shipment woes...

[VJ]

Hello!

Well, the new year is off to a great start: I had my parents ship some stuff to me (so from Belgium to Warsaw), in total 4 boxes, all shipped together. As I can tell from the tracking system on the courier's website, one box in Warsaw (though yesterday they told me it was not on its way there), another stuck in a depot in somewhere Germany, and 2 have been delivered (and signed for) in Dusseldorf .

I'm now dealing with customer service and helpdesk to straighten this whole situation out. But it is difficult from a distance: it is impossible to call the Belgian office from abroad... (I'm assuming it is a toll free number, and they blocked it). If they haven't replied by this afternoon, I'll have my dad call them (he is in Belgium ).

Still, I'm worried about those two boxes that have been delivered...


Jörg

[Fat Tone]

Sounds like a complete cockup. I hope they have good insurance!

[VJ]

Yesterday they told me the box in Berlin is not on its way to Warsaw, and today they tried to deliver it!
They called me, and said it was a big box. When I asked for dimensions, he just said and stressed it was *very* big. When telling him about the fact that the shipment comprised 4 boxes, he actually suggested they may have been put in one package. This would really surprise me though: they have maximum sizes and no box within the maximum size limits can hold my 4 boxes. The total shipping weight is 45 kg, so why put it in one box? Also, there are not the same shape, so fitting them would be a challenge... But I'll have to wait and see... Delivery is scheduled tomorrow around 10AM.

While the boxes are insured for their value, I'd really hate to loose the items. In theory, it is nothing I couldn't buy anew, but some things are hard to find (especially now that I'm living here). In retrospect, I think I may have underinsured one of the boxes too...


Jörg

[Belwarrior]

hope you could get back all your stuff... i hate having to buy stuff anew even if i get the cash for them.. good luck

[VJ]

Well, I have one box delivered to me... And it is not a box that contains all others. It is the box that carries the freight letter (and thus the address), the 3 other boxes only carry a number and barcode.

I just contacted my father to ask him to call the helpdesk, as I'm really powerless here: I mailed them yesterday morning, but they did not reply; and I can't call:I hear the tone of an non-existent number (which I think is because it is a toll-free number blocking out international calls, but even my Belgian mobile is not connecting with it...)


Jörg

[Umfriend]

What kind of company is it? Most Dutch companies that have toll-free numbers have normal numbers for international calls as well.

[VJ]

Just got word from the helpdesk. They are working on it. Apparently, the 2 boxes that are listed as "delivered" are in a depot for "lost boxes": as they didn't know where to ship them. They have not been delivered to a person but are still in the courier network, just no longer "in transit", which explains their status. So that is a relief to me. At the moment, they are certain of the whereabouts of those 2 boxes. They asked for a copy of the freight letter (presumabely as proof that the boxes with those numbers belong to me) so that they could be sent to me.
In the tracking system, the 3rd box is listed as having left a depot in Germany, but it hasn't had an update since (at least not one visible to me). But they are checking it out...

Umfriend: I'm a bit weary on posting the name of the company, as it is a large reputable international courrier I've had good experiences with in the past. These things can happen, and if they solve it properly and swiftly, I don't want come over too negative. So I'd like to wait how it plays out before drawing conclusions. He told me the procedure is to call the local branch, who will transfer you the helpdesk (an international call center), normally you should reach the same people. But I have had bad experiences with such procedures, so I prefer to always call via the same channel. When the helpdesk calls me, I can see the number is from Luxembourg, so presumably all helpdesk calls are directed there.

Jörg

[VJ]

The lost box is moving again, towards me!

So only the two boxes in the depot for lost boxes are motionless (as far as I can tell).

[VJ]

The lost box has now stopped in Berlin, and the other two have been given an "exception status". But the helpdesk sent me an email stating that the box in Berlin should arrive here by Wednesday, and the other two on Thursday.
The good news is that they know where my boxes are... I'm now very confident things will get sorted out. The delivered box seems in order; it is a computer, but 2 internal cables did get disconnected: one SATA cable (but they tend to disconnect when looking at them) and an 8-pin motherboard power cable. I haven't booted it yet, as I'm lacking monitor and keyboard.

The helpdesk-guy apparently told my father something went terribly wrong in Brussels at the time my boxes were passing through there: the box-tracking-department is flooded with complaints and they can barely cope. From the moment my boxes arrived in Brussels, two of them got immediately shipped to that lost-box-depot.

FWIW, the company was UPS...
(Unidentified Parcel Service)

[VJ]

Apparently, the courier should have put address labels on all the boxes, as they are grouped in Brussels. As this hadn't been done (which apparently is common practise), the boxes got separated in Brussels, and those without address labels could no longer be linked to the one with the address label.
Weird explanation (as I assume this should then happen quite frequently!), but the moral of he story is: make sure all boxes carry all the shipping data. Even if the courier says this is not a necessity.

[VJ]

Now, I'm mad!

They actually dropped one of the boxes containing a computer. There is no damage on the outside (but I found it odd the box was taped in much more than I had it taped in), but the inside of the computer is completely ripped apart! Just a quick list:
- drive cage holding the bluray drive was dislodged completely (fastened with 5 screws!)
- the steel drive cage is bent severely (and cannot be put back in place)
- the steel holders for the drive cage are also bent quite severely (I won't try to bend them as they might snap off)
- drive cage collided with the heatsink of the ram, which now has small pieces missing
- lock to the front door shapped right off
- ATX connector got disconnected (!)
- cables don't fit the (modular) PSU anymore

At the moment, I cannot test if the computer itself is still working, as I first need to connect the cables to the PSU. Also, one box is still missing, and that is the one containing my keyboard.

I don't know how they will settle is, but they better do... And FAST.

Jörg

[Fat Tone]

bugger. Take lots of photographs before you do anything to it.
Best of luck resolving it.

[VJ]

There isn't much I can do...
I removed the drive cage, and that is about it... The case was an expensive one (OrigenAE S16t), is beyond repair (the feet on which the drive cage sit are bent, and will most likely snap off when bent back; the drive cage itself is bent badly, some of the the screwthreads holding it are gone (!) while other screws are damaged; the lock holding the front door closed is in a number of pieces - some of them lost in the case probably; the cardreader frame moved upward, causing a big gap; the PSU is no longer sitting straight, ...).
I then checked that no missing screws where in contact with the mainboard, managed to connect the wires and got no errors booting the system. But I can't test much, because my keyboard is in the missing box....

[VJ]

UPS called me following my emails: 1 regarding the still missing box (yesterday listed as "scheduled for delivery", now listed as "exception") and 1 regarding the damaged goods...

The missing-box status would be funny, if it wasn't serious: apparently, they now realized that the box is part of a shipment of 4 boxes (yes! finally!). So they decided to hold off the delivery for this one box, until they receive all 4 of the boxes in the depot, to deliver them at once (no! I have the other 3! they won't arrive at the depot!). The guy that called me said he gave instructions to contact me regarding the delivery of that box ASAP.

As for the damaged box, I should call the Polish UPS number, and file a damage claim. Depending on the size of the claim, an expert will come verify it. The guy on the phone said that I should also send him a mail with the same damage claim, so he can keep track of it. I've now mailed the store where I bought it to send me a copy of the invoice, so that I can prove the cost of the case. The fact that the box was insured for its true value also puts me in a safer position. But this whole thing will take time...

Either way, I need to run tests on the harddrive and bluray drive, but a hard shock is never good for those components (nor for the PSU). It may have shortenend their life, just not show it at this time. But of course one cannot really calculate that. Nor the misery it caused (I actually stayed home from work 2 days, to be home for the delivery - luckily I can work from home; and have taken a day off as well just to deal with all these problems), or the calls I had to make.

My parents also had the same UPS guy on the phone, and they suspect he is one of their higher positioned managers. Judging by the way he talks and answers, it would also not surprise me.

[degrub]

recommend you "total" the whole box. You don't want damage to show up in a month. There will be no recourse