Thursday, August 06, 2009

grandma, purchase, surgery

I got an update from my mom yesterday via email - Grandma is doing worse than dad's recent update suggested. She's got a urinary tract infection that caused a stage 2 renal failure. Which is scary. She's still in the hospital - but thinks she's in prison. She had to be restrained because she keeps pulling her IV out and has kicked a nurse.

I talked to my sister last night and we're really scared for her and at a loss on what we can do - if anything. So, I'm kinda bummed about that.

In other news... I've been having some issues with a recent web-order. I went to the BudK website to order a diving knife and some throwing darts. Not a big purchase or a complicated one - right around $20 - but I had trouble getting logged in. I finally had to request the password and it turned out to not be what I expected. Frustrated and slightly annoyed, I completed the order - and then realized in the confirmation email that the address was wrong - it was my previous address. Now, I'm pretty sure I've ordered stuff since I've lived at my new place so I don't know how that got there - plus, I get the catalog at my new address.

As soon as I saw the incorrect address, I sent an email to their customer support address with the correction. The next day they replied and said the package was "ready to be shipped" and I would need to request an interception - at the cost of $10.

I was a little ticked about that, but if I didn't, the package would go to the wrong place. I wrote back and gave them the go ahead. The replied again and said I would have to call and give my credit card number.

So, I call them and give my credit card number. They said they'll take care of it. In the meantime, I get a friendly note saying the item had been shipped.

I didn't hear anything for several days, so I called yesterday and asked for a status. They told me that the package had already been delivered. I asked if they had charged me the interception fee and they said someone had tried to call to say they couldn't intercept it based on the carrier. I'm guessing they called the old number.

I asked if they had any suggestions and they told me - "you should try and stop by to see if it got delivered".

Great.

So, I wrote up a note including my cell phone number and when to my old address - thinking I could leave the note in case they weren't home. The current resident was just pulling in as I arrived and I introduced myself and explained the situation. He said he hadn't gotten anything and made a show of sorts of looking on the tiny front porch. I asked if I could leave him my number and would he mind calling me if it arrived.

I left then. Could be: 1. He got the package and lied. 2. He didn't get the package and someone else picked it up. 3. BudK never shipped it and has been screwing with me.

I'll give this a few days to see if it shows and if he calls me. Then I'm going to write a note to BudK explaining my concerns and asking to be taken off their mailing list. It's unfortunate since I liked the stuff they sold and the catalogues were always fun - but this time around I really felt like their customer service didn't give a crap. And unless the new resident of my old apartment comes through - I'm out $20. Not the end of the world, but irksome.

Guess I need to find a new edged weapons supplier - or I need to learn the art of forging my own. That would be awesome.

Finally, my room-mate is going in for back surgery tomorrow - he's having some vertebra fused. I'm the driver and caller of his relatives. He's worried, but I think the very busy hours he's been working recently have helped distract him.

That's it for now... back to work.

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