Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 7

This may be my last entry regarding the Qwik Pack & Ship. I'm not sad about that. Not even a little bit. It's not that I haven't enjoyed this job. It's just that it's amazing how boring this little shop can be 92% of the time.

I leave you with my final observations from the Qwik Pack & Ship. Have I mentioned before that UPS and FedEx do not deliver to PO Boxes? I'm not sure if I have or not. Really this stuff runs together. Today I had another instance of someone trying to FedEx a letter to a PO Box. As the employee who inputs the information into the system, I don't look at the shipping address until well after the customer leaves. There's a reason for that, which I'll get to in a moment.

Shouldn't it be logical that conglomerations like FedEx and UPS would refuse to deliever to the Post Office? I mean, the Post Office is essentially their competition. I think if I were the owner of Pizza Hut, I'd be a little upset to find out that my employees were having Domino's delivered to the house on the weekends. I'm sure that happens all the time, but you see what I'm saying?

Now, why would I wait until the customer leaves to enter the shipping information into the FedEx (or UPS) system? It's strictly because of the listed cost of shipping. I know I've mentioned before that we mark everything up. That's what stores do, it's how they make a profit. So if I were to charge the customer $23.50 to overnight a letter, and then he or she were to see that our actual cost for shipping is only about $12.00, that may lead the customer to become angry and/or confused.

Then I'd have to try to explain what it means to make a profit in this free enterprise economy. Those DVDs you buy from Circuit City? They really only cost a couple bucks, yet you happily fork over 20 for each of them. Happy shopping kids. And happy shipping. From here on, you're on your own.

Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 6

Here's another example of my favorite kind of customer. This woman comes in here with nothing to send, only a complaint. She was apparently in here several weeks ago and sent a small package through the Postal Service. Also, she remembers me as the one who helped her. I have no memory of her or her package, but I think that's understandable. It's been several weeks and in the past two weeks we've had more customers than I've seen in the entire 3 and a half months prior combined. I digress...

Apparently, this package that was taken to the Post Office by us, after she paid us to ship it, never arrived at its destination. Luckily, New Owner came through in the clutch. He took over and talked to her while I helped another impatient customer.

Now, the Complaint Lady wasn't rude. She was polite and I think she ultimately understood that once the package leaves our hands, whether that be through UPS, FedEx or the Post Office, it's no longer our responsibility. Really, if someone has a problem with a shipment, especially if it's the fault of the Postal Service, then one should go directly to the Post Office and voice the complaint there. Again, we're just a middle man. Basically, people come to us for convenience sake. If it becomes inconvenient, then go to the source.

I'm not saying people should use our services. 'Cause then I'd be out of a job and New Owner and Wife would have made a poor investment. I guess what I am saying though, is that if it were me, I'd rather save a few bucks and stand in line at the post office or the UPS Store. But again, that's just me.

Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 5

You know what bugs me? When customers come in here, do their business, then complain when they get to the cash register and find out we charge more than the post office does. They complain when we charge more than the quote they got from UPS.com.

Guess what... We're not the United States Postal Service. We're not UPS or FedEx or DHL. We're a privately owned business that acts as the middle man so you don't have to inconvenience yourself by standing in line for 3 hours at the real post office. In reality, the owners of this store could charge whatever the heck they want.

Now, I'm not saying I see any of this money. I mean, I'm getting $7.00 an hour for this career move. But seriously, if you don't like the mark-up, go to the UPS Store or the actual post office. Personally, I get the fact that we charge 4 cents more per stamp. Why? 'Cause we're the ones that have to deliver your bills and letters and Christmas cards to the real post office. And have you seen the price of gas lately? Not cheap to drive across town.

I'm pretty sure that no one reading this has ever been a customer in this store. But remember, when your shopping this holiday season and feel like complaining about the cost, don't take it out on the lowly sales clerk. They have no control over the price. They just charge whatever price the computer spits out at them.

Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 3

Okay, I understand that part of working retail involves last minute customers coming in and taking up time that could be spent at home, since the store officially closed five minutes earlier.

Today, as I was closing up the register (at 5:59pm), a man came in with a huge 70 pound package. And then he got confused about what forms to fill out. And then he changed his mind after he started filling out what he later decided was the wrong thing. And while he's doing that (at 6:05pm) another person comes in wanting to make some photocopies. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Did no one notice that the door has a posted closing time of 6:00? Guess not. I got everything taken care of, eventually. And I had to close out the credit card machine all over again. I left the store angry. I got over it eventually. And I'm sure it'll happen again.

Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 2

I like kids. I really do. I say that, of course, to preface a blog to complain about kids.

Parents, when you come into a packing/shipping store where you have to concentrate on filling out paperwork for several packages, don't bring your small children. Because at that point, while you're writing account numbers and addresses on forms, your children are roaming around unsupervised. While you're not paying attention, I am. I'm seeing them pull greeting cards out of the rack to look at the pictures. I'm seeing them go to the computer and mess with whatever happens to be open on the screen, whether that be the internet or a shipping program that kinda shouldn't be messed with. I'm seeing them walk over to the paper cutter (which has a child safety latch) and trying to play with that too. Now, they're not my kids, they're yours. I don't feel comfortable telling someone else's kid to stop doing something when the parent is standing right there and should have the presence of mind to say it themselves.

And on top of that, other customers may come in while your kids are running rampant through the store, thereby dividing my attention between you, the new customer, and your kids. I'm getting paid to divide my attention between the customers. I'm not getting paid to babysit your children while you get your business done.

Again, I do like children. But incidents like these just remind me how very not ready I am to have kids of my very own. Yet.

Tales from the Qwik Pack & Ship - Chapter 1

I screwed up. Big time.

This week, I'm at the store alone. My boss is in New Orleans until Tuesday. Not sure for what. The point is, he left me, the new kid, in charge.

Yesterday a man came in here with two packages to send out. One was just a regular shipment, no special instructions at all. The second was to be sent next-day air. Yesterday was Friday.

Normally, when someone says next-day air, they mean the next business day. This man did not specifically ask for Saturday delivery. I'm not putting the blame on him. I didn't think to even mention it either.

Today (Saturday), I received a phone call from that man requesting the tracking number. When he had looked up the package he called back, concerned that it had not arrived at its destination. I reiterate, I'm the new kid, so when something goes wrong like this, I'm really at a loss. At first I was thinking this was a simple issue of someone not getting what they thought they had paid for. Also at this time, I wasn't even considering the fact that it was supposed to be a Saturday delivery. I got his number and said I'd call back when I figured out what I could do.

So I figured out what he would get if he wanted a refund. Well, a refund on the difference. I called back and asked him to come in and I'd be happy to refund his money.

Fifteen minutes later, his wife walks through the door. Irate, she tells me the importance of the package and why it was supposed to arrive today. See, the recipient of this package, an iPod, is a little girl with a terminal illness. She's entering the hospital today for her next round of treatments. They wanted to get this iPod to her because it's the thing she wants more than anything else. But now it won't get to her until Monday.

Through tears, I apologized profusely, wishing there was something more I could do. I felt about 3 inches tall after that. And then I dropped to my knees. And I'm asking anyone reading this to take a moment to do the same. I don't know this little girl's name. I don't know exactly what's wrong with her. But God does. I'm not praying that an iPod would miraculously appear on this family's doorstep (though that would be a nice twist). I'm praying that God would place His hand on this girl. That He would provide comfort, peace, and strength to the family. That He would reveal Himself to them in a powerful way.