Saturday 13 February 2016

Lost parcel...yes. lost parcel

again. 
A couple of our neighbours are out all day. The postman knows to leave some items with us. The parcel delivery people will leave parcels with us if instructed to do so. I also order things for the elderly who are not computer savvy, some intellectually disabled individuals who live in the community housing about a kilometre away, and the knitting guild I belong to. Occasionally there are even parcels for us. 
       "It's actually for you today," the delivery person will announce cheerfully and I will put my paw print on his little machine and take the parcel.
But parcels go missing too. My brother sent one for my birthday two years ago. It has yet to arrive. A friend in Canada sent a book eight months ago. It has yet to arrive. The Senior Cat ordered a DVD from the neighbouring state. It was meant to be a Christmas present for my BIL. It didn't arrive. We eventually had a message from the company concerned saying it had been returned to them with "not at this address" written on it. There were puzzled looks right around. The address was correct. It had been delivered to a similarly named street and suburb in their state. 
I still wonder what happened to the parcel of yarn that was supposed to be delivered to me when I was at university all those years ago. It never arrived. The company in question claimed it had been sent. They inquired, at least I assume they did. I inquired. That was one cardigan which was never knitted. (It wasn't for me but for one of the staff. She chose something else and I did get that one done.)
There were two parcels of books that were sent from America that never arrived. I have a sneaking suspicion they ended up in South Africa - I mean, let's face it, Africa and Australia are both on the other side of the world.  
Before Christmas last year I ordered some yarn from Latvia. (Yes, I know - yarn...I don't need it. It wasn't for me.) Yesterday there was a plaintive inquiry from the person concerned. Had I forgotten to order it? No. I thought they had it. No. It was going to you. Oh, yes it was. I made inquiries of the company concerned. There was a very prompt response. They checked. No, it had not been delivered. They made a further check with the postal service here. Oh yes. It is supposed to have arrived. I haven't put a paw print on delivery though so they know it hasn't been delivered.
I have to trail up to the post office this morning. I know it won't be there because the post office staff know me. If there was a parcel lying around addressed to me they would have tried to deliver it or informed me. But, I have to do it. I have to get it in writing. I have to send it back to the people concerned. It's all a waste of my time and theirs.
I just wonder what really happens to lost parcels. There must be an awful lot of them out there. Do they sit there all hunched and miserable wondering why nobody loves them? Do they feel angry at being abandoned? Have they just decided they didn't want to live with the new owner? 
I would really like to know what the parcels think. 

2 comments:

jeanfromcornwall said...

We have had some "lost" parcels but the one that was most upsetting was probably stolen from the front hall of daughter's flat - some tenants didn't always shut the outside door securely, so anybody could have dodged in and nicked it. I hope they were thrilled - it contained a review proof/not for sale copy of "Across the Nightingale Floor" and daughter's academic hood from her first degree. I imagine the thief looked at the things and pitched them over the nearest wall as useless.
I still wonder what they made of that hood!

catdownunder said...

Just hope they didn't use it to cover their face and commit the next crime!