Look. I don't like to complain* but I really just wanted to post this to a sympathetic audience.
A few weeks ago I purchased a bass from a Maurizio Uber Basses in Malaysia - I was hoping to divulge all the details in an NBD post, but who knows when that's going to be at this point. Anyway. I made my purchase, and right out of the gate, there were shipping problems - the luthier's business shipping account with FedEx had been deleted, and then when it was restored, it got moved to "inactive." This took about two weeks for them to resolve, but Maurizio kept in constant contact to let me know he was working on it. Finally, everything was sorted out and I received a tracking number on Thursday evening (6/26). To thank me for my patience, Maurizio paid for International Priority shipping with guaranteed delivery by 10:30am today, 6/30.
Last night, I receive tracking information that the bass, after sitting in Guangzhou, China, for two days, had finally departed the facility there at 3pm, Pacific Time. Given that Portland is an 18 hour flight from Guangzhou, I did not have confidence that my package would be delivered by 10:30am today, 17 hours later. I called FedEx to inquire, and they confirmed that the bass would not arrive today. They further explained that because the delay was due to circumstances beyond their control (they decline to elaborate further), they would not be refunding the shipping costs, despite the fact that we had paid substantially extra for a money-back GUARANTEE, thus GUARANTEED delivery. I tell my boss I will not, in fact, be needing today off to sign for delivery.
This morning I get a call from Mike at FedEx Customs in New York. When I say "this morning," I mean "6:15am." He did not look at the address to see that I was on the west coast, I guess. So I call him back after I wake up and he wants to know what's in the package. The one that says MAURIZIO UBER BASSES on it and has a shipping manifest and customs paperwork for ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR. I tell him it's an electric bass guitar. He asks me to forward him the CITES forms and Invoice. I confirm with Maurizio that he included these when he shipped the bass, but I forward them to Mike at FedEx. Thirty minutes later, he sends me a form from the EPA that I have to fill out and certify that the box does not contain toxic chemicals. I send it back to Mike after I get to work, about forty minutes later. I get Mike's Out of Office email. The Out of Office email contains three names of people who I can submit my documentation to, as well as their email addresses. I forward the documentation to all three of these people, and all three emails bounce back as being undeliverable due to bad email addresses. I look them up in the staff directory on the FedEx phone tree, and each of them greets me with a voice mail message that says that due to COVID-19, they can't check their voicemails and to email them instead. I call Mike back and get the same voicemail message.
I just called the main number and after 30 minutes on hold I finally gave up and left a message. They will make an effort to respond within one business day. Tracking number still shows Guangzhou, China with guaranteed delivery two hours ago.
So, I don't really know where my bass is, but it certainly didn't arrive 90 minutes ago, and tomorrow isn't looking good either.
Anyway, thanks for reading my rant. Hoping to be able to make an NBD post eventually!
* this is a lie, I love complaining
A few weeks ago I purchased a bass from a Maurizio Uber Basses in Malaysia - I was hoping to divulge all the details in an NBD post, but who knows when that's going to be at this point. Anyway. I made my purchase, and right out of the gate, there were shipping problems - the luthier's business shipping account with FedEx had been deleted, and then when it was restored, it got moved to "inactive." This took about two weeks for them to resolve, but Maurizio kept in constant contact to let me know he was working on it. Finally, everything was sorted out and I received a tracking number on Thursday evening (6/26). To thank me for my patience, Maurizio paid for International Priority shipping with guaranteed delivery by 10:30am today, 6/30.
Last night, I receive tracking information that the bass, after sitting in Guangzhou, China, for two days, had finally departed the facility there at 3pm, Pacific Time. Given that Portland is an 18 hour flight from Guangzhou, I did not have confidence that my package would be delivered by 10:30am today, 17 hours later. I called FedEx to inquire, and they confirmed that the bass would not arrive today. They further explained that because the delay was due to circumstances beyond their control (they decline to elaborate further), they would not be refunding the shipping costs, despite the fact that we had paid substantially extra for a money-back GUARANTEE, thus GUARANTEED delivery. I tell my boss I will not, in fact, be needing today off to sign for delivery.
This morning I get a call from Mike at FedEx Customs in New York. When I say "this morning," I mean "6:15am." He did not look at the address to see that I was on the west coast, I guess. So I call him back after I wake up and he wants to know what's in the package. The one that says MAURIZIO UBER BASSES on it and has a shipping manifest and customs paperwork for ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR. I tell him it's an electric bass guitar. He asks me to forward him the CITES forms and Invoice. I confirm with Maurizio that he included these when he shipped the bass, but I forward them to Mike at FedEx. Thirty minutes later, he sends me a form from the EPA that I have to fill out and certify that the box does not contain toxic chemicals. I send it back to Mike after I get to work, about forty minutes later. I get Mike's Out of Office email. The Out of Office email contains three names of people who I can submit my documentation to, as well as their email addresses. I forward the documentation to all three of these people, and all three emails bounce back as being undeliverable due to bad email addresses. I look them up in the staff directory on the FedEx phone tree, and each of them greets me with a voice mail message that says that due to COVID-19, they can't check their voicemails and to email them instead. I call Mike back and get the same voicemail message.
I just called the main number and after 30 minutes on hold I finally gave up and left a message. They will make an effort to respond within one business day. Tracking number still shows Guangzhou, China with guaranteed delivery two hours ago.
So, I don't really know where my bass is, but it certainly didn't arrive 90 minutes ago, and tomorrow isn't looking good either.
Anyway, thanks for reading my rant. Hoping to be able to make an NBD post eventually!
* this is a lie, I love complaining
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