It all started when I ordered six ayam cemani chicks from another breeder to add new genetics to my flock. Their birds were just stunning, and I really wanted those genetics in my flock. I placed a bid on an auction and won. Now, anyone who knows this breed knows just how much they are worth and sell for, so, understandably, I was anxious that they arrive okay. I paid for express overnight shipping so that they would have a quick journey and spend as little time in transit as possible.
Come Monday, the seller let me know they had shipped and sent me a tracking number. These little chicks were to undergo quite a long journey overnight, from California to Vermont. I checked the tracking and saw that they had made it to the local origin shipping facility. That was the last update I received Monday night. It was updated at midnight right before I went to bed, saying that they had arrived at the facility at 6:50 pm. That was the last I had heard, but tracking information can update slowly, so off I went to bed, assured that by the next afternoon I would be receiving a call that I could drive to the post office and whisk my new additions home to a nice warm brooder.
I awoke accidentally at five in the morning on Tuesday, and before I went back to sleep, I checked the tracking info. Still no update from the previous night. I was a little concerned, but in the past I have received packages that were never scanned again after departing before they hit my local post office, so I wasn't extremely worried at this point. I ended up staying awake until 8 am with no updates to the tracking before going back to sleep for a nap before I had to be up for the day.
The ringing phone awakened me at 11:30 am. I answered it, eager to go get my chicks. Telemarketer. Bummer. I rolled back into bed only to have the phone ring again ten minutes later. This must be it, I thought. Nope. Another telemarketer. Now slightly alarmed, I checked the tracking again. Still no updates, but guaranteed to be delivered by 3 pm. They would be on the late truck, then. Time to get up and take care of the flock outdoors. Perhaps I'd get the call while I took care of chores.
No luck. As the time crept closer and closer to three I became more worried. At 1:00, I decided to call my local PO and see if they were in and they just hadn't called me yet. The lady who answered the phone told me that no, they hadn't come in. I explained the situation and she didn't seem at all concerned. I told her that I would call the other PO that sometimes my chick shipments go to if they arrive on the late truck. The lady agreed and hung up.
So I called the other PO. The woman who answered this time was more sympathetic and took the issue seriously. They did not have my chicks, and the late truck had already come and gone. She went out of her way and said she would contact my local sorting facility and see if perhaps they were there, having come in after the truck to the PO left. She took my number and promised to call me back.
About an hour later, she called back to say she had been in contact with them and they didn't have them either. She also had no more tracking information than I did. She apologized and told me that she had given my number to the sorting facility, so that if the chicks made it to them tomorrow, they could call me and I could make arrangements to get them, since the following day was Veteran's Day and the post office would not be delivering. This was the only good customer service I received during this whole ordeal.
Alarmed now since it was 3:30, past the delivery time, and so far my chicks were unaccounted for, I decided to call the customer service number listed on the USPS website. I called, and the robot refused to connect me to customer service until I told it what the problem was, so I did. It then asked if I had the tracking number, which I did, so I gave it. It then regurgitated to me all the tracking info that I already knew. When I then asked to speak to customer service, it informed me that all the info it just gave me was up to date and that customer service was not available. This in spite of the fact that their website informed me that their hours were from 8 am to 8:30 pm, and I was calling right in the middle of them.
Frustrated, I decided to send an email. I went to the email page and was getting ready to send it when I noticed that it said that they would get right back to me - in 3 days. If there was a problem, my chicks would be dead well before three days had passed. Still, I work in customer service, and I know those numbers can be an estimate to cover a company's butt in case it does take a while, but it can also be much faster than that time, so I decided to go ahead and send one anyway, just in case.
Well, here I struck out yet again. To email USPS, you need to select options to indicate what you are emailing about. No matter what combination you try, even if you select that you are calling for a customer service reason, not one of the options is to email about a delayed and potentially lost shipment of chicks. So you cannot email USPS about it.
Now more frustrated than ever, I decided to take a new tack and call the sort facility my chicks arrived at but according to tracking never left. I found their number online and gave them a call. The phone rang but went to voicemail. Fine, I thought, I'll leave a message and have someone call me back. Except as soon as the message telling you to leave a message ends, you are informed that in fact they cannot take messages at this time.
Now that I had spent hours trying to do this, I had to go to work, so I had to abandon my quest to find my chicks for a little bit. However, I did arrive to work early, so I tried calling the sort facility again, just to see if someone would answer. No luck.
Next, I tried again on my break. Listening to the message that told me I couldn't leave a message, I realized that it let me know if I pressed 0 I could speak to an attendant. This seemed like it might work, since the reason I wasn't getting anyone at the other number, the message had helpfully let me know, was that no one was available at that extension. Maybe there was another extension with someone at it and pressing 0 would get me to someone that could help.
So I pressed 0. And was greeted with a message that let me know that no extension number had been specified. Please press 0 to speak to an attendant. So again I pressed 0. And again the same message, this time also asking me if I was trying to log into my mailbox.
Giving up on that, on my break I again tried calling the USPS number on their website. This time, when the robot asked me if I had tracking information, I told it no, not feeling like entering it. This time when I asked to talk to customer service, it obliged, connecting me, but informing me the wait would be between 9 and 12 minutes. So I sat down to wait.
After 15 minutes of waiting, my break was over, and I had to go back to work. I had to hang up. However, thanks to a training class going on break a few minutes later, I was again on break. So I called again, and this time I did give my tracking info, thinking maybe it would make the wait time to speak to customer service shorter. However, I was startled to hear the robot tell me, when I requested customer service, that they were not available. Then something clicked in my brain and I hung up, called back again, and told them that I didn't have the tracking, requested customer service, and, lo and behold, they were available, if I would just wait.
This is how I learned that USPS lies to its customers. If you call and tell the robot that you have tracking info, it will just tell you what you probably already know from tracking on the website, and then when you ask to speak to customer service, it will lie and say they are not available, and refuse to connect you to them. If, however, you call and say you don't have that information, it will happily allow you to speak to customer service, if you will just wait.
However, after having to deal with the robot the first time, then hang up and try again, I was running out of break time. I was told this time, the wait time was between 7 and 9 minutes. After 8 minutes on hold, I had to hang up and go back to work. By the time my shift ended, it was after their hours and they were no longer there to take calls.
So that is how I have left things. I have no idea where my chicks are. Tomorrow is a holiday, so they will not deliver them to me. Instead, my chicks are somewhere, possibly sitting in the origin facility that they were delivered to, having never left, slowly running out of time. I have been ignored, unable to leave messages, unable to reach customer service, and lied to by USPS's phone robot. I have no clue where my chicks are, when I will get them, and if they will be alive when I do - if I ever do. That has been my experience with USPS today.
Update: As of 10 am today, they are still lost. No updated tracking information has been entered. Since it is a holiday, the USPS has closed every means of communicating with them aside from sending an email, which they say can take 3 days for them to address. I have sent an email - I just selected options as close as possible to what I needed since there was nothing for what is going on. I don't think it will help.
Update Two: It is now two days after they were supposed to arrive. They are still not here. Tracking still says they have not moved from the origin facility. I am currently on hold with USPS's 1 800 number. We will see what they say. This time I have hours to stay on hold if I need to. The seller is also looking into what could have happened to them today.
Final Update: After speaking to someone from USPS customer service, the chicks have been found and delivered. However, it's not good. Almost all were DOA. Some made it, but are in bad shape. I am attempting to nurse them back to health, but they are looking pretty rough. I will do another blog post to update about them.