…send it UPS.

So you may recall my whining about my fancy new beer machine being shipped without all the parts required to actually brew beer. This was rather disappointing, but I know that shit happens. So I e-mailed the company that makes it and got a prompt reply (as prompt as it gets, considering the company is in New Zealand – which is 18 hours ahead of me, time-wise) apologizing and stating that they’d get those parts out ASAP. That was pretty much all I heard for a week or so, so I e-mailed them again and asked, hey, have these parts shipped yet and/or is there any tracking number? ‘Cuz I was really hoping to brew a batch this weekend (actually I was really hoping to brew last weekend, but never mind).

Before I received a reply (this 18-hour time difference is really a hassle), I got a FedEx notice that I had a package arriving on Friday (yesterday) by 10:30 AM. It looked like they had paid for “Priority Overnight” shipping from California, which supposedly means your package is guaranteed to arrive anywhere in the US by 10:30 AM (as opposed to “standard” overnight, which they claim will get there by 8:00 PM). I thought this was mighty nice of the company (who eventually replied with a re-apology).

I watched the tracking intently yesterday as I waited for what was one of the longest weeks ever to end. The package was “in transit” from Indianapolis pretty much all day. When it wasn’t delivered by 10:30 AM, the “scheduled delivery” by 10:30 magically evaporated. But it was still scheduled for yesterday. Of course, it never arrived.

Today, the scheduled delivery is “Pending” with a note that “No scheduled delivery date available at this time.” Though I see that it got to Syracuse at 6:37 AM.

So, will they deliver this today? Who knows? The “Special handling section” says “Deliver Weekday,” so it may be they won’t bother to deliver it until Monday.

Obviously this isn’t the biggest deal in the world (let’s face it, everything else pales in comparison to the prospect of President Trump), but if my Kiwi friends paid to ship a 5 kg package across the United States to arrive by 10:30 AM, they really need to get a refund.

Oh well, at least it looks like things are shaping up for an early spring.