Let me tell you a story about a laptop. In September, I bought my mom a laptop from HP. Why? Because I’m a good son who does good things occasionally. Since I was going to Alabama for my aunt’s wedding (I hate weddings), I figure I’d have the laptop delivered to my apartment and deliver it to my mom personally. Of course, I panic slightly because the laptop seemed like it wouldn’t make it on time, but lo and behold, FedEx makes it happen. I find that the laptop arrived on the day of my flight, so I decide to stop at my apartment and grab the laptop before heading to the airport. So I go home, see that laptop was left at the apartment office, which is apparently what delivery guys do when I’m not home. Let me tell you about packages left in the apartment office. If you have a delivery guy leave a package in the apartment office, it gets put in a closet. No one watches the closet, anybody can waltz in and jack stuff from it. Not only that, they explain this to you when you sign the “you can’t sue us for lost packages” clause in the lease. So I roll (yes, roll) up to the office expecting a laptop. I open the closet, and notice a severe lack of laptop from HP.
No one knows where it is. FedEx says the delivery guy distinctly remembers leaving it in the closet (although there’s no way of verifying it actually made it to the closet). After repeated calls and several days, FedEx eventually told me that they’re waiting on documentation from HP to go forward with the claim. FedEx suggests I yell at HP, which is exactly what I did. HP apologizes and tells me that they’ll look into it, they’re likely going to send me a replacement laptop, and they’ll call me back. Of course, they never call back. In the meantime, I get a call from the Olathe Police Department (OPD). I panicked a bit (in my head, of course), then remembered that I use TrueCrypt, so all was well. Apparently, they found the laptop! It’s stolen property! Unfortunately, they found just the laptop (no charger, CDs, etc.) and the shipping info. It has been used! It’s no longer new! I, of course, haven’t told HP or FedEx about this. If I did, they’d just say “Oh, the package is found! Great!” and kindly tell me to die in a fire.
After the OPD called, I was promptly reminded that my mom doesn’t have a laptop, and HP & FedEx haven’t called me. So I called HP and they told me that they considered it a valid delivery. So I inform them that I had an expectation that the package would be delivered to me and signed by me, not some third party. Furthermore, he delivery guy left the laptop at the leasing office without my permission, and that’s why it went missing. They told me they considered it a valid delivery and I should talk to the leasing office. I informed them of the “you can’t sue us for lost packages” and reminded them about expectations and permission. Then the lady repeated what she said and this went on until I talked to her manager. She told me she’ll forward this to the people that handle this and I should call back on the next business day.
When I called back, she said what her subordinate said; however, she added that it was FedEx who old HP that the delivery was valid, and I should get into contact with them. So I call FedEx and they say that they’re still waiting on documentation from HP. I informed them of what HP told them and they said they considered it their fault and I would need to take it up with HP. This went back and forth until I HP said they won’t do anything unless they hear otherwise from FedEx and FedEx tells me they considered it a valid delivery and are still waiting to hear from HP. My mom suggested I decided to try and dispute the claim on my debit card, which is something I apparently can do. Bank of America temporarily credited my debit account, and I wondered why I didn’t do this sooner. By the way, we’re in late December now.
The day after this, I get a call from the OPD and they inform me that they still had my laptop, and if things don’t go well with HP/FedEx, I can still pick it up. “Aren’t cops great!?”, exclaims the young black male. Eventually, I get a letter from Bank of America saying my temporary credit is now a permanent one. Awesome, although it took them 75 days to sort it out. So I got my money back, and now I’m going to buy my mom another laptop (definitely not an HP). If any good has come from this, it’s that my apartment complex now locks that closet door and has people sign for things. As for the stolen laptop, the OPD still has it. If they call me about it, I’ll tell them that they should let HP know, because it’s not my problem. Am I going to tell HP about their laptop? What do you think?
André//4:03 PM//Someone felt like leaving a commentI did not realize this was still going on. My, my, my.
Kristi//April 2, 2010//11:25 AM