The Painting

“I know you can buy a picture frame box and protect the painting with bubble wrap,” was Michelle's idea, but not something she could do herself as she was about to get a ride to the airport to fly back home.  No problem, I thought as I will have to find a way to deal with this, as this is what retired fathers do for their daughters, and also a good way to give back to someone who just paid for my fancy supper at a local restaurant. 

I had no intention of driving to Vancouver for a very long time and not in the winter, since we can always fly out, and Vancouver downtown is just too busy to have a vehicle.  I question whether we could carry this painting onto the plane, let alone in oversized baggage, as it was two feet by three feet and fragile. The painting was appropriately done on canvas nicely attached to a light wooden frame.  Taking the canvas off the frame was not considered an option due to the intricacy of the fine craftsmanship done. This left courier as the only viable option.

The next morning, I searched my home for a suitable box, like for a flat screen TV, but the only one I could find was too big and already stuffed with pictures.  So, off I went to Vision Electronics, where I was immediately ambushed by a salesman when I was only three feet in the door, and no, they did not keep any TV boxes (I doubted he was telling the truth).  He suggested I go to Walmart or to the UPS store to "buy" a box. I know Walmart has most things but thought it was a better idea to see if UPS could help me, since I was thinking of using their service anyways to deliver the painting. 

I go into the store and met up with the manager and obvious owner of this franchise.  He was middle aged and came with a foreign accent. I asked if he could help. He went into the back and came up with a three by four picture frame box and said, “This will do even if it is too big as you need to pad the painting.” Price for the box was going to be...twenty dollars! Twenty dollars for a cardboard box? How much mark up did he have on that box? I never paid so much for a box before! Normally I find one for free, but our house was purged of empty boxes and it was going to be a pain to come up with an alternative.  I remembered the nice free meal daughter gave me and so, what the heck, I will buy it, and what the heck, for convenience I will buy some bubble wrap for eight dollars. Now I am into cost already by twenty eight dollars plus tax but, hey, I am making progress and buying this will guarantee I can pack it properly.

Back home I carefully wrapped the painting with bubble wrap, scrunched up plastic bags and newspaper.  I cut down the top of the box a bit since I probably was going to pay through the nose due to box size and this made me feel good as a cost cutting measure.  The box was also very light and therefore in my favor. I take the box back to the store.  The manager was busy but he had his beautiful young assistant with very long black hair waiting to serve me.  After taking measurements of the box with her light, flimsy tape measure, she sighed and said, “I am sorry, but this box is too big and so UPS cannot deliver!” 

I confess her comment really surprised me, then bothered me, and I was not in the best frame of mind when I said, "UPS sold me this box for twenty dollars.  They would not sell it to me if it could not be used by your courier service!  I even cut down the size a bit!”

“Sorry, but we have to go with the guidelines provided.”

I looked squarely into her soft innocent brown eyes, “Let me repeat what I said. UPS sold me this box to be used by your courier service and so this box complies with your guidelines!” 

“I understand what you are saying” (pause)...and without changing the expression on her face, said, “I will let you speak to the manager."  

The manager comes over, rechecks her measurements that were wrong (must have been her converting centimetres to inches), and now the box met specifications.  All I had to do was enter the ship to details on the bill of lading. There is nothing worse than having a courier service try to deliver a parcel with the wrong address and so I double checked with my cell phone that I had updated based on our address book at home.  Yes, I double checked my cell phone with our address book.  I signed my name on the form certifying that all details were correct.

They informed me that with the parcel getting picked up that afternoon, it was going to be delivered by Wednesday at the latest.  I knew the cost was coming next and knew it was going to be expensive, a lot more than I had ever paid before, and I warned myself just so I would not be negatively surprised that it could even be as high as forty dollars, which would be absolutely outrageous.  They came back with a cost of...ninety eight dollars plus tax!  

“Ninety eight dollars?” I felt sick!  “Is this your competitive price?  Maybe I should look at getting this delivered by the Postal Service instead!”  

They said that they consistently use standard rates as dictated by head office for all shipments based on size and weight.  The manager also reminded me that Greyhound Bus Lines is no longer in business and this is what the Postal Service was using to move their parcels around!  Good point. I decided I really did not want to shop around anymore as I had other things to do. I gave up and flipped my credit card onto the countertop to complete the transaction.  Add a little tax and it was over one hundred and five dollars. Add the box and bubble wrap and now I am into this for a cost of... one hundred thirty four dollars!

The picture itself has more sentimental value than market?  I found out later this painting was done by a friend of Michelle's, a hockey player who went to the same school  and now the painting was being sold at a silent auction for the Thumbs Up foundation which was started by a local family.  A couple of years ago, their son (a good and close high school buddy of Michelle's) committed suicide, thus triggering the foundation. Thumbs Up raises funds for the mental health awareness and are doing great work in Alberta. Michelle bought the painting after a couple of beers (but rightfully so), not considering how she was going to get it back to Vancouver.  She left it at a friend's place for an interim period and it was taken great care of. Conclusion reached is that this painting has so much meaning for Michelle and is therefore priceless.

Part of the UPS bill included the need for Michelle to sign for receipt, since I did not want it to be left on the step of her condo, only to have someone else pick it up!  I was informed I could go to the UPS website to track the progress and the current location of the package. I saw no need as Michelle should have the package in two days. They also said that there was a 1-800 number I could phone with any questions or issues as this reaches their Call Centre.  You could end up speaking to a different person each time, but no worries, everything gets logged against the tracking number, and so the next agent responding just has to read the tracking history.

I phoned Michelle that it was on its way.  She wanted to know how much it cost and offered to pay, like a good daughter would.  I said it was expensive, but no, I was not about to tell her. After more pleading from her, I held firm, and so she had no recourse but to thank her father for what I had done.  She agreed to send me a picture once it was in her hands to show that there was no damage, my first concern.  

Strike One -  On Wednesday morning, I received an email from UPS that there was an "exception" on the bill of lading.  Exception? What does that mean? I figured it should be Michelle that deals with this and so I forwarded the email to her.  She phoned back later and said I made a mistake with the address! But I had checked the address several times and thought it was right, but sure enough, I was missing the building number!  How could someone check the address multiple times and still get it wrong? Only some bonehead like me I suppose! How embarrassing! I decided what threw me off was that her condo number is "5-3" and so must have thought the "3" was the building number and therefore missed the "550" that followed it.

Strike Two - Later that day, I found out from Michelle that UPS tried to deliver the package twice, got to the building, pressed the buzzer to her room...but the buzzer did not work and apparently has not been working ever since they moved into the unit!  Michelle was never concerned before because everyone has a cell phone and if they had friends coming over, they would simply call or text her and she would let them in! Michelle's cell number had been keyed in and part of the tracking number log, but the driver did not give her a call and instead took the box back to the distribution centre in Richmond!  The next day Michelle called UPS and I can just imagine how the discussion went: where is the package, the buzzer did not work, why does your buzzer not work, why did you not phone me, are you going to be home tomorrow, we will try again, yes we have your cell number, I will be home all day, we will find you... All this information of course is getting logged into the system against the tracking number.

Strike Three -  Michelle called again the following day (Friday) because still no package. They again said it was because there was a problem with the address. She again explained that she had "fixed" the address and was aware of the buzzer problem and that the lady yesterday said the driver would just call her. UPS would send a note to the driver that the package was “deliverable” and “guaranteed” that they would deliver it before 7pm. So Michelle waited around all day, not wanting to leave the house to get any food/coffee/go to yoga because she did not want to miss the driver.  I am sure she must have been bored silly. The driver never showed up or at least did not call her cell. Michelle called again after 7pm and UPS said it was not delivered because there was a “problem with the address”. Sound familiar, eh. Michelle again explained that she already called and provided an updated address and that the buzzer wasn’t working and the driver needed to call her. The lady said she updated the file and that she could “guarantee the package would potentially be delivered on Monday.”

Now Michelle was getting a little ticked I suppose with the "no show" and potential delivery.  I know what that determined expression on her face can look like. She again expressed her frustration because she did not want to wait around for another entire day to "potentially" receive the package!  After further discussion she convinces UPS that her father should get all of his money back!  Huh?  First of all: wrong address, secondly no buzzer, and now Michelle and only Michelle has talked them into giving my money back!  She really did not want me to pay for this shipment! How was she able to do this, but Michelle says it all happened after these two events for what went wrong.   All I have to do is phone the Call Centre. 

Later from the notes Michelle provided, I found her convincing argument went something like this (which really was a lack of communication):

• Wednesday: UPS attempted to deliver without her knowledge, and they did not leave any indication on her door (ie. delivery sticker or other);

• Thursday: Michelle tracked the package and only then learned that they could not deliver because of buzzer malfunction.  UPS said the driver would call her when they arrived with the package;

• Friday: UPS would call her and deliver before 7 pm, but the driver never called and probably never came.  Also UPS did not read all the log notes as they only referred to the wrong address and buzzer issue and all they could do is promise a potential delivery on Monday, not guarantee.

Michelle then asked for her father to get a refund as she was aware that shipping the package cost a lot of money and she was spending a lot of her time trying to organize the delivery! She explained she did not want to get her Dad involved unless everything is sorted out and he just needed to provide credit card information to get money put back on his card.  (I love you Michelle!) The lady on the phone said Dad would be “guaranteed” a refund if he called the number that night.

And so okay, I phoned the Call Centre.  When I phoned, I did not get the lady, but a man, and the man probably did not read the lengthy notes on file, but he did review the log enough to comment on the wrong address, no buzzer.  Then I said that my daughter had reached agreement with UPS for me to get a full refund because of events that occurred after these issues and this should be logged in the file. 

The Call Centre quickly said, “No. You expect me to give you a full refund when you gave the wrong address and the condo buzzer did not work? There are no notes in the file indicating a refund is in order!” 

Also what came out of our discussion is that a driver would never be able to call Michelle's cell when they arrived because they do not have company phones!  You have got to be kidding me! There are billions of people around the world with cell phones, many in third world countries. Surely each driver in Canada had a cell phone, but company policy says, "No phone calls to customers."  I concluded this was because they do not want them to use their cell for business purposes, as they in turn would want management to pay for their phone expenses!     

I relayed all this information to Michelle and this only added to her determination to fix UPS.  It had never been explained to her before that drivers cannot use their cell phones, and also a part of the lack of communication!  Michelle tried to call UPS late Friday but the office was closed for the weekend. In the meantime, she sent an "angry email" requesting follow up.  On Monday she received an email reply from UPS stating that there was “a problem with the address” and that her package was being held in Richmond and would NOT be delivered.   

Michelle called UPS and a different lady said again there was a “problem with the address” but that her package was on a truck about to be delivered despite the email she just received! She said if Michelle provided her with a buzzer number (read the notes lady!), she would send that to the driver. After a lengthy circular argument in which the UPS lady said “I’ll send the driver a note to deliver” and Michelle explaining again the buzzer did not work and that there is no way he/she would be allowed into the building without calling her… on a regular phone number… not the buzzer… she finally clued in and got around to explaining that drivers cannot call people because they do not have company phones. 

Michelle's option was to physically wait outside all day for the UPS truck to show up because they could not provide an estimate when they would be there.   At this point,Michelle offered to drive forty five minutes all the way to Richmond to get the package. The lady said great and Michelle could pick it up anytime over the next five days (even though it was currently on a truck).  Michelle had to explain that she did not want to drive all the way to Richmond to get the painting if it was not there! So she informed UPS that she will pick it up the next day to give the package a chance to get back to the distribution centre.

Unfinished business: there was still another matter to deal with.  She asked to speak with the Manager about the refund she requested previously (go get 'em Michelle).  Michelle had to start all over with the Manager and re-explain the situation. Michelle confessed that the address/buzzer issues were our fault, but the customer service she had received caused her to feel a refund was warranted. The Manager understood and said that they could not provide refunds over the phone and that I needed to go into the store. She said she would write in the file that a full refund had been approved.   Michelle again reiterated that she did not want her Dad to go into store unless everything was sorted out and he just gets his money back. The lady assured Michelle again that he would get a refund.  After the call, Michelle instructed me to go into the store to get my money back.

It was now Monday, one week after dropping the package off.  I walked into the UPS store, taking my credit card with me. There were other customers paying to use their internet service, photocopier, fax machine...what a business they have going here!  The same young lady sees me come in and must have assumed I was "trouble", did not hesitate in suggesting that I talk to the manager. Now at this point I still did not know all the details of Michelle's convincing argument, but that an agreement had been reached with UPS to give me a full refund, and in my mind this was going to be one hundred and five dollars.  I explained to the manager what was relayed by Michelle, he looks at me and chooses to dial that same dreaded 1-800 number to get the Call Centre.

A man answers the phone, probably the same man I had talked to before.  The manager explains I was in the store to get a refund, then the man wants to speak to me, then he wants to speak to the manager, then me, then the manager places the phone on its public speaker option.  I certainly did not want his other customers to hear our conversation! After absorbing all the facts, and after he had scanned through the log notes keyed into the tracking number, he summarizes by stating (you guessed it), “So, you expect me to give you a full refund when you gave us the wrong address and the buzzer did not work?  No!”

I found myself in an argument and it was going to be a battle!   I was no longer retired! We were speaking to the wrong person and he had past judgement on us and was not about to back down.  Neither was I, as I reminded myself that Michelle would not lie, there must have been a calamity of events to warrant my getting a full refund, and that UPS had reached agreement with Michelle to get my money back!  He was raising his voice for all to hear, and lets just say I also caught myself talking sternly to him! My adrenaline started flowing and the store was getting a bit warm! Michelle would not dream this up and she definitely would not lie to me!  

As the argument continued, I kept emphasizing that it was the events that occurred after the address and buzzer issues that caused UPS to agree for a refund and I did not know all details, but there should be notes in the file to back this claim.  When there was a slight pause in our talk, I apologized to another customer about the call and said that this had nothing to do with this UPS store and it was just one of those...

”No worries”, he exclaimed with a smile, apparently enjoying the discussion, I understand."  

The man from the Call Centre never found that note in the file, or he did not want to find, but he was getting tired of arguing after noting my persistence, and so he made a move to reach closure.  He said that company policy allows him, out of goodwill, to return to the customer 50% of the courier charge, and by the power invested in him, he will return to me a credit for ...$29.48. How on earth did he ever come up with this amount?  He said it was 50% of $58.96. How did he get this amount when I paid 105? At this point, I was willing to give in and reach a gentleman's agreement and receive 50%, but this amount was less, and they had previously reached agreement to give Michelle a full refund. 

“But I paid over a hundred dollars for this shipment, not $58.96, and so I think I should be entitled to receive at least $50.”  I think I then heard him resettle in his chair, and perhaps a slight pounding of fist on the counter. I got out of the next round of argument that the 58 was Vancouver's portion.  The Call Centre suggested to the manager that his branch chip in 20 to take the refund closer to 50. But the manager said no way, what did he do to deserve this, and that I should receive the full $58.96!  Hey, the manager believes me and is now on my side! Yes! Now I do recall bringing up "Small Claims Court" at one point. Omigosh, I actually threatened him! I was thinking instead of saying I would write up a consumer report on UPS for the poor service.

So, because it was two against one and not wanting to back down as he had already made his one and only offer, he chose to... hang up the phone!  With a pause in the action, I realized my hands were stuck to the counter top from my grip.  Upon release I noticed I left a water vapor trail of sweat in the shape of my fingers and so chose to wipe it off with my jacket.  Now what do we do, I thought. Well, the Manager dials the 1-800 number again and this time we are talking to a lady at the Call Centre!  

It sounded like this lady had been talking to Michelle previously as she was more understanding (thank God)!  We again reviewed the situation and that I was in the store to get my money back, she looked at the notes and found right away that an authorization had been issued for the Airdrie branch to receive a full refund of $58.96!  The other agent was lying!!  I told Michelle later that when they said full refund, it only meant Vancouver's portion, not that of Airdrie and other.  Final details of what needed to be done was discussed privately by the Manager and the Call Centre.

I had my credit card pulled out to receive my credit, but the Manager said he could not put it on my card.  Now what? Once he receives an inter-branch credit, he will give me a cheque for the amount and that he should have this credit by Saturday.  I had no issues with this however as how does he know for sure that he is going to receive that inter-branch credit after all our discussion!  It seems that it matters who you talk to and he did not want to pay me until he had been reimbursed. I said I would follow up with him after Saturday.

Meanwhile, the next day Michelle still needed to pick up her painting!  She drove to Richmond and requested her package at the counter, and she stood there waiting for a solid ten minutes  when the clerk went to get it. Based on what had happened previously, Michelle thought for sure it was not there, but she brought it out.  There was a large hole in the centre of the box, and Michelle would have been thinking about that damaged box on the trip all the way home to her condo.   Fortunately, the painting looked perfect when she unpacked it and so she hung it up on the wall in the right place in her bedroom. When she had signed for receiving the painting, I received a system generated email from UPS that the package had been successfully "delivered" to the proper address (communication)!  Michelle corrected me when I talked to her on the phone later, and now all is now good in Vancouver!

Now it was my turn to reach closure.  After trading phone calls with the Manager the next week, I decided to walk into the UPS store.  There was that young lady again and then obviously her mother...oh, I get it, she is the daughter of the manager.   I detected a half a smile from them when I asked for the manager. While the manager was giving careful scrutiny of the inter-branch transactions on his computer screen in his office, and phone discussion with his public accountant,  I caught myself pacing anxiously and impatiently back and forth in front of the counter. When I noticed he pulled out his cheque book, I decided it was getting close, and therefore chose to do some small chat with the rest of the family, starting with the mom.

I asked where they were from, but her English must not have been good as she just stared and smiled, sort of, and said nothing.  Her daughter stepped in to answer and apparently they are a family from northern India making a living with this business and have only been in Airdrie one year. The daughter actually was born in Qatar, spoke perfect English, as they moved around a lot in the Middle East trying to get the lifestyle and security they were after.  I was not expecting all this information, but she kept going!  

She has just completed her university education, has a job offer in New Jersey that is getting held for her, just received a working visa for the US, and was helping out her parents with their store until this all came together, and was going to leave for Jersey next week.  Well, she certainly is a charming young lady and she obviously is not concerned about petty details like centimeters vs. inches! It is amazing how this wholesome close knit family managed to make their way to Airdrie and still call it home despite such a miserable winter we had last.  Living close to the mountains in India must have made them used to snow.

Finally the manager came out with a cheque.  I reminded myself that we live in an insane world run by capitalism, often with a lack of trust, but the past means nothing.  All that matters is the present, there is no one to judge, people do matter, and I needed to be the best that I can be for who I am.  Making sure I had the cheque in hand to complete my mission, I said thank you, shook his hand, which he appreciated, then asked if he would like a coffee from Starbucks.  Well, I tell you, the Manager melted and produced a warm smile, so did the mother and daughter. How they were glowing was a sight to see. The air had been cleared of any tension and conflict.  The war had ended and they now knew I came in peace. He was most gracious for my offer, normally likes coffee, but then explained to me a personal story about a bad tooth he had currently and so therefore had to decline.  

Looking back, it is amazing how something can degrade so much when you fail to provide the correct address Adrian and therefore my own miscommunication!  At least I only had to pay roughly forty dollars to ship it out, which was what I expected would be the cost to begin with.  It was because of all the issues we had that brought the cost down, not the other way around! UPS's system process cannot handle complexity as it causes chaos with complete breakdown in communication.  And so now you know what you can do to cut costs if you are willing to go the extra mile! Get them confused and then keep notes of their mistakes! As I did not have a job I needed to go to, time was on my side, and it just so happens that Michelle had time as she was between contracts.

Fortunately this story has a happy ending, with Michelle having her painting in place as a keepsake.  As for the next shipment, maybe I should try Fedex. But hold on... upon further inspection Airdrie's managing fee was only eighteen dollars, they actually do want to provide good customer service, they are such a loving wholesome family, do you really think Fedex will be any better...oh what the heck, I will give them my business again!