ugh....

Back in the early days of my law career, I was employed by a firm that specialized in Fidelity and Surety Insurance.  Many of the cases I handled involved employee dishonesty, where workers stole from their employers or the business' customers.  Most of the time, the employee stupidly or arrogantly believed that he or she would never get caught.

I think someone working for a courier service  got "caught" this week.

Last Sunday I ordered some merchandise from Amazon.  After I placed my order, I realized I wanted some additional merchandise, so I placed a second order.  Both shipments were scheduled to be delivered Tuesday.

Well, the first package arrived as promised.  But the second...I got a notification from Amazon that the package was delayed, and would be delivered on Wednesday or Thursday.

While I was at work Wednesday afternoon, I received  a notification that the package had been delivered.

But when I got home, I couldn't fine a package.  It wasn't in the foyer, where my sister usually leaves my mail. I looked on the front porch, I looked in our mailbox, nothing.  I asked my sister H, and she said there hadn't been a delivery for me or for anyone else. She reminded me: "They're supposed to take a picture to show you where they left the package."  Several of our packages had been inadvertently delivered to a neighbor, and when she saw the photos, she knew which neighbor had our stuff.

I opened the Amazon website, and my order status bore the notation:  "Your package was delivered. It was handed directly to a resident."

Um, no, it was not delivered to a resident.  At least, not to a resident of my house.

But the courier said he'd handed it to somone.  So no photo. 

If a courier handed you a package, and it had somone else's name on it, wouldn't you give it back to the courier?

I opened up chat, and a customer service rep started to explain to me that "sometimes the couriers scan a package 'delivered' to avoid having to pay a penalty for late delivery...", and that the package would likely turn up on Thursday.

Then I told the rep that the package was already late.  Then I explained  that members of my family had been home all day long, but the doorbell never rang, and no one accepted a package for me.

He reviewed the file, and offered me an instant refund. 

On Thursday I told my sister H what had happened, and she said: "You weren't the only one." 

It seems my sister A was also expecting a delivery from Amazon on Wednesday.  Her package was also  "handed directly to a resident."

One misdelivery is an accident.  Two are a red flag. I'm thinking something was amiss with the courier...

Whoeve has my package, I hope you enjoy the socks.  I know it wasn't an iPad or an Echo or a laptop or something that would make the risk of stealing worthwhile, but I am sure the socks will keep your feet warm on the unemployment line...