Short Story: The idiocy of induced idiocy is worse than idiocy
@innertalks (22088)
Australia
August 16, 2022 11:43pm CST
John was at home in his study, next to his front door, when he saw an email come in on his computer.
It was 11.30 am, on a Wednesday morning.
It was from some freight company, and it said:
"We attempted to deliver your parcel from Booksville, today at 11.23 am. A card was left at your premises with details for collection."
John opened his door, and he went outside.
A van was just driving off.
He saw a folded card, poking out from under his front door mat.
"The idiot never even rang my bell,"
John thought to himself, rather angrily.
The card told him that he had to go to some collection centre on the other side of his town to get his parcel, and to take this card with him.
There was no phone number there to ring the centre to see if it was there yet to collect.
John googled their number, and he rung them up, but it was just a nondescript recorded message, telling him to pick it up within the next five days.
And so, he waited until the next morning, and he drove his car over to the address, mentioned on the card.
The bogan, at the window, said to John.
"What do you want?"
"I have come to collect this parcel,"
replied John.
"Well, I cannot read the item number there; it is indecipherable."
"Ah,"
said John.
"You should teach your staff to write more legibly then."
"But, I could not read it either, and that's why I copied it down from my email, and here is the number."
"Up there for thinking,"
said the staff member, at the counter.
And so, John managed to get his parcel.
When later, the company sent him a survey to fill in about their claimed high level of customer service, John simply replied.
"Well, I know why it was a high level, as all the staff are high too."
John got some satisfaction from that answer, at least.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
This really was contactless delivery!
"You cannot educate an idiot. It is not even worth your trying to do so."
5 people like this
5 responses
@everwonderwhy (7376)
•
17 Aug 22
@innertalks Thankfully, we have cheerful and happy Post Office people here in our local area. Sorry about John's experience.
3 people like this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
17 Aug 22
John was lucky that he found the card.
The wind could have blown it away, or someone else could have pinched it. You need the card to claim the parcel.
They are supposed to place the card in our letterbox.
Sometimes, they leave the parcel at the door, and often, a passerby opportunist will pinch it then too.
2 people like this
@everwonderwhy (7376)
•
17 Aug 22
@innertalks That's unfortunate when those possible scenarios happen. But you can show the PO your Tracking Number from the email or SMS?
2 people like this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
17 Aug 22
@everwonderwhy Yes, you can give them the tracking number, and show them ID too, and they will give you the parcel.
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
18 Aug 22
Yes, sometimes it works, but with Murphy's law in place, at the worst of times, it usually does not work!
2 people like this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
17 Aug 22
This must happen all over the world then.
I guess that idiocy spreads, and as the writer below says, it is often enshrined into company policy too.
The Policy here too, is for the driver to drive around for the rest of the day, with all of his undelivered parcels still on board, and then he calls into the Post office depot in your town, and leaves them all there just before closing time, on that day, so you have to go back the next day to collect them.
Every half an hour, John was getting both text messages, and emails as to where the parcel was now, after the missed delivery.
"We attempted to deliver your parcel today. We will keep you informed. Wait for further emails."
"When your parcel is available for collection at the Post Office, you will receive another email to keep you informed."
Before this though, they had sent emails to say that it would arrive on Thursday, and it turned up unexpectedly on Wednesday, without warning too.
"Your delivery is ready for collection from the Post Office."
This message was received at 5 pm, just as the Post Office was closing for that day.
They made a long saga out of it, entertaining John annoyingly all day, but perhaps still better than him being kept completely in the dark, all day.
Why didn't they send at least one more relevant email, or text?
"Your parcel will arrive early, on Wednesday, at around 11 am, or so,"
and John would have left his front wooden door open then, with only the security wire door still closed, and the idiot might then have called out through the open door, as even an idiot could see then that someone was home.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
18 Aug 22
@Shiva49 Yes, they like to hammer home what they have done, and then send you a survey to fill in too, to try to boost their egos, even more.
At the end of John's saga, he got this message.
"Your parcel has been delivered."
"Star Freight is committed to providing a high standard of customer service. Did you find this notification service helpful? Tell us about your experience at Star.Freight.Customer.Satisfaction.com."
(The parcel was not delivered. John collected it himself, but they deem that as being delivered too, it seems.)
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26774)
• Singapore
18 Aug 22
@innertalks I recall one instance where I got repeated messages: "we tried to deliver the parcel but could not". The fact of the matter was someone was always at home waiting for the delivery!
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26774)
• Singapore
17 Aug 22
It has happened to me too.
No effort was made to ring the bell but notice was left to collect the parcel within the next few days.
At times, our feedback does not register too as they have a smug attitude it is company policy - grin and bear it!
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
18 Aug 22
@Shiva49 I hope that that message really was from the right debit card company.
I get calls that my credit card has expired, when it hasn't, and they want me to push buttons, to send me a new one too.
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
17 Aug 22
Yes, what hope have we got, when idiocy is being enshrined into company policy, as I also mentioned to another writer above.
None, at all, unless, we have a case of double idiocy, when the idiot doesn't follow company policy, and does something even more idiotic, and when he is at the door, he calls you on your mobile to see if you are in the house, or not.
In mathematics, a double negative becomes a positive, and perhaps a double dose of idiocy, might bound up into a lucky dose of common sense instead, in some cases, at least.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26774)
• Singapore
18 Aug 22
@innertalks At times, one gets tripped too by voice messages.
I received one yesterday asking me to press numbers to get a new debit card to replace the expiring one.
I was anxious not to press inadvertently the wrong number that could cancel the renewal!
As I was using the card often, I do not know why they want me to go through all the hassle. They could have just said they are sending the new card.
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (56486)
• Philippines
22 Aug 22
It's indeed a waste of time to educate an idiot.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
22 Aug 22
Yes, most of us would readily agree on that I think. The idiot also just does not want to be taught, or educated either.
@innertalks (22088)
• Australia
23 Aug 22
@Nakitakona Yes, we should be careful of the company that we keep.
@Nakitakona (56486)
• Philippines
23 Aug 22
@innertalks Yes, they have their own way of thinking, perception. If you indulge with their lifestyle, you're likely an idiot too.
1 person likes this
