My mailbox was packed full this afternoon, eight packages. Two of them were unexpected and seemed odd. One was from Coldwater Creek, but it wasn't their usual overly large box and preprinted label - it was an envelope with the address and return address handwritten. The other was a small padded envelope with a return address for an unfamiliar business.
The small Coldwater envelope has a history.
I had ordered a sweater in gray from the discount outlet, and when it arrived, I loved it so much I went back and ordered it in red, using a coupon that pretty much covered its cost.
- A day later I got an email that the red was out of stock, order canceled.
- Ok. The coupon is about to expire, so I went back online to see what else I could get.
- Hmmm. The red sweater is still listed. Relisted? So I ordered it again, plus a t-shirt.
- A day later I got an email that the sweater is out of stock, but they'll send the t-shirt (free, 'cause the coupon covered it).
- Early last week the t-shirt arrived.
- End of story, right?
- Wrong.
- Yesterday I got a phone call from Coldwater Creek - first ever. The lady told me that the red sweater I had ordered is out of stock, and she assured me that I would not be charged for it.
- Um, yeah, I know, ok.
- Today I open the odd-looking envelope with the Coldwater return address, and in it is the red sweater,
- and the usual invoice with my name and address on it,
- and a note from a stranger that she had received it by mistake, that she had called Coldwater, and they had told her to send it to me. No return address for her.
The little envelope contained a pair of earrings. Two strange things about that - I haven't bought earrings in months, and this particular pair looked very familiar. I really like them. So I went online and looked for the business name on the return address, and it was an eBay seller.
- I went to my eBay account to see if I had bought anything from her lately. Maybe she sent the wrong item?
- Nope. I also verified I hadn't bought earrings from anyone lately.
- I verified that none of the items I have purchased recently included free earrings.
- Stumped.
- I pulled up my feedback, and searched for feedback from her, any past dealings.
- Ha! In April of last year, she left me positive feedback saying "So sorry they got lost in the mail. Wonderful buyer",
- and I had left her positive "Lost in mail, honest seller offered refund",
- and then I remembered!
- I had bought earrings from her, they had never arrived, she offered a refund, but I didn't accept it because I wasn't certain that I hadn't simply mixed them up with others I had bought at about the same time, the cost wasn't high, and I was satisfied that she had offered.
- I looked at the envelope, and the date on the USPS-printed stamp is "APR 03, '08"!
Weird. I got something I think I didn't pay for, and something I paid for but thought I didn't get. Is this the way the year is going to go? If so, is that good or bad?
.
2 comments:
I got something in the mail yesterday that I ordered back in November that I thought was lost. Maybe the post office is cleaning out it's missing package vault.
I would say this is a good omen for the year!
My WV is coldsmsd.
Post a Comment