Where’s the Inventor of Global Warming When I Need Him?
I have been anticipating the grand arrival of my new Vista-installed laptop. I ordered it on the sixth of February, soon after the new MS operating system became available with a guarantee that the computer be shipped on the 14th of February. I thought that meant that I would certainly have my new laptop in my lap by the latter part of this week. Well, think again Kerfuffles.
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| From My Computer, … |
I finally received an email from the retailer (HP) informing me that my little notebook had been shipped from some remote corner of the earth that I had never even knew existed - “Kunshan, CN”. At first I thought it had been made in Canada, and I started worrying. I finally came to my senses realizing that if there were a city in the frozen tundra that is our neighbor on the northern border by the name of Kunshan, I certainly would have heard of it. After all, there are not that many cities in Canada to keep track of. Could “CN” mean China? Oh, I guess that makes sense, since I vaguely remember seeing information when I made the purchase order that it was indeed to be “Made in China”.
Okay, so it’s being shipped from China. So why did those Chinese people wait until after the FedEx shipping office was closed? Don’t they know they are ruining my life? I retired to bed last night with visions of Vista and Word 2007 dancing in my head, and when I awoke this morning to track the progress of my travelling dream machine, I discovered that it had made it from faraway China, north to Alaska. FedEx - please don’t freeze my hard drive before I have a chance to do that myself.
Feb 16, 2007 5:22 AM
Clearance delay
INDIANAPOLIS, IN5:22 AM
Clearance delay
INDIANAPOLIS, IN3:21 AM
In transit
INDIANAPOLIS, INPackage available for clearance
12:00 AM
Arrived at FedEx location
INDIANAPOLIS, INFeb 15, 2007 1:39 PM
Departed FedEx location
ANCHORAGE, AK11:55 AM
Arrived at FedEx location
ANCHORAGE, AKFeb 14, 2007 2:57 PM
Left origin
KUNSHAN CN2:56 PM
Picked up
KUNSHAN CN
Package received after FedEx cutoff
Not only that, but it had left the great Alaskan icebox without incident and made its journey all the way to Indiana this morning. INDIANA! Why that’s just a hop, skip and a sleigh ride from where I am, in Virginia. However … there it sits … STUCK in the Indiana snow.
Al Gore, where’s your global warming when I need it?
Save This Page
I googled “FedEx Clearance delay” trying to find information. I found your blog. I am in the EXACT same situation. Same shipping date from HP and the EXACT same course of my laptop. Also stuck in IN. I called FedEX today and basically got no help. They said they had to wait for HP to send more papers to the government before they would clear it, and that the GOV gives no indication on how long it will be. Sounds like HP has made some kind of error.
Good luck to you! =)
Comment by Jamie — February 19, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
Oh my god~!
My new HP’s Vista loaded-laptop is also staying in Indianapolis from 15th of FEB. It is not arrived until now. It supposed to be arrived by 10:30 AM today, but it is still staying in there!! (T_T)
Comment by Ted Kwon — February 19, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
Thank you Jamie for the additional information. I had been thinking that my laptop’s not arriving this morning may have had something to do with JetBlue’s new troubles. You seem to have uncovered the “delay” problem - Hewlett-Packard, but it would not be customs would it, as my computer had already been tracked from China to Anchorage, Alaska?
Now I am beginning to worry. I contacted the retailer and they were no help, telling me to contact FedEx. Nothing has changed with FedEx as of five minutes ago - the tracking still says that my computer is to be delivered at 10:30 am today which has long since passed, yet the last time the FedEx site was updated was on February 16th at 5 am.
Stuck in Indiana indeed. But why?
Comment by Kerfuffles — February 19, 2007 @ 9:28 pm
As a cost cutting policy, FEDEX routinely falsifies the tracking record of any shipment which looks like it not going to arrive in time. They append “Package received after FedEx cutoff ” into the record corresponding to the time of submittal. The fine print of the terms and conditions say that the shipper agrees that the computer tracking record is correct. So you have a major hurdle to overcome when seeking a refund. When you call in for refund 800-622-1147 (press 0 immdiately) the first question they ask, is “what is your FEDEX account number?” If you don’t have one, you are SOL. Even if you have one, but your shipping volume is below about $5000 per year, you will have lots of trouble. The person answering the phone will first try the “cutoff” ruse. When you point out that the shipment made it to Memphis 3 hours later, they will try the “weather” ruse. The terms and conditions of FEDEX do not mention weather or equipment failures or anything else as shelter to hide behind. Even if you hold your ground and force them to accept your application, the guys that process the request will most likely deny if they deem you to be a small potato. If you are shipping $50,000 per year, your request goes through like magic. This cut throat fraud has turned me off from FEDEX forever.
Comment by John Shreffler — March 11, 2007 @ 11:53 am
As a cost slashing policy, FEDEX routinely falsifies the computer tracking on any package that looks like it will be late. The pharase “Package received after FedEx cutoff” is inserted at the point of submittal, implying that the shipper was late. However, you will nearly always see that the package is a thousand miles away from the pick up point a few hours later. When you call 800-622-1147 (immediatly press 0) you will be dealing with the gate keeper to refunds. The first question will be “what is your FEDEX account number?” If you are a big shipper, the request for refund will go through with no problem. If you are a small potato, you are presented a rather amazing load of baloney. It starts with the accusation that the shipment is late (false). That shipping with FEDEX requires you agree the computer record is correct (true). If you ask him how the package can be thousands of miles in a few hours if not shipped in time to make the plane, he will tell you that it is the weather, which is an act of God. Or the equipment failed, which is not FEDEX fault. Or any number of things, none of which is grounds for not refunding according the the uniform code of commercial tarrif that FEDEX operates under. Even if he gives up, and says he is putting your request through, it will not be paid. Refunds from FEDEX are only for big FEDEX shippers. Not for the riff raff. Thought you should know this.
Comment by John Shreffler — March 11, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
Thanks John for your insight. My warranty papers came in the mail the other day, and I see that I for the two weeks in transit, counts against my two years. Maybe I should contact FEDEX about making up the difference.
Comment by Kerfuffles — March 13, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
LISTEN
YOU F**** AMERICANS NEED TO LEARN A BIT OF GEOGRAPHY
“At first I thought it had been made in Canada, and I started worrying. I finally came to my senses realizing that if there were a city in the frozen tundra that is our neighbor on the northern border by the name of Kunshan, I certainly would have heard of it. After all, there are not that many cities in Canada to keep track of.” OKAY CANADA IS NOT THE TUNDRA
WE MAY HAVE COLD WINTERS IN SOME OF OUR PROVINCES BUT NOT IN ALL
WE DONT HAVE WINTER ALL YEAR AROUND
EVER BEEN TO NEW YORK?? WELL IDIOT ITS THE SAME WEATHER CONDITIONS AS THERE
AND ABOUT HOW MANY CITIES WE HAVE
WHAT DO YOU THINK WE HAVE LIKE 10 CITIES
THINK AGAIN WE HAVE 1000 CITIES JUST IN ONTARIO
NEXT TIME CHECK YOUR FACTS
*Inappropriate language edited by blog mistress.
Comment by Jenna — December 12, 2007 @ 3:51 pm
Jenna - LISTEN, YOU F-ROZEN CANADIANS NEED TO LEARN TO WRITE PROPER ENGLISH. Referring to an entire nation (your own next door neighbor) with an obscenity is far worse than my supposed ignorance of “GEOGRAPHY.”
Comment by Kerfuffles — December 12, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
Whilst I could never condone Jenna’s offensive response, you description of Canada as an arctic no-mans-land (whether intended as humour or not) merely gives the casual reader the impression that this American at least fits the stereotype of an isolated ignoramus with a childs view of the world outside the lower 48. As Jenna pointed out, Ontario is considerably more populous than some U.S. states and experiences sub-zero temperatures for only around 3 months a year, many people here actually have air-conditioning for the summer months - fancy!
Comment by Mechagouki — December 15, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
Thank you Mechagouki for showing that there is a Canadian who can in fact write standard English.
Let’s see … I write a post about my new computer, Microsoft Vista, Al-gore, China, and the frozen American states of Alaska and Indiana, and I am condemned for slurring a place called Ontario. I NEVER once mentioned ONTARIO in my post. I did mention Canada as being cold too, as in Alaska and Indiana. Why would I write anything about Ontario? I haven’t heard of anything happening there. I somehow thought that the Province of Ontario had seceded from Canada long ago and was a territory of the United States.
Comment by Kerfuffles — December 16, 2007 @ 6:22 am
WHY ARE CANADIANS SO TOUCHY ? DO THEY REALLY FEEL THAT INFERIOR TO US? Anyway, I just ordered a new hp and so far its on the same track… Hopefully I’ll have better luck… Keep you updated.
Bill - Atlanta, Ga ,way far away from canada, thank god ! (learned that in “geography”)
Comment by Bill — September 1, 2008 @ 5:45 pm
Oh - It’s been a year and a half since I got my new Vista laptop. I could barely stand the wait, but I have been loving it ever since. I hope you enjoy yours Bill. I am partly responsible for the Canadian complaints. I just cannot help myself from tweaking them.
Comment by Kerfuffles — September 1, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
So…Canada may have several large cities but lets not forget that the population of California, USA is larger than ALL of Canada!
Comment by Page — October 7, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
Indeed Page - and that is why we can never, ever allow California to secede. Our biggest fear is that a big chunk of it may slide into the Pacific during one of those earthquakes.
Comment by Kerfuffles — October 7, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
****fuffles is a whiny one isnt she?>
*Vulgar language edited by blog administrator.
Comment by lol — December 11, 2008 @ 6:13 am
To lol (who is just another language-challenged Canadian like Jenna above): — I may be whiny but I can write without resorting to vulgar name calling, something you are incapable of doing. To use the most vulgar word in the English language to refer to a woman you do not even know is the epitome of a mentally sick person. Get thee to a shrink!
Comment by Kerfuffles — December 11, 2008 @ 7:29 am
hello there,
sorry to drag you away from the US- canada war zone, but i got the same HP problem here. Mine is stuck in Memphis with a “Clearance Delay” for the past week. Can one of you tell me how long it took you to get the laptop on ur lap?
Best wishes
vik
Comment by vikram — April 5, 2009 @ 10:41 am
It took from the 16th of February until the 23rd of February for my HP computer to travel from Indiana to Virginia. So … be patient.
http://kerfuffles.blogsome.com/2007/02/23/almost-arrived/
Comment by Kerfuffles — April 6, 2009 @ 6:17 am
Thank you for your response maam. I will continue to wait patiently. BTW, may i know ur real name? Kefuffles is like a pseudo, I believe?
Thanks again
vik
Comment by vikram — April 6, 2009 @ 10:35 am
Kerfuffles is Edna Barney.
Comment by Kerfuffles — April 6, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
nice to meet you edna. i am vikram mahatna. i live in massachussetts , near boston.
Comment by vikram — April 6, 2009 @ 5:12 pm