Some Christmas humour, despite the rush
@innertalks (22073)
Australia
December 12, 2024 5:52pm CST
This morning, I went to the Post Office, to post a parcel to someone I knew, and the queue, at opening time, 9.00 am, was already a mile long, so I went into the supermarket first, to buy some stuff there, thinking to myself that when I came back the queue might be smaller.
When I came back, it was longer.
I waited patiently in the queue for more than half an hour, getting hot under the collar, as two queue jumpers tried to jump into the queue, midline.
One man made out that he knew a lady, already in the queue, and he chatted her up, and she let him in.
Another lady, with a pram, with a bawling kid in it, pushed her way to the front of the line too, and then a Post Office worker spoke to her, and it turned out that she was trying to push into the wrong queue, for her photo ID, but the worker ushered her to first place in the other queue, and served her before the irate man there, and others waiting there too, who started screaming out noisily, about queue jumpers.
What a drama, already had played out for me there in the queue.
Then, when I finally made it to the counter, the old lady there, pushed her glasses up on her large nose, a little more, as she looked carefully at where my parcel was going. She weighed it, as I told her that I had bought the packaging here previously, so do not charge me for it again, as they often do here too.
She charged me $48.95, and I said to her,
"No, that cannot be right. You are overcharging me, way too much there."
She turned the computer screen around to me, and sure enough that is what it said.
I said to her to check it again, as that parcel is only going interstate to Western Australia.
It was going to a town, called Denmark, in Western Australia, and it had the postcode for that town, clearly showing on my parcel, but she, in her fluster, had charged me for it going to Denmark, overseas, instead.
After this error was pointed sharply out to her, I was finally charged the correct amount, $7.50, and my parcel was posted.
What a morning of drama.
Photo credit: This is my own photo. (Name, and street address, of person, has been changed, here. The town is correct, though.)
The old lady read this address wrongly.
8 people like this
8 responses
@aureategloom (11157)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
13 Dec
queues are always "so much fun". i always feel bad for not letting people pass, but some of them can be really rude. good thing that you realized the mistake she made and that she listened to you. in Bosnia it's common that people who work at such places are always annoyed with everything and they're always right 
they would convince you that you actually misspelled something and that's why they made a mistake and then they would make you do it all over again or something like that
they would convince you that you actually misspelled something and that's why they made a mistake and then they would make you do it all over again or something like that 4 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Yes, even this lady was adamant that she was right, showing me the price on her computer screen, and never twigging to the mistake she had made.
I had to point it out to her, and then she still doubted me, never thinking that there was a town in Australia of that name.
I strongly told her that the postcode shown there was an Australian postcode, and when she looked it up, on her system, she finally had to agree with me then.
@Shiva49 (26765)
• Singapore
14 Dec
@innertalks If you had pointed out, and added, it was in Australia, she might have retorted she knew that and there was no need for further clarification!
3 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
15 Dec
@Shiva49 I admit, it might have been more clearer if I had spelt out the WA, as Western Australia, but here, the Post Office advocates postcodes, and their usage, above all else, and the lady did not even look at the postcode, as otherwise, she would have realised her mistake.
Perhaps, I should not even have put the town name, which caused her confusion, just the postcode, but I think it is always better to clarify things two ways, rather than leaving things to the chance riddled only one way, which somebody might read wrong anyway. At least with two ways, one can verify one way against the other.
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
I do not like that type of entitled mentality either, but it does take guts to speak up against them, especially these days, when a lot of dangerous types are hidden in our suburbs.
Yes, I got my parcel posted with the correct postage, eventually.
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
4h
@Dreamerby These days, you never know, if they have a knife in their pocket, so l usually just bite my tongue, and keep quiet.
@kaylachan (71582)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Dec
Holiday time is the worst to mail anything.
4 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Yes, Christmas is a rush time indeed, but I needed to post this one today, as I couldn't delay sending it.
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Yes, it is good when things are corrected.
I would have been upset if I had not been awake, and if I had just paid it, and then realised my mistake, after I got home.
3 people like this
@Dreamerby (5756)
• Calcutta, India
21h
Yeah it would have been a shame if they didn't
3 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (103991)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
12 Dec
Happy for you that the incident at the post office had a happy ending after all.
4 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Yes, I just hope that my parcel does not get lost in the Christmas rush of parcels being posted at this time too.
I hope that some other nearsighted overstressed worker does not send it to Denmark in Europe too....but to Denmark in Western Australia.
4 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (103991)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
13 Dec
@innertalks I know what you mean.
4 people like this
@Dreamerby (5756)
• Calcutta, India
21h
Sounds like a chaotic morning! Long queues, queue jumpers, and postal errors-what a test of patience. Hope your day improved!
3 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
4h
It didn't actually, as when l got back to the carpark, where l had parked my car, initially, l could not see my car, and l suspected it was stolen.
Then, l walked further down, as it was being blocked by a large truck, so l didn't see it at first, and l had forgotten l had parked further back than usual on that day.
Perhaps, the stress of the morning blanked my mind for a minute, as l really thought my car was gone.
@Shiva49 (26765)
• Singapore
13 Dec
The difference is huge and it might have created a heart attack in those having a weak heart!
We jump to conclusions at times without comprehending the complete details.
"All's Well That Ends Well" despite the hassle of getting there!
Queue jumpers are a disgrace and an affront to decency.
2 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Of course, at Christmas time, many things can go wrong, and I am hoping that my parcel will be delivered, and not lost somewhere in the system.
I am still hoping that "All's well that Ends Well," really does apply to my parcel here then.
Every mistake made by a business always mostly seems to go against the customer, and that annoys me too.
They often recharge me for stuff bought previously, as I noted above, as I buy a bulk packet of padded envelopes for parcel posting, and the counter staff never think to ask me if I have already paid for the padded envelope, always charging me again for it, thinking that I have just taken it off of the shelf now, even though I have come straight into the line, from outside of the shop, and the envelope is already stuck up with tape, and labelled with names on it.
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
15 Dec
@Shiva49 If you didn't check it with him, it could easily have been lost in the mail, so best to check if he got it.
When I was a teenager, I sent $60 US dollars to America, from my hard-earned paper-round savings, to buy an autographed booklet from a celebrity there, who I was a big fan of, but I never did get his booklet, as the bank draft was lost in the mail, and so I just lost the money too, as to even chase up the loss, in those days, you had to pay another large fee to the Post Office too, and I could not afford to add more losses to my already lost amount.
@Shiva49 (26765)
• Singapore
14 Dec
@innertalks We need to be alert until our last breath, and that keeps us awake even during our senior years and moments!
I recall over forty years ago about "All's Well That Ends Well," and whether it did!
My nephew was new In the US starting university there. He was in touch over the mail and I sent nearly one month of my salary as a gift. I did not get his acknowledgment of receiving the amount nor any further letters from him. I felt bad about asking him about it later when I met him in person.
Hopefully, it ended well as it was a bank draft and I had paid the money in advance to send it from Indonesia.
2 people like this
@Beestring (14675)
• Hong Kong
13 Dec
Christmas is a rush time. It's easy to make mistakes. Glad it was sorted out.
3 people like this
@innertalks (22073)
• Australia
13 Dec
Yes, it was good I didn't just wave my credit card, and not check the amount charged, but it was far more than what I normally pay, so I twigged that it was probably a mistake right away.
