcel sorters on the planet who are successively conspiring to ruin my week.

Okay, rant over. Back to work.

Topics: venting