Corner of Bourbon & Division

 KK has started ordering stuff and sending it to this address instead of her own, and the latest delivery has encountered a snag I have never had before. I have a community mailbox, courtesy of Canada Post, and so the box is quite small. When I receive parcels they are placed in a separate locked box and the mail carrier puts the key in my smaller box. I use the key to open the large communal box and then toss the key in the mail slot to be returned to Canada Post, easy-peasy. Only this time, the key in my box did not work. I tested it on all three community boxes in the area just in case they decided to put the parcel elsewhere, and no dice. It is the wrong key.

So now I am on hold with customer service to see if they can help me with this. This is NOT how I wanted to spend my evening, and I am trying not to be annoyed about the whole situation of wasting my time for a parcel I didn't even order.

I am going to make a valiant attempt to get to bed early, but it will depend a bit on how long this customer service call takes.

When the doorbell rang I was expecting my Amazon order. I wasn't disappointed, however, because instead it was my order from Needle Arts Book Shop with the yarn and pattern for the shawl I want to make for my mother for Christmas.

I am going to gush about the customer service now. Not only did I get TWO personal emails from the lady who runs it (thanking me for my order, wishing me a good time knitting the shawl, and also thanking me for my compliments about how pretty the shawl was, and mentioning the quality of the yarn), but the packaging was lovely as well.

To wit:

( Images behind the cut! )

Oh, and did I mention the two complimentary packets of no rinse delicate Eucalan Woolwash?

So Sympatico received two angry phone calls from me. One last night, because I *still* hadn't received my damn power cord. I spoke with a supervisor, who very quickly got put on my Shit List. I have never, ever had anyone be as impolite to me over the phone (as a client, that is: as a customer service rep I've had plenty of rude customers). I was shocked, to say the least. He basically implied that Sympatico's incompetence was somehow my fault, that it was somehow my problem that no fewer than three people had misunderstood my problem and given me contradictory information.

He then proceeded to tell me that he couldn't, nay wouldn't, solve my problem. I remained polite, but got a little testy at that point, and insisted that, at the very least, I be credited for the two weeks' worth of internet that I hadn't had. He told me it wasn't his problem, that I'd have to speak to the billing department in the morning, and that it was up to me to find my own replacement power cord.

[insert swearing here]

I did not swear at the little man. However, I called the billing department this morning, and explained the situation to the nice girl who answered the phone. For one, she spoke French fluently, which was a step up from the people I'd had to deal with before.

She apologized profusely for the inconvenience and for all the contradictory information I had been given. She immediately credited my account, gave me the ticket number (which the rude supervisor *refused* to give me last night), as well as her full name and employee number, and offered to send me a new power cord within five business days. I refused the latter offer, since I was planning to go to FutureShop and get one myself today.

So I'm going to write a nice email to her supervisor, explaining the rudeness and incompetence of the others, and thanking the girl for her good service. She is the only one who delivered consistently good professional service, not to mentione basic courtesy. I wish to reinforce this among the customer service reps at Sympatico.

So I went out today and bought a new power cable. I don't know yet if I got the right universal adaptor, but we shall see. With any luck, I shall be connected once more come tonight. Wish me luck!