Thursday 7 April 2016

How not to deliver a package: Wacom and Australia Post edition.




For those of you who've seen my blogs on the farce that involved purchasing a brand new Cintiq Companion 2 from Wacom Australia, it may come as a bit of a surprise to you that I might actually attempt to make another purchase from them.

Well.... after throwing all caution to the wind, I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and lash out on an official Wacom blue-tooth keyboard for the thing, which I am currently NOT in the process of typing this with. It's currently in Limbo land in the hands of Australia Post who don't know where to send it.

The following account is based on data obtained from Australia Post's online tracking facility, some phone calls from me to Australia Post, and phone calls I had to make to Wacom themselves. Let the new saga begin.....
Wacom's Bluetooth Keyboard.
At first, it all seemed to be going well. After making my purchase via Wacom's very own Australian edition of their online shop and carefully giving them my postal address, Wacom confirmed my order via an email and sent me a tracking number that I could use online at Australia Post. The email also showed that the delivery address as supplied was correct.

So.... time to start tracking my parcel...

Day One:
Friday 11 March 2016
12:27pm
Started – Shipping information received by Australia Post

Friday 11 March 2016
3:05pm
In transit – Picked up from sender – Alexandria NSW

Friday 11 March 2016
4:54pm
In transit – Banksmeadow NSW


My package was on its way. After being picked up by Australia Post, it was then taken a short distance from Alexandria in New South Wales down to Banksmeadow. I don't have exact locations of where the package travels to as it gets scanned at each checkpoint so the screenshots that I'm using here from Google Maps just show the central locations of each suburb. So far, so good.

Friday 11 March 2016
5:40pm
In transit – Picked up from sender – Alexandria NSW


Something strange just happened. From Banksmeadow it was taken back to Alexandria and flagged as being picked up from the sender a second time... Did the driver scan my package and then fail to pick it up the first time??? But.... it was scanned at Banksmeadow, so it must have been in the driver's possession when he or she got there.... so why has it been scanned at Alexandria again and re-listed as being picked up from the sender a second time???? Oh well, I suppose they'll have to start over and take it back to Banksmeadow.

Friday 11 March 2016
6:06pm
In transit – Alexandria NSW

Friday 11 March 2016
8:41pm
In transit – Processed through Australia Post facility – Chullora NSW


Wait a minute.... that's not Banksmeadow. It's the Australia Post Facility in Chullora, and it's nowhere near Banksmeadow.... Perhaps Wacom had the parcel awaiting collection from a warehouse in Banksmeadow, but had the initial paperwork waiting to be picked up from an office in Alexandria first... but... why scan it in as picked up twice at the original location with a checkpoint elsewhere in-between?... This is getting confusing and it's only been on the tracking system for an hour and 2 minutes!!!!! Seriously???

Day Five: (Day three if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Tuesday 15 March 2016
8:15am
In transit – Processed through Australia Post facility – Sunshine West VIC


On the following Tuesday the parcel made an appearance in Victoria. Parcels used to just travel from whichever Australian State they started their journey in and then come straight down to Tasmania. Since Australia Post's new double tiered delivery service has become a reality though (where you can now pay extra to have your parcels delivered in the normal time-frame, or pay the regular price and have to wait a bit longer before they get around to delivering it), all of our packages that come from the Mainland now have a pit-stop at Sunshine West in Victoria while the first class parcels get priority. Note, Wacom did not offer a faster postal option for a higher price, which I think is only about $2 extra per parcel with Australia Post. I just had to use the single flat postage option that Wacom gave me.

Day Eight: (Day six if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Friday 18 March 2016
9:00am
In transit – With Australia Post for delivery today – Mornington TAS


It took 3 days before it made the overnight trip into Tassie, where it was finally flagged as ready to be delivered!!! Woohoo!!!!! Not long now.

Friday 18 March 2016
11:03am
Contact sender – Attempted delivery – customer not known at address – Bellerive TAS
The postie or delivery driver attempted to deliver this item, but was told that the addressee wasn't known at the address. The item is being returned to sender.

Note: For privacy reasons, the map is not pointing to our home address.
Wait.... What???? Don't tell me Wacom's managed to put the wrong address on the parcel!?!!

Friday 18 March 2016
11:37am
Contact sender – Customer Enquiry lodged (ie, I gave Australia Post a phone call)

And yes, Wacom has written the wrong address on the parcel. They got the State correct, they got the suburb correct, they even got the street name correct. Do you think they'd be capable of writing the correct house number on the package though??? NOOOoooo..... We live in a street that used to be farmland, and over the years sections have been sold off as subdivided parcels, so there are a lot of houses with an A or a B after the street number such as 1A or 2B. We live on one of these subdivisions, so our house number has an A, which is what was typed in when I made the purchase. It was confirmed via an email from Wacom and via me visiting their website to look at my account details. So do you think they might be capable of writing our address with the number followed by an A? NOOOoooo..... Do you think they might have just accidentally left the A off of the address and just put down the number instead? NOOOoooo..... They actually managed to write a number 4 instead of an A, so the package was taken to a house number that's one and a half blocks away, or about 700 metres to a kilometre up the street. Imagine if you lived at 7A or 8A and your package had been addressed to 74 or 84 instead. This is what has just happened. Well done Wacom, you've ballsed up again. Of course, Australia Post cant deliver it to the correct address because I'm not the sender and haven't got the authority to make the change. I'll have to call Wacom to get them to sort it out.

After calling Wacom and explaining their mistake, I'm told I'll have to wait for them to call me back, which they do at the end of the day. Apparently they made an error (well duh!!!) and they've fixed it by telling Australia post to redirect my package to the correct address. They don't know if Australia Post will be able to intercept the parcel or not once it's in the Return to Sender phase though..... let's get back to the tracking service then....

Friday 18 March 2016
2:05pm
In transit – Mornington TAS


OK, so it's now back at the mail centre awaiting its next move, which should be back to Bellerive for another delivery attempt but with the correct street number this time.

Day Eleven: (Day seven if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Monday 21 March 2016
10:42am
Returning to sender – Address not known – Mornington TAS
The postie or delivery driver couldn't deliver this item because the address was incorrect, incomplete or unclear
For redelivery, please contact the sender.

Hellooooo???? I've already done this!!!! Just send me my package please.

Three days pass, with no updates on the location of my parcel, then we have the Easter 4 day long weekend. Finally, on the Wednesday after Easter, the parcel gets scanned by Australia Post....

Day Twenty: (Day twelve if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Wednesday 30 March 2016
5:07am
Returning to sender – With Australia Post for delivery today – Alexandria NSW


Oh look, it's gone back to Alexandria in NSW. Looks like Wacom will be getting it back after-all. Yay??? At least they'll be able to put the correct address on it this time before resending it in the post.

Wednesday 30 March 2016
8:56am
Returning to sender – Attempted Delivery – Customer refused – Banksmeadow NSW
We attempted to deliver the item, but the addressee or someone at the address declined to accept it
For redelivery, please contact the sender.


Wait.... Did I read that right???? Wacom just refused to take my returned parcel???

Wednesday 30 March 2016
9:54am
Returning to sender – In transit – Botany NSW


Looks like I'll have to phone Wacom again.

Wednesday 30 March 2016
12:58pm
Returning to sender – Awaiting Collection at BOTANY POST SHOP – Botany NSW


What the hell's going on??? Wacom don't want it, so it's now sitting in the Botany Post Shop in the hopes that someone comes to get it??? I called Wacom for the second time since the parcel went rogue and once again I was told that I'd get a callback as soon as they knew what was happening.

Wednesday 30 March 2016
12:58pm
Returning to sender – address not known – Botany NSW
The postie or delivery driver couldn't deliver this item because the address was incorrect, incomplete or unclear.
For redelivery, please contact the sender

Hmmmm.... Looks like the Post Shop doesn't want it either.

Day Twenty One: (Day thirteen if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Thursday 31 March 2016
1:51pm
Returning to sender – Processed through Australia Post facility – Chullora NSW


So much for my callback. I didn't get one. At least the parcel's back on its original course, which hopefully will get it back down to Tassie again where it belongs.

Day Twenty Two: (Day fifteen if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Friday 1 April 2016
2:57pm
Returning to sender – Processed through Australia Post Facility – Sunshine West VIC


So as we come to yet another weekend, the parcel has once again arrived back in Victoria. Instead of taking 2 days to get there from Chullora in NSW it's managed to only take 1 day this time. Will it be ready to deliver once again in 3 work days as happened the last time it got this far? We'll see what happens between now and Wednesday. It seems that Wacom has determined I don't need a call back, so with any luck I'll soon be typing the last of this blog post using my new, fangled, rechargeable blue-tooth keyboard.

Day Twenty Five: (Day sixteen if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Monday 4 April 2016
7:31am
Returning to sender – Processed through Australia Post facility – Chullora NSW


Oh look, it's bouncing between the sorting facilities in Sunshine West VIC and Chullora NSW.

It is now 9:28am and I've been on hold with Australia post for 48 minutes while a recorded message repeats every 30 seconds stating, “We apologise for the delay, we will be with you as soon as possible.”

9:54am, Australia Post tells me that because the parcel was refused at both ends it will now go to the dead letter department. Apparently Wacom did organise a redirection on the 21st but the incorrect address was never change, however both parties managed to stuff that one little detail up as well.

10:06am. I've just gotten off the phone with Wacom Australia who said they would normally send me a replacement but they're out of stock. I told them to just give me a refund, to which Jenny replied “I'll do that now” then hung up on me. Not so much as a sorry for wasting my time, she just hung up. I'll assume her name is Jenny seeing as the bloke who answered the phone said that Jenny was busy and he'd get me on to her as soon as possible. If Jenny doesn't have a thick Asian accent, then I've ended up with someone who does. Whoever she is, I've been dealing with her over the phone since this whole fiasco began. She never actually gives out her name when she answers the phone though. 

So this will be the last time I ever purchase direct from Wacom. Their customer service is appalling and their dispatch department just hasn't got a clue. Be warned if anyone else decides to purchase from them. Just don't!!!! First the faulty Cintiq Companion 2 that died within the first three days of use, now this big balls up because they're too useless to write the correct address on the parcel and too useless to give the correct address again when organising the redirection.

Day Twenty Eight: (Day nineteen if not counting weekends or public holidays):
Friday 1 April 2016
2:57pm. I sit here now in front of my Wacom Cintiq Companion 2, happily touch typing away on my brand new rechargeable Bluetooth keyboard.

Note, I am not using a Wacom keyboard. That was finally accepted as a returned item by Wacom yesterday morning. Instead, I'm using my Microsoft branded keyboard that I ordered from Officeworks a couple of days ago, and it also had to come from the mainland to get here to me in Southern Tassie. The main difference being that it got here in the space of a few days as opposed to Wacom's package almost taking an entire month and still not successfully being delivered to the customer.
Microsoft's Universal Bluetooth Keyboard.
After Wacom Australia finally took back the rogue keyboard package from Australia Post, I received a phone call from them. The man with the Australian accent did much grovelling and boot licking before telling me that even though I'd been given a refund, they were now going to resend it free of charge to say sorry. Apparently Wacom Australia is in the process of changing hands in the distribution centre which resulted in someone putting the wrong address on my parcel (you think???). He had no idea why the package was marked as refused when Australia Post attempted to give it back to them the first time. Apparently those that were there on the day claim that Australia Post never turned up with the package to begin with.

So when the now free Wacom keyboard finally gets here, if it does this time, I'll have two rechargeable Bluetooth keyboards for my drawing tablet PC.... I only needed one of the things.

Ebay anyone????


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