...and now for some complete bullshit
A week ago (that little time? really?) we were trying to get all of our "must-keep" possessions out of the apartment and on their way to New York. Most things were sent through the Post Office, but we took the valuable stuff to FedEx so they could pack it all nice and safe.
Among the things we dropped off at the FedEx Kinko's (I guess they're FedEx Office now?) was my computer, a number of small instruments and mallets, and our television. There was a lot of discussion about that last one, because we thought it would be expensive. In the end, we figured we'd ship it only if it was cheaper to do so than to buy a new one.
When we took it to the store, they had to weigh it to see if it could be shipped by ground (they said nothing heavier than 70lbs can be shipped by ground to a residence). Naturally, our trusty TV weighed 74lbs. Because of the weight, we were told it could only be shipped by air, so we asked about the cheapest air option. He told us three day air would be $300, but probably a bit more with the box (that he had to make).
Fine. $300 was still less than a new TV of equivalent size would cost, so it was worthwhile. Plus, we'd have our TV sooner, and the Olympics are coming up. We left the stuff with the dude with the understanding that it would all go out in the next day or two, and he would call us when he had a final, actual cost so we could pay him.
Since arriving here in our new city, we have had a few calls from "Jim at FedEx" telling us what the status of the project was. Several times, the TV was "probably going out tomorrow," which leads us to today. This time he called me, and told me the TV was ready to go (I assume this means it would go out tomorrow), and that the total came to $730. I was confused by this number, and I thought it must be the total for everything all together, which meant it was going to cost more than we thought.
I was wrong. Actually, he was telling me that the TV alone would cost the $730 to ship (a week late). For that kind of money (if we had it), we could get a pretty kick-ass TV (or, as Larra pointed out, buy our original TV a plane ticket to New York). Had we known it would cost so much, we would have put our set on craigslist and bought ourselves one once we got here.
Larra is on the phone with customer service as we speak, being awesome. It is at times like this that I can see the terrific lawyer and advocate she's going to become.
ÒNE HOUR LATER:
In the words of the customer service agent: Oh my heavens. It turns out that the maximum weight for ground shipments is actually 130lbs. Our TV is being shipped tonight by ground for less than $150. It is also possible that we got someone fired. No one we talked to can figure out where a number like $730 came from.
So: yay, pretty much.
Among the things we dropped off at the FedEx Kinko's (I guess they're FedEx Office now?) was my computer, a number of small instruments and mallets, and our television. There was a lot of discussion about that last one, because we thought it would be expensive. In the end, we figured we'd ship it only if it was cheaper to do so than to buy a new one.
When we took it to the store, they had to weigh it to see if it could be shipped by ground (they said nothing heavier than 70lbs can be shipped by ground to a residence). Naturally, our trusty TV weighed 74lbs. Because of the weight, we were told it could only be shipped by air, so we asked about the cheapest air option. He told us three day air would be $300, but probably a bit more with the box (that he had to make).
Fine. $300 was still less than a new TV of equivalent size would cost, so it was worthwhile. Plus, we'd have our TV sooner, and the Olympics are coming up. We left the stuff with the dude with the understanding that it would all go out in the next day or two, and he would call us when he had a final, actual cost so we could pay him.
Since arriving here in our new city, we have had a few calls from "Jim at FedEx" telling us what the status of the project was. Several times, the TV was "probably going out tomorrow," which leads us to today. This time he called me, and told me the TV was ready to go (I assume this means it would go out tomorrow), and that the total came to $730. I was confused by this number, and I thought it must be the total for everything all together, which meant it was going to cost more than we thought.
I was wrong. Actually, he was telling me that the TV alone would cost the $730 to ship (a week late). For that kind of money (if we had it), we could get a pretty kick-ass TV (or, as Larra pointed out, buy our original TV a plane ticket to New York). Had we known it would cost so much, we would have put our set on craigslist and bought ourselves one once we got here.
Larra is on the phone with customer service as we speak, being awesome. It is at times like this that I can see the terrific lawyer and advocate she's going to become.
ÒNE HOUR LATER:
In the words of the customer service agent: Oh my heavens. It turns out that the maximum weight for ground shipments is actually 130lbs. Our TV is being shipped tonight by ground for less than $150. It is also possible that we got someone fired. No one we talked to can figure out where a number like $730 came from.
So: yay, pretty much.