A Trip to the Post Office

Yesterday I got a note from the post office in my mailbox informing me that a package had arrived.

I had no idea what was in the package - as I had neither ordered anything recently and was not expecting any products being sent for me to review. (If you want a product reviewed, contact me and I shall give you my mailing address.)

On Tuesday I received a free wedding dress from simplybridal.com, which will be used for my sister's upcoming wedding in 2014, so I wasn't expecting anything else to show up in the near future.

When I went to the female clerk in the post office I also spied a series of Zodiac based stamps for sale. The Sagittarius stamps especially caught my attention (because I like archery).

So on a whim I purchased some stamps. I can use them for snail mailing relatives.

The clerk came back with my package, which turned out to be a package of underwear and socks from "MeUndies"... I had previously reviewed MeUndies on the Fashion Salon website.

The package included a letter which said:

"Hi Charles!

Here are some samples from the brand new men's and women's product line we've put together at MeUndies. It includes some awesome patterned socks, newly designed and super comfy Lenzing Modal undies, and some of the best fitting basic tees around.

We would love to get your feedback!

Best,
Greg Fass
Head of Marketing"

Now when I received the package I was really only expecting a rather delayed package of women's underwear which was supposed to be sent back in Mid September 2012 - and is now 6 months late being delivered. I had already reviewed the men's underwear for the Fashion Salon website, but I was going to give the ladies underwear to a female friend so she could review it also. Except it never arrived.

And now, 6 months later, a package does arrive... and it does contain...

4 samples of women's underwear
1 pair of red socks with black dots
1 pair of boxer briefs with a water tower pattern on it
1 white shirt, size medium
1 black shirt, size large

Which is all really wonderful - and they do look really comfortable. But I am left wondering... what happened to the women's underwear for my friend which was supposed to be delivered 6 months ago???

And then I look at the package... USPS (United States Postal Service) and then Canada Post.

If the package from 6 months ago was sent... did it get lost in the mail? Or was it never sent?

Luckily, Greg Fass included his email in the letter so I will be emailing him soon in an effort to discover if the older package was ever sent.

Maybe they simply ran out of "Briefs, Medium, White"...? Which I doubted until I checked their website (which has been updated recently) and it no longer lists white briefs as something they sell, so maybe they really did run out of them...

FedEx (which delivered the wedding dress on Tuesday) never had any problems with that showing up. But things do sometimes get lost in the mail...

eg. When I was 18 I ordered a package of music CDs from Columbia House... and then they never arrived. So I had to ask them to resend them.

And it really isn't so much that things get "lost" in the mail. Nobody "loses" a package of things like that. Its simply that sometimes postal workers realize what is in a package and just steal it for themselves.

Which is why I NEVER send large important packages via regular post. I always pay extra for courier because the rate at which packages are not delivered is significantly lowered. That doesn't mean FedEx, UPS, etc doesn't steal stuff too... it simple means they don't do it as often because they know the packages are being tracked electronically.

Which begs the question, since the postal service is evolving anyway due to the internet / email / text messaging / etc... maybe its time they also evolve to add electronic tracking to all their parcels too? Just slap a barcode sticker (stamp???) on each package, scan it, and then track the package from being sent to the place it is delivered.

Yes, over time that means that prices will go up - but the prices at the post office are going up anyway!

Those Sagittarius stamps I purchased? $7.12 for the package of 10. $0.712 each.

If I wanted to send a small package by courier I might be spending $10 to $20 on it, depending on the weight. If I try to send the same package using nothing but stamps... It might take all 10 stamps to do it... and it might get lost in the mail. So it is worth spending a little extra so you can track its progress and make sure it doesn't get lost. Especially if its something valuable.

Thus stamps are really only good for sending small items - letters to relatives, friends, etc.