How Hard Can It Be??

Seriously.....

Many 'experts' have contended that despite (or possibly because of) all our “smart” technology; computers, smartphones, smart cars, smart microwaves, smart toilets, and smart god-knows-whatever-else, we – the humans that are supposed to benefit from all this smartness – are rapidly becoming less so ourselves. I sometimes have to agree....

If there isn't a button to push, or an icon to click, tap, or rub into one's stomach; a clever little picture that describes in intimate detail the function we want it to perform, we don't have a clue what to do.

OK – perhaps I'm exaggerating a tiny bit, but stay with me for a moment.

A week or so ago, I ordered an item from an on-line company that specializes in products that utilize graphics created by the user who has an account with this company. The company is RedBubble. The item I ordered was to be a gift for a friend who lives in another state. One would expect it would be a simple procedure to order Item-X, send the payment, and instruct the geniuses at RedBubble to send it to your friend's address. Which is what I did.

In the so-called “additional notes” space on the order page, I instructed them to “Please send Item-X to:

Friend's Name

Friend's address

Friend's City

Friend's State and zip-code.

...as it is a gift”

Seems simple enough, right? Wrong.

When I got the confirmation email, it listed the shipping address as

Rod Shelley

My Address

My City

My State and Zip.

I contacted RedBubble after navigating through their 'contact us' page with its 37,566,264 different methods for contact.

I got back an automated reply: “Thank you for your change of address. Your order will be sent to:

Rod Shelley

Friend's Address

Friend's City

Friend's State and Zip”

AUUGGHHH!!

So I sent back the reply: “This is not correct. It should be:

Friend's Name

Friend's Address

Friend's City

Friend's State and Zip”

A day later, I got a reply from an actual human being (I think...)

“Thank you for contacting us! We've changed the shipping address to:

Friend's Name

Friend's Address

Friend's City

Friend's State and Zip

We'll make sure it gets sent to the right place! Thank you for contacting us at RedCompany.”

Great, I thought. It only took giving them my friend's name and address TWICE. A couple days later, I got a confirmation that it was on the way via FedEx.

Then yesterday, I checked the tracking number on FedEx's website. I was greeted with the following:

“DELIVERY EXCEPTION! Wrong address or person has moved.”

WTF??

So, I started digging. On the delivery manifest I saw:

MY NAME

Friend's Address

Friend's City

Friend's State and ZIP

F$%^#$%^^ING IDIOTS!

Which of course means that when the delivery driver tried to deliver it – with MY name on it they were told “There is no one by that name here...”

(To clarify, my friend lives at a community center, not a single-family house, so the staff had no idea who Rod Shelley was or that it was a gift for my friend.)

So, of course, I spent most of this evening calling FedEx, navigating their computerized, voice-prompted, AI phone system for 15 minutes before finally being routed to an actual skin-and-blood human. I explained the situation, and the delivery is scheduled for tomorrow. With the right name. I hope. I also contacted RedBubble – again – to let them know (probably a bit harshly) that they STILL had it wrong.

Seriously.... How freaking difficult can it be to understand: “I am buying this item as a gift for a friend. Please ship it to him at:

Friend's Name

Friend's Address

Friend's City

Friend's State and Zip”

I really don't know how I could possibly make it any more understandable.

With all the technology we have available to make our lives and jobs easier and more efficient (supposedly), we need to realize that after all, WE still need to wake up, take our eyes off that little 3-inch screen for a few moments, and PAY ATTENTION!

Rant overwith.

steps down from soapbox