It was a simple request. I wanted to ship my old computer to a friend in the Okanagan. I wanted it to arrive in a few days and I wanted to make sure it was handled carefully.

FedEx

Not sure why I chose them first because my computers had come Purolator without incident. I went on their website to get a quote. I had to enter my postal code and the postal code for my friend. I got an error message that my postal code didn’t exist. Canada Post and the folks living in my building would be upset to know that FedEx doesn’t think we exist. So much for FedEx.

Purolator

First, I’ve had an account with Purolator for years so I logged into my account and chose to get an estimate. I entered all the info, including my request for special handling, an extra $18, and got a quote that was reasonable so I proceeded to “Create a Shipment”. After entering all my information, even though I had an account and this should have been shown, and all the shipping information for my friend, then hit the “submit” button. I was creating the shipment for the next day pick-up and wanted to charge my credit card, information they had on my account. I got an error message that they could not charge my credit card for a “future dated” shipment. Why the hell not? Every company in the world, except apparently Purolator, allows you to place an order and have your card charged when they ship the order.

My only choice was to give up all the data I had just entered and simply request a pick-up. No account info. No credit card info. No special handling request. Just a pick-up. When the driver arrived I explained what happened and he had no explanation. He filled out a manual bill and took the parcel. I went online to ask Purolator why I could not do a next day shipment and got back an idiotic reply stating that they cannot charge my credit card for a future dated shipment. No explanation as to why not.

Concerned that the shipment was going to be handled properly and that it would arrive on Friday, as the driver confirmed, I started trying to track it online. My account, of course, showed no shipments. The Bill of Lading number just came back with a blank screen and a note to call. On Friday I called expecting confirmation that it had been delivered. First I was told that it wasn’t to be delivered until the following Friday. When I said the driver had said it would be delivered this Friday, she disappeared for a time and then came back telling me it was in Kelowna and it would be delivered on Tuesday. When I said it was to be delivered on Friday all I got was a “sorry”. Knowing the depot in Kelowna I knew that it was sitting in the back. I asked if my friend could pick it up, but she said that wasn’t possible either. Why not?

I gave my friend the contact information and told her to ask for a friend who worked there if she was in because I knew she would find it. Apparently they are now delivering it on Monday, which is better than Tuesday, but not Friday as promised. I told her to check it out thoroughly for damage because I doubt there was any “special handling” as I wanted. God knows what will happen to a computer if it’s thrown around a truck. It had better arrive in one piece and working.

The next issue will be the bill because I don’t intend to pay for service I didn’t get. And whoever programmed their website needs their head examined as to why you can’t create a shipment the way you should be able to. Frustrating!