If you read my blog about the Ludwigsburg Christmas Market, then you remember me mentioning that in fact my Christmas package hadn't made it to the States. Here is the story:
After finding gems of gifts, really gems, I assembled, wrapped and sent my package with love and full of Christmas joy to my family on the 10th of December. Yes, I know it was a tad bit late, but with 15 days until Christmas, I thought it might have a chance. Well, Deutsche Post had other things in mind for my package.
I sent the package from the company I work for, as we get deals on shipping, etc. I knew in advance how much the package would cost, and we had all the necessary paperwork to send it already filled out. Go us, so I thought.
We get to the makeshift post office - Klein Ingersheim doesn't have a post office, and neither does Gross Ingersheim. However, in the one shop in Gross Ingersheim, there is a place where you can drop off and mail packages and letters, etc. This is the same place where about three weeks earlier I had mailed all of our Christmas calendars to our overseas partners. Needless to say the shop owner wasn't too happy seeing me come again.
I waited in line at the counter while the shop owner was on the phone in the back. Her daughter was at the counter, and as I came with a business packet, she didn't have the slightest clue what to do with it. Between her mother trying to tell her what to do (and I think not really knowing herself...) and talking on the phone, it was a disaster. Finally she accepted the package, gave me a paper back and said that's all. Ok, well I do have to pay, don't I? She said no, that she couldn't tell me how much it was (even though I already knew) and that was all she could tell me. Ok, well there was nothing left to do but hope that it all worked out. Not such a comforting feeling when you have many many Euros upon Euros of Christmas gifts in a box waiting to be shipped overseas (with no tracking number).
So, my family patiently waited and waited. And waited. And Christmas came and went. And New Years came and went, and still no package. When I got back to the office after the new year, one of my colleagues called me on the phone and said, "You might want to come look at this. I got a bill from the post office, and it is the same number as your package, and it could be that something isn't right..." Oh great, I thought. This just sucks. I went to my colleague's office and she showed me the bill, for a package weighing 20 KG (around 44lbs.) and that cost 126 Euro. Supposedly this was my package. Well I can assure you that it was no 44lbs! It weighed 2.9 KG (just over 6lbs) and was supposed to cost 37 Euro. There was first of all no way I was going to pay that, and second of all no way it had even come close to 20 KG! I was furious.
Our other colleague who deals with our FedEx orders etc came and offered her assistance. She dug into the matter, and eventually came across a tracking number, which made me quite happy. She also was arguing with them about the weight and price, and finally they said they would "look into it". I was just happy to get a tracking number! So, I checked it out, and it had arrived in New Jersey on the 7th of January. By the 10th they had the package, after the postman refused to deliver it and left a note saying it needed to be picked up. FINALLY after 30 days they could have their Christmas sent from Germany.
By reviewing the tracking data, my poor little package had spent 20 days in Frankfurt at German customs!!! There is NO reason why it would have needed to spend 20 days there! I am furious that it took so long, and am just as furious that they didn't do their job. How can you mistake 6lbs for 44??? Absolutely ridiculous. I have definitely lost faith in Deutsche Post, and am none too pleased with USPS either. Lets just hope the things I send home in the future don't take as long...
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