UGH. So frustrated (NWR)

flutteringinfl

I can't even with this anymore. I need to vent, and if any of you has any advice, I'd appreciate it.

Back in July, I donated to the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter. Not a lot, but enough that I was supposed to get some neat rewards. T-shirt, magnet, a few other things. I was sooo excited to donate to the cause and to receive some neat swag.

Fast forward to February 13, I see an update that almost all the reward packages for the people who donated the amount I donated have been sent, and I get a little worried, because I never received anything. Not a package, not a confirmation email that it had been sent, nothing. I log into my Kickstarter account and it shows that the package was sent in December. Naturally, I get a bit freaked out and email the special address set up for questions related to the Kickstarter. I hear nothing back for days. I try sending them a message directly through Kickstarter. Nothing. I try posting a comment on their page. Nothing. Finally, I email the support address on the general Reading Rainbow website, and hear back from a woman who basically says, "We sent it, it was delivered. Here's the tracking number. Let us know if you have more questions."

I put in the tracking number, and it says the package was delivered to my house on January 26th. I was home that day, and it was definitely not delivered. And we've never had a problem with mail or packages disappearing before. So I open a case with the post office, but they're basically like, "Sorry. That super sucks but we can't really recover the package."

I try emailing the support people again, and it takes two tries over several days before I hear back on Monday. She says she'll "check with the team" and get back to me, but I should email her in a couple of days if I haven't heard back soon. I try emailing her yesterday. Nothing. I email her today and this is what I get back:

"I am checking with our team and it is a little hard since the package left the warehouse and post office delivered so will let you know soon."

I really don't know what to make of this. What's hard about it? I said it wasn't delivered. I opened up a case with the post office. I understand there might be concerns that I'm lying or whatever, but this is like, the biggest Kickstarter ever. Surely I can't be the only one experiencing these problems. A friend of mine gave to the Veronica Mars project and she said they had a special team set up just to handle issues like mine, and they handled it with good customer service.

I know I'm technically not a "customer" since it was a donation, but this whole experience has left me feeling really helpless and like I don't matter to them. Like their message is basically, "Well, we got your money and we did our job by sending the package, not our fault you didn't get it so, bye!"

I don't know what to do at this point. I emailed back asking if I could talk to someone by phone. They don't have a phone number listed anywhere and I really hate waiting days for an email that might just be bad news as more time ticks away and the chances that the rewards I paid for are gone increase.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Inkdancer

I bet the real problem here is with the post office. 

I used to work in shipping, and customers would get so irate at the purchasing company when their stuff went missing. But the truth of the matter is that once your item left that warehouse, it went through about 900 different hands, and most of those hands did not give a shit about your stuff. 

Give them some time and grace to get this sorted. The Post Office loses stuff all the time, but they have to verify its last known location, etc. in order to get things resolved. 

novella1186

Ugh I'm sorry. That's so annoying. My only advice is a shot of whiskey. 

chibiyui

99% chance the post office messed up. The company (reading rainbow) has no power over tracking numbers. If it's saying it was delivered, most likely the deliverer dropped it off at the wrong house and scanned it as delivered.

Take a shot, and keep checking, politely, with the post office.

flutteringinfl

I definitely know it's the post office's fault, but the representatives I've talked to from there have been polite and responsive, though I can't see what they can do at this point. It's the complete lack of communication that I'm frustrated with, and honestly, I've been very careful to be polite and understanding of their position.

So I finally got an email from them like half an hour ago that they would resend it, and I sent back a profuse thank you. But then for some reason the same person resent the email, prefacing it with, "We normally wouldn't do this, but as a courtesy we'll send you a new package." That left a bad taste in my mouth. Why would you need to qualify it that way? But I'll let it go.

Anyway, just kicked a kid off my porch for trying to pressure me into buying magazines. Almost did it and then I did the smart thing and went inside to "get money" (aka Google), and was like, yeah, not paying $50 for a year's subscription to a magazine I don't need.

flutteringinfl

So I'll also add that I just talked to a friend who sends customer service emails for a living, and she made me feel better by saying that even though it wasn't well worded, the sender may have been trying to say, "We want to make you feel special by telling you we'll resend the package" and not, "We think you're a liar and we want to make sure you know it." I mean, I still am not super happy with that, because it raises the question of what happens to the I'm sure plenty of other backers experiencing the same issue, but it does help. And now I feel a little silly for complaining, and would like to thank everyone who read my rant.

chibiyui

Not that I read over the kickstarter thing in depth, but almost all sellers have some kind of clause that states once a package is sent out for delivery, they are no longer responsible for it.

Now, many companies will replace damaged or stolen goods because it's good customer service, but realistically, you have no reason to be upset with Reading Rainbow for the post offices fuck up. 

I understand being upset. Just be upset with the right people.

flutteringinfl

chibiyui said:

Not that I read over the kickstarter thing in depth, but almost all sellers have some kind of clause that states once a package is sent out for delivery, they are no longer responsible for it.

Now, many companies will replace damaged or stolen goods because it's good customer service, but realistically, you have no reason to be upset with Reading Rainbow for the post offices fuck up. 

I understand being upset. Just be upset with the right people.

You're right. I'm not upset with them for the post office fucking up. I'm super upset with the post office for that. I just wish they'd sent me a tracking number to begin with and actually answered the email they said to contact. But I'm letting it go.