Back in May, I told the story about ordering a computer restore DVD and getting a TV picture tube instead. Well, Sony had wanted the picture tube back, so they put out a call tag (whatever that is) to FedEx to pick up the box the next day. I taped it up and took it to work (because school was still in session then) and explained it to the high school secretaries. All the Sony lady said was to tell them to mark it FedEx 2-day economy. So that’s what I told the secretaries.

That night was when I received the call from the lady at Sony telling me that someone else had the same issue. So I was afraid I’d have to send another picture tube back. Well, that ended happily, but when I arrived at school the next day, the package was still in the office. Apparently, when the FedEx guy arrived, he needed paperwork filled out on it. Paperwork? The Sony lady said nothing of paperwork. Well, I brought my Sony invoice in the next day and filled out the paperwork that the FedEx guy wanted. Only he never came back for it. I guess call tags are one time only. Bah, it was May and in May, no teacher has time for this sort of shit. So the box just sat in the office until school was finally out.

Wednesday I called Sony again and talked to someone different. I explained the situation and they said they’d get in touch with the Sony lady I talked to. I went to work and while there, the Sony lady called back. So the message was waiting for me when I got home. Anyhoo, the short story is, she put in for another call tag. Unfortunately, FedEx arrives between noon and five PM. This is the summer, the office shuts at 2pm for the most part. No matter, MJ and I had an emergency we had to deal with Thursday afternoon, so we were there until 4:30 (and actually, MJ was there til 5pm – blech!) So I figured the box would be gone when I came in the next day.

Well, when I got home, there were two messages on the phone. The first was from the Sony lady saying that the call tag would be for Friday. Bugger – we stayed late and they never did arrive. The next message was another lady at FedEx who left me a number & her extension & said to call the next morning.

Friday morning, I called Sony, again. The fellow who answered was nice, but didn’t know what to do about me wanting to contact someone by their extension. However, he dialed it and it was busy. So he found out who the extension belonged to and popped her off an e-mail telling her to call me ASAP. I then grabbed Leo’s brush & attempted to brush him while I waited. Luckily for Leo, I didn’t have a long wait.

It turns out, she was on another line to FedEx and was double checking the call tag details. I asked when they’d deliver and she said between noon and four. I explained that, with it being summer, folks bug out by 2pm. So she talked with FedEx and they assured her and me that it would be picked up before two.

At 11am, while I was helping a student burn a DVD of prom videos (he was lucky I hadn’t yet deleted the student accounts!) there was an announcement for MJ to get down to the superintendent’s office cuz FedEx was there. And yay – they took the package when they left! No more picture tubes!

You know, if there is a Hell, I’ll bet it’s just this. Red tape & bureaucracy, phone calls & missed appointments. Phooey!